ADVOCACY PLAN 1

Advocacy Plan
Rachael Artig
December 7, 2016

Sonoma State University

ADVOCACY PLAN 2

A paraprofessional is a teachers aide in a self-contained classroom that teaches

children with physical and mental disabilities, called a special education classroom. A

paraprofessional is not licensed to teach, but rather works in support of the teacher.

They are assigned to work one-on-one with a student or just assigned to a classroom.

Their tasks include supervision of students, supplementing classroom curriculum with

additional activities, setting up equipment, and in more severely handicapped children,

feeding, lifting, or sometimes cleaning. In the state of California, to be a

paraprofessional in a special education classroom you are required to have a high

school diploma and a minimum of two years, forty-eight units, of college completed in

no specific concentration (cde.ca.gov). This means that the paraprofessionals in special

education classrooms are often not trained in child development or special education.

Although the tasks are listed as more supportive duties, many times paraprofessionals

assist in teaching the class when they are not qualified to do so. Our children with the

most challenging needs and behaviors are being taught by the least-qualified

individuals.

The paraprofessional position started in 1989 with about 100,00 nationwide. In

2016, there are over 1.5 million paraeducators in the United States. The No Child Left

Behind Act is designed to help children who are disadvantaged succeed academically.

Title 1, Part A states that the role of the paraprofessional is to reinforce a teachers

efforts with the students and classroom; however, often times paraprofessionals are

being utilized for teaching despite their lack of qualifications (www2.ed.gov). The goal of

Title 1 was to require a higher set of standards from their paraprofessionals and that the

students are only receiving support from them. In order for children with special needs
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to receive the highest quality of care and support, the aides working in those

classrooms need to be qualified to do so. I believe that paraprofessionals need to be

qualified with twelve units of early childhood credits and have taken classes in special

education before becoming a paraprofessional in a classroom for children with special

needs.

It is our ethical responsibility to employees to require further training. It is not the

job of the teacher to run the classroom, delegate individual tasks to the aides, and be

responsible for training their paraprofessionals. In order to utilize paraprofessionals in a

successful way, we need to have them qualified to do the job so they are supporting the

teacher instead of adding an extra burden. In the NAEYC (National Association for the

Education of Young Children) code of ethics, measure ideal 1-3C.4 states that it is our

responsibility as a school administrator, to encourage and support continual

development of employees in becoming more skilled and knowledgeable

practitioners (naeyc.org). Instead of setting the expectation that the paraprofessional

will learn on the job, it is our responsibility to offer and encourage further education. The

ethical responsibility we hold to our children is even greater. The very first ideal, I-1.1, in

the NAEYC framework is that it is your ethical responsibility as an educator, to be

familiar with the knowledge base of early childhood care and education and to stay

informed through continuing education and training (naeyc.org). In order to provide a

successful, high quality program for our children we need to have teachers and

paraprofessionals who are well educated within the field of early childhood. In our

classrooms for children with special needs there are paraprofessionals working in the

classroom as support and working one-on-one with students. In order for that to be the
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most effective, they need to understand the basic developmental periods of a child. With

special needs kids, aides need to have an understanding of behaviors and physical

needs in these children. To achieve what the framework wants of having employees that

are competent in child development, there needs to be further professional training

offered within the job.

One of the challenges that is faced today is that there is a large need for

paraprofessionals. In my interview, I asked Rita, a paraprofessional for over fifteen

years in a special education preschool, how many positions for paraprofessionals were

open in her school. She said, There are eleven classrooms on campus. There have

been times that there is a more severely handicapped classroom that needs help so Ill

go over there for a bit because we are so short in staff and have a hard time finding

substitutes. The need for paraprofessionals is so great that the requirements for the job

are so minimal just to get people to apply. Which brings me to the next barrier in getting

more qualified people into the paraprofessional position. Those that possess higher

qualifications (i.e., an associates or bachelor degree in child development) are seeking

much higher paying teaching jobs. According to glassdoor.com, the average salary for a

paraprofessional in California is $25,000 annually; whereas, A special education

preschool teacher, who has an associates degree and twelve units of child development

accomplished, will earn $3-5,000 more. One of the barriers with this goal is that the

school district cannot afford to pay the paraprofessionals more and because of that they

are losing higher quality employees to higher paying jobs.

