Resources for support staff

NEA Today, Sep 1999

Job Evaluation Blues?

Too many job evaluation processes are merely paperwork without meaning or, worse, a way to play "gotcha" with employees.

A new NEA pamphlet, Job Evaluation: Do's and Don'ts, attempts to change that with tips and suggestions for ensuring that evaluations are a tool for documenting and improving job performance.

For a free copy, contact the NEA ESP Program, 1201 16th St., NW., Washington, DC 20036, 202/822-7131. Or read it on the Web at www.nea.org/esp/resource/jobeval.htm.

For Paraeducators

Looking for training materials for paraeducators who work with children and youth with special needs? For instructional modules ($25 each, includes s&h), contact the National Resource Center for Paraeducators, CASE/CUNY, Room 620, 25 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036, 212/642-2948. Send E-mail to apickett@email.gc.cuny.edu. On the Web: http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dept/case/nrcp/.

The Minnesota Paraprofessional Consortium-a group of classroom, union, state agency, and university staff-has a Web site full of resources for paras. Check it out at http://ici2.coled.umn.edu/para/resources/resource.htm.

Security Guards

The U.S. Department of Education has published Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools to help school personnel, parents, and community members identify early indicators of troubling and potentially dangerous student behavior.

Find it on the Web at www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/earlywrn.html. Or order free printed copies from the ED Pubs Ordering System, ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794, 877/433-7827.

Health Problems

Why can't Christopher go out in the sun? How does Sam deal with being teased by other kids? And why didn't Trudy tell people about her medical problems?

If you work with students with serious health issues, you, your students, and their classmates may want to pay a visit to the Band-Aides and Blackboards "Sampler" Web page at http://funrsc.fairfield.edu/~jfleitas/sampler.html. The site. created by a nursing professor, aims to help students growing up with medical problems.

Bus Safety

Want a fun way to teach elementary students about bus safety? The Pupil Transportation Safety Institute offers a 16-page activity/coloring book ($.40 each for quantities of 50-199), plus posters, videos, and other training materials.

For details, contact PTSI, 443 South Warren St., Syracuse, NY 13202, 800/836-2210. Fax: 315/475-5033. E-mail: info@ptsi.org. On the Web: www.ptsi.com.