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##  Licensure Programs for Paraeducators. ERIC Digest.                           

America's teacher recruitment and retention challenge has been well             documented and widely reported in the national media (Brown, Hughes,            and Vance, 1999; Darling-Hammond, Dilworth, and Bullmaster, 1996;               Education Week, 2000).  Urban and rural schools, particularly in                high poverty communities, are finding it increasingly difficult to              find and keep qualified teachers.  Moreover, while the public school            student population is currently 34.5% minority - and projected to be            over 50% by 2035 (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1996) - the public               school teacher population remains overwhelming white, with only                 13.5% teachers of color (National Center for Education                          Statistics [NCES], 2001). 
The nation's K-12 public schools employ             more than 700,000 paraeducators and an additional 1.4 million                   education support personnel (National Education Association [NEA],              1997). Over the past decade, thousands of these paraeducators have              made the transition to teaching, and there is growing evidence that             many more are capable of doing so if provided support and                       assistance (Clewell and Villegas, 1998). Paraeducators and other                education support personnel appear to be a promising source from                which to recruit and prepare candidates to help address the growing             need for qualified and diverse teachers in urban and rural public               schools. This digest examines the qualities that make paraeducators             good candidates for teaching, and looks at the critical aspects of              successful programs that prepare paraeducators as classroom                     teachers. WHY PARAEDUCATORS MAKE GOOD TEACHERSParaeducators               serve many roles in public schools, though they typically work under            the supervision of a classroom teacher or other professional                    personnel. Paraeducator roles include instructional assistants,                 teachers' aides, library aides, preschool caregivers, building                  monitors, media aides, and other similar titles.  Education support             personnel (ESP) serve even broader roles in schools including food              service, custodial and maintenance, transportation services, health             and student services, security, technical services, clerical, and               skilled trades. 
Paraeducators and ESP often make ideal teacher                candidates, particularly for hard-to-staff urban and rural schools.             This population of candidates very often has attributes                         including: 
*  They are mature candidates who already have                     classroom experience, 
*  They are more likely to live in the                  communities where they work and to share the language and/or culture            of the students they serve (Haselkorn and Fideler, 1996), 
*  They             often have significant experiences working in public schools and                with challenging students, 
*  A majority of participants in                   paraeducator-to-teacher programs are individuals of color (Haseklorn            and Fideler, 1996), 
*  Their retention rate in teacher education              programs is higher than that of traditional teacher education                   candidates (Dewitt Wallace--Readers Digest Fund, 1997), 
*  Once               paraeducators become teachers, they tend to stay in the classroom               longer and achieve at equal or higher levels than teachers from                 traditional teacher preparation programs (Dewitt Wallace--Reader's              Digest Fund, 1997), and 
*  According to a 1997 NEA survey of                  paraeducators and ESP, half of paraeducators, and significant                   portions of other ESP job groups, are interested in becoming                    teachers. Additionally, paraeducators often have considerable                   academic preparation; 68% of paraeducators have attended college and            19% already have a bachelor's degree. 
It should be noted that                 paraeducators who wish to pursue teaching also face significant                 challenges.  Among these are: 
*  Financial constraints.  Low                  salaries and the high cost of college tuition make the prospect of              returning to school very daunting for many paraeducators and                    ESP. 
*  Education barriers.  Many paraeducators have been out of              school for years and/or have marginal academic records. 
*  Family             considerations.  Eighty percent of paraeducators are married and 48%            have school-age children (NEA, 1997).  This often makes going back              to school even more challenging. 
*  Time commitment.  Few                     paraeducators are able to leave work and pursue a degree or                     credential full-time, nor are they able to take several years to                complete a part-time program. 
