Special Education Paraeducator Aide 3 1:1 HQ (30 hrs./wk., 180 days)

Summary Description

Under supervision, works in a special education classroom assisting teaching staff in a variety of instructional activities. Assists teachers in special education classrooms and provides individual or group assistance depending on student or class's functional living and academic skills and/or behavioral support needed. Incumbent can also provide attendant services to students with various intellectual and/or physical disabilities. Incumbent performs related work as required.

Distingushing Characteristics

The Teacher Aide III works in a special education classroom assisting the teacher and/or a special education student within the general and/or special education classroom, in specific specialized programs such as: CLS (Comprehensive Life Skills), EC (Early Childhood), MA (Multi-Age), SIP (Social Intervention Programs), Strategies (Autism Spectrum Disorders), Social Resource and/or Resource classrooms as well as one-on-one assistance. Additionally, a Teacher Aide III working at a Title I school must be highly qualified.

Exemplary Duties/Responsibilities

• Aid students with intellectual, physical, or behavioral disabilities in boarding and de-boarding buses before and after school.
• Aid students in reaching proper location in school.
• Accompany students into general education classrooms.
• Provide attendant services (diapering, toileting, washing faces, etc.) to students as needed.
• Support instruction in proper health and hygiene habits.
• Perform delegated procedures such as clean intermittent catheterization, provide emergency and first aid care as necessary.
• Move students weighing 50-80 pounds, daily and repetitively.
• Follow proper safety procedures.
• Prepare and help feed students as needed.
• Support instruction in functional life skills.
• Realize individual needs of students with intellectual, physical and/or behavioral disabilities and modify general education classroom assignments occasionally.
• Follow behavior plans as outlined in students' IEP's.
• Use positive behavior management techniques.
• Assist with lesson assignments.
• Reinforce learning concepts to students.
• Maintain discipline and order on the playground, lunchroom, library and classrooms.
• Accompany students on field trips.
• Arrange and adjust wheelchairs, oxygen hoses and other equipment as needed.
• Communicate with special education teachers about concerns and/or observations of students.
• Assist in maintaining bulletin boards in the classroom.
• May assist children with medication when trained.
• Assist in the operation of classroom equipment or students' assistive technology devices.
• Assist in recording student progress towards goals and developing instructional materials and preparing graphs and charts.
• Assist in modifying the general education curriculum.
• Participate in district training programs when requested and receive training in and implement non-violent behavioral intervention procedures.
• Maintain confidentiality regarding student information and records.

EC - Early Childhood/Pre-K

The Early Childhood Special Education Program provides services to three, four and five year olds with disabilities. This program consists of developmentally appropriate curriculum that addresses all areas of child development including literacy and math readiness skills, gross and fine motor skills, self-help skills, communications skills, and social skills. In addition, the classroom provides multiple opportunities to develop skills in the areas of cognition, receptive and expressive language, and social/emotional development.

EC SIP - Early Childhood/SIP (for details strictly on SIP, see SIP description)

The Early Childhood SIP Program provides developmentally appropriate curriculum that addresses all areas of child development including literacy and math readiness skills, gross and fine motor skills, self-help skills, communications skills, and social skills. The program focuses primarily on social emotional development and primarily serves students with behavioral challenges in a small group setting. When assigned to an EC SIP classroom, a combination of EC & SIP practices are followed. The descriptions mentioned for EC and SIP respectively should not be construed to believe that only one or the other will be followed. A combination of practices of both are followed to best suit student needs.

EC STRAT - Early Childhood/Strategies (for details on Strat, see Strat description)

The Early Childhood Strat Program provides developmentally appropriate curriculum that addresses all areas of child development including literacy and math readiness skills, gross and fine motor skills, self-help skills, communications skills, and social skills. The program focuses primarily on the development of communication and social emotional skills using a variety of strategies. The EC Strategies Program serves students with deficits in these areas, usually caused by Autism. This program also provides?a small group setting and focuses on extensive data collection to document progress. When assigned to an EC Strat classroom, a combination of EC & Strat practices are followed. The descriptions mentioned for EC and Strat respectively should not be construed to believe that only one or the other will be followed. A combination of practices of both are followed to best suit student needs.

IEC - Early Childhood/PreK

The Early Childhood inclusion model program provides services to three, four and five year olds who are receiving specialized instruction with typically developing peers in a developmentally appropriate classroom. This inclusion program provides an age appropriate environment that offers all children a wide range of learning opportunities. This program consists of developmentally appropriate curriculum that addresses all areas of child development including literacy and math readiness skills, gross and fine motor skills, self-help skills, communications skills, and social skills. In addition, the classroom provides multiple opportunities to develop skills in the areas of cognition, receptive and expressive language, and social/emotional development.

IK - Integrated Kindergarten

The SPED IK Program provides developmentally appropriate curriculum in a co-teaching model that addresses all areas of child development including literacy and math readiness skills, gross and fine motor skills, self-help skills, communications skills, and social skills along with kindergarten standards and curriculum. Services are provided in a kindergarten setting.

CLS - Comprehensive Life Skills

CLS focuses on building a foundation to success in life while maintaining an academically rich environment that promotes student success with the specific development of critical social, emotional, and cognitive skills. This program assists students with cognitive disabilities to access alternative curriculum aligned with Nevada State Standards; utilizing a variety of modalities (pictures, words, symbols, etc.) enables students to access the environment; utilizes a variety of techniques to illicit student response; aligns IEP goals and outcomes with Alternative Grade Level Indicators (AGLI's).

SIP - Social Intervention Program

Social Intervention Program (SIP) classrooms provide a system of support - both academic and emotional/behavioral - for students with significant emotional/behavioral needs within the regular school setting. SIP is a program, not a place, which incorporates a range of settings, from self-contained classrooms to full-inclusion within general education classrooms, with behavioral support (it is an IEP team decision what the least restrictive environment is for each child). The goal of SIP is to help children acquire and develop effective, prosocial behaviors so they can be successful in regular classroom settings, and to support the children to make adequate academic progress. Students are given work at their developmental levels and the WCSD adopted curriculum and texts are utilized. The primary goal is to extinguish behaviors that are impeding students' ability to be successful in the general education classroom, and to provide positive replacement behaviors, so that students can return to the general education classroom. The SIP has as its framework, a structured behavior management program that includes frequent positive reinforcement, with consistent consequences, to shape appropriate school behaviors, such as staying calm, following instructions, etc.

STRATEGIES:

?(Designed to support students who may be on the autism spectrum) Program provides systematic, intensive instruction focusing on the following areas: receptive/expressive/pragmatic language, functional routines, pre-academic/academic skills, play concepts, social skills, fine/gross motor skills, and socially acceptable and functional behaviors. Highly structured and predictable instruction occurs in a small-group setting with a high adult-student ratio utilizing discrete trial teaching of academic, functional, and social skills. Visual supports, augmentative and alternative communication tools, positive behavioral supports, inclusive practices, and data-based decision-making with a focus on generalization and maintenance of skills and maximum student independence are used.

SOCIAL RESOURCE:

?Program provides special designed social skills curriculum emphasizing development of social thinking and social coping skills through systematic, coordinated, methods including visual supports, modeling, role-playing, and a considerate environment for sensory needs. In addition, instruction specifically addresses individual student behavioral targets that interfere with participation in general education settings. Program components include: language/communication development, school-wide success skills, structured social interaction, focus on transition to general education environment, organizational skills, bullying prevention, positive behavioral supports, and related services as determined by the IEP.