Severe Needs Para Educator - Liberty Middle School

About the role

The Severe Needs Para Educator assists students with severe special education needs under the guidance of licensed special education staff. Responsibilities include adapting the curriculum, implementing programming, generalizing skills, and providing technical physical care.

Responsibilities

• Assist students with classroom activities, including adapting the curriculum to individual student needs. Implement student accommodations, supports, modifications, procedures, and programming outlined in the student's IEP. Maintain records of student progress and behavior in conjunction with licensed staff.
• Prepare materials, administer tests, monitor students, and assist with paperwork and documentation as needed. Assist with other classroom events, such as fire drills, as necessary.
• Maintain a clean and hygienic work environment where appropriate. Provide support to students in an online/remote environment by assisting with remote learning, re-teaching curriculum, implementing programming, setting up executive functioning strategies, generalizing learned skills, and completing assignments.
• Monitor students and reinforce appropriate behavior for individual student needs. Assist in verbal de-escalation and non-violent crisis interventions to reduce the risk of self-harm and harm to others. Assist student development of social interactions or communication between students with special needs and general education peers.
• Prepare assignments for students to complete at home and support students in completing assigned work. Maintain records of student progress and behavior in conjunction with the licensed staff, which may include special reports, providing feedback, and reporting observations to the Individualized Education Program team. Support students in troubleshooting technology issues.

Requirements

• High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma
• No professional work experience required
• Title I assignments must meet one of the following requirements: Completed at least two years of study at an institution of higher education; obtained an associate’s or higher degree; met a rigorous standard of quality, and can demonstrate through a formal state or local academic assessment, knowledge of and the ability to assist in instructing, as appropriate: Reading/language arts, writing, and mathematics; or Reading readiness, writing readiness, and mathematics readiness
• Mandatory biennial Crisis Prevention Intervention training provided by the District for staff working in an Autism, Behaviorally Disordered, or ILC assignment
• Medication administration training provided by the District as needed
• Basic knowledge of typical office equipment such as telephones, copiers, fax machines, email, etc.
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Intermediate verbal and written communication skills
• Intermediate interpersonal relations skills
• Intermediate organizational skills
• Ability to work alone and with others
• Ability to appropriately modify curriculum
• Ability to implement behavior modification techniques
• Ability to diffuse and manage volatile and stressful situations
• Ability to maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the job
• Ability to work one-on-one and in small groups with students
• If working in the DHH Program, ability to understand the impacts of hearing loss on learning and social interaction
• If working in the Homebound program, ability to set appropriate boundaries and build appropriate relationships while working in the home setting with families and other student healthcare providers
• If working in the Homebound program, the ability to have appropriate communication and boundaries with families while working in their homes with students

Qualifications

• Formal education, professional work experience, certifications, licenses, endorsements, designations, trainings, and other qualifications relevant to the position that are strongly preferred but not mandatory for a candidate to be considered.
• Experience working in the public sector, specifically public education
• Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds
• Racially conscious and culturally competent with the skill, will, capacity, and knowledge to commit to a culture of continuous improvement
• Associate’s degree
• Work with special needs children in a paid program or licensed special education teaching experience
• Experience working with students with autism, behavior challenges, medically fragile conditions, hearing or vision loss, or intellectual disabilities
• CPR and First Aid certification