Current status and future directions in assessment of paraprofessional practices

Abstract

Paraprofessionals have become a significant portion of the educational workforce for students with or at risk for needing, or receiving special educational services. Although best practice and federal legislation require supervision of paraprofessionals by certified professional educators, research indicates that supervision rendered to paraprofessionals is often ad hoc, infrequent, and not based on data. We critically examined the availability and validity evidence of existing assessment approaches (published or publically posted) for evaluation and monitoring of paraprofessional practices in schools in the United States. Overall results from a systematic review of research literature and a review of materials made available publically by schools yielded 14 assessment tools with a focus on 18 constructs. Each assessment lacked reliability and validity evidence, and had limited utility for guiding paraprofessional supervision and professional development. Based on the larger paraprofessional literature and availability of assessments, a framework of recommendations for measurement development and validation is proposed. Specifically, we offer suggestions for domains of practice and validation efforts for evaluating forms of reliability, construct validity, and consequential validity for new assessment approaches for these important school personnel.

Clarity of the Educational Assistant Role: A Look toward Policy and Practices

“…Even so, that is one part of training, and I feel that mentorship and collaboration times within teams increasing could complement this sharing of knowledge. What stands out with bottom-up knowledge in several research articles is that there is reliance on paraprofessionals to support students at risk or with disabilities, yet teachers still wear a professional hat to uphold the training for EAs [42]. EAs have been referred to as 'inclusion ambassadors' that strive for classroom teaching, modelling, strategizing, and programming that could bridge inclusive legislature into classroom reality [8].…”

“…My hope for students and educators is that research and advocacy can build new understandings toward policy and practice connectedness to share in the responsibility of inclusive and equitable learning at all system levels. All levels have shared unique features from where they are situated, and whether at the micro, mezzo, or macro level, and sharing that broad or narrow view for all to hear will be part of an inclusive and equitable classroom story [42,[46][47][48][49][50].…”

A State-by-State Document Analysis of Official Guidance on Paraprofessional Allocation

“…We also used the internal search bar on web pages for each state to conduct specific searches for the terms “paraprofessional,” “paraeducator,” or “aide” to uncover any specific links that we may have missed. These keywords were chosen due to their common use in previous studies reviewing topics surrounding paraprofessionals (Giangreco et al, 2010; Lekwa & Reddy, 2021). We found 75 documents for 36 states through this process.…”