Paraeducators in Special Education Programs

Focus on Exceptional Children, Oct 2003 by French, Nancy K

Special education programs are the single largest employer of paraeducators-also known as paraprofessionals, educational assistants, instructional aides, teacher assistants, and numerous other job titles. The tradition of employing lesser-trained assistants to help with students with disabilities began more than 200 years ago when ltard (1801/1962), a physician, employed Madame Guerin to assist him in his work with Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron (Boomer, 1994). At various times, special education programs have employed both professionals and paraprofessionals (Cruickshank & Herring, 1957; Gartner, 1971; Pickett, 1986; 1996).

The numbers of paraeducators employed in U. S. schools increased dramatically during the 1990s, at a national average of 48%, with some western states (e.g., Idaho) reporting as much as a 94% increase (National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2000). To put the growth in perspective, during that same time period, the student population increased by only 13% and the number of teachers increased by 18%. These numbers reveal a vital shift in the way we deliver special education services to students.

ALONGSIDE THE TEACHER OR ALONGSIDE THE STUDENT?

Although the prefix "para" in conjunction with the word "educator" signifies that someone works "alongside" an education professional, paraeducators work alongside special education teachers only in a figurative sense (Pickett & Gerlach, 1997). Paraeducators frequently provide instructional services alongside the student rather than alongside the teacher (French, 1998).

This shift in employment patterns parallels the medical field's shift in staffing patterns. At one time, doctors made home calls to provide medical attention to those who could not come to the office. Over time, it became less efficient and less feasible for physicians to travel. Eventually, lesser-trained personnel (e.g., nurses, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, paramedics) were employed to perform specified medical functions outside the presence of the physician and in settings far from the medical office or hospital. Increasing pressures for timely and affordable medical services thus have been addressed by employing personnel with sufficient preparation to perform the service or procedure but with significantly less training than doctors.

Similarly, reasoned speculation suggests that factors that have contributed to the shift in special education's use of lesser-trained service providers are (1) inclusion, (2) high academic standards, (3) legislative changes and litigation, (4) related services, and (5) shortage of fully qualified professionals (French & Pickett, 1997; Katsiyannis, Hodge, & Lanford, 2000).

Inclusion

Special education programs have a duty to include students with disabilities in general education settings and to provide necessary supplementary aids and services to make the settings effective (Etscheidt & Bartlett, 1999). One of the possible supplementary aids and services specifically mentioned in the law is a "teacher associate" or paraeducator. Moreover, IEPs (Individual Education Programs) must consider the provision of resources to the general education teacher, the paraeducator, and the student at a level not previously required by law (Etscheidt & Bartlett, 1999). Thus, to assure the success of inclusion efforts, special educators are spending more time consulting with general education teachers than ever before (Friend & Cook, 2003).

Students who are included in general education classes often require more attention and individual assistance than the general education teacher has time to provide. Classroom teachers believe that the inclusion of students with disabilities is more acceptable when the child is accompanied by a paraeducator and that paraeducators are a necessary component of inclusion (Bennett, Deluca & Bruns, 1997; Coots, Bishop & Grenot-Scheyer, 1998) Fisher, Sax, Rodifer, & Pumpian, 1999). But Giangreco (2003) pointed out the potential pitfalls of assigning paraeducators to classrooms that include students with special education needs. Classroom teachers might abdicate their instructional responsibility for the child, leaving the paraeducator to provide all instruction, entrusting the paraeducator with more responsibility than is ethically correct. Some general educators fall prey to the "training trap"-the illusion that whatever small amount of training a paraeducator has is sufficient justification for entrusting to him or her full responsibility for special education students (Giangreco, 2003). Moreover, some paraeducators have gained the impression that it is their duty to "protect" classroom teachers from being "bothered" by the included child (Marks, Schrader, & Levine, 1999).

In any case, special education teachers who are judged to be effective in including students with disabilities use paraeducators to support the curricular and instructional adaptations they design (Chopra, 2002; Chopra & French, 2004; Cools, Bishop, & Grenot-Scheyer, 1998; Downing, Ryndak, & Clark, 2000). Special education teachers in successful inclusion programs recognize that paraeducators can provide assistance, just as nurses can legitimately provide some medical services.