The main stakeholder that is effected by this is the children that are being taught

by the paraprofessionals. The students are not getting high quality education if their
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aides, whom they are frequently being taught and cared for by, are not trained on how

to support their behaviors and special needs. Another stakeholder in this issue is the

childs family. If a family does not feel like their child is getting the support they need in

the classroom it might be the fault of one of the teachers or aides in the classroom. This

is cause for families to feel uneasy about sending their child to one of these programs or

in knowing that their child is getting the education they need. Teachers in the classroom

are also directly effected by having paraprofessionals who are under qualified. If the

teacher is not supported by the paraprofessionals, but rather has to train them on the

job, it could cause there to be a heavier workload on the teacher and potential conflict

amongst them.

One of the stakeholders directly effected by this problem is the employees that

are not receiving the proper training. In my interview, I spoke with a woman who has

been a paraprofessional for fifteen years. Prior to becoming a paraprofessional she had

an associates degree obtained over thirty years ago and had worked in a bank. She had

no prior experience with children with special needs but has worked in a preschool for

handicapped student for several years. Over the past fifteen years she has been in

charge of putting together curriculum activities for circle time and small groups, has feed

children with special feeding equipment, and has had to speak to parents about their

children. When asked where she received the knowledge on how to do these tasks, she

spoke about how it was all on the job experience. One of the tasks that she performs on

a regular basis is creating the curriculum for circle time and small groups. Which means

that someone who is not qualified to do so is coming up with curriculum. The main

problem she had was dissatisfaction with her job. She felt that she could go back to
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school to get more training, but there was no pay raise incentive to do so. Another

reason she felt she did not need to go back to school was because she is already

expected by the teacher to perform higher responsibilities in the classroom.

A supportive resource I found for paraprofessionals in special education, is the

National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals (NRCP). What the NRCP does is

provide support and information about policies, management practices, and career

development for paraprofessionals. They hold a national conference each year where

paraprofessionals can go and receive training and meet a community of others who

work in the field. The resource center also focuses on recruitment to the career and

direct online and in person training for paraprofessionals and teachers.

For my short term goals I wanted to offer paraprofessionals resources to do their

own outside professional development. The first thing I did was make a flyer for

paraprofessionals for the California Paraprofessional Conference. In the flyer,

paraprofessionals will be able to see what kind of classes are available, how it is

funded, and how to sign up for it. I wanted to take this flyer to the severely handicapped

classroom where Rita works and put it up in the break room, with the permission of the

principal. To support my flyer, I wrote a letter to the superintendent of Solano County

schools to see if the funds for professional development could be allocated towards this

upcoming conference. General Title 1 schools are required, to support ongoing training

and professional development to assist teachers and paraprofessionals (Section

1114(b)(1)(D) & Section 1115(c)(I)(F) of Title I). I sent the letter in hopes that he would

consider the proposal and help his staff attend the conference. My last short term goal

was to create a resource list for paraprofessionals with a brief description of each on
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some other free resources for professional development. I would like these resource list

to be provided in the office of the program where Rita works so it would be available to

all staff as needed.

A solution for this I would like to see in the long term would be is to have more

specific requirements for paraprofessionals and a pay raise that accompanies that. By

specific requirements I mean requiring paraprofessionals to have at least twelve units of

child development taken and a special education class. My short term goals were

geared towards making the paraprofessionals we have now stronger and well educated

in the classes they are assisting in. Paraprofessionals are such an important asset to

out special education community that it is so imperative that we support them

professionally and use them to the best of their ability.

