Special Education Teacher

Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Federal Correctional Institution

Texarkana, Texas

Special Education Teacher

Closing Date:  December 30, 2024

Duties:

Implements the overall remedial reading, language arts, science, social studies and/or math curriculums.

Implements and maintains life skills, study strategies and other cognitive strategy programs.

Designs new programs when necessary to meet special needs and places students into their respective prescribed programs.

Interviews and evaluates all prospective special learning needs students.

Administers a variety of individualized formal and informal diagnostic special education and literacy tests (including pre/post tests).

Maintains and evaluates an accurate record of progress attained by the students and redesigns program if necessary to meet individual needs.

Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution. The staff correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and is performed on a regular and recurring basis.

Qualifications:

Qualifications

To be considered for the position, you must meet the following basic qualification requirements:

Basic Requirements:

Bachelor's degree from an accredited or pre-accredited institution that included or was supplemented by supervised student teaching, and at least one course in each of the following areas: general psychology, human development, history and/or philosophy of education, and teaching methods at the learning level of the position to be filled, i.e., elementary or secondary learning level. For secondary school teaching positions, applicants must also have had at least 24 semester hours (or equivalent) of course work in each of the principal fields of instruction.

AND

Applicants must meet the degree and course requirements shown above, and, in addition, applicants must have had at least 24 semester hours (or the equivalent) of course work in special education that included at least one course covering the teaching of exceptional students and courses in the appropriate field (s) of specialization.

AND

In addition to having the above Basic Requirements, applicants must also meet the following:

Education:

GL-07: One year of graduate level education OR Superior Academic Achievement.

GL-09: Two years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree OR master's or equivalent graduate degree.

OR

Experience:

GL-07 and GL-09: You must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level in federal service. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position, and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of this qualifying experience could be:

GL-07:

• Experience in teaching with full and primary responsibility for the instruction assigned students, including remedial subjects to meet special needs, throughout the learning period.
• Experience in the preparation and presentation of lessons for special needs students, including evaluation of progress.
• Experience in maintaining student records, and ensuring special learning needs are being addressed.
• Experience in following standardized curricula and lesson plans for students’ with special needs.

GL-09:

• Experience teaching special learning needs students in core subjects (i.e., literacy, GED and ESL programs), including adapting instructional materials and methods.
• Experience in developing individualized lesson plans and modifying existing academic curricula for prescriptive programs to meet special learning needs.
• Experience in developing a record-keeping system to evaluate special learning needs students, and recommending adaptations to encourage successful progress through the identified course work.
• Experience selecting, administering and interpreting various formal and informal academic tests and other diagnostic measures.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience:

GL-07 and GL-09: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for next lower grade may be combined with experience. This experience must have equipped you with the particular qualifications to perform the major duties of this position as described above.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

Additional Information:

This position IS included in the bargaining unit.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3307, a maximum entry age of 36 has been established for initial appointment to a position in a Bureau of Prisons institution. If you are above the maximum entry age and have prior federal law enforcement coverage, you MUST submit an SF-50 to verify prior coverage. 

Qualified Preference Eligible Veterans may be exempt from meeting the maximum age. Please refer to the Required Documents Section for the appropriate documentation to submit to validate veteran eligibility.

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a pre-employment and panel interview, urinalysis, physical, and background investigation.

All applicants are subject to, and must satisfactorily pass all screening requirements in relation to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit check.

All applicants not currently working in an institution will be required to complete a qualification inquiry regarding convictions of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence in order to be authorized to carry a firearm.

The Core Value Assessment (CVA) is an in-person assessment that must be facilitated at a Bureau of Prisons Human Resource Servicing office. On the day of the scheduled interview, a CVA will be administered. The applicant assessment must be completed within a 70 minute time period and a passing score of 68 must be obtained. Further employment consideration will not be extended if the applicant fails to complete the examination or fails to achieve a passing score. Note: The Core Value Assessment will not be administered to current BOP employees.

Successful completion of the "Introduction to Correctional Techniques", three-week training course at Glynco, Georgia is required. 

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.