How Are Researchers, Practitioners, and Policymakers Responding to These Concerns and Policies?

As a result of these new policies and concerns regarding standards for paraeducator employment, professional organizations, unions, institutes of higher education, and policymakers have formed national and regional task forces.

• The National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals in Education and Related Services (NRCP), funded by the Office of Special Education Programs is developing guidelines and standards for paraeducator roles, supervision, skill and knowledge competencies, and preparation. NRCP convened a task force that represented state education agencies, local education agencies, colleges and universities, parents, paraeducators, professional organizations, and unions. The task force assisted with the development of proposed guidelines for responsibilities and standards for teachers/providers and paraeducators. To validate these findings, the task force conducted a nationwide mail survey sent to a selected sample of 700 individuals with experience and understanding of paraeducator employment, utilization, preparation, and retention. Responses from 400 of these administrators, faculty members, teachers, and paraeducators helped finalize the scope of responsibilities and three levels of paraeducator positions.
  
  The Center provides technical assistance on policy questions, management practices, regulatory procedures, and training models that will enable administrators and staff developers to improve the recruitment, deployment, supervision, and career development of paraprofessionals.
  
  
• In 1999, the Associations of Service Providers Implementing IDEA Reforms in Education Partnerships (ASPIIRE) formed a Paraprofessional Workgroup to address the 1997 IDEA amendments. Key members of this group included representatives from the American Physical Therapy Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals, American Federation of Teachers, and the Council for Exceptional Children (to name a few). The group developed a consensus on the definition and training of paraprofessionals, identified a need for further resources, and made initial attempts to address the policies, standards, and systems that would ensure a skilled and appropriately supervised workforce (IDEA Partnerships, 2001).
  
  
• The National Center for Research on Diversity, Education, and Excellence (CREDE) has implemented a project called the Latino Paraprofessionals as Teachers: Building on the Funds of Knowledge to Improve Instruction. The project is investigating the "funds of knowledge" (i.e., knowledge of the language, social and discourse norms, and other cultural and linguistic resources of students and their communities) of bilingual Latino paraeducators in classroom settings (CREDE, n.d.). The goal is to determine what impact these factors have on classroom instruction for low-income English language learners in reading and language arts instruction. Publications explaining the results of the project offer recommendations to policymakers on how to design effective professional development programs to make these paraeducators more effective in their role. The project also suggests ways paraeducators can act as a cultural bridge from school to family because of their funds of knowledge (Monzo & Rueda, 2000; Rueda & DeNeve, 1999).

These groups—as well as state task forces (such as in Washington, Montana, and Iowa)—are currently working on providing guidelines to states, districts, and schools to implement the new Title I regulations. They seek to answer many questions schools and districts have about the requirements, such as what kinds of assessments should be developed, who will pay for the development, and who will provide funding for professional development. For more information about these issues, contact the National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals (see the Resources section).