Uniting Rural, Urban and Suburban America! Live Internet-Based Paraeducator and Teacher Training in Idaho, Utah, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

This paper describes Project Impact*Net, a model project for delivering training to paraeducators and teachers in light of requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. The project delivered four semester-length courses to instructional sites serving 69 participants in Delaware, Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Utah. The Project Impact*Net delivery system is a live, Internet-based, two-way audio/video system. This system allows the participants at the four sites to receive training simultaneously and to see and hear the instructor and fellow classmates at other sites. The first two courses are designed for paraprofessionals and each class is composed of 10 3-hour sessions. The second set of courses is designed for paraprofessionals and their supervising teachers and each class is composed of three, 3-hour sessions. The first two courses use a curriculum designed to increase paraprofessionals' skills in working with at-risk students and students with. disabilities. The second set of courses uses a curriculum designed to provide teachers with the knowledge and skills to supervise their paraprofessionals and strengthen their instructional team. Student achievement is assessed using a pre-posttest curriculum-based assessment and weekly progress checks. Course evaluation data are provided by participants, site coordinators, and project advisory board members. (DB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Of I ice of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCAIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 1 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Uniting Rural, Urban and Suburban America! Live Internet-based Paraeducator and Teacher Training in Idaho, Utah, Delaware, and Pennsylvania David E. Forbush Utah State University 2865 Old Main Hill Logan, Utah 84322-2865 Email: davidfa,cc.usu.edu Robert L. Morgan Utah State University 2865 Old Main Hill Logan, Utah 84322-2865 Email: bmorganacc.usu.edu Educators have long recognized the need for well-trained paraprofessionals who assist teachers and provide related services in special and inclusive education classrooms (Blalock, 1991; Drecktrah, 2000; Pickett & Gerlach, 1997). In January of 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB), transforming the recognized need for well trained paraprofessionals into a federal mandate. NCLB requires paraprofessional candidates desiring work in Title-1 programs to hold an associate's degree, show 48-60 hours of semester credit on their transcript, or pass a rigorous local or state test indicating that they are "highly qualified." The requirements of the NCLB act extend these same requirements to all paraprofessionals, including paraprofessionals working in special education who work in schools designated as "school wide" Title-1 programs. Finally, all paraprofessionals hired prior to January 2002 must meet NCLB requirements no later than January 2006 to resume employment. It is widely believed that similar requirements for special education paraprofessionals will be announced with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). With over 500,000 paraeducators working in U.S. schools (French, 1999) and the projected number to exceed 1,000,000 early in this decade, (Pickett, 1999) school districts, state departments of education and institutions of higher education have a daunting training task before them. The magnitude of the challenge is magnified due to some paraprofessionals' geographic isolation, public school districts' problems in developing comprehensive paraprofessional training programs that are based on existing standards, limitations in deployment of local experts to deliver training, and finally lack of funding for developing and delivering training. Distance education is one alternative for delivering training and ameliorating the obstacles listed. In this presentation, Project Impact*Net, a model project for delivering training to paraeducators and teachers is described and is organized by instructional sites, instructional delivery system, courses, structure, curricula and assessment.