Tips From Teachers: Working with Paraeducators By Sarah Douglas

1. Tips from Teachers:
Working with Paraeducators
Sarah N. Douglas, PhD
Michigan State University
sdouglas@msu.edu

2. Introductions
• Name
• Your experience working with or as a
paraeducator
• Current position
• Organization

3. Background
Teachers
• Feel paraeducator supports are essential to quality
education for children with disabilities (Hilton &
Gerlach, 1997)
• Feel unprepared for supervisory role (Wallace et al.,
2001)
• Report insufficient training in supervisory roles
(Wallace et al., 2001)
Paraeducators
• Report insufficient preparation (Riggs & Mueller, 2001)
• Rely on supervising teacher for instruction and support
(Riggs and Mueller, 2001)

4. Background - Study details
Semi-structured interviews with 13 special education
teachers nominated for their supervisory practices with
paraeducators
• K-6 classrooms serving students with low incidence
disabilities
• Teaching experience: 5-33 years
• Case load: 4-26 students
• Student diagnosis: OHI, Autism, SLI, ID, MD, ED, ADHD,
TBI, VI, physical disability
• Number of paraeducators supervised: 1-6
• Paraeducator supervision experience: 5-29 years

5. Tips from teachers
• Create effective teams
– Team Members/Roles
– Teamwork
– Important Qualities (Respect/Communication)
• Ensure Appropriate
Training/Feedback/Evaluation
• Recommendations for the field
– Teacher training
– Paraeducator training

6. Create Effective Teams
Team Members/Roles
• Special Education Teacher
– Accountability for what happens in the classroom
• “If [paraeducators] are not doing their job then my students are
not benefitting from what their academic day could look like.
Ultimately the ball is in my court and I need to make sure they are
making progress.” – Teacher J
-Documentation
• I “keep a log of any concerns of anything that I have because
documentation is very important especially in these days with
students, with adults, with anything like that.” – Teacher H
– Schedule/Plan
• “It’s really important [to share the schedule/plan] so that there is
no conflict between paraprofessionals or between teachers and
paraprofessionals.”- Teacher B

7. Create Effective Teams
Team Members/Roles
• General education teacher
– Provide feedback to special education teacher
• “I get feedback from the general education teacher .” - Teacher A
• “I keep in close contact with the [general] education teachers.” –
Teacher E
• Administrator
– Responsible for evaluations
– Support special education teacher in supervision of
paraeducators
• “Every once and a while my supervisor will check in with me and say
‘how’s this change working’ or ‘how’s this person doing’.” - Teacher B
– Most teachers were well supported by administrators
• “All of the [administrators] I’ve worked with have always been very
supportive. I can call them…if there is a situation that would arise.” –
Teacher J

8. Create Effective Teams
Team Members/Roles
• Paraeducator
– “They are my eyes and ears” – Teacher K
– Follow training/plans provided by teacher
– Provide reinforcement of skills/supplemental
instruction
– Documentation for student services
• “Documentation is very important when you are
dealing with education…anytime there is any kind of
contact, I need to make sure it is logged. I need to make
sure I know.” - Teacher K

9. Create Effective Teams
Teamwork
• Make paraeducators feel part of the team
– “Make [paraeducators] feel part of the team because I think
sometimes that they are forgotten and they get a little bit offended by
that.” – Teacher C
• Solve problems/make decisions as a team
– “[We} brainstorm our ideas as a team about what works and what
doesn’t work.” – Teacher G
– “Having team thinking is just key.” - Teacher M
• Work together closely
– “We work extremely closely together, physically, and academically.”-
Teacher A
• Teamwork easier with familiar team members
– “[We’ve} been together for about ten to fifteen years…she is as good
with my data collection as I am because we have worked together for
so long.” – Teacher J

10. Create Effective Teams
Important Qualities - Respect
• Treat paraeducator as an equal
– “I would never ask them to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself” –
Teacher A
• Communicate respectfully
– “I look at it as how I wanted to be treated…I wanted to be a very
positive influence for the students as well as the people that come in
and out of the room.” – Teacher J
• Show appreciation for each other
– “I’ve tried to let [my paraeducators] know how much I appreciate
them…we all enjoy hearing when we are doing a good job.” – Teacher H
• Paraeducator who feel respected are more motivated
– “If you treat people with kindness, and show them that you respect
them…treat them the way you want to be treated, they will want to
know what they can do differently.” – Teacher K

