No Educator Left Behind: Paraprofessionals

No Educator Left Behind is a series providing answers from the U.S. Department of Education to questions about the federal No Child Left Behind Act and how it will affect educators. If you have a question about No Child Left Behind, send an e-mail to Ellen Delisio, and we will submit your question to the Department of Education.

Question:

How does the No Child Left Behind Act affect paraprofessionals currently employed in schools?

U.S. Department of Education:

All paraprofessionals hired after January 8, 2002, must have (1) completed two years of study at an institution of higher education; (2) obtained an associate degree or higher; or (3) met a rigorous standard of quality, and be able to demonstrate, through a formal state or local academic assessment, knowledge of and the ability to assist in instructing reading, writing, and mathematics (or, as appropriate, reading readiness, writing readiness, and mathematics readiness). Paraprofessionals hired before January 8 and working in a program supported with Title 1 funds must meet those requirements in four years. The U.S. Department of Education has not yet issued final guidelines, but it is likely that:

These requirements will apply to paraprofessionals with instructional duties in any program supported by Title 1 funds. For a Title 1 school, this applies to all paraprofessionals with instructional duties, without regard to the source of funding of the positions. Those requirements will not apply to paraprofessionals working primarily as translators or solely on parental involvement activities.

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 Title1 purposes.

All paraprofessionals (regardless of their hiring date) working in a program supported with Title 1 funds must have a high school diploma or equivalent. That is a change from the previous statute, which permitted the hiring of paraprofessionals without high school diplomas, or the recognized equivalent, to work as translators.

Finally, Title 1 and Title 2 funds may be used for ongoing training and professional development to help paraprofessionals meet the statutory requirements.

Read previous questions and answers in our No Educator Left Behind archive.