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…

The content and structure of pre-service and teacher-aide programs has major implications for training, management, support and deployment of teachers and teacher-aides in mainstream schools working with students who have ASD. Data pertaining to course content and structure were collected from university and teacher-aide training websites, program…

To provide assistance to teachers attempting to implement a thematic, discovery-oriented preschool curriculum under funding conditions preventing a desirable teacher-pupil ratio, a practicum was designed to recruit and train retired senior citizens and involve them as volunteer aides in the preschool program of a church school located in the…

This practicum addressed the expressed need to improve the knowledge and expertise of the teaching staff employed at a child-parent center, which served 170 preschool and kindergarten children attending classes in an elementary school in an economically depressed community. Specifically, the in-service intervention aimed to immprove staff…

This training program is designed to prepare paraprofessionals to work effectively as instructional personnel with preschool handicapped children educational settings. The program is divided into two sections: Preservice Training and Inservice Training. The preservice section focuses on the special relationship between the instructional associate…

This guide presents the scheme and direction for personnel training in the Home-Oriented Preschool Education (HOPE) Program, which uses three modes of instruction (televised, mobile classroom, and parent instruction) to educate 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. The importance of team instruction, the goals and methods of inservice training, and day-by-day…

This sourcebook contains ASSIST training materials designed to prepare paraprofessionals for their role as teacher aides in classes for handicapped preschool children. The preservice portion of the training program focuses on the special relationships the instructional associate has with the teacher, the preschool, and the child. Chapter I…