11. Create Effective Teams
Important Qualities - Communication
• Modes (Written notes, text messages, email, verbal)
– “We do a lot of email exchange….it’s a good way to keep us both on the
same page and have it in writing so we can refer back to it.” – Teacher B
• Communicate regularly
– Schedule times to meet
• Share ideas/concerns
– Brainstorm together
– Discuss concerns/changes
• Topics with Paraeducators
– Review expectations
– Student needs/plans (Provide written instructions)
– Schedules (Provide copies)

12. Ensure Appropriate Training
“It is your job to provide information to them and get them what they need to
know.” – Teacher M
• Method
– Formal/Informal
– Discussion/Modeling/Coaching
• “If I can handle it in terms of a conversation that’s my first step so
that it doesn’t feel as formal or judgmental.” – Teacher D
• “I definitely think discussion is an important piece, but observing
.... I definitely think you need both.” – Teacher M
– Extra support and training for new/struggling paraeducators
• “Someone new, I might do more modeling and might take more
time to establish all the things we have talked about.” - Teacher H
• Content
– Data collection, paperwork, CPR/first aid, academic/social/behavioral
methods for students, inclusive practices, student specific information

13. Ensure Appropriate Feedback
• Observation
– In general and special education
– Observe frequently
• Especially for new or struggling paraeducators
– Measure progress
• “While I am taking data on the student’s progress I will
also…monitor how [the paraeducator] is doing.” – Teacher D
• Feedback
– Corrective/Supplemental/Reinforcement
• “Don’t just tell them what they do wrong…tell them what
they do right.” - Teacher K
– Immediate/Delayed
• “If I think it is something that can be easily corrected…I just
quickly step in and show them.” – Teacher L
– Feedback in private

14. Ensure Appropriate Evaluation
• Conducted by Administrators
– Some teachers initiate feedback about paraeducator
performance
• “I frequently will email my supervisor and say so and so is doing a
really good job or I really like the way she stepped up or how she
initiated this and followed through with it or things like that .” –
Teacher F
• Method
– Typically done at the end of year
– Some conducted midyear
• “It used to be done at the end of the year, but now we do it
halfway through the year that way they have tome to improve
upon anything if they need to.” – Teacher L
– Evaluations need to be more informative
• Most of the time they just get “great, you are doing a wonderful
job” and just kind of move on. It’s not as informative as I’d like it to
be.” – Teacher D

15. Recommendations for the Field
Teacher Training
• Content
– “I would certainly want to have conversations about how to resolve
conflict, how to manage your classroom when you have more than just
yourself, how to work with different personalities.” – Teacher J
• Managerial training
– “I would really put in managerial training, almost the training you
would get in business courses on how to appropriately manage
people. I think it should be a mandatory part of special education,
because you’re going to have staff that you have to manage.” - Teacher
D
• Practical experience
– “I think it’s really important to see paraeducators in action – helping a
student in an inclusive setting, helping a student in a special education
classroom. I think that’s the best way to really see what works.” -
Teacher B

16. Recommendations for the Field
Paraeducator Training
• Paraeducators need more training
– “They only have 20 hours a year…and it concerns me a lot,
because when you have the low incidence population
there are so many different areas that could be covered.” -
Teacher K
– Truthfully, we don’t have a lot of training for teachers or
paraprofessionals because of budget; honestly, it’s not
even an option.” - Teacher B
• Teachers can share what they learn in training with
paraeducators when they are not able to attend

17. Questions
• Do these suggestions match with your
experiences?
• What other suggestions would you provide?
• Do you think the recommendations would
match any teacher supervising a paraeducator,
or do you think they are specific to the age
and student type?
• Other questions?

18. References
• Hilton, A., & Gerlach, K. (1997). Employment, preparation
and management of paraeducators: Challenges to
appropriate services for students with developmental
disabilities. Education and Training in Mental Retardation
and Developmental Disabilities, 32, 71-77.
• Riggs, C. G., & Mueller, P. H. (2001). Employment and
utilization of paraeducators in inclusive settings. The
Journal of Special Education, 35, 54-62.
• Wallace, T., Shin, J., Bartholomay, T., & Stahl, B. (2001).
Knowledge and skills for teachers supervising the work of
paraprofessionals. Exceptional Children, 67, 520-533.