Paraprofessional Training: Is it Currently Best Practice?

Editor's Notes

• #2: Jennifer Boudreau, Ed.S., Curriculum Leader, Facilitator, MCAS Alternative Assessment Specialist and Teacher of students with Significant Disabilities at the South Coast Educational Collaborative’s (SCEC) Pre-Vocational and Bridge programs, has been with SCEC since 2000. She holds an Ed.S. in Special Education Administration and a Master’s degree in Special Education. She is licensed as a Special Education Administrator and a Teacher of Children with Intensive Special Needs. Jennifer is also a MCAS Alternative Assessment Trainer for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Jennifer is currently enrolled in the Doctoral Program through Northeastern University and expects to graduate in September, 2011.
• #5: *For many years, educational researchers have been trying to determine the skills required of paraprofessionals. (Chung, 2006; Frith & Lindsey, 1982; Giangreco et al., 1997; Giangreco et al., 2001; Lamont & Hill, 1991; Pickett, 1981, 1986: Stallings, 2000). *In summary, they have found that a great deal of higher level thinking and working skills are required compared to the time when instructional assistants did simple clerical tasks for teachers. *They found the following skills and knowledge necessary for assisting in the classroom: (a) content knowledge (reading, writing, mathematical computation and reasoning), (b) thinking skills (creative thinking, decision making and problem solving, etc.), (c) interpersonal relations (leadership, communication, teamwork, etc.), (d) personal qualities (responsibilities, integrity, self-management, etc.), and (e) competencies that require very specific and advanced training (human growth and development, behavior management, laws, etc.).
• #6: *The various titles attached to paraprofessionals, reflect the variety of roles and responsibilities assigned to this subgroup of the special education team.(California Education Code, 2008; French, 2003; Moody, 1967; Pickett, 2002; Pickettt, Gerlach, Morgan, Likins & Wallace, 2007; Shadgett, 1967; Young, 2006). *Today’s paraprofessionals may be found in a pre-kindergarten class for children with special needs, out in the community serving as job coaches for students with developmental disabilities, in a resource room for adolescents with learning disabilities, in a substantially separate classroom, or in a heterogeneous classroom (French, 1998). *Despite these varied settings and responsibilities, paraprofessionals’ skills are often not effectively or efficiently developed or supported by school systems.(D’Aquanni, 1997; Fletcher-Campbell, 1992; Pickett, 1999).
• #12: *These increasing demands for and incorporation of paraprofessionals also indicates a need for an investigation into the types of training that will help to support their development and facilitate their contributions to special education services.(Aldridge & Goldman, 2002; Carpenter & Dyal, 2007; D’Aquanni, 1997; Milner, 1998; Pickett, 2002; Young 2006).
• #13: Data driven expectations in schools for student and teacher performanceSupervision issues: New teachers are inadequately trained to supervise paraprofessionals.Retirement of teachers who know how to partner with paraprofessionals.Case loads of special education teachers have increased.Increased focus on statewide and nationally mandated tests.
• #30: Within the current special education teacher-training curriculum, future teachers seldom receive any information or instruction on the appropriate ways to include and supervise paraprofessionals in the day-to-day work of the classroom and both paraprofessionals and teachers require further training regarding the most effective ways to incorporate paraprofessionals into the classroom.(Hilton & Gerlach, 1997; Scheuermann, Webber, Boutot, & Goodwin, 2003);(Marks, Schrader, & Levine, 1999; Scheuermann, Webber, Boutot, & Goodwin, 2003 ). *Poorly defined roles, responsibilities, and lack of direction decrease the effectiveness of paraprofessionals in classrooms and may contribute to a decrease in achievement of student receiving assistance from the paraprofessionals.(French, 2003; McKenzie, 2008; Pickett, Gerlach, Morgan, Likins & Wallace, 2007; York-Barr, Sommers, Ghere, & Montie, 2006).
• #32: *According to the research, this type of training needs to address: (a) the increasingly sophisticated roles that paraprofessionals play in every classroom; (b) the lack of clarity regarding classroom-based roles for teachers and paraprofessionals; (c) the need for effective collaboration between paraprofessionals and their supervising teachers; (d) the lack of explicit strategies to support teachers’ supervision and training of paraprofessionals in their classrooms; and (e) the lack of administrative structures needed to support paraprofessionals and their supervising teachers (Giangreco, Edelman, Broer and Doyle, 2001; Likins, 2002).
• #34: *The work performed by paraprofessionals will vary depending upon teachers’ expectations, paraprofessionals’ skills and experience and job assignment. Paraprofessionals are primarily responsible for assisting and supporting teachers or other certified licensed staff.*However, their actual role is determined by the program director, the teacher and the teacher’s interpretation of the role.*The lack of alignment between the teachers’ and paraprofessionals’ interpretation of these responsibilities can result in a negative impact on student learning .*Over time, strengthening the qualifications and professional development of all instructional paraprofessionals will eliminate disparities and enhance the quality of education that all students receive.(Carnahan, Williamson Clarke & Sorensen, 2009).
