Date of Award

12-2022

Degree Type

Creative Project

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling

Committee Chair(s)

Kaitlin Bundock

Committee

Kaitlin Bundock

Committee

Stephen Kwiatek

Committee

Heather Weese

Abstract

This project highlights the need for training for paraeducators working in Special Education settings. Duties performed by paraeducators often overlap with teacher duties and much of the direct instruction provided to students in self-contained classrooms is delivered by paraeducators. The tasks of training and supervising paraeducators often falls on the special education teacher, who may not have received training in supervision. The project includes a brief review of the literature on this topic and two project reports. I designed my project with the objective of improving the quality of instruction being delivered to students in my classroom through training of the paraeducators who deliver much of the instruction.

Project reports describe (1) training provided by a teacher to paraeducators who work in a special education post-high classroom; and (2) an application of this training in the form of a curriculum adaptation designed to be implemented by paraeducators to support student IEP goals. Sample lesson plans were designed for a target student and included research-based instructional strategies for supporting a multi-language learning student in a post-high classroom. Report 1 focuses on the preparation and training sessions for paraeducators and Report 2 is a curriculum adaptation designed for paraeducator use with a multi-language learning student.

Products from this project include a set of training materials for use with paraeducators and an adapted curriculum and lesson plan ready for paraeducator use. Based on feedback and personal reflections, outcomes of the project include increased preparedness of paraeducators to work with students with disabilities in a post-high setting, in particular students who are culturally and linguistically diverse students with disabilities and multi-language learners with disabilities. The project concludes with reflections on each paraeducator training and on the curriculum adaptation process and implementation.

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