A Systematic Approach for Supporting Paraeducators in Educational Settings
Questions to Guide Informal Assessment of Staff
Initial Assessment/Interview
Describe your past experiences working with students with special needs.
What did you like or dislike about other classrooms in which you have worked?
What are your strengths in working with children or within a classroom?
What are areas of difficulty with working with children or within a class- room?
What activities have you enjoyed the most in past experiences?
What activities have you enjoyed the least?
Describe your past experiences with providing systematic instruction, delivering reinforcement, and collecting data.
Describe past experiences with children with (specific issues within your classroom, i.e., behavior problems, medically fragile, etc.).
Questions to Guide the Observation Process
The questions below may guide pre- and postobservation discussions, and be useful for ongoing feedback.
What skills are you teaching? Describe a correct response.
Describe the specific teaching plan.
What materials do you need? How do you keep your materials organized?
What do you do when the student responds correctly?
What do you do if the student responds incorrectly?
What is the plan to handle interfering/inappropriate behavior when teaching?
What items should be placed out of sight or out of the teaching area?