Recruiting Paraeducators

The pervasive and chronic shortage of instructional assistants for special education is critical given that special education teachers in Oregon have identified adequate numbers of well prepared instructional assistants as the single most important factor in providing a supportive teaching and learning environment.

This Brief and those in coming months will explore issues and resources related to the retention of paraeducators.

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This month's strategy brief focuses on another resource from the University of Vermont, Developing a Shared Understanding: Paraeducator Supports for Students with Disabilities in General Education, developed by Giangreco et al., 1999.

This online resource includes sections on acknowledging paraeducators; orienting and training; hiring and assigning; interacting with students and staff; roles and responsibilities; and supervision and evaluation. Throughout the article it provides links to additional resources.

The article is available full text on the University of Vermont website http://www.uvm.edu/%7Ecdci/?Page=parasupport/shared.html#top