The Distinction in Roles of Paraeducators and Teachers By Doug Van Oort Education Faculty and Paraeducator Certification Coordinator, Kirkwood Community College Maria, who has her high school diploma and recently acquired her Iowa Level I paraeducator certification by taking six college credits, is starting her 17th year as a paraeducator and is highly regarded by … Read more
In part 1 of our review of the paraeducator training results we went over how many of you have paraeducator training in your state or district and who provides that training. Here are the rest of the results from the survey: How many hours of paraeducator training are available per year? 36.3% of survey respondents … Read more
First of all, thank you to everyone who filled out the survey on paraeducator training in our recent newsletter! There were lots of responses and we gathered some great data, the first part of that data is summarized below: Do you have paraeducator training in your state? 53.1% Answered Yes 46.9% Answered No Who provides … Read more
By Anna Lou Pickett THE NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER IS CHANGING ITS NAME.During the latter half of the 20th century, several events took place that led to dramatic changes in our nation’s schools. To address critical shortages in the ranks of licensed teachers that began in the 1950s, a few schools began to employ “teacher aides” … Read more
The Demanding Classroom is a blog run by husband and wife team Sara and Richard Finegan and they have put together a great series of posts on paraprofessionals. You can view all of their paraeducator posts at this site, a few of which are highlighted below: What Are 10 Things a Paraeducator Can Do To … Read more
We recently came across a couple of stressful accounts from paras of their first day back from school: I’m a paraeducator for children. Today was our first day. I am praying for patience. Not with the kids. The kids are great. My stress levels are so high after this morning, that I have a horrible … Read more
One of the most popular posts on our site was a discussion started by a para from Sioux City, Iowa asking what paraeducators make in different states. The 100 replies to that question show that there is a lot of interest in that area. The entire article provides a great overview of the work that … Read more
Introduction to a great article by Richard Finegan:
I have a degree in journalism, a law degree, and am only a few hours short of being certified as a mild-moderate special education teacher. So why am I working as a para-educator/classroom aide?
His answer?
Wikipedia now has an entry titled Paraprofessional Educator that begins:
A paraprofessional educator, alternatively known as para-pros, instructional assistants, teacher’s aides or classroom assistants, is a teaching-related position within a school generally responsible for specialized or concentrated assistance for students in elementary and secondary schools.
Does this sound right? Sensitivity and patience are key assets. Watch the video below for more: