Julianna Dean

SERP 497e

Dr. Nahmias

23 March 2016
Paraeducators Assignment

Explain the Instructional and Non-Instructional roles of Paraeducators.

Instructional roles of paraprofessionals are those that typically take place in the classroom

and can include tasks such as reading tests, modifying non-grade level work, and redirection.

These tasks deal with the instructional aspects of the school day, primarily academic. Non-

instructional roles include monitoring during lunch and recess, help with transitioning from

classes, and restroom assistance. These tasks can also include more life-skills based tasks.

Clarify which activities should be assigned to paraeducators and which are a certified

teacher's responsibility to complete or finalize.

When it comes to the responsibilities between teachers and paraeducators, that clarification

needs to be determined early on. Paraeducators responsibilities are primarily those of support,

helping the student when the teacher is not able to give full one-on-one to that particular student.

Their focus should be on a small group of students and should be focusing on reinforcing a topic

or lesson. They should not be teaching any full lessons, that is a responsibility of a certified

teacher, general education or special education, as well as creating lesson modifications that take

longer than a few minutes. Most students who work with one-on-one para-support need the full
attention making most of the lesson planning a task for the certified teacher. Tasks that do require

one-on-one support, like transportation assistance, can be done by the paraprofessional. General

classroom management should be primarily implemented by the certified teacher, and if

appropriate, include the paraprofessional.

Identify effective strategies for working with paraeducators including: a. collaborating; b.

planning; c. communicating, and d. supervising them.

When working with paraprofessionals, it is key to remember that they play a critical part

of the team and should be as involved as teachers. Paraprofessionals work very closely with the

students and can provide important information during the process of collaboration. Guidelines

and responsibilities need to be clearly outlined at the beginning of the collaboration process so

no team members feel their toes are being stepped on, a problem that has occurred before at my

school due to lack of proper collaboration. This then leads to effective planning of activities, and

should include what the teacher is responsible for and what the paraeducator is responsible for,

like supplies and work. Having open communication between teachers and paraprofessionals is

key and should include various avenues for effective communication, like conversations, logs,

emails, and texts. I know that as a paraprofessional, communication between teachers can be

extremely helpful and reassure that the best is being done for the student. Frequent conversations

between the teachers and support staff allow for topics to be discussed that are not appropriate

for text or email.

And finally for supervising paraprofessionals requires a level of trust between team

members. All need to feel that they are competent to complete tasks, as well as have authority to

implement any academic or behavioral interventions. This again then ties into communication, as

larger problems should not be left for too long without intervention. Most schools have yearly
evaluations of paraprofessionals that cover all aspects and tasks completed by the individual and

all are held to the same standards. It is all about making sure that paraprofessionals feel as they

are an important part of the team.

Describe in 2-3 paragraphs how the collaboration process pertains to teachers' interactions

with paraeducators.

The entire collaboration process is focused on working towards a common outcome with

multiple team members with different areas of expertise. Paraeducators should be involved in the

collaboration process if it immediately affects a particular student receiving services. When

creating plans for students who will be working with paraeducators and various other team

members, all team members strengths need to be considered. For example, a particular student

has two half day paras as the she can be physically demanding. Knowing your support team and

which members are able to rise to certain tasks allows the student to be more successful.

As paraprofessonials work very closely with students, they have insight on to what may

be working or not, something that is very important when evaluating the effectiveness of a

collaboration plan. Due to this and various backgrounds, they also may have great solutions to

problems. When all team members are valued the work that is given is always more effective

towards reaching the goal.