Indiana Paraeducator Support Project

	Interviews with Paraeducators
	What are you doing?

ParaViews: Thoughts from the Field

Visiting with Paraeducators
During April and May, 2003, Stacia Pleasants had the opportunity to talk with a number of Indiana paraeducators and learn about why they became paraeducators as well as begin to capture their perspective on their role, their training, and their concerns.

About the Interviewees | Important Aspects of the Work | Kinds of Training Opportunities to Date | Reflections ... About the Job | Reflections ... About Training | Reflections ... About Support | Reflections ... About Recruiting Ideas | Reflections ... About Worries/Concerns

About the Interviewees

Maria Herrera
I originally was a hospital worker in Mexico. I finished high school and I have three years of college. I worked at the hospital for 10 years. Then I moved to California and I worked in the Los Angeles public school system for 3 years where I worked in the library, the cafeteria, and as a teacher’s aide. I was in California for 14 years altogether, and then moved to Indiana. Here in Indianapolis I started out working at Arsenal Tech High School in food service, but -- by doctor’s orders -- I had to quit when my finger got infected because I was allergic to the food! I wanted to stay in the schools, and a friend of mine is a friend of a school principal. She found out from the principal that there was a teacher’s aide position open in IPS #114. She told me about it and I got the job.

Wanda Hubbard
I have been a paraeducator for 25 years, all 25 of those years at Indianapolis Public Schools. For the first 20 years, I was at School 15. But, when enrollment dropped, they did away with the all-day kindergarten class where I was working. And so, I went to School 88 as an inclusion assistant for K-4. I wanted to have another full-day kindergarten class because that’s where my heart is. When an opening for one came up at Arsenal Tech High School, I moved to that classroom until I felt I needed to be closer to my home while I was at work. Last year, a position opened for an inclusion developmental transition 1st grade assistant in School 114. That school is close to my home; so, I took that position.

Connie Jones
I graduated from Arlington High School here in Indianapolis in 1991, and went to work at Kindercare learning center where I worked with toddlers up to four year olds. I was there for about six years. In 1998, I applied to Indianapolis Public Schools to work with Title I kids in reading and math. These were kids who scored low in reading and math on tests and so my job was to work with them to provide extra help. We would take the kids out of the classroom and work with them in groups. I did that for about 2 years and then I transferred to be a classroom assistant in a regular education classroom. I am now in a special education classroom where I have been working with students with severe disabilities for the past three years.

I was drawn to this job because I really wanted to learn more about kids. I thought this could happen more at IPS -- plus, I thought it would give me more experience in the teaching field which is what I am interested in.

Tulani Langa
I have been a paraeducator for two months. I have a doctorate degree in Educational Psychology from Harvard, and I am waiting for my Indiana teaching license, so that I can teach again. My wife is from Indiana, my children are in school here, and I am enjoying being in the classroom.

At Harvard I did an internship with a program called “Short Stop,” where I worked with students identified as emotionally handicapped (EH). I got my bachelor’s degree with a major in abnormal psychology, so I had some knowledge of emotional disabilities. Then, in Merrimac, New Hampshire, I worked with adolescents in a vocational school setting, and these students also had emotional handicaps. In Indianapolis, I did some work with the inmates at the women’s maximum security prison. So, I have had experiences previous to being a paraeducator that have helped me to understand and work with the children here at this school.

Anna Pershing
The two school years that I worked as a paraeducator, I stumbled into the positions. The first year, I was waiting for my teaching license to come in and signed up to be a substitute teacher. In my first assignment, I was assigned as a high school aide in special education. I enjoyed the assignment enough that, when the teacher offered it to me, I took the position full-time as a paraeducator. I worked there for one year and then came to IPS. I worked as a Professional Development Substitute Teacher (PDST) member for one year, and was offered a position at 114 as a paraeducator. I took that position so that I could be at the same school and with the same students everyday.

