Supervision of paraprofessionals in elementary classrooms: A descriptive case study

• Main Author: Burtch, Keelee K
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: educational administration; elementary education; special education
• ISBN: 9781109351026; 110935102X

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine how teachers provide supervision to paraprofessionals in elementary classrooms. This descriptive case study examines how teachers provide supervision to paraprofessionals in elementary school classrooms. Research questions regarding the teacher's role as a supervisor resulted from Pickett's (1999) supervisory framework, which addresses five areas: planning, task delegating, role clarifying, performance monitoring, and on-the-job training and mentoring. The results of this study indicated that paraprofessionals specifically, and both special and general education teachers do not understand their roles, planning between teacher and paraprofessional in elementary school classrooms is spur of the moment, and teachers do not receive adequate training in supervising paraprofessionals. This descriptive case study offers a reality of what supervision actually looks like in two elementary schools. Recommendations to enhance effective paraprofessional supervision in elementary school classrooms include teachers and paraprofessionals know their roles; districts need to allow for planning time between teachers and paraprofessionals, colleges need to provide teacher preparation courses on supervision techniques; and administrators mandate collaboration meetings amongst general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals.