Back at the small school in Indiana where I taught 20-some years ago, the chief maintenance man was called "the mayor" because at times he seemed to be the one who was really running the school. 

I thought of the mayor when I read a recent piece from teacherken, a widely read teacher-blogger at Daily Kos about all the members of the school team that contribute to children's education. 

Teacherken writes:

Far too often when we talk about those who work in the schools, our focus is limited to teachers and administrators.  As a teacher I know the importance of quality people in both roles.  But these ae not the only adults who make a school work, who help make the school a place of learning.  Thinks of the teachers’ aides who assist in the classroom,  the custodians who maintain and clean the school, the cafeteria workers who feed the students, the secretaries and clerks who handle the massive amounts of paperwork, the bus drivers who ensure that students get to and from school safely. These are Education Support Professionals.  That’s right.  I used the word "Professional" deliberately.   And far too often we ignore them, perhaps because  we do not give them the professional recognition to which they should be entitled.

As most good teachers understand, no school can be successful without good people working as classroom paraprofessionals, school secretaries, cafeteria workers, custodians, maintenance workers, and other positions that don't have the title of "teacher" or "principal."

Posted by John at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have become one of those mothers who periodically hides her child's favorite books because she is so tired of reading them.  On the current "hide list" in my house are I'm a Big Brother, When Mommy and Daddy Go to Work, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and The Wheels on the Bus. The last book is particularly insidious because, like a Wiggles song, it is difficult to dislodge from your mind as the soundtrack for the day. 

Why does the song The Wheels on the Bus remain popular with little ones over the years?  I can't really say--my little one loves it despite never having been on a bus.  However, I do know that I had great affection for my bus drivers throughout my elementary school years.

It's therefore nice to see that the Thomas Built Buses Company recently honored a bus driver nominated by one of the children she drives to school each week.  Elaine Brogan, an AFT member who has been driving a bus in Branchburg, NJ for 17 years, received an all-expense-paid trip to the National Association of Pupil Transportation show in Kansas City, MO, and the student who nominated her received a laptop and a $1,000 educational savings bond.  I'll let you decide who got the better prize.

The doors on the bus go open and shut . . .

Posted by Michele at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Maybe it's just because I am eight months pregnant and in the homestretch, but I am feeling pretty optimistic these days. Or, it could be that I can't get the Wiggles song, Hat on My Head, out of my head (Hat on my head, sunny today, hat on my head, sunny today--I'll be OK.) Whatever it is, my glass-half-full outlook has Eduwonk calling me a "propagandist" for this post.  What a curmudgeon!

So, I'm approaching this piece of news with my sunny outlook--that only 60 paraprofessionals in Baltimore need additional time to meet NCLB requirements and the state is going to give them until June to do so.  I know what you're thinking, that this is the wrong kind of "flexibility," but I have to disagree.  The fact that only 60 out of the over 1,800 paraprofessionals working in Baltimore schools--that's about 3 percent--need additional time is good news.  (Hat on my head, it's sunny today . . .)

Posted by Michele at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Posted by Beth 

When NCLB was enacted, it ramped up requirements on what paraprofessionals may and may not to do. The law specified that paras needed to work under the direct supervision of a teacher, which includes not being assigned to work as a substitute teacher.

The AFT is surveying its para members to see if these provisions of the law are being implemented. The good news--they are. The bad news (to some)--is they are not being fully implemented in many places. According to AFT para members, before NCLB was passed, 47 percent provided instruction without working under the supervision of a teacher. Now, only 36 percent report that they do so. And before NCLB, 42 percent report that they were asked to work as a substitute--that number has now dropped to 34 percent.

The other news from the survey results thus far is that "instruction under the direct supervision of a teacher" is a gray area subject to interpretation. Here are some comments from paras in that situation:

• I work 1:1 with an autistic child. Every lesson the teacher gives, I go over for further understanding for my student.
• Under certain reading reforms, paras provide instruction without working under the direction of a teacher on a daily basis.
• The teacher will be gone with students for over an hour 3 days a week. Myself and the other para in the room have 4 kids we are in the room with doing instruction for that hour.
• I work as a literacy aide. I am expected to take small groups of students on my own in the afternoon for instructional support in reading. In the morning I work in the classroom.
• But I will teach the class when a teacher is not present. Someone has to take charge!

And substituting can be a dicey situation for a para if a supervisor asks her to do so:

• Support staff are always called on to sit in a classroom when a teacher has to go to a meeting because a parent came in for an unscheduled meeting, or the parent is late for an IEP meeting so the teacher is late getting to their class.
• My understanding is that my job description states my duties plus "other" duties. Principals have told me that "other" means that I could be used in any capacity depending on the need.

