September/October 2002 | NW REPORT

Paraeducators and Teachers:

Partners in the Classroom

At the state line between Utah and Idaho, Oakwood Elementary School is just a few minutes drive from Utah State University. Many of the university's new education graduates get their first teaching assignments at Oakwood, a happy circumstance that has meant the school and its district here in Preston, Idaho, get well-trained beginning teachers.

But it's also meant a moderately high turnover rate as these young teachers move to new opportunities to build their careers or start families. The result is that "a lot of our paraeducators outlast our teachers," says Jerry Waddoups, curriculum director for the Preston School District, in the latest By Request booklet, Working Together for Successful Paraeducator Services: A Guide for Paraeducators, Teachers, and Principals.

Paraeducators are teaching assistants who, though not certified teachers, assist the classroom teacher with instruction, classroom management, family involvement, and many other important areas. Often, they have deep roots in the local community and share a cultural background with students—valuable qualities that help tie the school and community together.

Oakwood views its paraeducators as essential members of the instructional team. Every classroom has a paraeducator who works on reading, writing, and basic mathematics with individual students and small groups. They work extensively in special education, the library, and the resource room, and have been influential in the success of the school's guided reading program. Paraeducators are included in professional development opportunities, and they regularly collaborate with teachers on planning curriculum and instruction.

Oakwood's paraeducators are always working under the direction of certified teachers, say authors Jennifer Railsback, Bracken Reed, and Karen Schmidt, "but they are treated as equal members of the instructional team, with valuable experience and insights that are fully appreciated."

It's an effective approach that can pay deep dividends to students, who gain additional personalized attention and academic support; to teachers, who gain well-trained assistants; and to the paraeducators themselves, who gain the skills and recognition they need to make the most of their talents and abilities on behalf of students.

New Rules

This may be what Congress envisioned when it included Section 1119 (c) of Title I in the No Child Left Behind Act (a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act). The section mandates that schools receiving Title I assistance will ensure that all paraeducators hired after January 8, 2002 will have met at least one of these conditions:

Completed at least two years of study at an institute of higher education
Obtained an associate's degree or higher
Met a rigorous standard of quality and can demonstrate, through a formal state or local academic assessment, knowledge of and the ability to assist in the instruction of reading, writing, and mathematics

Paraeducators hired before that date are expected to satisfy these requirements within four years. "This is going to impact many, many school districts across the country," says Carlos Sundermann, unit manager in the Laboratory's Planning and Program Development (PPD) office. "In rural, isolated communities especially, where there are few resources and no college nearby, it will be very difficult for paraeducators to meet the requirements."

To help schools and districts ensure that paraeducators meet at least the third condition, Sundermann and colleague Karen Schmidt are developing, with the state of Montana, a paraeducator training curriculum. In 2003, the curriculum will be piloted and refined through a series of training institutes in Montana. They expect to make the curriculum available by 2004 to other regional school districts, community colleges, and education agencies that need to develop a means for Title I paraeducators to meet the new requirements.

The training curriculum will include a portfolio assessment process. Through their portfolios, paraeducators can demonstrate that they've met a "rigorous standard of quality" in their preparation to assist in the teaching of reading, writing, and mathematics.

Steve Nelson, director of PPD, describes the curriculum as a "practicum" in which paraeducators hone their skills while on the job, applying their learning to real classroom experiences under the direction of a certified teacher. "This isn't theory," he says, rather, it's practical preparation in the nuts and bolts of aiding classroom teachers, such as being knowledgeable about school policies, classroom management, assisting in instruction, and so forth.

While the primary audience is paraeducators, the Laboratory will recommend that teachers and school administrators who direct the work of paraeducators also participate in the training. The curriculum will be grounded in effective adult education practices and research-based guidelines and standards developed by the National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals in Education (NRCP).

To enable other local education agencies to conduct their own paraeducator training, the Laboratory will also develop a training-of-trainers manual. Nelson, Sundermann, and Schmidt are hopeful that institutes of higher education will adapt the curriculum to create coursework leading to an associate's degree and paraeducator certification.

Training Modules

The training curriculum will be organized into seven modules:

Professional standards for paraeducators—based on those developed by the NRCP
Developing an effective instructional team—roles, responsibilities, and functions of the teacher-paraeducator instructional team
Classroom management—strategies for helping teachers create effective learning environments
Using effective classroom strategies—overview of general strategies for effective instruction
Assisting in reading instruction—knowledge and skills for supporting reading instruction
Assisting in writing instruction—knowledge and skills for supporting writing instruction
Assisting in mathematics instruction—knowledge and skills for supporting math instruction

For more information about the curriculum, contact Carlos Sundermann at 503-275-9479 or, for general information about paraeducation, visit the NRCP Web site at www.nrcpara.org, and the Laboratory's Comprehensive Center's online listing of paraeducator resources at www.nwrac.org/links/pared.html. Free copies of Working Together For Successful Paraeducator Services: A Guide for Paraeducators, Teachers, and Principals are available; phone 503-275-9720 or e-mail info@nwrel.org. An online version of the booklet is at www.nwrel.org/request.

| Next Article | Front Page | NW Report Index |