ED PARA,BASIC,C

Salary Schedule

About the Role

Under direct supervision, this position provides staff support in an educational or childcare environment, performing paraprofessional work to assist teachers and students. Employees work with children individually or in small groups, offering basic instruction in reading, writing, math, spelling, art, or other education-related activities. The role involves leading and supervising developmentally appropriate activities as directed by assigned teacher(s).

Responsibilities

• Respond to internal and external customers in a timely, accurate, courteous, and empathetic manner, representing OCPS positively.
• Monitor activities and behavior of children during and in the absence of classroom teachers to ensure student safety and adherence to conduct and disciplinary controls.
• Assist teachers in supervising learning activities, circulating within the classroom to provide support to students.
• Provide instruction to students as prescribed by the supervising teacher and reinforce skills introduced by the teacher; use games, stories, or other constructive activities to enhance learning.
• Assist teachers in checking and objectively evaluating students' work; teach students individually and in small groups, reinforcing skills based on instructional guidelines.
• Manage student behavior and maintain classroom order; reinforce school and classroom rules; escort students to time-out or the principal's office as needed.
• Assist in preparing lesson plans and teachers' pre-planning sessions; provide input and assistance in developing classroom activities and learning tools.
• Assist in diagnosing student math and communication skills; monitor students' progressive learning skills; document learning activities and report deficiencies to teachers.
• Prepare or assist in preparing instructional materials, including copying, laminating, typing correspondence, and filing paperwork.
• Coordinate with media center staff for classroom learning resources; set up equipment for instructional studies.
• Assist in preparing classroom bulletin boards, decorations, and displays of student activities.
• Prepare instructional reports and complete required forms, schedules, and other data; maintain attendance records and assign student seating; learn assigned bus route(s).
• Maintain accurate and complete records of student information, including entering student scores and data using a computer terminal.
• Perform monitoring duties in hallways, lunchrooms, restrooms, and during bus duty; ensure appropriate student conduct and escort students to designated activity areas.
• Assist in various labs, providing support to teachers and instruction to students; may translate lesson plans for better student comprehension.
• Stay updated on current technology used by OCPS; attend training to maintain required skill levels.
• Ensure timely and accurate information maintenance as part of job responsibilities.

Requirements

• Associate’s degree or higher; or at least sixty (60) semester hours from an accredited institution of higher education (official transcript required).
• Passing the paraprofessional certification exam can substitute for the educational requirement to meet highly qualified status.
• Must be highly qualified prior to the start of employment with Orange County Public Schools.
• Ability to fulfill the dexterity and physical requirements of the work and effectively attend to the needs of school-age children.
• Previous vocational training or work experience in a licensed childcare environment preferred.

Skills

• Data Utilization: Ability to arrange, compare, count, differentiate, measure, and/or sort data and information. Includes judging whether characteristics are similar to or divergent from prescribed standards.
• Human Interaction: Ability to provide guidance, assistance, and interpretation to others on applying procedures and standards to specific situations.
• Equipment Utilization: Ability to operate, maneuver, and control standard office equipment.
• Verbal Aptitude: Ability to utilize a wide variety of reference data and information.
• Mathematical Aptitude: Depending on grade level, may require ability to perform basic arithmetic, calculate decimals and percentages, utilize principles of fractions, and/or interpret graphs.
• Functional Reasoning: Ability to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions; routine work with some latitude for independent judgment.
• Situational Reasoning: Ability to exercise judgment, decisiveness, and creativity in situations involving frequent change.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• Physical Ability: Tasks involve light work, including stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and lifting/carrying objects up to 20 pounds.
• Sensory Requirements: Most tasks require visual perception and discrimination; some tasks require oral communication and sound discrimination.
• Environmental Factors: Tasks are regularly performed without exposure to adverse conditions such as extreme temperatures, noise, dirt, or hazardous substances.