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References

Events. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.csea.com/web/Events/Annual-Conference/

Conference-101

National Resource Center for Paraeducators. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://

www.nrcpara.org/

Paraprofessional Requirements for Title I Programs. (2016, July 18). Retrieved from

http://www.cde.ca.gov/nclb/sr/tq/paraprofessionals.asp

Paraprofessional Salary. (2016, November 21). Retrieved from https://

www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/paraprofessional-salary-SRCH_KO0,16_IP5.htm

Title I - Improving The Academic Achievement Of The Disadvantaged. (2005, June 21).

Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg2.html

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Short Term Goals

Flier

20th Annual California

Paraeducator Conference

Scheduled
classes:
Behavior 101

Cognitive Behavior
Intervention

Dealing with
Difficult Behaviors,
Could it be
This year, the California School Employees Association is offering Communication?
paraprofessionals to meet with others in their field for a fun chance to grow
professionally! For each of the three days, you will have the opportunity to Juvenile Justice
attend workshops that discuss topics that you might want to learn more Students
about. There is a registration fee of $109 per person in attendance; however,
Positive Psychology
all Title 1 schools must allocate funds to support professional development
and Mindfulness
and this event could qualify for that. CSEA also offers a $250 subsidy to
help aides afford attending the conference. In order to apply for the subsidy, Recognizing and
visit www.csea.com and fill out the application before January 28, 2017. Responding to
Student Depression

Where? When? How? Understanding

Anxiety in Students
with Autism
Ontario Convention Register by
Center and many more!
March 14-16, 2017 March 1, 2017 at
Ontario, CA www.csea.com
ADVOCACY PLAN 10

Letter to Superintendent

November 10th, 2016

Jay Speck, Solano County Superintendent of Schools

Solano County Office of Education
5100 Business Center Dr.
Fairfield, CA 94534-1658

Dear Mr. Speck,

Today I am writing to you to share with you an opportunity for the

paraprofessionals in your school district to gain professional development. The
California School Employees Association hold a conference for paraprofessionals
every year and this year it will be in Ontario, California. At the conference
paraprofessionals and teachers are invited to attend seminars on various subjects that
would be beneficial to their career working with special education children. The
classes are on topics such as behavior intervention and working towards
understanding your student with Autism. I think this would be a great benefit towards
not only the staff moral, but the childrens education as well. I am a child of two
parents who have worked within the county in special education classrooms. From my
experience with them, I know how frustrating it can be on the teachers, students, and
administrators when the classroom has a paraeducator who is under qualified. I
believe that this conference is a fun and engaging way for paraprofessionals who can
not afford to go back to school to enhance their education in child development.

There is a cost to attend the conference; however, I know that the school has a
budget allocated for professional development. My goal for this letter was to bring
this idea to you and to see if it was possible to use the funds provided for Title 1
schools towards sending staff to this conference. I think it is our ethical responsibility
to make sure we are offering our paraprofessionals the highest quality and recent
education for them to succeed in their career and as a result push our students to
succeed as well. For more information about the conference the website is, http://
www.csea.com/web/Events/Annual-Conference/Conference-101. Thank you for your
time.

Sincerely yours,

Rachael Artig
ADVOCACY PLAN 11

Resource List

RESOURCES FOR PARAPROFESSIONAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Description How to get involved Cost

ESSA and A webinar that To register to watch The cost is free for
Paraeducators: discusses the No the webinar, go to watching the
Opportunities for Child Left Behind the website webinar online.
Engagement, Act and how it www.events-
Empowerment & relates to na5.adobeconnect.c
Claiming Your paraprofessionals. om.
Seat at the Table
Solano A 24 unit program Register for classes $211 per unit
Community or 3 unit classes to through solano.edu
College Early deepen your in the fall or spring
Childhood understanding of semester.
Education child development.
Program The classes are
also aimed to
prepare students to
work successful in a
classroom setting
once completed.
National Resource A newsletter and Go to nrcpara.org to Free to sign up!
Center For resource center for learn more about
Paraeducators paraprofessionals. the organization
On the website,
paraprofessionals
are able to gain
news about laws
and opportunities
across the nation
that are directly
effecting their jobs.