Special Education Teachers’ Experiences Supporting and Supervising Paraeducators Implications for Special and General Education Settings

In recent years, there has been an increase in paraeducator supports, in large part because students with low incidence disabilities are being included more frequently in general education settings. As a result, special education teachers have been given additional supervisory responsibilities relat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inTeacher education and special education Vol. 39; no. 1; pp. 60 - 74
Main Authors Douglas, Sarah N., Chapin, Shelley E., Nolan, James F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.02.2016
Subjects
Cooperation
Evaluation
Interpersonal Communication
Paraprofessional School Personnel
Pennsylvania
School Districts
Semi Structured Interviews
Special Education
Special Education Teachers
Supervision
Teacher Competencies
Teacher Role
Teamwork
Training
Pennsylvania
disabilities
paraeducator
teacher training
supervision
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In recent years, there has been an increase in paraeducator supports, in large part because students with low incidence disabilities are being included more frequently in general education settings. As a result, special education teachers have been given additional supervisory responsibilities related to directing the work of paraeducators in special and general education settings. Many teachers, however, feel unprepared for this supervisory role. Therefore, to gain a better understanding of current practices in paraeducator supervision, the authors interviewed 13 special education teachers who were nominated by district special education administrators as exemplary supervisors of paraeducators. From the interviews, three themes emerged: creating effective teams, ensuring appropriate training and evaluation, and recommendations for the field. Practices for paraeducators working with students with low incidence disabilities in general education settings are noted in the first two themes. Implications for policy, practice, teacher preparation, and future research are also discussed.
ISSN:0888-4064
1944-4931
DOI:10.1177/0888406415616443