*  Institutional barriers.  Many                teacher preparation programs do not provide the support and                     flexibility to accommodate non-traditional students such as                     paraeducators. PARAEDUCATOR-TO-TEACHER PROGRAMS CURRENT                       DESIGNGiven the barriers outlined above, few paraeducators would            be able to pursue teacher preparation and/or licensure without                  support and assistance.  However, across the country, colleges and              universities, school districts, and state departments of education              are offering a wide array of programs, scholarships, and other                  support services for paraeducators interested in pursuing teacher               licensure. A 1996 survey conducted by Recruiting New Teachers, Inc.             identified 149 such "paraeducator-to-teacher" programs  (Haselkorn              and Fideler, 1996).  A separate survey by the NEA identified some               182 programs (2000). A growing number of these programs report very             promising results (Dandy, 1998; Dewitt Wallace - Reader's Digest,               1997; Recruiting New Teachers [RNT], 2000). 
The types of programs             available for paraeducators vary significantly. Some programs offer             only small scholarships or stipends for paraeducators to enter                  existing teacher preparation, while others offer comprehensive                  services specifically geared toward the paraeducator. Several states            provide funding for paraeducator-to-teacher programs, though most               programs are supported through local funding and/or funds provided              by private foundations or federal grants (Haselkorn and Fideler,                1996).  While levels of funding also vary, programs that have                   reported favorable results have also reported significant costs                 associated with the program (Haselkorn and Fideler, 1996). 
Several            reports and research projects have documented key components of                 effective paraeducator-to-teacher programs (Clewell and Villegas,               1998, 2000; Dandy, 1998; RNT, 2000).  Clewell and Villegas (1998,               2000) point to six common features in the programs they                         evaluated: 
*  Strong collaboration between a local school district            that employs paraeducators and a nearby university that provides the            coursework and academic support for participants.  Universities                 often must commit to adapting or changing curriculum, revising                  admissions standards, and/or providing financial support.  School               districts often must commit to giving paraeducators release time,               guaranteeing teaching jobs to graduates, and/or providing financial             support to program participants. 
*  A recruitment and selection               process that gives an active role to partnering school districts.               School district personnel play an active role in the identification             and recruitment of participants which helps to ensure a large and               diverse applicant pool. 
*  Teacher preparation admissions criteria            that blend traditional and non-traditional measures.  Many                      paraeducator-to-teacher programs consider a wide variety of criteria            for admissions to teacher preparation beyond test scores and                    grades.  These include principal and teacher recommendations, job               performance results, extensive personal interviews, years of work               experience, motivation to succeed, maturity, and other                          criteria. 
*  Teacher preparation curriculum that fits the needs of            program participants.  This includes changing when and where courses            are offered, such as at the school site or on weekends.  It also                includes a teacher preparation curriculum with emphasis on cultural             diversity and on valuing the strength and capacity that urban                   students bring to the learning process. 
*  Comprehensive academic             and social support for participants. Academic progress is closely               monitored and participants are offered a variety of supports                    including tutorial programs, access to special learning centers,                workshops to develop study and test-taking skills, and developing               individualized education plans.  Many programs also offer childcare             services and workshops for spouse and other family members. 
*                 Tuition and other financial assistance.  Many programs offer                    scholarships and grants from funds made available by private                    foundations or government grants.  Others offer "forgivable loans"              that are erased when graduates teach in partner school districts.               Still other programs offer emergency loans or grants for books,                 supplies or even personal needs such as rent. 
Other reported                  program components include leadership by advocates on the campus and            in the district, building strong ties to community-based                        organizations and local churches, and using program graduates to                mentor participants in the pipeline (Dandy,                                     1998). CONCLUSIONThe need for qualified teachers in America's             urban schools has already reached crisis proportion.  Often, efforts            to address this quality teacher challenge ignore the importance of              ensuring a diverse teaching force that is culturally connected to               urban students and parents (Eubanks, 1999).  Recruiting, preparing,             and supporting paraeducators to become fully licensed teachers has              proven to be one viable strategy for addressing both teacher quality            and teacher diversity demands.  Yet, while the evidence is                      compelling, little is being done in the education policy and                    legislative arena to provide funding and support for these program              models (Haselkorn and Fideler, 1996).  Local, state, or federal                 funding has not replaced much of the financial support initially                provided by private philanthropic foundations.  Unless this happens,            paraeducator-to-teacher programs will remain very promising models              with little significant impact on the teacher                                   shortage. REFERENCESBrown, J.W., Hughes, G.B., & Vance,                   P.L. (1999). The new face of teaching in the 21st century: Are we               ready for the challenge?  The Journal of Negro Education. 68(3),                241-244. 
