1. Para-Professional Training
For the
Special Education classroom
Good Morning.
My name is Laurie Hansen-Beals. I have been a teacher for over 24 years, teaching every grade from first through twelfth at different times during my career.
For the past eight years, I have been a Special Educator in a self-contained classroom in a middle school in the Salem-Keizer School District.
I have been very fortunate and have had the opportunity to work with five assistants. It has been my goal to provide them with the training and support they need to better serve our students.

2. District Responsibilities
Develop skill and knowledge standards that recognize the changing roles of paraeducators.
Set skill standards for paraeducators working in different position levels.
Create seamless career development models that include on-the-job coaching, inservice training and access to post-secondary education for paraeducators interested in becoming teachers.
Establish supervisory responsibility and standards for monitoring paraeducator performance (Pickett and Gerlach, 1997; Pickett, 1999).
Each school district establishes a set of standards for each employee classification. Training is provided at the district level.

3. School Responsibilities
Assign appropriate responsibilities and tasks.
Provide ongoing, personalized support.
Offer training opportunities and resources.
Encourage high standards.
Each school further outlines the duties and responsibilities for its’ employees. Training is also provided at the school level.

4. Teacher Responsibilities
Provide feedback to paraeducators on their work with students;
Model effective ways to interact with students and instructional techniques to use with them;
Support paraeducators with training specific to the students with which they are working.
Teachers also provide training and day-to-day supervision.

5. Paraeducator Responsibilities
Delivery of Instruction
Activity Preparations and Follow-Up
Student Supervision
Behavior Management
Personal Care
Ethics
Team Participation
Paper Work
Other
The responsibilities of paraeducators are numerous and can be overwhelming .

6. Delivery of Instruction
Listen to a student read;
Assist a student with daily self-care;
Take notes for a student;
Modify assignments or other materials.
Most of your time will be spent in these kinds of activities.

7. Activity Preparation & Follow-Up
Operate equipment e.g., photocopy machine;
Distribute or collect student materials;
Adapt materials for specific student needs.
And of course, these too.

8. Student Supervision
Manage student arrival or departure, e.g., bus duty;
Supervise during lunch;
Monitor students during passing periods.
Wait, don’t forget that you also have to pick the students up from the bus in the morning and make sure they get on their bus in the afternoon.

9. Behavior Management Observe and record student behavior;
Monitor students during time-out;
Help students to develop organizational or self-management skills.
Oh, and you can be sure that you will be asked to collect daily data regarding student behavior.

10. Personal Care Move a student from location to location;
Address health-related needs, e.g., catheterizing a student;
Help a student eat.
There are students who also require extra care such as, eating a meal, cathing, even getting from place to place within the classroom and school.

11. Ethics Maintain confidentiality regarding all student matters.
Preserve student dignity while taking care of personal needs.
Maintain composure when working with students.
Confidentiality is a big issue. It is like in the military. Information regarding a student is on a “need to know” basis.

12. Team Participation Attend team meetings; Contribute information;
Engage in problem solving.
What else is required of you?

13. Paper Work Type reports or assignments;
Help with paperwork to facilitate IEP meetings;
Make copies.
This is another big issue in Special Education, PAPERWORK.

14. Other Attend IEP meetings;
Complete Travel Cards for daily communication with parents;
Participate in parent conferences.
More duties and responsibilities.

15. Credit
Adapted from Friend & Cook. (2003). Possible Domains of Paraeducator Responsibility (p. 201). In M. Friend & L. Cook. (4th Ed.), Interactions Collaboration for School Professionals (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.