• #35: The purpose of this case study is to identifyall of these within four substantially separate classrooms at SCEC.The data that is collected will be utilized to identify unique characteristics of training needs. From this the researcher will develop recommendations for a training program that is based on a thorough review of best practice and the strengths and weaknesses of the current process as revealed by the case study.
• #38: *The proposed project meets each of these conditions. The case study approach is also appropriate because the researcher is studying a phenomenon that is inseparable from the context in which it occurs and includes many more variables than data points (Yin, 2009). *The phenomenon that is being investigated is a complex organizational issue with a large number of interconnected variables. For example, there are many different types of classrooms, students, and student needs that need to be addressed that the paraprofessionals need to be trained to deal with. However, the researcher will study how these different variables function within a small group of middle school supervisors, teachers and paraprofessionals.
• #39: Site: The learning organization serving as the focus of this research study is the South Coast Educational Collaborative. SCEC is located in Swansea, MA, which is on the boarder of Mass and Rhode Island. *SCEC service students in over 44 districts located in Mass and Rhode Island. *SCEC currently services 239 students ages 3-22 all diagnosed as having special needs. *The student’s needs vary from moderate to severe in all areas of functioning.*SCEC currently employs 34 licensed teachers and 71 paraprofessionals.Participants: A purposive sampling selection strategy (Maxwell, 2005) was used to identify the participating paraprofessionals, teachers and supervisor for this study.*Within SCEC, teachers and paraprofessionals who currently work in the middle school substantially separate classrooms were invited to participate in this study, because according to Maxwell (2005) “This is a strategy in which particular settings, persons, or activities are selected deliberately in order to provide information that cannot be gotten as well from other choices” (p.88). *The researcher has chosen to focus on the middle school level programs because they are self-contained classrooms within two public school settings in Somerset and Swansea, Mass. *All of the other SCEC middle school classrooms are in substantially separate buildings and are not included into the regular public school settings so the researcher did not deem them as appropriate for this study. *These four classrooms are the target areas/classrooms for this case study and provided the researcher with a great deal of information regarding the issues and concerns of the problems of practice. *This group of participants also provided the research with a range of employees that have been employed at SCEC for as long as 15 years to as short as 1 year. *This gap has helped the researcher capture some of the history and some of the improvements that have been achieved over the years.
• #40: Interviews: Is the primary selection that will be used as a means of collecting data to address the research questions in this study. As Merriam (2009) states, “Interviewing is necessary when we cannot observe behavior, feelings, or how people interpret the world around them; it is also necessary to interview when we are interested in past events that are impossible to replicate” (p. 88). All of the participants will be interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol, asking a set of open-ended questions. The interviews will start with open-ended questions and will be followed by probe questions which will be employed to help the researcher focus the participants to share information about their experience as opposed to opinions or ideas that they think the researcher wants to hear (Merriam, 2009). A semi-structured interview protocol was selected for this study to ensure that the researcher could focus the participants on describing their perceptions and thoughts in relation to the problem of practice being researched. All three protocols are designed to solicit similar content and all are parallel in structure. Wording is modified to reflect the role differences among interviewees. The content of the protocols was developed based on the literature review, the theoretical framework and the research questions.Observations: Informal observations will be conducted in all four SCEC classrooms in Somerset and Swansea, Massachusetts. According to Merriam (2009), “observations can be distinguished from interviews in two ways. First, observations take place in the setting where the phenomenon of interest naturally occurs instead of a location designated for the purpose of interviewing; second observational data represents a firsthand encounter with the phenomenon of interest rather than a secondhand account of the world obtained in an interview” (p. 117). Each classroom will be observed on five different occasions for one hour each. This will provide the researcher with an opportunity to observe each classroom on a variety of different occasions, days and times, and allow for different topics to be covered and different dynamics to be observed.Documentation Review: According to Merriam (2009), documents are a third major source of data collection in qualitative research (p. 162). The researcher will review numerous documents related to the role of the paraprofessional and any references to their preparation and development at SCEC. Documents included, but are not limited to, policy manuals, program handbooks, job descriptions, job postings, induction program handbook, web-site information and memos (Yin, 2009).
