Using Para-Professional Assistants
  to Promote Student Success

Gwen is a certified nursing assistant who helps a medically fragile kindergartener each day to be successful alongside her non-disabled peers. Robert spent last school year helping a first grader to reduce the frequency of his aggressions and classroom disruptions and is now assisting the student to catch up on the academic skills that were missed. Karen is assigned to work with a student in a severely handicapped classroom, and in addition to helping her assigned student Karen assists other students to successfully mainstream into regular education classes around campus. Each of these dedicated staff members have two things in common: each are employees of Anova's Behavior Analysis Services Division, and each are examples of the varied and expanding roles given to para-educators in recent years.

Since the 1960s the number of paraprofessionals employed in the public schools nationally has risen from approximately 10,000 to over 500,000. It is estimated that currently 290,000 paraprofessionals work in special education roles. A generation ago, instructional assistants provided solely clerical support and similar duties, but a shift in paraprofessional roles has occurred over the last 20 years as a growing number of paraprofessionals now deliver direct instruction and other direct services for students. Paraprofessionals today are given a high level of responsibility supporting individual or small group learning, completing data collection, and implementing many aspects of individual education plans. This is particularly true in inclusion programs where paraprofessionals may not work alongside the special education teacher all day and may be called upon to assist with homework, implement technology, and make on-the-spot adaptations to assignments to promote student success.

The specific responsibilities assigned to Anova paraprofessionals vary depending on the needs of the individual student, but all Anova employees know that the primary responsibility of any paraprofessional is increasing student independence. Paraprofessionals provide a variety of support for students with special needs, including fostering the development of academic skills, communication, social integration, functional skills, and providing student-specific care such as attending to health-related needs or assisting with adaptive equipment. Paraprofessional job duties may include facilitating interactions between students such as interpreting for classmates what the student with a disability might be communicating, supporting the development of speech or communication skills under the supervision of a Speech Therapist, or interpreting for the disabled student what is happening in their environment and how to successfully navigate their school day. For students with problem behaviors paraprofessionals may implement behavior management plans including providing positive reinforcement, assisting students to manage their emotions, or intervening with students in general education classrooms when problem behaviors interfere with learning. Many serve as a communication link, providing feedback to the special education teachers about general education class activities, assignments, student participation and behavior. Typically, paraprofessional responsibilities also involve providing general school and program support such as classroom clerical tasks, materials development, and assisting other classmates when the student with special needs does not require immediate support.

Special education teachers and administrators describe an effective paraprofessional as someone who understands the differences between the teachers' and paraprofessionals' roles, accepts the educational philosophy of the program, and works cooperatively with the teacher for the benefit of all the students in the classroom. Effective paraprofessionals are described as non-confrontational, good communicators, confident in his or her decisions, energized by the work, and exhibiting an "overall sense of calm" in the sometimes hectic, school day environment.

Paraprofessionals themselves describe an effective paraprofessional as someone who is able to build relationships with students and who understands when to provide or reduce student assistance. Appropriate decision-making, anticipating what might happen next, and responding professionally in a crisis are also qualities desired in a paraprofessional. The position requires a level of intuitiveness and communication skills to use with both students and adults in a variety of ever-changing environments.

At Anova, we are very selective in our hiring practices. Anova also supports our paraprofessional employees with supervision from highly qualified Behavior Analysts, and provide intensive training - far beyond what is required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind. Anova's paraprofessional training series is provided primarily as small group instruction and includes instruction on best practices in providing paraprofessional services. Following each training session, meetings between paraprofessionals and their Behavior Analyst supervisors are used to discuss application to the training materials to individual students. We prepare our employees to make sound decisions on a moment-to-moment basis, but not to work as independent decision-makers. Educational decisions that are going to modify programs, instruction, or behavior interventions are the responsibility of the professional staff assigned.

As school districts strive to improve the services provided to special education students, parents become more effective in advocating for paraprofessional assistant services, and schools are requested to provide full-inclusion for special education students with greater and greater challenges, the need for well-qualified and effective paraprofessional assistants is likely to increase. As this need grows, Anova will continue to refine its hiring and training practices to both attract, and retain, the most qualified para-educators available.