Betty Y. Ashbaker

Strengthening Schools Involving Paraprofessionals in Crisis Prevention and Intervention

Two important questions arise when creating a school crisis plan: (a) Who should be trained as part of the crisis team? and (b) What type of training will be the most effective and practical? The authors suggest that paraprofessionals are a valuable resource to consider for assisting with crisis prevention and intervention. Practical suggestions are made for preparing paraprofessionals to assist in this role.

Bilingual Paraeducators: What We Can Learn from Rosa:

Paraeducators (instructional assistants/aides) are typically hired from the local community, and increasing numbers are now being drawn from local minority groups. This enhances the linguistic and cultural diversity of the school and its personnel, and provides more culturally appropriate support for students. Care should be taken, however, to ensure these bilingual paraeducators are assigned appropriate roles and properly supported in their work.

Responding to Sexual Harassment in Special Education Settings

harassment permeates the culture of American schools. The majority of students report that they have experienced sexual harassment (American Association of University Women [AAUW], 1993, 2001; Dupper & Meyer-Adams, 2002; Shakeshaft et al., 1995; Stein, 1995, 1999; see box, “What Does the Literature Say?”). Few articles about sexual harassment and students with disabilities have appeared in the research literature (Stein, 1999), though our experience shows that sexual harassment occurs among all populations of students. Students with disabilities may lack the social skills and impulse control (Kavale & Forness, 1996) necessary to avoid participating in behavior associated with sexual harassment. These students may also lack the awareness of how their comments and actions affect others. School personnel may have questions about how to appropriately address student behavior that violates the school’s sexual harassment policy, but is related in some way to the student’s identified disability. We must balance the rights of all children to a safe and positive educational environment while also maintaining the rights of students with disabilities. Legal issues related to sexual harassment and special education suggest that special education teachers and administrators must understand what sexual harassment is, how it affects different people, and how to implement appropriate interventions and responses. This article shows how educators can deal with issues of sexual harassment, foster positive social behavior, and support a caring environment that facilitates student achievement.

Chapter 10 Teachers Supervising Teaching Assistants: Assigned Role or Discretionary Behaviour? Reflections from the United Kingdom

This chapter examines the teachers role as supervisor of support staff (Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the UK, school paraprofessionals in the US) – a role for which there is typically little administrative or infrastructural support. Working from a UK perspective, the chapter draws on research from the UK and the US to address questions pertinent to the education systems of all countries which employ paraprofessionals: What types of behaviours do conscientious teachers engage in to provide effective supervision to paraprofessionals? How do paraprofessionals view the supervisory behaviours of their supervising teachers? Given the important role of paraprofessionals, the high levels of expertise required by their assigned roles, and the uneven provision for their professional development, the chapter also makes recommendations for building the teachers supervisory role into the infrastructure of schools, rather than relying on its emergence as a discretionary behaviour.

Paraprofessionals in Special Education

This article focuses on the changing roles of paraprofessionals working in special education in the United States and United Kingdom. In addition, it discusses federal-level regulations, training requirements, and supervision requirements. While being employed as a paraprofessional, certain skills are required to effectively complete assigned tasks; these skills are identified and discussed. With the assignment of tasks within this workforce, current federal regulations identify the types of tasks paraprofessionals are allowed and not allowed to perform. Finally, trends are identified for future action.