It is a good thing that these folks belong to a union that advocates for protection of their job responsibilities!

Posted by Guest at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dick Dalton at The Life that Chose Me provides a followup to his post last week that chronicles how he became a para and includes his reflections on that experience.  See whatcha think.

Posted by Michele at 06:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Over at The Life that Chose Me, Dick divides special education paraprofessionals into three categories, those who:

1) Want to eventually become teachers;

2) Are in transition (waiting for their children to get older or for another job); or

3) Are lifers (don't need the money, aren't going back to school, have done other things).

I'm curious to hear if our readers think he gets it right. Dick also talks about the tradeoff between low status but fewer headaches for paraprofessionals.  Is this part of the bargain?

Posted by Michele at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Those who were around for the incarnation of NCLB will recall that some who lobbied for the law's paraprofessional standards seemed more interested in pushing paraprofessionals out of the classroom than in helping them do their jobs better.  Their "logic" was something like, "Title I is not an employment program."  But the AFT had long-recognized the need for standards, and we seized the opportunity to use them to negotiate for long-needed professional development for paraprofessionals that would make their classroom assistance more effective.

To that end, the AFT developed Meeting the Standards for Paraprofessionals (MSP): A Research Based Approach, adapted from AFT’s Educational Research & Dissemination (ER&D) program. Working with our affiliates, we have helped over 1,200 paraprofessionals meet the NCLB requirements. 

And, based on the feedback we have received, paraprofessionals who participated in the MSP program report feeling more prepared to do their jobs well and feel they will be of greater assistance to teachers and students in the classroom.  Let's hope that states and districts don't just see getting paraprofessionals qualified as a box to be checked, but instead understand the benefits of high-quality professional development for paraprofessionals to students and schools.

Posted by Michele at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Long before NCLB imposed educational requirements on paraprofessionals working in Title I schools, the AFT was the leading champion for high standards and certification for these school employees. Many school districts and about a dozen states have established such standards, with Connecticut the latest state to move toward developing standards for the employment and training of paraprofessionals.  AFT Connecticut was instrumental in convincing the state to conduct a comprehensive study looking at whether the state should establish statewide minimum standards for public school paraprofessionals who perform instructional tasks, and whether it should establish different categories for paraprofessionals. Kudos to AFT Connecticut for working towards the professionalization of this vital segment of the school workforce!

Posted by Michele at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've received a number of comments from people who learned about our blog -- and in particular about the posts we've done on paraprofessionals -- through the National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals News. 

The comments are on old posts, but, because paraprofessionals are key players in the effort to improve education, I thought I'd highlight the comments on paraprofessionals' pay:

Posted by John at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Ed at AFT 

Among its many changes, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) increased the qualifications for paraprofessionals, often called teacher aides, who work in instructional settings. These staff, formerly required to have a high school degree, would now have to get either an Associate’s Degree or pass equivalent certification or test. And thousands of paraprofessionals have striven to meet new requirements.

The average annual earnings of a worker with an associate’s degree were $33,000 in 1999, and median weekly earnings were $672 in 2003. Teachers Aides are among the lowest paid workers not only in schools, but in the nation, earning an average of $20,750 in 2004. In way too many places, the salaries of these workers do not meet a standard necessary to provide a basic family budget that includes childcare, transportation, food, housing and taxes (click the link to get to the Economic Policy Institute’s very cool family budget tool). Did raising standards lead to improved compensation?

Between 2000 and 2004, wages for all workers (unadjusted for CPI) rose 14.5 percent, and wages for teachers aides rose 15.5, so "no" is probably the answer. But in the last few months there are signs that better things are happening, perhaps due to better state fiscal conditions. In New Mexico, for instance, Gov. Bill Richardson signed a budget that includes a 9.5 percent increase for teachers assistants. The legislature in Alabama, over Governor Bob Riley’s veto, passed a 5 percent increase for all education classified workers. Workers making less than $20,000 will get a $1000 raise, meaning a worker making $15,000 will get 6.7 percent.

I wouldn’t have made it through my first year of teaching (in a special education high school program in NYC) without the help of aides whose bilingual skills, understanding of the IEP process, community connections, institutional memory and ability to work one on one with kids were phenomenal. So I see this kind of recognition as credit where credit is due. Now that we’ve raised standards and started to raise salaries, perhaps all that’s left is to raise a glass

Posted by Guest at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)