Research has shown that students of color benefit from having teachers who share their racial background. The paraprofessionals and education assistants currently working in schools represent one potential source of such teachers. Many of them are committed to schools and students but need support to obtain a teaching license. Laura Delgado,…

In response to local districts' needs for certified teachers with community roots who understand local schools and students, the authors developed an innovative alternative route for paraprofessionals based on a traditional bachelor's program. Their goals were to provide a rigorous, research-based program that allows paraprofessionals to get a…

Argues for more teacher aides, and for teacher determination of aides' tasks. (LR)

Briefly reports some findings of a survey of elementary principals involved in the California Early Childhood Education experiment. (IRT)

Tennessee high school students volunteer time equivalent to 13 full-time teachers to tutor younger students on a one-to-one basis in problem subjects. (DW)

There is little or no reason to believe that administrators and school boards are involved in a conspiracy to allow paraprofessionals to replace teachers. (Author/JN)

Describes what happened to the Head Start teacher aide idea when it was taken over by middle-class schools. (Author)

Describes four approaches to cost cutting that are offered to stimulate thinking in the direction of thrift: manage class size in the interests of both learning and economy; spend less for salaries; eliminate irrelevant goals, activities, and arrangements; and reconsider building needs and use. (Author/IRT)

Describes a new approach to covering classrooms when teachers are absent. Paraprofessionals have been hired in place of substitutes to routinely handle supervisory, noninstructional assignments previously assigned to teachers. The teachers use their free time to staff resource rooms and to supervise classes of absent teachers. (WD)

The failure of the teaching profession to react to the infiltration of paraprofessionals into the teaching ranks, a movement promoted by what amounts to an administration/school board conspiracy, suggests that teachers are doomed to second-class status. (Author/JN)

In Louisville, Kentucky, urban education problems were met through numerous organizational, financial, curricular, and personnel changes and retraining. The belief that people support what they help create and that people affected by change must be allowed participation in planning change insured the finding of satisfactory solutions. (Author/JN)

The Colorado School of Mines and the Cherry Creek (Colorado) School District cooperate in a program using engineering students as part-time instructional technicians in mathematics and science for the district. The program provides role models and highly trained support personnel for district students, and helps recruit teachers. (PGD)