Paraprofessionals and collaboration
Paraprofessionals spend more time with many students than anyone else on the team, often with the least training and planning time. A clear schedule, a short training on prompting and fading, and a data sheet they can actually use change how much a student learns from that time.
These guides cover para roles and responsibilities, building a para schedule, training and feedback, prompting without creating dependence, para data collection, and co-teaching models and co-planning with general education teachers.
Start here
- Paraprofessional roles and responsibilities
What special education paraprofessionals do, do with direction, and never do, with the source for each line, plus a first-week training plan with daily scripts.
How-to guides
- Behavior support strategies for paraprofessionals
Behavior strategies for paraprofessionals: learn the plan, prevent with precorrection and praise, prompt the replacement skill, stay calm and record it.
- Co-planning between special education and general education: a weekly routine
A 40-minute weekly co-planning routine for special and general education teachers: agenda with times, where IEP goals fit in the unit, and a worked example.
- Collaboration between special and general education teachers: consultation steps and documentation
A seven-step consultation process for special and general education teachers, with a worked example, a consult log entry, and weak versus better practices.
- Fading paraprofessional support to build independence
How to fade 1:1 paraprofessional support: teach the skills the adult covers, then fade distance, prompts and time with data, and take results to the IEP team.
- Feedback for paraprofessionals: how to give it so it changes practice
How to give feedback to paraprofessionals: observe one routine, use the para's own data sheet, name one praise and one change, and check again within a week.
- How paras collect accurate IEP data
How paraprofessionals collect IEP data that a teacher can trust: the steps and how long each takes, a worked example with real numbers, and common mistakes.
- How to train paraprofessionals: explain, model, practice, check
How to train paraprofessionals on one skill at a time: a step card, modeling, practice with feedback, a fidelity check and a data agreement check, with numbers.
- IEP team collaboration: a meeting cadence for providers
A cadence for IEP team collaboration: daily huddles, weekly planning, monthly provider data reviews and a backward-planned annual review, with an example.
- Paraprofessional reading intervention: running the lesson the teacher planned
How paras run a reading intervention lesson: follow the plan, keep the pace, correct errors the same way, read connected text and record a 10-word probe.
- Prompt hierarchy for paraprofessionals: how to prompt in the moment
How paraprofessionals use a prompt hierarchy during a lesson: start with the natural cue, wait, give one prompt at a time, record it, and fade, with timings.
- Sharing IEP data collection with paraprofessionals
How case managers share IEP data collection with paras: pick the goals, build para-ready sheets, check agreement, set a hand-off and review weekly.
Comparisons
- Paraprofessional vs teacher roles: who decides and who carries it out
Paraprofessional vs teacher roles compared row by row: who plans, who delivers, who decides and where each role is written down, with three classroom scenarios.
Checklists
- Paraprofessional observation form: a printable checklist
A printable paraprofessional observation form grouped before, during and after, with a reason for each item and what to do when something is missing.
Templates
- Behavior data sheet for paraprofessionals: template and example
A fill-in behavior data sheet for paras: tally the target and replacement behavior by time block, add a short ABC note for big incidents, and total it daily.
- Co-teaching agreement template with a completed example
A printable co-teaching agreement template: planning time, models, grading, behavior, IEP duties and family contact, with a completed example and section notes.
- Para daily communication log template
A fill-in para daily communication log with a completed example, notes on writing facts a parent could read, and how it pairs with the opportunity data sheet.
- Paraprofessional schedule template with a completed example
A fill-in paraprofessional schedule template for case managers, with a completed example, a minutes check against the IEP and notes on each column.
- Special education paraprofessional job description template
A fill-in special education paraprofessional job description with a completed example, the duties to include and leave out, and notes on what reviewers check.
- Special education sub plans: template and completed example
A fill-in special education sub plan with a completed example: schedule, para roles, student supports, behavior steps, data to keep and the end-of-day note.
Explainers
- Co-teaching and IEP goals in the general education classroom
How IEP goals are taught and measured in a co-taught general education class: what the goal targets, who takes data, how minutes are written and state rules.
- Paraprofessional confidentiality: what you can and cannot share
Paraprofessional confidentiality through one student's week: who you may talk to, how to handle data sheets, and where state and district rules differ.
- What paraprofessionals should know about a student's IEP
What paraprofessionals should know about a student's IEP: the goals, accommodations, behavior plan and minutes they carry out, with an example and rules table.
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