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Title I, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) of 2001, has new requirements for paraprofessionals. Please be advised that each Local Education Agency (LEA) receiving assistance under Title I, Part A must ensure that all paraprofessionals (Educational Technicians) hired after January 8, 2002 and providing instructional support in a program supported with funds under this Title meet one of the following requirements:
1. Hold an
Associate’s degree or higher; or
2.
Have
sixty semester hours from an accredited two-year and/or four-year college(s) or
university; or
3.
Achieve
the qualifying scores on the “ParaPro” assessment.
In
addition, each LEA receiving assistance under Title I, Part A must ensure that
all “existing” paraprofessionals hired before January 8, 2002 and providing
instructional support in a program supported with Title I funds satisfy the
requirement in four years (by January 8, 2006). The requirement applies to an Educational Technician whose
position is funded by Title I funds, and to any Educational Technician employed
in a school wide Title I program, regardless of the source of the funding of
the particular positions.
The
above requirements DO NOT apply to paraprofessionals working primarily
as translators, or solely on parental involvement activities. Also, individuals who work solely in
non-instructional roles, such as food service, cafeteria or playground
supervision, personal care services, and non-instructional computer assistance
are not considered to be paraprofessionals for Title I purposes.
The
“ParaPro” assessment, provided by Educational Testing Services (ETS), has been
adopted by Maine as an option for meeting the NCLBA requirement
for paraprofessionals for those Educational Technicians who may not either hold
an Associate’s degree or higher, or have sixty semester hours of college
credit, and for whom seeking an Associate’s degree or taking college courses is
not possible. The ParaPro assessment
enables the paraprofessional to
demonstrate knowledge of, and the ability to assist in, the instruction of
reading, writing and mathematics.
The
NCLBA requirements do not allow for waivers, and the law does not allow
for a delay in implementation.
Therefore, I recommend that you encourage all Educational Technicians
needing to meet this requirement to begin to do so as soon as possible.
(Please note: If an Educational
Technician wishes to pursue Option 3, ParaPro, the assessment will be available by February 1, 2004.)
Please
be advised that Title I and Title II funds may be used for ongoing training and
professional development to help paraprofessionals meet the statutory
requirements.
Each
LEA must designate an NCLBA contact
person and submit the enclosed NCLBA Contact Form to the Department of
Education by October 1, 2003. The contact
person will serve as the liaison between the LEA and the Department with regard
to processing evidence of meeting the NCLBA requirement, and to ParaPro
information and study materials.
All
Educational Technicians who currently hold an upgraded Educational Technician
authorization (Type 024 or 025) will receive personal evaluation letters
regarding the above requirement. All
other Educational Technicians I, II, or III currently employed in a position
needing to meet the federal requirement by January 8, 2006 should complete a
Self Evaluation Form and submit it to the NCLBA contact person when
these Self Evaluation forms become available.
These forms will be collected by the NCLBA contact person and
sent to the Department of Education.
Only the Educational Technicians who must meet the NCLBA
requirement must submit the Self Evaluation Form. Educational Technicians not required to meet the NCLBA
requirement may do so, if they wish.
A
separate code will be added to an Educational Technician’s current
authorization verifying that, in addition to holding a current authorization,
the Educational Technician ALSO meets the NCLBA requirement as verified
by submission of the appropriate forms from the LEA.
If
you have questions or if we can assist you further, please contact Anne
Wehrman, Distinguished Educator, Certification Office, at 207-624-6603 or by
email: anne.wehrman@
maine.gov
Self Evaluation Form (EF-C-309P)
Verification of Parapro Score (EF-C-308P)