THE RESPONSIBILITIES, DUTIES, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS Of SPECIAL EDUCATION PARAPROFESSIONALS IN AN URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

Bertolero, Kristin

Peacock Scholarship

THE RESPONSIBILITIES, DUTIES, AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS Of SPECIAL EDUCATION PARAPROFESSIONALS IN AN URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

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Using paraprofessionals to meet the social, self-care, and instructional needs of special education students began in the 1960s. The roles, duties, and expectations for these paraprofessionals evolved over the subsequent fifty years. Special education paraprofessionals play an important role in the education of students with disabilities. Since the inclusion of students with disabilities in nationally mandated assessments, their utilization has increased (Brenton, 2010). The research literature has shown that these paraprofessionals have not received adequate training for, or supervision while, performing their responsibilities and duties. Findings from the literature also highlight that these individuals provide a disproportionate amount of instruction to students with disabilities when compared to certified educators. This study focused on the responsibilities, duties, and professional needs of special education paraprofessionals in kindergarten through sixth grades. Using a concurrent mixed methods design, it utilized a three-part survey and one-time interviews to inform recommendations for expanding data collection and creating a sustainable learning community for the specific sample analyzed during this study. The current study found that many of the responsibilities and duties of this sample of special education paraprofessionals are different from those revealed in previous research. According to their responses, they do not operate independently, and they spend a significant amount of time following the teachers’ lessons plans and working under the teachers’ direct supervision. This sample of professional development needs focused on duties and responsibilities that they would like to learn more about or perform better, including training in behavior management and one-on-one tutoring.

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