A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Roles for Education Paraprofessionals in Effective Schools - 1997

Teaching Opportunities for Paraprofessionals

State Department of Education
Connecticut

Minority Teacher Recruitment

Financial, social, and academic support strengthen career ladder
Classroom experience is linked to certification

Overview

Tanesha remembers when Ms. Washington used to be a teacher's helper in her third-grade Title I reading class. Now Ms. Washington is her seventh-grade Language Arts teacher. Through TOP, a state-funded paraprofessional-to- teacher program, Ms. Washington attended Central Connecticut State University to complete her degree and earn her teaching certification. To win the program slot, Ms. Washington first earned two years of college credits. After finishing her degree as a TOP participant, Ms. Washington was hired as a regular classroom teacher by the district in which she had worked as a paraprofessional.

Connecticut's TOP program aims to increase the number of certified minority teachers serving students in the state's urban school districts. Although only 26 percent of students statewide were minorities in 1992-93, the percentage was far higher in urban districts. For example, 93 percent of students in Hartford that year were members of minority groups. To help provide role models and make the teaching force more reflective of the student population, the state created Teaching Opportunities for Paraprofessionals (TOP), a paraprofessional-to-teacher program that pays paraprofessionals' college tuition and funds their classroom replacements at the district.

Program Context

Sixty-four paraprofessionals have participated in TOP since 1989. Of those participants, 48 percent are African American, 31 percent are Hispanic and bilingual in Spanish, 2 percent are Asian American, and 19 percent are white, with some bilingual in Portuguese. Eight TOP participants are male and 56 are female.

Major Program Features

History

In 1989, the Connecticut state legislature established a pilot program to assist minority paraprofessionals working in the state's five largest urban school districts to become certified teachers. Initially, this group included the Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, New Britain, and Stamford school districts. The legislature also called for the state to solicit matching funds from corporations. In 1991, TOP program administrators asked for continued funding from the state board of education, and TOP became a regular state department of education program. Concurrently, at the request of TOP directors, the state legislature amended the law and increased to ten the number of eligible participating districts so that the program could serve all areas of the state, including Danbury, New London, Waterbury, Windham, and Meriden.

Participating District Selection

Districts were chosen to participate if they had large minority student populations (at least 30 percent), low numbers of minority teachers, low student SES (below the 26th percentile on average), and low test scores. Districts also needed to employ a substantial pool of paraprofessionals from which to draw applicants for TOP. Although the available supply of paraprofessionals was not an issue in the big cities, it proved to be the case in smaller cities such as Waterbury.

Participant Selection

Districts select their participants from among the instructional paraprofessionals they employ. To qualify for the program, paraprofessionals must pass tests in writing, mathematics, and reading, earning scores that meet a state-set standard, and they must have some college credits. Given TOP's goal, recruiting targets minorities, but nonminority paraprofessionals are also admitted. To maintain high professional standards while broadening eligibility for the program, some districts provide tutoring to help candidates pass the tests required for admission to TOP. Once in the program, paraprofessionals must maintain at least a 2.5 GPA in their college courses to maintain eligibility.

Coordination with District and Higher Education Partners

In 1989, the TOP director and then-state education commissioner actively recruited college and university partners from participating districts to educate TOP paraprofessionals. Central Connecticut State University, Southern Connecticut State University, Sacred Heart College, St. Joseph University, the University of Hartford, Western Connecticut State University, and Connecticut College currently enroll TOP students. Like other applicants, paraprofessionals must qualify for admission, although the universities may give them preference for admission based on their enrollment in the TOP program.

Support for Implementation

Salary and Benefits

Paraprofessionals usually attend college full-time one semester and work for the alternate semester until they are near graduation, when they often choose to become year-round students. Because TOP pays the salary and benefits of the participant's replacement at the district, and the district continues to pay the participant's salary and benefits, paraprofessionals have the financial means to attend college.

Support Services

TOP coordinates support services for participants to help them along the way; each college and district designates a TOP coordinator. At almost all colleges, faculty meet with participants every month or two to advise, solve problems, and provide necessary referrals to campus services. At all colleges, faculty meet with students individually to help plan their programs.

TOP contracts with the regional education service center, Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES), to run a series of workshops on issues of concern to the paraprofessionals, including classroom management, curriculum content, student teaching, interview skills, and the transition from paraprofessional to teacher. ACES offers preparation for the state's Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) evaluation, an assessment of a teacher's first year in the classroom required for the state's second level of regular certification. The center also provides preparation for taking the standardized tests required to enter a teacher education program and the CONNTENT test of subject-area knowledge required for preliminary certification.

TOP publishes "TOPTALK," a newsletter that goes out to all participants and providers. The document, designed to promote group cohesion, describes the challenges experienced by TOP participants. The program also sponsors an annual gala honoring participants and the year's TOP graduates. The state commissioner of education speaks at the gala and the press covers the event.

Funding

TOP is funded by the state education department budget and by donations from private contributors. Although the state originally envisioned that half the program costs would be funded by private donors, this arrangement did not materialize; instead, the majority of funding has come from the state. In 1993-94, the state contributed $488,000 to the program, and private businesses gave $28,000. Funding has remained relatively stable over the life of the program. The cost per participant per semester has also remained fairly stable at about $12,000.

Currently, the state pays institutions $1,700 per student per semester; this amount covers the costs of attending a state institution but not those at a private college. However, TOP administrators point out that schools do not lose money on TOP paraprofessionals because they take the same classes, share the same advisors, and use the same campus facilities that mainstream students do; they do not offer any new or special classes or services specially for TOP students. The state also pays testing fees for exams required for state certification.

Bookkeeping and bookstore expenditures work differently at each college. TOP sponsors a yearly meeting for university TOP coordinators to share program and budget ideas. Tracking the flow of funding has been an issue at all levels. For example, some corporations wanting to support paraprofessionals in specific districts have asked for reports detailing how their donations had been spent. Accounting for funds within institutions and school districts has also been problematic, and some districts have put in place more efficient systems than others.

Evidence of Success

About 64 people have participated in TOP since 1989. So far, 19 students have graduated; of these, 12 are teaching in the Connecticut public school systems where they previously worked as paraprofessionals, and one is teaching in a Catholic school. Eleven paraprofessionals dropped out of the program after failing to meet academic standards, and two participants are working to raise their GPAs or pass the CONNTENT exam. Three withdrew for personal reasons. Thirty-three paraprofessionals are still completing their programs.
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[Career Ladder Program]