| Title: | Description and Employment Criteria of Instructional Paraprofessionals |
| Description: | This Issue Brief (1) offers a descriptive portrait of the distribution of instructional paraprofessionals in all public elementary and secondary schools by instructional responsibility and selected school characteristics and (2) examines the educational attainment criteria used by school districts in hiring these paraprofessionals. Data for this analysis were drawn from the 2003–04 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). The findings from this analysis indicate that 91 percent of public elementary and secondary schools in the United States had at least one instructional paraprofessional on staff in 2003–04. A greater percentage of traditional public schools than charter schools had instructional paraprofessionals and a greater percentage of elementary schools than secondary schools report having instructional paraprofessionals. Overall, 93 percent of schools were in districts that required paraprofessionals to have a high school diploma or the equivalent. The results also indicate that a greater percentage of Title I schools than non-Title I schools were in districts that required instructional paraprofessionals to have a high school diploma or the equivalent. |
| Online Availability: |
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| Cover Date: | June 2007 |
| Web Release: | June 26, 2007 |
| Print Release: | Currently only available online, print version forthcoming. |
| Publication #: | NCES 2007008 General Ordering Information |
| Center/Program: | NCES |
| Authors: | Gillian Hampden-Thompson, Juliet Diehl, Akemi Kinukawa |
| Type of Product: | Issue Brief |
| Survey/Program Areas: |
Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) |
| Keywords: | |
| Questions: |
For questions about the content of this Issue Brief, please contact: Rebecca Bielamowicz. |