Working Together

Abstract

Paraeducators have become vital contributors to service delivery in special education programs. The duties of paraeducators and their performance of those duties are much discussed but not well documented. The supervision of paraeducators falls largely on the shoulders of special education teachers who are relatively unprepared to assume this supervisory role. This study served as an initial exploration into (a) the relationship between 18 matched pairs of teachers and paraeducators assigned to resource programs, (b) the duties that these paraeducators performed, (c) their preparation for the job, (d) the quality of their work, and (e) the thinking of the teachers who held supervisory responsibility. Results indicated that the paraeducators served primarily in instructional roles and that their performance was satisfactory. Teachers were divided in their beliefs about the fundamental role of paraeducators---whether they were assistants to the teacher or assistants to the student. Teachers said, in many different ways, that they were reluctant to provide supervision, and preferred to think of paraeducators as peers rather than supervisees.

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