The ESProfessionals:
An Action Guide to Help in Your Professional Development

Getting Educated: Professional Development for all Support Professionals

Across America, nearly 3.5 million support professionals transport students to schools that are kept safe, clean and well-maintained; where school offices are operating efficiently and records are kept properly; where nutritious meals are served; where quality instructional assistance is provided; and where special programs -- such as those for handicapped and disadvantaged students -- are provided.

But despite their power in numbers and the fact that schools clearly couldn't operate without them, support professionals are often thwarted from turning their jobs into careers, or gaining promotion opportunities, because of a lack of professional development and advanced training.

This professional development area provides a foundation to help ESP members across the country organize around professional development. It gives real examples of how members have created and implemented ideas to advance their professions, improve their working conditions, and contribute to student achievement. The"Getting Educated" section contains professional development information for each of the 9 K-12 Education Support Professional job classes. Other sections contain information and Action Tools designed to be used in your local association professional development work.

And don't miss Supporting Our Own: A Manual for ESP Mentoring Programs. This new on-line manual is designed to assist local Associations and school districts to plan and implement mentoring programs specifically for and by ESP.

This Professional Development section of the NEA ESP Web site is based on the NEA ESP Quality print publication, "The ESProfessionals: An Action Guide to Help You in Your Professional Development." You can download the entire publication. (PDF, it's big: 2.11 Mb.)

Go to the next section: ("Major Historical, Legislative and Policy Events that have affected NEA's Education Support Professionals")