Competency Area G: On-the- Job Training of Paraprofessionals

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Competency Area GOn-the-Job Training of
Paraprofessionals
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On-the-Job TrainingCompetencies

• Provides opportunities for on-the-job training
  for paraprofessional skill development.
• Educates paraprofessionals of their legal rights
  and responsibilities regarding their student
  interaction, services, and instructional
  programming.
• Advocates for school and district to provide
  inservice training opportunities that are
  directly related to the daily work of
  paraprofessionals.
• Advocates for school and district to offer
  paraprofessionals a basic training in current
  issues and strategies related to the teaching of
  students with disabilities.

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Teachers Role -

• To provide on-the-job training to
  paraprofessionals regarding what they do with
  students everyday and to advocate for additional
  training at school and district level.

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Training - Joyce Showers (1980) as in Pickett
Gerlach (2003)

• Theory - skills, strategy or concept clearly
  described
• Demonstration - shows the skill or strategy in a
  realistic situation
• Practice - paraprofessional tries out the skill
  or applies the practice in a controlled setting
• Feedback - feedback is provided
• Coaching - occurs on-the-job while the
  paraprofessional works with students

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Coaching -

• French (2003) says that coaching is most
  important of all training practices because it
  allows for fine tuning of newly acquired skills
  until they become solidly cemented into the
  paraprofessionals repertoire.

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Content Areas in Which Paraprofessionals Have Had
Training (2000, 2003)Wallace, Stahl, Johnson
(2003)
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Content Areas in Which Paraprofessionals Have Had
TrainingWallace, Stahl, Johnson (2003)
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A Process Using MN Tools

• Paraprofessional and/or his/her supervisor
  complete the Paraprofessional Skills Inventory to
  identify existing knowledge and skills as well as
  gaps.
• Paraprofessional should begin list of prior
  training and experiences that align with
  competencies.
• Paraprofessional begins preparation of his/her
  Portfolio, which provides an avenue to show
  evidence of knowledge and skills aligned with the
  competencies.
• District offers and/or paraprofessional pursues
  additional training (Para elink, college courses,
  district workshops, etc.) needed as identified
  through the skills inventory.

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Paraprofessional Skills Inventory Core
CompetenciesParaprofessional Instructions -
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Paraprofessional Skills Inventory - Rating
Scale
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Paraprofessional Skills Inventory - Sample
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What is a portfolio?

• A portfolio is a systematic, organized collection
  of evidence used by the paraprofessional and
  those directing the work of paraprofessionals to
  monitor the growth of the paraprofessionals
  knowledge and skills in specific competency areas.

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What is the purpose of the paraprofessional
portfolio?

• Directed to paraprofessionals -- The purpose of
  this portfolio is to illustrate who you are now
  and who you want to be as a paraprofessional.
  This portfolio should be a reflection of your
  current and emerging self as a paraprofessional.
  Each section of this portfolio should contain
  entries (transcripts, certificate of
  participation) that illustrate evidence of your
  accomplishments in designated competency areas.
  A documentation sheet that explains how the
  entry/activity applies to your work as a
  paraprofessional should accompany each entry.

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How can paraprofessionals meet the competencies
thru the portfolio?

• College Course (transcript and syllabus)
• Para eLink (documentation)
• Conference/Workshop (certificate of
  participation)
• Demonstration/Skilled Competencies only
  (observation/documentation)
• Transferable Work Experiences (examples of work)

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Portfolio Documentation SheetKnowledge
competency
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Portfolio Documentation SheetSkil competency
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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Other training avenues -

• District workshops
• Courses offered through institutions of higher
  education
• Conferences (knowledge level information rarely
  skill level)
• Other -

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Training Plan and Documentation

• It is important to have a plan for addressing
  training needs AND to ensure it is documented.
  This documentation is important for the
  paraprofessional and the district.

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Support for ongoing training

• Effective organizations include professional
  development in their personnel practices because
  it ensures the presence of requisite skills in
  the workforce, helps provide equal opportunities
  for persons with diverse backgrounds, and aids in
  both recruitment and retention of competent
  personnel.
• - Crist, P. (1996)