Tips for Special Education Teachers to Create Effective Partnerships With Paraprofessionals

Paraprofessionals are often assigned to work one-on-one with students with disabilities and are often assigned to support students with extensive support needs in general education classrooms. Paraprofessionals have been found to enact effective practices only when given clearly defined roles and provided with direction around enacting these roles. We describe tangible ways special education teachers can create more effective partnerships with paraprofessionals to better support students. Specifically, we discuss ways to clearly define roles and responsibilities, how to embed training and support, ideas to engage in proactive scheduling to better support students, and ways to purposefully collaborate and build capacity to maximize the role of paraprofessionals.