The use of paraprofessionals in new career positions in public schools has spread rapidly. Measurements of reading readiness and achievement indicate that teacher aides trained in tutoring improve pupil performance. The utilization of students for cross-age teaching, parents to read to children, and community members as "street academics" is…

This paper supports the proposed legislation, but recommends that the bill (1) assure local autonomy for the programs and exclude state departments of education or welfare from operating responsibility, (2) include additional language mandating career development as an integral part of the staffing of all programs, and (3) encourage the…

Author concludes that paraprofessionals can be effective in teaching children, and that a participatory educational approach from the bottom up may be much more meaningful than the hierarchical downward oriented bureaucracy. (Author/MB)

Compensatory programs are successful when they include respect for the child's strengths and for the culture that nourished him. (Author/IRT)