Challenges in Evaluating Specialized Instructional Support Personnel

Challenges in Evaluating Specialized Instructional Support PersonnelSpecialized instructional support personnel (SISP) play an important role in ensuring student success by providing support for students and educators within multi-tiered systems of support. The interdisciplinary nature of specialized support services across a range of education contexts creates unique challenges for evaluating SISP. In April 2015, Lynn Holdheide and Lindsey Hayes presented an overview on this topic to the Council for Exceptional Children. The presenters laid out the core challenges involved in measuring  SISP’s practices and their students’ growths, and provided concrete considerations, such as the following:

  •  Statutory and regulatory requirements
  • Suitability and need for differentiation for measures of teacher practice, student growth, and weighing of measures
  • Evaluator training
  • Professional learning and support