This study investigated the education and training of paraeducators to learn how they viewed their role in the instructional process and to explore who held the responsibility for assigning tasks to paraeducators and allocating their time. Researchers surveyed paraeducators who were attending their state or regional paraeducator conferences in the…

This study examined perceived advantages and disadvantages of teacher-paraeducator teams, discussing how to enhance the effectiveness of such teams. Focus groups were held with three groups of paraeducators and three groups of teachers from rural and urban schools in Idaho and Utah. Participants shared their views on using a team approach to their…

Recently, one southeastern Idaho school's special-education aides were upgraded to paraprofessional status. All 28 para-educators are women, have at least a high-school diploma, and have job descriptions specifying what they should know and accomplish in the classroom. Training and compensation particulars are discussed. (MLH)

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 introduced new requirements for paraprofessionals, specifying criteria for them to achieve "highly qualified" status. This article describes a study which explored the perceptions of teachers and paraprofessional teams as to whether the paraprofessionals would be considered "highly…

Complaints, hearings, legal opinions, and lawsuits on issues surrounding the training and supervision of paraprofessionals are increasing. Concern over the lack of preparation of paraprofessionals and the sporadic nature of the training that is available to them (Morgan, Hofmeister, & Ashbaker, 1995; Pickett, 1996) have led to the development…

The long-term effects of crisis and tragedy can be improved significantly by immediate intervention and emergency mental health services. Providing crisis intervention in rural schools poses challenges related to lack of financial resources, community resources, and trained personnel; isolation of rural schools; and long distances between school…

This article includes the contents of a paper presented at the 1999 National Staff Development Conference, then summarizes data collected from attendees of that conference session in response to a written survey distributed and completed during the session. The conference session explained that paraeducators require training, but there is concern…

This final report describes accomplishments and activities of the 4-year Super-Vision project, designed to train teachers to supervise paraeducators in their work with students who have disabilities. The project used a problem-solving, consultative model, validated curriculum materials ("Teamwork and Evaluation"), and a training of trainers…

This book provides advice and activities to help forge productive working relationships between teachers and paraeducators. Chapter 1, "Leading the Classroom Instructional Team," examines teacher responsibilities as leaders of classroom instructional teams, discussing how their new roles as paraeducator supervisors can mesh with more traditional…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 provided a clear mandate to school administrators to provide additional training for professional and paraprofessional staff. With its requirement that school districts must ensure that all staff are "highly qualified" for the roles assigned to them, it leaves no room for excuses or…