Search Results (7)

Paraprofessionals play a crucial role in supporting both teachers and students within a classroom, even though the specifics of their duties vary. While their responsibilities involve supporting student achievement, research has shed light that many paraprofessionals feel unprepared for their responsibilities in the classroom. This study aimed to address a gap in the existing literature by exploring how a professional development program that mirrors the trainings special education teachers receive would impact paraprofessionals and help them feel more prepared for their responsibilities in the classroom. Employing a generic qualitative methodology, this study sought to capture the experiences of 43 paraprofessionals. Data collection involved an online open-ended questionnaire at the start and conclusion of the school year. The study’s outcomes revealed five patterns in the data: (a) paraprofessionals struggled with collaborating with classroom teams at the start of the school year, (b) paraprofessionals struggled with managing student behavior at the start of the school year, (c) professional development was helpful to most of the paraprofessionals, (d) professional development led to better preparedness to address challenging behavior, and (e) professional development led to better preparedness to address the instructional needs of students with disabilities. Following a thorough analysis and synthesis, these patterns were condensed into two general themes: the importance of professional development for paraprofessionals and the importance of presenting the professional development that teachers receive on a continuous basis to paraprofessionals as well. These findings are significant for school leaders and educators, as they highlight the importance of providing professional development to paraprofessionals while supporting students with disabilities. Full article

During the 2023–2024 school year, a school district in Northern California was in its second year of implementing community schools at five elementary sites. District leadership strived to better understand families’ views and definitions of inclusion. Twelve listening sessions were held with target schools’ parents, families, and caregivers. Participants in the sessions emphasized that inclusion should be a mutual, universal process that fosters a sense of belonging. Concerns were expressed about how students in Special Day classes are excluded from their general education peers, with a call for increased inclusion in general education. Positive experiences included after-school programs, language representation, and awareness initiatives. The observed benefits of inclusion ranged from increased community engagement and positive updates to a joyful environment, academic and social development, enhanced parental involvement, confidence, and the promotion of understanding and empathy. Identified challenges included class size concerns, lowered expectations in Special Day classes, language barriers, funding disparities, and insufficient training for staff working with students with disabilities. Recommendations for improving inclusive practices involved providing enhanced parent information, advocating for smaller class sizes, ensuring highly trained paraprofessionals, and ongoing professional development on inclusion and Universal Design for Learning. Full article

This paper reports on an ethnographic research study with experienced K-12 teachers and paraprofessionals in Western Canada to understand (1) the language and literacy needs and challenges of students with refugee experiences; and (2) the pedagogical responses used to build trusting, collaborative relationships of power. Our theoretical framework draws on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model, which we align with a literacy ecology of communities perspective. Working with 15 participants in a school district with a long history of resettlement, we address the following questions: (1) What do teachers and paraprofessionals identify as the language and literacy learning needs and challenges for students with refugee experiences? and (2) What are the most appropriate and empowering pedagogical responses to meet curricular expectations and use language and literacy for social impact and identity representation? Using thematic analysis, we identify four interweaving themes: relationships, mindful pedagogies, well-being, and safety. We provide illustrative examples from ethnographic focus group discussions, triangulated with informal interviews and observations in relation to an integrated model of supports for students with refugee experiences. We conclude with four critical lessons learned about relationships, communication flows within and across nested ecological systems, flexibility and structure, and inspirational pedagogies. Full article

Violence against teachers has received increasing attention worldwide, with high rates of verbal, threatening, physical, and property violence in schools. Teacher-directed violence contributes to poor mental and physical health, high rates of turnover, and diminished student achievement. Despite these findings, there is a dearth of research on violence experienced by paraprofessionals who play key roles in supporting students with the greatest learning and behavioral needs in schools. Using a sample of 1993 paraprofessionals, this study is one of the first to investigate paraprofessionals’ experiences of violence in school settings. We found that the rate of student violence against paraprofessionals was 37% for property offenses, 49.5% for physical violence, and 54% for verbal and threatening violence. Further, we employed a socio-ecological model of individual, classroom, school, and community factors to predict paraprofessional experiences of violence from students in schools. Negative binomial regression results revealed that student-staff relationship problems and student behavioral concerns were positively related to verbal and threatening, physical, and property violence against paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals working in elementary schools were more likely to report physical violence compared to those working in middle or high school settings. Implications for research and educational practice are also presented. Full article

This study focuses on undergraduate student paraprofessionals who facilitated peer study groups for academically challenging college courses. A grounded qualitative research study of these student facilitators at an institution identified their professional identity development in unexpected ways that went against written policies for teacher attitudes and behaviors. Rather than perceiving themselves as peer study group facilitators following a narrow job description, many of them referred to themselves as teachers and acted accordingly, breaking the boundaries of behavior established by the study group program administrator. This article unmasks this professional identity emergence, postulates the mechanism for this choice, presents a model to explain it, and makes recommendations for talking openly about this identity and the subsequent behaviors that occurred as a result by the facilitators and the implications for the PAL program. Full article

One foundational aspect within the essential skill of literacy is reading comprehension. While students can learn comprehension strategies in a variety of settings, students with disabilities have shown increased success in inclusive classrooms with instruction supported by both general education and special education staff. To address the needs to increase the reading comprehension outcomes for students with intellectual disability as well as increase the fidelity of use of evidence-based practices by school staff (general education teachers, special education teachers and paraprofessionals) within instruction, an interactive action research study was implemented in five schools in one school district in the United States. The study was designed to use action research to create a model of professional development with extensive coaching support surrounding evidence-based practices as well as the development of resources to support co-planning and adaptations within instruction in inclusive classrooms. Results indicated that both purposes were met within the study with several implications for practice as well as the development of a second iteration of the model using student outcomes and frequent educator feedback. Full article

There is considerable demand for special education services for the over half a million students with autism in the United States. While assistive technology may augment educational services, its implementation is often prevented by a number of practical and attitudinal barriers. These barriers are especially pertinent for the newest and thus least familiar digital systems, such as computerized smartglasses loaded with specialized software modules. Computerized smartglasses are a technology that has already been shown to have an ability to deliver educational interventions through augmented reality. With this in mind, we sought to understand how school educators received and assessed the practicality of a smartglasses-based educational intervention in a single-subject study. The intervention was designed to aid with attention and social educational learning in autism. The intervention was delivered twice a day during a two-week study on a 13-year-old student with autism who was attending a mainstream middle school in Massachusetts. Three different school educators delivered the intervention: the student’s general education teacher, special education teacher, and paraprofessional. Educators recorded their attitudes, the practicality of the technology, and its impact on the student and their classroom through the use of a digital log and a series of in-person interviews. Overall, the school educators experienced a positive view of the smartglasses. The smartglasses intervention was found to be logistically practical to implement, easily usable by both the educator and student, and not time-consuming to learn or implement. Educators also identified the experience as being fun for the student, and felt that the student demonstrated improvement in his verbal and non-verbal skills. There were no adverse effects on the other students or the classroom, and the technology did not result in a distraction. These findings suggest that social skills interventions delivered by smartglasses may be practical, useful, and may lead to improvements in social communication skills. Further research on smartglasses may help to clarify the future role for augmenting special education in students with autism. Full article