The purpose of this study was to understand professional development for paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD in Virginia. This understanding was reached through explanatory, sequential mixed methods design. Surveys and interviews provided insight into training practices, training needs, and training barriers. An interpretation of their professional development was developed through considering the perceptions of paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD, teachers of students with ASD, and directors of special education. Findings revealed a lack of supervision, training, and skills. The lack of training and supervision resulted in paraprofessionals learning through trial and error. Paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD felt qualified to complete their duties as a result of personal disposition and effective supervision. Paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD desired individualized training concerning behavior management. The results of this study provide several recommendations for training content and delivery format. It also provided a theoretical framework for explaining how paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD experience training.

Training paraprofessionals who work with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other related developmental disabilities can be a challenge due to limited resources, time, and money. Alternative ways to train paraprofessionals on a larger scale is needed. Interactive computerized training—a self-paced program that incorporates audio narration, video models, interactive activities, and competency checks—is one potential training method. Interactive computerized training has been successful at training college students and special education teachers to implement discrete trial instruction but their effectiveness in training paraprofessionals is unknown. The purpose of this study was to extend the literature on interactive computerized trainings to evaluate its utility to teach six paraprofessionals to implement discrete trial instruction. Errorless learning procedures are recommended during discrete trial instruction to minimize student errors and promote quicker skill acquisition. A secondary purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of the interactive computerized training to teach paraprofessionals to implement an errorless learning procedure. Following the training, all participants increased their fidelity of implementation of discrete trial instruction, at varying levels, with a student in their classroom. One participant reached the performance criterion of 90% or higher fidelity following ICT alone and two participants required performance feedback. Three participants required live coaching to increase their fidelity of DTI components to 80%. All feedback was delivered from a distance. Fidelity remained high to untrained instructional programs and at 2-week follow up. Potential limitations and future research related to training paraprofessionals are discussed.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [110]-121).

Thesis--University of Florida. / Description based on print version record. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-76).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Jewell Cooper; submitted to the Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 3, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-106).

One way for students with disabilities to receive instructional support from someone other than the lead classroom teacher is through paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals who are not trained properly, however, can negatively impact student success rates. One intervention that has been explored has been the use of video modeling to train staff on various instructional and behavior management strategies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using video training to teach paraprofessionals how to implement errorless learning strategies with students. The participants within this study were three female paraprofessionals that were of Caucasian, Latino, and Ukranian descent and had worked in a classroom for at least one year. The dependent variables within this study were evaluated by use of a single subject, multiple baseline design across participants. Results of this study revealed that video training with a focus on errorless learning was effective in increasing paraprofessional percent correct implementation of the strategy, as indicated by an increase in exhibition of the strategy throughout observation and generalization sessions. Paraprofessional implementation of errorless learning procedures increased from a mean of 12.5% accuracy during baseline to 84% accuracy during intervention sessions. Generalization probes maintained high accuracy rates as well, with a mean of 88% accuracy across all three participants. The social validity results provided to the participants at the end of the study indicated that all participants prefer video training over in person training.

M.A. / South Africa is a country characterised by inherent diversity of culture, language and race and is undergoing a process of reconstruction and development. This entails the establishment of a new national identity and socio-political structure based on integration, accommodation of difference and equity of access to the basic necessities for mental, physical, social and spiritual well-being for all its citizens within budgetary and personnel limitations. Mental health care needs and services have been shaped by socio-political and economic factors in the past. Further there has been unequal access to health care, which focused on psychiatric conditions and which provided curative, institutionalised care. Little provision was made for mental health care of children and mentally handicapped persons. A climate of unprecedented change and uncertainty also impacts on the mental health care of South Africans. A vital part of the Reconstruction and Development Programme is the reorientation of health care, which includes mental health, to a comprehensive health care approach with emphasis on primary preventive and promotive health care. An invaluable, economical yet untapped source of manpower to provide primary mental health care is the paraprofessional counsellor. Paraprofessional mental health workers can provide first level mental health care in the form of growth counselling which includes primary preventive and promotive care as well as some secondary and tertiary mental health care. In order to provide safe and effective care, this category of health worker needs to be carefully selected and trained and should work under the supervision of professional mental health care workers. The role of the latter needs to be re-evaluated in the context of South Africa. Effective and efficient care can be facilitated by the use of a simple yet comprehensive model for the selection and training of paraprofessionals and to guide their contribution to mental health care in South Africa. Two theoretical shifts have influenced mental health care. These are the paradigm shift from linear Cartesian-Newtonian thinking to the circular systems epistemology and the movement in psychological theories to ecosystemic theories. These developments have given rise to the bio-psycho-social model which does provide a basis for holistic health care but it excludes the spiritual dimension. This dissertation examines the concept of spirituality and argues for its inclusion in a truly holistic model of human functioning. The Pursuit of Wholeness model is proposed as a simply yet truly holistic tool to effect efficient, economical and ethical mental health care using , paraprofessionals. The model is described in detail and its use by paraprofessional counsellors in a growth counselling situation is discussed. An evaluative study was undertaken to test the use of the Pursuit of Wholeness model by paraprofessionals in three organisations. Results showed that the Pursuit of Wholeness model has the potential to enable paraprofessional counsellors through holistic growth counselling to contribute significantly to mental health care in South Africa.

Libraries can have a significant impact on today's students and the schools of today and tomorrow. The way students learn is changing as technology changes: rapidly. The knowledge and skills that today's librarians carry can influence the students immensely, including their use of technology. However, with many districts suffering budget cuts, one of the first positions to cut is the certified librarian, replaced by a library paraprofessional. These budget cuts will impact what the libraries can offer students. It is vital that districts support their library program and the person in charge, whether a paraprofessional or certified librarian, to positively impact the students for their future. The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of library programs within a technology-rich school district that utilizes paraprofessionals supported by a certified librarian.

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