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

Local Association Success Stories:
Liking Long-Distance Learning

Colonial Paraprofessional Association
New Castle, Delaware

"No matter what job you do, you are a professional. School districts need to realize that it is to their advantage to provide meaningful and direct professional development for all its staff." -Barbara Morris, Paraeducator, Colonial Paraprofessional Association Delaware

That was Then

Even though Delaware paraeducators in the Colonial school district formerly worked the same number of days as teachers, 185 days per year, they received inferior professional development. As a middle school paraeducator, Barbara Morris felt slighted.

"Paraeducators either tagged along with the teachers during professional development days or stayed in the classroom to straighten up," explains Morris. "Even though we're the teachers' right hands in the classroom, we felt like we were being told our professional development needs weren't as important as theirs."

So the then 120-member Colonial Paraprofessional Association (CPA) took professional development matters into their own hands -- eventually looking to Wisconsin and Utah for help.

This is Now

Though it sounds like an odd place to begin for a small Delaware local, Wisconsin is where Barbara attended her first National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals (NRCP) conference. It's also where she first heard of a professor from Utah State University who was developing a distance-learning program in conjunction with NRCP.

Today, Colonial paraprofessionals no longer have to "tag along with the teachers" during professional development days, Barbara says. Instead, they attend courses online through a distance learning program sponsored by Utah State University. They benefit from such courses as "Enhancing the Skills of Paraeducators" and "Effective Behavior Management Practices for Paraprofessionals." They can also attend "Colleagues in the Classroom: Building Effective Teams" -- a course designed for both teachers and paraeducators.

"The distance learning course that we are now taking is three hours one night a week for nine weeks and all new employees are required to take this course," explains Barbara. "For the first 18 hours of courses, participants receive a salary increase. After that, they receive a $13 per hour one-time stipend for the remaining hours."

A host professor from Utah "beams in" via computer to an auditorium where Barbara and her colleagues sit to present topics for discussion and explain the lessons. With the help of a facilitator -- a Delaware State Education Association UniServ Director -- participants then engage in activities and discussions about the topics presented. Any "homework" is done on personal computers at home.

One of the first homework assignments was to review a list of roles and responsibilities for paraeducators and decide if the items were the responsibility of the teacher or paraeducator -- an assignment that was "refreshingly relevant to our jobs," says Barbara. The online course has also taught the paraeducators how to write an Individual Education Performance (IEP) document for students, a task that is usually not in a paraeducator's job description but is helpful to know, Barbara adds.

This is How

Barbara says that getting the Colonial district to approve an instructional paraprofessional training via long-distance learning wasn't as hard as she had imagined. With a supportive assistant superintendent behind them, the Association was quickly able to bargain professional development stipulations into the contract -- which actually spells out an after-school provision. The Association also bargained in a salary increase for those who participate in the program. In 2003, Level 1 participants earned an annual $750 salary increase and Level 2 paraprofessionals earned an additional annual $1,000 salary increase.

Barbara believes it's a win for the paraprofessionals, the district, and the students. "We're saving the district a whole lot of money because they don't incur any bills for special equipment or other costs," she says. "Most important is that we're utilizing a relevant training opportunity and becoming better at what we do because of that opportunity."

Words of Wisdom

"Research NRCP online at www.nrcp.org and present a plan to take to your administrators. You can get a full description of all courses at www.trisped.org," Barbara says. "Districts need to realize the value of our professional development and the impact it can have on students."

Technology has made our world a "wired one," Barbara adds, and professional development online is just one of the revolutions to come from that. "Computers are everywhere, long-distance learning is everywhere," she says. "There's just no reason it can't be in schools, too."

Contact

Barbara Morris, President-Colonial Paraprofessional Association
colpara@prodigy.net
   *See CPA's Contract Language in Action Tool #8 .

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