Becky Spurgeon
This is my third year as a paraeducator and I’ve been at the same school for those 3 years. I was looking for something different besides hairdressing. (I’d been a hairdresser for 30 years.) As a child I’d always wanted to be a teacher. I was also interested in having my summers off. Three ladies who came to me to get their hair done worked for the school system (IPS) and one of them helped me get on board there.

Jan Weimer
I have been a paraeducator since 1994 in the New Albany-Floyd County School Corporation. I was working at Blue River Services at the day care there that served children with special needs. At this time, the schools were starting inclusion and, knowing that I was working with children with special needs, a friend of mine asked me to apply to the school district as a classroom assistant for the inclusion of two different children. I worked with one child in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

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Important Aspects of the Work

Maria:
I love the kids! Most beautiful for me is to see the progress of the kids. I need to look at the behavior of these kids and see them – see how they change and learn I am very happy to be working with these kids. It is hard work to work with them. Yet, this is something very important.

Wanda:
The most important part of my job is the influence I have to affect a child’s life… I feel I can give children the attention and love that they need and make a big difference in a child’s life. I think anytime you treat someone the way you would want to be treated, it will make a big difference.

Connie:
Teaching the kids. I am a one-on-one assistant, but I interact with all 11 children in the class. Each time I work with them, I and they learn something. Everyday I see where the kids and I have grown and made progress from the beginning of the year.

Tulani:
The most important part of my job is working with children with emotional disabilities. The assistant must become an extension of the teacher. This is very important because the work is simply undoable with just one person. I do a complementary job to the teacher.

Anna:
Making sure that the students I work with understand what they’re doing. I want my kids to be able to have the benefits and advantages of the other students. It is important that their assignments and work are presented so that they can complete them to the best of their ability.

Becky:
The most important part of my job is the children and being sensitive to their needs. These children are special. They are precious. They need a lot of love and patience. We have to try to be sensitive to what they are trying to communicate to us

Jan:
The most important part of my job is helping the students have the best day possible. It is important that I am an assistant not only for the student I work with; but, also, for the other students in the class and the teacher.

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Kinds of Training Opportunities to Date

Maria:
I don’t have any formal training for this position. I have orientation training on PBA days. That is helpful, because the trainers talk about special education terminology which is useful to me. I also get to hear guest speakers talk about their jobs and what they do. That way I know what these people can do to help the children in my class. I also like the classes I am taking as part of a study group. Those are nice to talk and learn what others are doing in their classes.

Wanda:
On-the-job training really has been my best experience. I have been trained by many different teachers. I have learned different techniques from different teachers. They don’t all teach the same!

I have been involved with a study group where we shared different ideas, and it was a very good training opportunity. I liked the way we shared different ideas about discipline and how to work with special needs children. I’m new at this special needs job, so this series of meetings helped me. We were also supplied with lots of good materials.

I took a computer class at Arsenal Tech High School a few years ago. There was a teacher I was working with at the time, and she was going to take it, and I didn’t know much about computers, so I decided to take it too. It was a beginning course, and it helped me out. I didn’t even know how to turn on a computer before the course.

Connie:
When I first started in the classroom for children who have severe disabilities, I didn’t know much about my role; but the teachers and the physical therapist explained everything. They taught me how to talk with my one-on-one student, how to take him in and out of his wheelchair, and how to interact with him. The teachers and physical therapist have been great! They give me lots of advice on how to help my student…and any other student!

Tulani:
In our weekly meetings with a facilitator, we have learned to really focus on the positive aspects of our job, not just see the negative parts. We brainstorm, we exchange ideas, and we do a lot of reflections on what we are doing in the classroom. This is really important and helpful.

Anna:
The hand-on experience, that’s the best way to learn. The material you read in the college classroom is pointless unless you can use it in the classroom and learn from your mistakes. The hands-on experience really helped me; I knew nothing about special ed or disabled children at all until I stepped into the classroom. It is really a necessity to learn by watching and listening to other people. The best experience I ever had was the hands-on. It taught me so much. It’s more education then I learned from school, unfortunately. Eight years of college did nothing compared to the hands-on training.