• #41: Interviews: After each interview, the researcher read and summarized the field notes to highlight key findings, record initial thoughts and emerging questions, and identify areas that needed further clarification. The individual interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. After each case study was completed, the researcher analyzed the data within each interview to develop a complete picture of the events, processes and relationships between factors from each level of the organization. STAGE ONE: The first step in analyzing the data included reading and reviewing the interview transcriptions, observational notes, researcher memos and documents that were analyzed. Transcription were completed by the researcher herself. However, once the audio files were transcribed to the computer the researcher had to go back to ensure accuracy. Listening and reviewing the transcriptions provided the researcher with an opportunity to analyze the data for the first time around. During this listening, writing and reading process, it provided the researcher with the opportunity to rewrite and reorganize her rough observation notes and create notes and memos about what the researcher sees and hears in the data, and the researcher started to develop tentative ideas about categories and relationships in the data (Maxwell, 2005). STAGE TWO: Of the data analysis included categorizing and coding the data that has been collected. In qualitative research, the goal of coding is to “fracture” (Strauss, 1987, p. 29) the data and rearrange it into categories that facilitate comparisons between things in the same categories that aid in the development of the theoretical concepts. To begin the coding process all interview data was placed onto color coded card stock so that the researcher could easily rearrange the data in order to help identify themes or categories within the data. The color coded card stock was first be sorted into the seven categories identified in French’s (2003) framework which include staff orientation, planning, delegating, sharing of information, performance monitoring, on the job-training or mentoring and professional development opportunities. *Any data that did not initially fit into any of the categories was placed into a miscellaneous pile and was reviewed periodically as the data collection process continued to see if any other themes or categories emerge from this data. When no new or relevant information was uncovered, then the data collection and analysis processes was ceased (Merriam, 2009; Seidman, 2006).STAGE THREE: Of the data analysis, it included a data management “that consisted of a systematic, coherent process of data collection, storage and retrieval that served as three purposes: ensuring high quality, accessible data; documentation of just what analyses have been carried out; and retention of data and associated analyses” (p.180).With this in mind, the researcher utilized several strategies to manage the large amounts of data that wascollected. Interviews were digitally-recorded and transcribed within two days of the interview. The transcriptions and memoing notes are stored in a Word File on the researcher’s computer and backed up on an external hard drive. Observation notes and documentation reviews were also transcribed as soon as possible after the completion of each one. This aided the researcher in remembering key concepts, themes and ideas that emerged during these stages of the data collection process. These transcriptions and the memo notes written during these times are also be stored on a Word File on the researcher’s computer and backed up on an external hard drive. All field notes, research journals and memos are organized and maintained in a standard file cabinet for easy access. Management and analysis of the data will be facilitated by the use of NVivo software, a qualitative analysis research tool (NViVo 9, 2010). NVivo will provide an analysis across various data configurations, such as across case studies and across different levels of the organization (NViVo 9, 2010). It also allows for individual segments of data to be coded for multiple themes, which will provide a means for relevant data to be accessed and utilized in addressing multiple research questions and emergent analytic themes (NViVo 9, 2010).
• #42: These are a list of topics that Paraprofessionals mentioned during their interview process of trainings that they would like to participate in and see more training offered in.
• #48: *This presentation has demonstrated how the intended research project responds to the problems of practice related to paraprofessionals and the gaps that have been identified in the literature. *The purpose of this proposed research project was to develop a better understanding of the specific roles and responsibilities assigned to paraprofessionals who work in substantially separate classrooms. *This information will ultimately assist school districts in creating more relevant job descriptions and providing appropriate training for paraprofessionals. *Having a specific job description for paraprofessionals will facilitate and guide appropriate paraprofessional training. *The current research on the supervisory role of the teacher and direct supervision of paraprofessionals will be used to clarify the teachers’ role in paraprofessional training and was used as the theoretical frame work for this study. *The intention of this investigation is also to lay the groundwork for a case study that will contribute to the research concerning the roles, responsibilities, training and supervision of paraprofessionals. *Additionally, this work seeks to assist others in understanding and adequately addressing paraprofessionals’ changing roles and training needs.  
• #50: *It is the researcher’s belief that a systematic focus on the roles and responsibilities of classroom paraprofessionals will help to build a stronger educational environment for students by providing both paraprofessionals and lead teachers with the core knowledge, competencies and skills required to collaboratively strengthen the special education programs.*At SCEC there has been an increase in the number of paraprofessionals that are required to service the students that are presently enrolled (SCEC Union, 2010). SCEC employs seventy-one paraprofessionals; there are more paraprofessionals than teachers. *As the need for paraprofessional increases, there is going to be a greater demand for these educators to have proper, timely and valuable training before they enter the classroom. A formal internal training program to complement the training that takes place prior to entering the classroom, is needed to maximize the contributions the paraprofessionals make in the classroom, and in order to develop an effective training program, this proposal outlines a research project that will answer some of the fundamental questions that will allow the staff at SCEC to start to develop this type of effective training program.
• #52: *To this end, the recognition of paraprofessionals as vital members of the school’s educational team will become a priority.