Assistant teachers are an integral component of the preschool classroom, planning and implementing educational activities and supporting individual children and small groups, and often bring linguistic, cultural, and racial/ethnic diversity to the teaching field. However, there is limited research on the impact of assistant teacher qualifications…

This dissertation presents the findings of a descriptive, survey-based study of special education paraeducators and their self-reported perceptions about the adequacy of their ongoing professional development training in Arizona school districts. The results show that school districts in Arizona are not spending adequate time in preparing special…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), enacted in January 2002, includes among its provisions new requirements for all employees providing instructional support (paraprofessionals, teacher aides, tutors, etc.) in programs/schools supported with Title I, Part A funds. The law stipulates that paraprofessionals or teacher aides must meet one of the…

Describes challenges rural school districts meet in recruiting young, talented teachers, particularly those facing tough new federal standards for hiring teachers in Title I schools. Describes how some school districts are meeting the challenge through emphasizing the benefits of rural schools, identifying and assisting high school students with…

This report presents findings about teacher quality from two longitudinal studies, the National Longitudinal Study of "No Child Left Behind" (NLS-"NCLB"), and the Study of State Implementation of Accountability and Teacher Quality Under "No Child Left Behind" (SSI-"NCLB"). The research teams for these two…

This article revisits the debate between cultural and critical literacy through ethnography challenging popular academic views in education and literacy. Set in a preschool classroom at the inception of the "No Child Left Behind" initiative, this essay focuses on teaching assistant Marylou Anderson. Her experiences growing up in…

This article deals with the current situation of educational assistants now being required by the No Child Left Behind Act to have at least two years of higher education or an associates degree, or to meet rigorous quality standards and demonstrate academic skills and knowledge. In this article, the author presents views from a superintendent,…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, paraprofessionals must be certified as highly qualified. To meet the standard, they need a high school diploma as well as a two-year associate's degree, or two years of college credit, or a passing score on a state or local assessment that demonstrates knowledge of and ability to assist in teaching reading,…

Passed by the U.S. Congress in the spring of 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was one of the most significant and expansive education policy initiatives ever undertaken by the federal government. The main component of the act, Title I, allocated significant resources to…