Paraeducators

Special education paraeducators work side-by-side with special education professionals to provide appropriate and meaningful educational programs to students with special needs. Paraeducators might be called educational aides, instructional aides, instructional assistants, or teacher's aides depending on the school district, charter school, or intermediate unit where they work.

The role of the paraeducator has changed over the years. Today, paraeducators have a variety of key responsibilities within a school building and classroom. These roles and responsibilities may vary from setting-to-setting and day-to-day, and are determined within each local educational agency (LEA). The Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PATTAN) offers a variety of in-service training options to assist special education paraeducators to reach and maintain qualified status in accordance with PA regulations.

PaTTAN offers training sessions to help paraeducators earn a Pennsylvania Special Education Paraeducator Credential of Competency from the PA Bureau of Special Education. This credential is based on ten knowledge and skills standards identified by The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) as necessary for a special education paraeducator to know or be able to do in order to work effectively with students in special education programs. Paraeducators work with their supervisor or partner teacher to verify the skills and knowledge areas under each standard on the Paraeducator Credential of Competency Assessment Checklist have been achieved.

A set of online courses has been developed based on the Credential of Competency Standards 1-10.  You may register for these online courses on the PaTTAN Online Registration System  and view them at your convenience.

Materials from past training sessions are available for download on the PaTTAN website. Click on "Paraeducators," and then "Training Materials." 

DVDs of paraeducator training sessions may be ordered from the Distance Learning Center.