Paraprofessional Essay

Paraprofessionals have been in the classroom in some facet since the time of World War II to help aid the teacher shortage. At this time and for many of the following years they have been known under many names such as teacher aid’s or classroom helpers. However, as their responsibilities have changed so too have their titles (CITE K). With many aspects of education, as the landscapes begin to change, so to do the legal presentences. Schools must fully comply and understand the changing and evolving legal parameters in order to ensure they are in compliance and not exposing themselves to possible lawsuits. Examining the legal terms in place concerning paraprofessionals, two definitions are imperative to understanding the requirements that are expected. The reauthorization of IDEA in 1997 states that paraprofessionals are able to conduct special education services provided that they, “...are appropriately trained and supervised under state standards to assist in the provision of special
Koegel, Kim & Koegel, suggest that training paraprofessionals can be done in a short period of time (an hour) with favorable results (CITE C). Workshops are seen as cost and time effective and ultimately productive. The structure of workshops can vary depending on length, however, Hall et. al. illustrate a workshop that involved the use of lecture, literature and finally supervised implementation of the interventions learned, first in a role playing exercise then with a child volunteer (CITE I). Utilizing workshops allow many paraprofessionals to gain realistic and evidence-based strategies for effective implementation of interventions and many staff members find it beneficial to their work. However, workshops often do not allow for continued maintenance of skills. Additionally, the effectiveness of workshops to generalize to the classroom is questionable (Hall et.