Under the supervision of a licensed early intervention provider, paraprofessionals play an indispensable role in implementation of home and community-based services to infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities and their families in Colorado. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 requires that…

Using the conceptual model of social structure and personality framework (House, 1981) as a theoretical guide, this cross sectional mixed-method design examined how organizational structure and culture relate to practices for training direct care workers in 328 aging and disability network service provider organizations in Pennsylvania. To…

Results are reported for 3 years of in-service training provided to managers and direct care personnel employed in community, residential, and vocational programs for developmentally disabled adults. The data demonstrate the efficacy of the training model in that 1015 (97%) of 1080 training objectives attempted were completed by the trainees at…

Inservice training must be improved and expanded in the years ahead to meet the needs of those who work with young handicapped children. Recognizing and avoiding the problems of general inservice and viewing inservice as adult education with a content focus on the child provides a background for improving training. Journal availability: see EC 133…

This article addresses assumptions that currently guide personnel training and technical assistance in organizations providing services to people with disabilities. Implications of a quality improvement perspective are then considered as they apply to new perspectives on roles, on decision-making processes, and on evaluation. (DB)

The manual describes the Focus Expanded Placement Process, an approach to implementing training programs in sheltered work centers. Trainers are offered solutions to common problems, with sections on the following topics: breaking down initial resistance to training; individualizing training; creating a learning atmosphere; making training…

This article suggests ways to develop effective substitute special education teacher programs. Suggestions are framed around the Standards for Staff Development created by the National Staff Development Council. Detailed recommendations on substitute training and support systems stress the need to address appropriate context, process, and content.…

The article provides a review of behavioral staff training (focusing on antecedent, contingency management, and multi-faceted procedures) in special education settings, primarily institutions. Techniques are discussed according to such criteria as evaluation of staff behavior, changes in client behavior, inclusion of follow-up observations, and…

This article offers six training suggestions for preparing paraprofessionals to work successfully with students having disabilities in an inclusive setting. These include providing preservice training through a centralized interdisciplinary training team, modeling the use of appropriate behavior management techniques, and communicating the…

The effectiveness of video-based staff training with manager-led exercises in improving the performance of six staffers in residential support for persons with disabilities was examined. The training procedures improved performance in hand-washing, glove usage, and frequency of positive interaction, but not in the frequency of valued activities.…

This article addresses ways that regular and special education teachers can provide training for paraeducators and delineates the roles and responsibilities appropriate for paraeducators. Training suggestions cover the interview, orientation, sharing information, meetings, and team skills. Paraeducator responsibilities require teaching students…

This article presents a rationale for the importance of relationships as a focus for training infant/family professionals and paraprofessionals. It describes six innovative training strategies that have been used as part of the ZERO TO THREE/National Center for Clinical Infant Programs' City TOTS (training of trainers) project. (Author/DB)

A study evaluated effects of a staff training package on the number of choice responses and performance responses made by adults with disabilities in a community purchasing activity. After training, all four staffers generalized offering choices and promoting performance across settings and adults with disabilities and maintained the skills.…

The paper reports on a practicum project to assess the training needs of paraprofessionals and to develop a training program to meet those needs. The first section of the paper is a literature review, which revealed few studies that have addressed the efficacy of paraprofessinals, though research that has been done indicates that paraprofessionals…

These instructor and participant manuals provide a basic training program curriculum for paraeducators supporting students with disabilities in inclusive educational settings. The course requires approximately 18 hours of instruction and 12 hours of practicum, can be offered in a variety of formats (intensively or over a number of weeks), and does…