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

Developing a Partnership (DAP)

Los Angeles County Office of Education
Los Angeles, California

Shared Training Builds a Strong Instructional Team

Teachers and paraprofessionals learn to coordinate instructional roles
Shared training creates shared partnership mission
Professional development links directly to school programs

Overview

George, a Title I paraprofessional in Glendale, used to dread coming to school each day. He knew that he had a lot to offer the students in his classes and that his cooperating teacher, Carmen, was overworked. However, she would ask him only to grade worksheets or run errands. Since they attended the workshops of Developing a Partnership (DAP), George has become a contributing member of the instructional team. Carmen plans lessons with him and shows him how to use different strategies to reinforce students' learning. Clerical work is still a part of George's life, but DAP has given George a better idea of how his duties fit into the big picture of students' academic success; furthermore, he now works directly with students under Carmen's direction. George's satisfaction in this expanded role makes him look forward to work.

Since 1985, the Developing a Partnership (DAP) program has provided training to help clarify paraprofessionals' roles and foster a positive working relationship between teachers and paraprofessionals with assistance and support from principals. More than 2,000 teachers and paraprofessionals, all DAP graduates, have participated in "training for trainers" sessions and proceeded to disseminate the program. Originated in California under the leadership of Elsa Brizzi at the Los Angeles County Office of Education, DAP expanded nationally two years ago. DAP helps instructional teams to coordinate their work more effectively, which in turn promotes students' academic success.

Program Context

DAP, a professional development framework, arose in response to the increasing demand in Los Angeles County districts for paraprofessionals to supplement the services offered by certified personnel in bilingual, special education, and Title I programs. As roles for these essential staffers evolved in each service area, faculties began to recognize that investments in shared training could result in better teamwork and increased student achievement. DAP's basic framework, described in more detail below, helps teams to clarify their relationships and to develop skills that are common to all programs, as well as those that are unique to a given program.

Major Program Features

Academic Program

The DAP training consists of four three-hour sessions that provide a framework for ongoing teacher and paraprofessional professional development. The first session clarifies the roles and responsibilities of teacher and paraprofessional in the context of their school. DAP builds on a particular vision of teacher and paraprofessional. The program views teachers as human resource and materials resource managers, whose training, certification, and formal assignment enable them to diagnose and prescribe students' instructional needs. Paraprofessionals then follow up and follow through on the teacher's instructional plan. The purpose of DAP training is to increase cooperation, collaboration, and communication between the teammates, as well as to improve paraprofessionals' instructional skills.

In this initial session, participants review the recent history of paraprofessionals' roles in schools and the legal context that influences their course of action. Through discussions during the training session and homework that includes observations and analysis of classroom activities, participants develop a common understanding of the optimal ways to work together.

The second session examines students' developmental learning processes, task analysis, assessment of students' readiness to learn, and the curriculum at the relevant grade level. For example, participants might begin by brainstorming all the steps required to carry out a familiar chore, such as sweeping the floor or making a sandwich, and then arrange the steps in order. Later, they do the same exercise with academic tasks. Finally, they learn a few simple ways to determine whether students have the prerequisite skills for an academic assignment. For homework, they use special observation guides to focus their analysis of student tasks in the regular classroom.

The third session focuses on developing instructional objectives and outcomes, and aligning teaching strategies with them. After practicing writing objectives and lesson plans to accompany them, participants review Gardner's concepts of multiple intelligences. For each type of intelligence, they learn a few forms of teaching that build on it. For example, sorting activities and puzzles may draw on logical-mathematical skill, and riddles and tongue twisters cultivate linguistic ability. Homework for this session involves teachers and paraprofessionals cooperating to create new lesson plans that use students' different intelligences to achieve objectives.

In the final session, teachers and paraprofessionals learn something about each partner's strengths and limitations and identify how they can use interpersonal and professional communication effectively to improve teamwork. Establishing some informal groundrules for their work, they define areas of responsibility that are governed by personal preference rather than by external rules. In this fourth workshop, teams create the agenda for their first classroom planning meeting. Following this last session, teams will meet weekly to communicate and plan together. This is the implementation phase of the training. This final workshop sets the stage for meeting ongoing staff development needs of the team. Instructional teams continue to attend regularly scheduled half-hour meetings for the purpose of reviewing outcomes and deciding roles and responsibilities for the next instructional steps.

Program Expansion

Training of trainers. As a result of DAP's success in schools, its authors have developed a new program for teacher/paraprofessional teams to disseminate it more widely. Phi Delta Kappa has published a training manual and worked with LA County to create a three-day seminar. Prospective trainers learn how to master DAP's approach to partnership. Handbooks and supplementary reading materials for teachers and paraprofessionals complete the materials that support the program.

Support for career ladders. In the Los Angeles area, DAP originators have been active members of consortia formed to improve the pool of candidates for bilingual teacher certification. For example, in the Latino Teacher Project--an aide-to-teacher program supported by school districts, several campuses of the California State University system, the University of Southern California, the Ford Foundation, and the teacher and paraprofessional bargaining units--DAP is part of the curriculum for candidates and their cooperating teachers. It has become part of a comprehensive support system now being replicated statewide.

Issues

Each of the four DAP modules must be used for the training to be most effective. Some districts take only fragments of the training modules to instruct their paraprofessionals. DAP training was developed with more than 200 content areas in mind, and using the complete program ensures that participants cover all ground, including their own assignments. Most districts train only teachers to run the training modules, but DAP coordinators recommend that training teams include both teachers and paraprofessionals.

Teachers may be reluctant to allow paraprofessionals to take an active role in the classroom. DAP helps teachers to recognize the value of paraprofessionals.

Evidence of Success

School districts across the country indicate that elements of the DAP training have been successfully implemented within their paraprofessional program. With its emphasis on the role of the paraprofessional as an instructional assistant for students, rather than as a clerical worker, DAP training ensures that paraprofessionals and teachers understand each other's roles in aiding students. As a result of the DAP training, paraprofessionals and teachers report a more productive collaboration, exchanging information about their areas of expertise and participating as a team on the school faculty. Evaluation conducted by the trainers supports these reports.

DAP training often leads schools to include paraprofessionals in professional development workshops. In DAP schools, paraprofessionals are encouraged and sometimes required to attend training workshops with teachers. Some schools bring in substitutes for teachers and paraprofessionals so that they can learn new instructional strategies. One school noted that they offer the fourth module of DAP on classroom management and team work every year to help keep teachers and paraprofessionals aware of their roles and to foster effective communication.

The DAP training nurtures a positive school climate. Paraprofessionals recognize their contributions to the classroom and receive reinforcement from teachers and school administrators. In the school, DAP helps establish paraprofessionals as members of the faculty who should be treated with respect. After DAP training, paraprofessionals often express more pride in their work and the desire to learn additional skills.

The DAP training also helps schools identify the characteristics and qualifications they should seek in paraprofessionals. One school noted that its paraprofessionals are effective in working with students and in bridging their cultural or language gaps, but they share other talents that make them valuable assets to the school.
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