Kindergarten Paraeducators

Overview
paraeducators

Role

The Paraeducator serves an important role in supporting the academic, social, and emotional development of all children in kindergarten. As a key member of the instructional team, the Paraeducator works under the supervision and direction of the classroom teacher to provide support to children in a whole group or small group setting.

Paraeducators contribute to high quality early childhood programming in several ways:

• support the academic achievement of all students;
• reduce student to adult classroom ratios; 
• implement differentiated instruction;
• support a positive classroom environment; and,
• increase individualized attention and support.

responsibilities

In addition to other kindergarten duties assigned by the team and administration, the Paraeducator Links to an external site. should be leveraged to provide instructional support, and thus work with students as much as possible. When providing direct instruction in a small group setting (e.g., phonics mini lesson, handwriting lesson, leading a math station, etc.) it is best practice for the classroom teacher to provide differentiated plans to the Paraeducator.  

Examples of high quality use of Paraeducators include:

• co-teaching with classroom teacher to model strategies during whole group instruction;
• lead a small group rotation during language arts, using teacher-developed plans;
• lead a small group rotation during mathematics, using teacher-developed plans;
• support students 1:1 during writing lesson (ex: personal narrative);
• provide short, appropriate interventions provided by the classroom teacher (ex: Jan Richardson alphabet tracing book);
• keep anecdotal notes;
• support students with transitions and expectations for routines;
• teach handwriting lesson during language arts rotations;
• implement Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) protocols for consistency;
• utilize SEFEL strategies to promote social/emotional development;
• rotate to tables during content, providing appropriate supports to students.

At the beginning of the year, it is understandable that Paraeducators support students as they learn the rules and routines of the classroom; however, as the year progresses, Paraeducators should be supporting instruction with individuals or small groups rather than monitoring behavior.

scheduling

Please contact the Office of Early Childhood Programs for support and questions about effective and equitable scheduling of paraeducators in the kindergarten setting.