Special Education Assistant - Severely Mentally Handicapped One-on-One # 821 Kennedy School
About the Employer
Stockton Unified School District (SUSD) began providing services to students in 1852 and is located in the heart of California’s Central Valley near the banks of the San Joaquin River. SUSD is the 17th largest school district in California, whereby 38,000 PK-12th grade students come to us to experience an academic journey that leads to high school graduation and success in college, careers, and as actively-engaged community members. The District also serves a number of adults through our Stockton School For Adults. SUSD is made up of thirty-seven Head Start classes, fifty-three state preschool classes, three First 5 preschool classes, forty-one K-8 schools, four comprehensive high schools, three small high schools, an alternative high school, a special education school, a school for adults, and five dependent charter schools. Our district mission is to graduate every single youth college, career, and community ready. Stockton Unified School District is dedicated to providing high-quality first instruction, rigorous curriculum, and supporting academic achievement and social-emotional development supported by Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). The District's work is guided by three focal goals:
- Every child by the end of third grade will read and comprehend at the proficient level.
- Every child will have access to high quality, rigorous first instruction.
- Every child, by the end of 12th grade, will graduate and be college, career, and community ready.
Job Summary
SUSD is proud to offer a comprehensive benefit package:
- FREE health benefits through Kaiser for Employee and Family
- Paid Vacation days
- Sick Leave Days
- Floating Holiday
Job Description / Essential Elements
DEFINITION
The one-on-one assistant will perform a variety of paraprofessional instructional activities to assist the teacher or other certificated staff in providing instruction, housekeeping and supervision to severely mentally handicapped student between the ages of 3 to 22 years; to perform a variety of supportive activities for instructional personnel and to do other related duties as assigned. The one-on-one assistant will follow the student as necessary. If no student is available, the one-on-one assistant will be temporarily placed in a classroom within their classification until a one-on-one student is assigned to the one-on-one assistant.
SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED
Receives direction from the teacher in charge.
Representative Duties
- Aid student to and from buses and classes
- Teach independent mobility
- Assist instructional personnel in the development and implementation of individual educational plans under the teacher's supervision
- Continuously assist and monitor student in a variety of academic and recreational activities
- Tutor student to reinforce and follow-up training and learning experiences
- Supervise student during study, lunch and play periods
- Assist student in the development and maintenance of appropriate social behavior
- Assist student to become self-reliant
- Aid in the maintenance of student’s daily performance records
- May prepare instructional material
- Operate a variety of audio-visual equipment such as projectors and other learning machines
- May type and duplicate lessons, tests and other instructional materials
- Assist serving food
- Teach student self-feeding skills and grooming skills
- Assist student with toileting, buttons, snaps and zippers
- Clean student lacking control
- Change diapers, bath and cloth student
- May lift and move handicapped student
- Aid in keeping work area attractive
- Perform other related duties as assigned
Qualifications
- Knowledge of:
- Problems involved in the care of severely mentally handicapped student
- Methods and attitudes required in assisting severely mentally handicapped student with their personal needs and academic activities
- Techniques in dealing appropriately with assaultive behavior
- English usage, punctuation, spelling and grammar
- Basic arithmetic concepts
- Principles, goals and objectives of the educational process
- Ability to:
- Demonstrate an empathetic, patient and receptive attitude with student exhibiting specialized severe mental and behavior needs
- Establish and maintain an effective relationship with teachers, therapists and other certificated staff
- Communicate satisfactorily in oral and written form and serve as an appropriate model
- Gain the confidence of handicapped student, encourage and assist them in therapy, classroom and recreational activities
- Deal appropriately with behavior exhibited by handicapped student
- Remain calm under stress
- Understand and maintain confidentiality
- Follow a work schedule that may change from day to day
- Perform routine clerical tasks and operate office and educational machines and equipment
- Successfully supervise student
- Use safe working conditions
Education, Training and Experience
- Education, training and experience equivalent to the completion of the twelfth (12) grade and at least one (1) year experience working with handicapped students; and completion of college level courses in special education or a related field
No Child Left Behind Federal Requirements
- High school graduation or GED
- Completion of 48 semester units from accredited college or university or District Assessment Test/County certificate showing compliance with NCLB. (SUSD proficiency test taken before 7/1/04 does not meet this requirement)
Certificates Required
- District First Aid Course Certificate must be obtain within the first six (6) months of date of hire.
- CPR Certificate and a valid American Red Cross First Aid Certificate preferred.
Physical Requirements
- Employees in this position must possess/have the ability to:
- Sit for prolonged periods of time
- Stand and walk for prolonged periods of time
- Frequent bending/stooping; squatting/crouching/kneeling
- Infrequent climbing
- Occasional reaching overhead, above shoulder and horizontally
- Frequent pushing/pulling, lifting and maneuvering objects such as wheelchairs and/or walker with students with a broad range of body weights
- May lift and/or support/drag up to 150 pounds for short periods of time with assistance if necessary
- May occasionally to frequently push/pull up to 150 lbs with assistance if necessary
- Requires simple to firm grasping to seize, hold, grasp, turn or otherwise work with hands to position students in their wheelchairs; assist with classroom instructional activities; assist students with dressing tasks
MAB Training Required
- MAB training required depending on student requirements – Autism/SMH more commonly need MAB training.
Physical Requirements – MAB (Managing Assaultive Behaviors)
- Employees in this position must possess/have the ability to:
- Stand on a variety of surfaces
- Walk/run on a variety of surfaces, at a pace dependent upon the situation
- Sit on a chair to protect self by bending forward, or use the chair as a backwards propelling tool to escape a grab or grip of an attacker
- Push/pull with sufficient intensity to achieve desired result
- May lift and/or carry up to 100 lbs for short periods of time with assistance if necessary
- Stoop/kneel/crouch/crawl: these movements occur in multiple intervention strategies
- Reaching in any direction. Depending on age and stature of student, reaching may occur at all levels – waist to knee; waist to chest; below knee; chest to shoulder; and/or above shoulder
- Constant handling: Seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise working with the hand or hands Includes simple and power grasping
- Fingering: Fine finger manipulation is required in releasing an individual’s hand grab/grip, as well as releasing tension and/or constraints
- Balancing: Body postures and maneuvers taught require maintaining body balance through positioning of the lower extremities, including pivoting, rotating, and flipping an individual if required
- Climbing: In the event of stairs, the employee must be able to climb or descend the stairs as needed
- And/or climbing over obstacles or objects may be required such as an upside down table or chair
- Twisting: Upper and lower torso twisting is required in multiple intervention strategies
Physical Requirements – Con’t
- Speak: The employee is required to speak to the student/co-workers verbally to resolve the situation
- Hearing: sufficient to perform the MAB techniques
- Visual requirement sufficient to resolve the situation and return the student and employee to safety
Requirements / Qualifications
- EDUCATION TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:
- Minimum 48 semester units or higher OR proof of certification through a local assessment which meets the requirements of “No Child Left Behind” No Child Left Behind Federal Requirement:
- High School Graduation or GED WITH
- 48 semester college units or more OR
- NCLB Certificate from District County Office
- ***Please note that applicants currently employed through an outside agency that is under a contract with Stockton Unified School District may not be eligible for employment in this position. ***