Becky:
The classroom teacher is an excellent teacher and I have learned a lot from her. It has been fascinating and a real blessing to watch her work and from her I have learned much!

I’ve also enjoyed study group meetings/classes with a facilitator where we come together once a week after school. We come together and share and I look forward to more times with the group next year.

We have PBA days, which are _ days, and those are helpful. We usually go to a different school and the district has different people come in and speak. The motivational speakers have been good. The chaplain of the Indianapolis Colts, Ken Johnson, was really good for us to hear. Sometimes you might think you are not making much headway in teaching, but he made us realize that we are helping children because we are there and we care. I think he would be a good speaker for the students to hear, too – especially the older students.

IPS has offered us a 10-week tutoring program (on Tuesdays for 3 hours) to prepare for the ParaPro Assessment test that we have to take. These have been very helpful. I’ve attended with two of my co-workers and the three of us will get together again the week before the June 28 test to review our notes from the tutoring sessions.

Jan:
I have had some training in autism, and I have had some training in behavioral modification strategies. Mostly I have had on-the-job, hands-on training, where you have to think on your feet all the time. Yes, I have had lots of that kind of training! And, I keep my CPR updated.

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Reflections ... About the Job

Maria:
I don’t know how to explain it, but even though my English is not perfect, I really communicate with the kids. I really enjoy talking to them and working with them. I thought it would be hard, but I have a lot of job responsibilities and I do them pretty well. I take the children to their specials, and to lunch, and when someone gets mad, I talk to them, and they respond well to me. I have to work hard with these kids, but it all works out for me and for them!

Wanda:
I feel I can give them the love and attention that they need and make a big difference in a child’s life. I think anytime you treat someone the way you would want to be treated it will make a big difference.
Tulani:
This job is so stressful. This job is too much for one person. The assistant is there to be helpful, to be a real complement to the teacher, to work together.

Anna:
There are a lot of things you need in this job! You need the emotional stability to be able to work with kids with disabilities and the hardships that they are going through. You need to be able to be sympathetic to them but not baby them. That’s the main thing. A lot of people think that people with disabilities need to be babied, that they need to pamper them. That’s not true. Kids with disabilities need to be treated like any other kid.

Becky:
I’m working with one of the best of teachers and I’ve got God’s help. A lot of it is hands –on learning experience. You learn as you go along with the children – they are all different.

Jan:
I go in, and I just have a ball. You just got to put forth the effort. Be willing to help, ask questions and be a team player. Establish a good relationship with the whole school staff because you never know when you’ll have to ask them

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Reflections ... About Training

Wanda:
Training opportunities have helped me to understand how to deal with all kinds of behavior problems. I’ve had training on positive behavior, and I think it has helped to understand how to deal with all kinds of behavior. I have discovered in this inclusion developmental class that not all behavior problems are the same and they have to be dealt with in different manners.

You are never too old to learn something. You can always learn. For example, I would like to learn more about special needs children so I could do a better job. There are so many different special needs, and I don’t think I have all the answers, so I would like more training.

Connie:
I would like to learn or have training on how to teach children things like tying their shoes, going to the bathroom, self-help skills. How do we teach these things to children with their special needs?

Tulani:
I would like to see more feedback and more exchanging of ideas, like we do at our weekly meetings with our facilitator.

Anna:
Probably a more detailed look at the disabilities that the kids have. Information that we could use to be more effective with the kids. The best thing to help them is to know what their limits are and to know what they are capable of doing. I would like to see more training on the technology that is available. When I started working with my student this year, he wasn’t using any technology because I didn’t know there were any programs he could use. Then, through a teacher who just happened to hear what we were talking about, we got a math program that was very effective for his disability. I would like to be informed of any kind of technology that will allow the students to be more independent and move on in their education.