Chronister, G. (Ed.). (2000). Who should teach? Quality              Counts 2000.  Education Week, 19(18). 
Clewell, B. C., & Villegas,             A. M. (1998).  Increasing the number of teachers of color for urban             schools: Lessons from the Pathways national evaluation.  Education              and Urban Society, 31(1), 42-61. 
Clewell, B. C., & Villegas, A.               M.  (2001).  Ahead of the class: A handbook for preparing new                   teachers from new sources.  Washington, DC: The Urban                           Institute. 
Dandy, E. B. (1998).  Increasing the number of minority            teachers: Tapping the paraprofessional pool.  Education and Urban               Society, 31(1), 89-103. 
Darling-Hammond, L., Dilworth, M. E., &               Bullmaster, M.  (1996). Educators of color (Commissioned Paper).                Washington, DC: Office of Educational Research and                              Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education. 
Darling-Hammond,            L.  (2000).  Solving the dilemmas of teacher supply, demand, and                standards: How we can ensure a competent, caring, and qualified                 teacher for every child.  New York, NY: National Commission on                  Teaching and America's Future. 
DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest                 Fund.  (1997).  Recruiting, preparing, and retaining teachers for               America's schools.  New York: Author. 
Eubanks, S. C., and Weaver,             R. (1999).  Excellence Through Diversity: Connecting the teacher                quality and teacher diversity agendas.  The Journal of Negro                    Education. 68(3), 451-459. 
Haselkorn, D., & Fideler, E.  (1996).              Breaking the class ceiling: Paraeducator pathways to teaching.                  Belmont, MA: Recruiting New Teachers, Inc. 
National Center for                Educational Statistics. (1997).  America's teachers: Profile of a               profession (NCES 97-460). Washington, DC: Office of Educational                 Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. 
National              Center for Educational Statistics.  (2001).  Digest of Education                Statistics (NCES 2001-034).  Washington, DC: Office of Educational              Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. 
National              Education Association.  (1997). NEA National K-12 educational                   support personnel membership study.  Washington, DC:                            Author. 
National Education Association.  (2000).  National                    directory of successful strategies for the recruitment and retention            of minority teachers. Washington, DC: Author. 
Recruiting New                  Teachers. (2000).  A guide to developing paraeducator- to-teacher               programs.  Belmont, MA: Author. 
Stoddart, T.  (1993).  Who is                 prepared to teach in urban schools? Education and Urban                         Society, (26), 29-48. 
U.S. Department of Commerce.  (1996).                   Current population reports: Population projections of the United                States by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 1995 to 2050.                    Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce. 
Villegas, A.M.,                  Clewell, B.C., Anderson, B.T., Goertz, M.E., Bruschi, B.A., &                   Irvine, J.J.  (1995).  Teaching for diversity: Models for expanding             the supply of minority teachers.  Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing            Service, Policy Information Center. 
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This project has been             funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department             of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under             contract number ED-99-COO-0007.  The content of this publication                does not necessarily reflect the views of or policies of the U.S.               Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial             products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.         **Title:** Licensure Programs for Paraeducators. ERIC Digest.                           **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education, American                  Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 1307 New York Ave.,              N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005-4701. Tel: 202-293-2450; Tel:             800-822-9229 (Toll Free); e-mail: [email protected]. For full text:               http://www.ericsp.org.                                                       **Descriptors:**  Alternative Teacher Certification, Elementary Secondary Education,             Higher Education,  Paraprofessional School Personnel, Preservice                Teacher Education,  Teacher Recruitment, Urban Schools                       **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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