Addresses three questions: (1) What tasks do aides perform? (2) Does training make a difference in the type of tasks aides perform? (3) What are the concerns of aides? (Available from the Department of Educational Administration, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G5; $0.50, single copy.) (Author/IRT)

Over the last ten years the role of the teaching assistant has undergone continued change and development. This article identifies many of the different contexts in which teaching assistants support behaviour for learning and further explores some of the challenges raised by workforce remodelling. Barry Groom argues that this could be an…

The ethnographic study investigated the implementation practices of a bilingual education program. A school site containing factors which were determined to be prevalent across Title VII programs was selected from over 300 Title VII sites. In addition, the school also contained a local student population, i.e., no one was bused from elsewhere; two…

The contribution of teaching assistants, learning support assistants or classroom assistants is becoming increasingly important in inclusive and specialist classrooms. In this article, Marjatta Takala, professor in special education at the University of Helsinki, describes her research into the work of 14 classroom assistants working in a mix of…

Discusses in a general way the variations in bilingual education programs and explores the roles program assistants can play. Describes the curriculum developed at Palomar College in San Marcos, California, to prepare assistants in bilingual education. (PMP)

Despite an unprecedented increase in classroom-based support staff, there are confusing messages about their appropriate deployment and a lack of systematic evidence on their impact. This article addresses the deployment and impact on pupil engagement and individual attention of support staff, commonly known as teaching assistants (TAs), in terms…

This booklet describes the Washington, D.C., Teacher Aide Program (TAP), a project designed to develop methods of training nonprofessionals to work with teachers in schools attended by children of low-income families. Chapters include: (1) a descriptive overview of the program with notes on its background and the staff; (2) discussion of the…

This folio on working with teacher aides contains three parts, one each for the school administrator, the classroom teacher, and the teacher aide. Part A contains a plan (with eight exhibits including selected readings, model policies and regulations, sample pay schedules, sample job descriptions, and sample aide application forms) for the school…

This document is a guidebook developed by the Merrimack Education Center from actual experience in a pilot training program for paraprofessionals. It is stated that the purpose of the guidebook is to introduce to training facilitators some of the essential elements in preservice training. Section 1 justifies the existence of instructional and…

A survey was conducted to determine the background characteristics of the auxiliary school personnel employed by the Minneapolis public school system. Eighty percent of all such employees on a particular month's payroll responded via questionnaire. Analysis of the data indicated that the typical aide was white, married, female, over 36 years old,…

This book concentrates on the more theoretical aspects of the Higher Level Teaching Assistant role: professionalism, relationships, statutory frameworks and knowing your limits. It offers guidance and support on fulfilling the standards and succeeding both inside and outside the classroom. The book is divided into the following chapters: (1)…

In training teacher's aides, the following techniques were used to teach behavior modification principles: (1) video tapes; (2) behavior measures of training effects; (3) a behavioral task; (4) attitude measure. Through these techniques, maximum change occurred in trainee behavior. (Author/KJ)