Teacher Aides / Paraprofessionals
AR 4222.00
TEACHER AIDES/PARAPROFESSIONALS
Paraprofessionals are auxiliary personnel who work directly with professional educators to assist them in discharging their professional duties. Instructional aides, tutors, noontime assistants, and various similar categories are included within the definition of paraprofessionals.
Purpose of the Paraprofessional Aide Programs
Purposes of the paraprofessional aide programs are to:
1. Assist teachers in providing more individualization of instruction to their classes.
2. Relieve teachers of many nonteaching duties and tasks.
3. Build an understanding of school problems among citizens, thus stimulating widespread involvement in the total education process.
Kinds of Services Provided
The kinds of services which paraprofessionals perform will vary according to local building site needs. Services generally fall into one or more of the following areas:
1. Relieving the professional of clerical, noninstructional, house-keeping, and/or certain instructional tasks.
2. Giving special aid to students with difficulties such as English as a second language.
3. Giving special aid to students with an Individual Education Plan.
Responsibilities of the Principal
The principal's responsibilities include:
1. Responsibility for both volunteer and paid paraprofessional aide programs at his/her site.
2. Organization of the programs within the school.
3. Responsibility for evaluation of paraprofessional at his/her site.
4. Promotion of good staff-paraprofessional aide relationships.
5. Responsibility for input into the evaluation of the paraprofessionals at his/her site if requested.
Responsibilities of the Teacher or Staff Person using a Paraprofessional
Responsibilities of staff using aides include the following:
1. Become familiar with paraprofessional aide programs and their materials through orientation sessions.
2. Direct and supervise each aide.
3. Provide guidance for each aide.
4. Determine specific duties to be undertaken.
5. Work cooperatively with others in charge of the programs.
6. Implement the key pointers described in the handbooks for teachers and staff.
7. Assure that confidential information is treated as such.
Responsibilities of Paraprofessional Aides
Paraprofessionals must be members of a professional team dedicated to working for the best interests of students. All members of the team are expected to be loyal, courteous, cooperative, industrious, and dependable. They must accept responsibility to act with the highest ethical standards as they share with educators the common purpose of educating students, because the commitment is a professional one.
Responsibility to the Student
Responsibility to the student imposes the following obligations:
1. Assuring the school that any personal information about the student will remain confidential.
2. Enjoying the working relationships with students and valuing their achievements, however modest they may be.
Responsibility to the Paraprofessional Programs
Responsibility to the program imposes the following obligations:
1. Being able to accept differences in people, values, standards, goals, ambitions, and having respect for individual integrity.
2. Maintaining consistent and regular attendance.
3. Being reliable and flexible.
4. Having sufficient sense of organizational procedures to be able to accept discipline while working in a positive manner within the established structure and policies of the school.
5. Being willing to acquire skills needed to be of value to the school programs.
6. Discussing any specific problems with the supervising staff member or the principal.
7. Using discretion in commenting on school matters, including the performance of individual paraprofessionals or other school personnel.
Responsibility to the School
The responsibility to the school imposes the following obligations:
1. Recognition that the professional staff will specify the tasks aides will perform, the authority aides will be given, and the information and materials aides will use.
2. Acknowledging that criticism of school personnel and/or school practices is an ineffective and unsatisfactory method of improving public education.
3. Understanding that regulations and procedures of the school are to be followed at all times.
4. Treat as confidential any information regarding individual students, school personnel or parents.
Responsibility to Self
Responsibility to self requires each paraprofessional to:
1. Maintain positive attitudes.
2. Accept the responsibility to help all students.
3. Be responsible for his/her own actions.
4. Know his/her role and be able to express what that role is to the community in a positive manner.
5. Maintain personal cleanliness.
6. Wear appropriate clothing (avoiding extremes).
7. Use appropriate language.
8. Give full cooperation to the total school staff.
KETCHIKAN GATEWAY BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Adoption Date: 10/13/99