Due to the increasing number of students in need of special education services and the shortages of licensed special education personnel, paraeducators have become a critical component in the education of students with autism in school settings. Due to this, the training of paraeducators is a critical concern for human service as well as…

About 7.1 million school-aged children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; nces.ed.gov, 2020) are being educated in public schools across the United States. To match the rising prevalence of ASD, school districts have increased their reliance on paraprofessionals to assist in meeting the unique needs of this growing population. As a…

School enrollment is expected to increase over the next decade, and with this increase, schools in the United States have seen an increase in the number of paraprofessionals employed to provide services for special education students. Paraprofessionals are key to providing services and assistance to students with special needs toward their…

Given that more paraprofessionals are hired to deliver one-on-one intervention to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) under the auspices of behavioral health agencies, it is important that these paraprofessionals receive adequate supervision to support their implementation of high quality intervention while often working alone without…

As nationwide school enrollments are projected to increase slowly over the next decade, it is predicted that there will be a greater increase among students identified for special education services. As a result, the employment of paraprofessionals who aid these students is expected to grow by ten percent between 2008 and 2018 (Bureau of Labor…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of certified support staff at a Georgia middle school, focusing on their opinions of Professional Learning Communities (PLC), the roles they played in PLCs and the effect PLCs had on their professional practices. This descriptive case study utilized open-ended interviews,…

The purpose of this Executive Position Paper (EPP) is to develop a model for improving the online training modules utilized by a mid-Atlantic Residence Life department. The complexity of the Residence Life staff positions, coupled with demands from other university departments and the need to provide as much information as possible, resulted in an…

As of 2007, 718,119 instructional assistants were employed in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009b). Of those instructional assistants, 373,466 were classified as full-time special education instructional assistants (Data Accountability Center, 2009a). As the employment of instructional assistants continues to grow,…

Improving educational outcomes involves many variables, including identifying effective interventions and ensuring that they are effectively implemented in schools. Within a "response to intervention" model, treatment integrity of academic interventions has become increasingly important. However, recent research has suggested that…