Running head: COLLABORATION BETWEEN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND AIDES

Collaboration Between Special Education Teachers and Aides

Taren Carter Atkins
May 5th, 2015
SERP 497e - Spring 2015
University of Arizona

COLLABORATION BETWEEN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND AIDES

2

Collaboration Between Special Education Teachers and Aides

I have recently found the interactions between special educators and their teaching
assistants particularly interesting. This all important relationship can potentially help or hinder
the way a classroom ultimately functions. My practicum placements have both run like welloiled machines, and I firmly believe that is was in great part due to the successful collaboration
between my cooperating teachers and their aides.

Purpose
I wanted to investigate what factors contribute to making collaboration involving special
educators and their aides so successful, because I felt that this information would be beneficial
for my classmates and other future cross-categorical students.

Background
Both of the special education teachers with whom I have had the pleasure to work
received integral support from their teacher's aides. I was very fortunate to be placed in settings
in which the student to aide ratio was very low. There were two teaching assistants for eight
children last semester and three teaching assistants for twelve students this semester (which was
rarely the case as at least one student is chronically absent, and a couple others have been known
to be gone for extended periods of time).

Methodology
I observed my current cooperating teacher, spoke with my cooperating teacher from my
placement last semester, and acquired written guidelines from each of them independently. My

COLLABORATION BETWEEN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND AIDES

3

current cooperating teacher provides a "What Can I do?" sheet to her paraprofessionals
containing suggestions including: reflect on the day (your teaching, student dynamics, new ideas,
etc), log any student progress/behaviors/etc. using data sheets, check/update the log for service
providers time/absence, prepare the daily visual schedule, change the classroom calendar,
check/update student tasks/activities/worksheets, take out the trash, check snack supply, vacuum
room, clean/disinfect tables/room, check/water the plants, take out/empty the recycle box,
prepare materials for the next day/week/ month, replace books to correlate with theme/student
interests, trade out games/materials for change or challenge (Daly, 2015). My cooperating
teacher from last semester provides each new aide with a "CCSC Primary Team Procedures"
sheet addressing expectations, which I will further discuss in my results, and attached are two
forms she uses for collaboration with aides to document their individual and team professional
goals.

Results
There were several common qualities that both teachers shared regarding successful
collaboration with their teaching assistants such as using cohesive language to present an
atmosphere of solidarity, creating an environment in which everyone feels free to share concerns
or ideas, and showing appreciation for all the hard work that is contributed by their aides. My
former cooperating teacher's suggestions for her aides included: having high expectations for the
students, giving students ample time to process any directives and respond BEFORE you repeat
yourself, promoting students to be as independent as possible, helping them understand how to
appropriately touch other people by teaching them to ask before touching or hugging others,
using statements rather than questions or choices when presenting a transition that is not

COLLABORATION BETWEEN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND AIDES

4

optional, dressing in a manner which is conducive to the varied demands of support that are
required, encouraging parent communication and involvement, using interactions with students
as an opportunity to teach social interaction and other life skills, keeping students on task and
engaged by using hands on experience and interest based topics, remaining objective during
student observation and data collection, and avoiding talking about the students as if they are not
there (Moran, 2015).

To avoid lessening teacher engagement when paraprofessionals are involved, the

following points should be considered: hiring the most talented, caring, and competent
paraprofessionals available; demonstrating appreciation and respect for their work by treating
them well; orienting them to the school, classroom, and students; clarifying their roles and
assigning them tasks that align with their skills; providing initial and ongoing training that
matches their roles; giving them professionally prepared plans to follow; directing their work
through ongoing, supportive supervision; and providing opportunities for them to be contributing
team members (Giangreco, 2003). All of these factors can contribute greatly to positive and
thriving professional relationships for everyone involved.

Implications
I found that successful collaboration proves beneficial for both the academic achievement
of the child and also for the effectiveness of the teaching and instruction, that aides provide a
vast amount of training and knowledge of individual children which can then be transferred to
the general education teacher, and that skills acquired and utilized in the classroom can then
eventually be generalized and used in other areas of life and learning. Just as classroom teachers

COLLABORATION BETWEEN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND AIDES

5

need to advance and expand their knowledge, training their aides can help provide much needed
appropriate professional development which will ultimately improve the educational experience
for all learners. When successful collaboration between teacher and aides is implemented, it
results in a win-win situation for all.

Limitations
My research was limited by the fact that I only had experience in one elementary
classroom and one middle school classroom, they were both the same kind of setting, and I did
not observe any situations where collaboration was not successful.

Future Directions
In the future, I would like to use a larger population of educators and classrooms that are
relatively similar in both size and economic standings so that I am able to get a more complete
overview of positive collaboration between special education teachers and their aides.

Additional Resources
During the course of my research, I came across several helpful printouts that I would
like to make available to my fellow classmates. I found a website that had a general explanation
of a special education teacher assistant position, describing the career, labor trends, personal
attributes, required skills, required experience and working conditions (www. aim.learnlink.org).
Another article that I read, entitled 20 Questions to Ask in an Interview for a Teacher's Aide and
written by Freddie Silver from Demand Media, suggests important questions for a teacher to ask

COLLABORATION BETWEEN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND AIDES

6

during the interview process of a special education teaching aide that assist in screening possible
applicants and choosing the most appropriate candidate for placement in the position (Silver,
2015). The last piece of valuable information that I wanted to share was the article, Ten things
every paraprofessional wishes you knew! which lists: there are laws and regulations that impact
me, I am responsible for many roles and responsibilities, I need a written job description specific
to your classroom, I need you to structure the environment for me to be a successful
paraprofessional, I need you to support me in my role as a paraprofessional, I need direct
supervision from my teacher, I need orientation to my specific roles and responsibilities as a
paraprofessional within your classroom, I need on-the-job training to learn new skills, I need
direct, regular communication, and I need the teacher to facilitate conflict resolution within our
team. (Austin, 2014)

Conclusion
The relationships between a special education teacher and their teaching assistants are a
fundamental part of the classroom experience. I received very encouraging queries and feedback
from my classmates after presenting this material, which only goes to further solidify my belief
that, as future teachers, our collaboration with paraprofessionals has the potential to make or
break the success of our experience. My intention is to impart some beneficial information to
facilitate that outcome for all of us.

COLLABORATION BETWEEN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND AIDES

7

References

Austin, K. (2014). Ten things every paraprofessional wishes you knew! Retrieved from
http://www.ttacnews.vcu.edu/2014/02/ten-things-every-paraprofessional-wishes-youknew/

Daly, M. (2015). Expectations for Class Support Staff. Tucson, AZ: Sunnyside Public School
District.

Giangreco, M. F. (2003). Working with paraprofessionals. Educational Leadership, 61(2), 50-54.

Moran, K. (2015). Handout for Aides. Tucson, AZ: Amphitheater Public School District.

Silver, F. (2015). 20 Questions to Ask in an Interview for a Teacher's Aide. Retrieved from
http://work.chron.com/20-questions-ask-interview-teachers-aide-2826.html

http://aim.learnlink.org/00/04/05/04/book.htm