National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals Newsletter

National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals

• Call for Papers Deadline Extended!
• Preparing Paraeducators to Become Special Education Teachers in Diverse, Urban Schools
• What's New at nrcpara.org
• People are Talking... What is Happening in the Forums

Call for Papers Deadline Extended!

In case you missed our first deadline to turn in a Paper for the 2007 National Conference, don't worry- we set a new deadline for November 28th (next Tuesday). Don't miss this chance to share your expertise and experience with hundreds of others from around the country.

Read more about the 2007 Call for Papers and other conference news, including new information on "Things to Do" in Alburquerque on our Conference Page (2007 Call for Papers available here.

And don't forget to Save the Date! May 2-5, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque 26th Annual National Conference on the Training and Employment of Paraprofessionals- Ensuring Student Success- Teams that Work.

How much fun will you have at this years conference? Just look at how much fun our co-directors are having at the 2006 Conference! You can see other conference pictures here.

Preparing Paraeducators to Become Special Education Teachers in Diverse, Urban Schools

From Dr. Jennifer Platt and Dr. Lee Cross

Despite national efforts and individual state initiatives, the nation still faces teacher shortages due to the number of teachers retiring, reduced numbers of individuals entering teaching (Cortez (2001) and the high rate of teacher turnover (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003; U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004). In addition, the demographics of the teaching force at the national level remains a problem with an increasing discrepancy between the number of students from minority groups and the number of teachers representing these groups (Brennan & Bliss, 1998). By targeting paraeducators, the authors have identified a method for increasing the numbers of individuals selecting and remaining in teaching particularly in exceptional education and at the same time have found a way to increase the ethnic diversity of the teaching force.

PACE (Paraeducators Acquiring Certification in Exceptional education) is a teacher preparation program that prepares paraeducators to be exceptional education teachers while they maintain their paraeducator positions in diverse public schools. Participants receive tuition assistance, competency-based instruction, flexible course delivery, streamlined admissions, ongoing advisement, applied field experiences, curriculum compacting, performance-based assessment, multiple layers of mentoring, coaching, professional development, and a full year of induction.

Read the rest of the article here...

New at nrcpara.org

We have been busy adding lots of new content on our Web site. Here are a few of the projects we have been working on:

• There are now 18 presentations available where you can view either the presentation or a conference handout from the 2006 Conference.
• Check out a list of Frequently Asked Questions about paraprofessionals (with answers!) that we receive at the National Resource Center.
• If you can't find an answer to your question there, then you can use our recently added contact form.

People are Talking

There are now over 500 messages posted to the NRCP Message Board, here are a few recent posts that you may be interested in-

• What topic would you like to hear about at the conference? This message is from someone looking for ideas on what topic to address at the conference.
• Did you know they have paraprofessionals in Israel?
• And our all-time most popular post with over 41 responses so far discusses paraprofessional wages in different parts of the country.

Lastly, if you haven't visited the regional section, there is now a forum for each state. While some states have started a few discussions, most visitors seem to be waiting for someone else to post the first message. Take the plunge and introduce yourself to other paraprofessionals from your home state.

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Contribute to the Newsletter

The National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals is looking for articles for the next edition of the newsletter. If you have a state or local model program that you would like to highlight, training tips, an inspirational story or anything that think might be of interest to others in the paraprofessional field please send it to newsletter@nrcpara.org. Thank you.

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