Jan:
Training opportunities make me a better paraeducator. As far as dealing with situations I am faced with and offering suggestions for serving the student I work with, they are very helpful, be it with literature or advice. I try anything they give me.

I would really like to see a shadowing or mentoring program put into place. We ask too many people to jump into special education with cold feet. It would be really helpful to have a para be a mentor, to help somebody, to be a support person. It takes a special person to do this job. This could help someone make it through all the tough beginning days, so they don’t give up -- because if they just stuck with it, they could turn out to be a good paraeducator.

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Reflections ... About Support

Wanda:
The teachers that I work with are an important support. They are good supports. The principal is there for support. District level PBA workshops provided by the Central Office are informative.

Connie:
I think the physical therapist is a great resource. She makes my job a lot easier, and she is really helpful. Also, every Tuesday, after school, I get together with other paraeducators here at school and a facilitator, and we do a lot of talking and sharing ideas. This has been really helpful too.

Tulani:
The teachers are supportive. They explained up front the students’ disabilities and everything I should know about the children. They don’t leave me by myself, and they work as a team with me.

Anna:
Additional supports that you need are good teachers who are role models of the standards you are supposed to be implementing. [Beyond the teacher to whom you are assigned,] other supports -- such as the school system itself, the parents, and other teachers -- can also lend you a helping hand and give you ideas about the students.

Becky:
I have my religious beliefs. It’s not always easy working with children who have pretty significant learning needs, but I have found that having a spiritual relationship helps me and I can lean on that relationship. There have been times when I have lost my patience with a child and I have to ask for extra grace and God always supplies it for me. Also, my co-workers are so encouraging. We encourage each other!

Jan:
Sometimes I get a chance to talk to other paraeducators, just in passing in the halls, when we get to share ideas or advice, but not very much of that. I do have the support and help of all the teachers, staff, principals, and the teacher of record.

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Reflections ... About Recruiting Ideas

Wanda:
I always enjoyed working with children. I spent hours a week as a volunteer at School 15 when my own children went there, and I was active in the PTO, and working with the children. The principal approached me with a job opening for an assistant position, and I took the job, and it was just a natural fit. This principal was a wonderful man. He tried to get people in the neighborhood involved, and he used people from the neighborhood to hire for the school.

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Reflections ... About Worries/Concerns

Wanda:
I think an issue that paraprofessionals face is respect. Paraprofessionals need to be respected. A license does not make a teacher. I know they go to school and I respect them, but there is so much on-the-job training that is valuable. I would like to see more respect and appreciation for paraprofessionals. I feel we are well trained and skilled and have a lot to offer.

Connie:
We do everything the teachers do. We know the routines. We don’t have that piece of paper, but we do many of the same things they do. This is important for people to know.

Anna:
As a paraeducator, one of the most important things people need to know is that paraeducators are needed in every classroom that has kids with disabilities. It is important that they’re there. Sometimes I am afraid that people don’t respect paraeducators enough or they don't listen to paraeducators’ opinions enough. People think, “Oh, these people are undereducated. They are just there because they haven’t had a college education. They don’t understand these kids.” In fact, a lot of the paraeducators have been here for years and they know a lot about the students by just watching, listening and learning. Paraeducators should be as respected as teachers because of their commitment to the students. Unfortunately, people just think that paraeducators are the peons, or at a level that should be taken for granted, used as diaper-changers. A lot of paraeducators may have ideas that they came up with that are helpful in the classroom. Teachers have to have them and need to look at them as colleagues not as boss/employee.

Jan:
I am afraid we are going to lose a lot of paraeducators when we force them to take this ParaPro exam for No Child Left Behind. We really need to find a way to grandfather them through, so their experience counts for something. There are a lot of really wonderful paraeducators out there who are not confident in taking the test, and I know of many who have already said that they will just retire instead of having to take it. That is unfortunate, and the people this is really going to hurt are the kids.

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