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Post by Deborah on Aug 17, 2006 20:40:08 GMT -5
Can someone please explain the difference between paraprofessionals and aids. I know I read this somewhere, but cannot recall any of it.
Thanks
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Post by ALLISA on Aug 17, 2006 23:14:25 GMT -5
Yikes...not sure....I would imagine it has to do with shcooling and degrees....but .....to be honest I was under the impression that aides and paraprofessionals need NO special training/background......makes no sense to me
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Post by momofrussell on Aug 18, 2006 11:27:22 GMT -5
They both mean the same thing From what I remember from my PAC in our district and what I can see on the web... the two terms are interchangable. A.
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Post by kwisteena1021 on Nov 6, 2006 8:26:06 GMT -5
I think in my school district they are getting rid of the term 'aides' and using paras more often.
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Post by Renee' on Nov 6, 2006 11:38:31 GMT -5
They are the same thing.
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Post by ambersgrandma11 on Nov 12, 2006 17:23:38 GMT -5
HI, I forgot my password to post so Iam using my mothers. My daughter with DS is 8. Iam a para at my childrens school. For our school district in Northern Indiana, an IA (instructional assistant) works with the general ed and paras work in special ed. No we don't have to have any training but if you have a 2 year college degree than you can make more money. Vickie
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Post by lespring on Jan 17, 2007 12:40:37 GMT -5
Depends upon where you are. In Minnesota a law was passed a couple of years ago requiring Para's to have training specific to the majority population they deal with. So, if they were working mostly with students who have Autism, they would need training specific to Autism. I can't remember how many credits were required, but it was quite a few (enough that school staff was freaking out about it because the pay didn't match the requirement!)
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Post by chasesmom on Mar 3, 2007 12:19:40 GMT -5
Aha.... I missed this post too. I was hired as a para. I am now a teaching assistant.In Michigan the difference is small. Paras help out in the classroom, help do lunch duty, recess duty, whereever they are needed, they move from room to room. An aide is a one on one for a child. Teaching asst's actually teach the students in the classroom in place of a teacher (such as in my program for young adults ages 17 to 26) All of us in our county (and they are working on passing it in the entire state) must pass a test, it is called simply "the highly qualified test" in order to work with the students. It is a test taken by students to graduate, by teachers when they are finishing, by professors, etc. It scores you and you must meet a certain score or you do not pass. You also have to pay to take the test Amazingly I passed LOL and did very very well, so you can call me a professor even though I dont have those credentials, LOLOL!!!!!!! I think alot of states do not have such high standards which is sad. Here you must also pass a police check and be finger printed and ran thru the FBI computer. It is very invasive I feel but it is people's children we are working with and I sure dont want a pedophile or child abuser working with my children!!!!! I hope that helped somewhat. Robin
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Post by briarsmom on Mar 12, 2007 2:03:34 GMT -5
I took a 3 day class and a test and I now have the title paraprofessional. They are the same thing I think. However I do think that their is such a thing as a colleague paraprofessional Lori
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