Strengthening Paraprofessional Effectiveness Through Mentoring

According to research, mentoring programs in schools have been inconsistent and unaccountable, putting new or existing paraprofessionals behind and ill-prepared in providing instruction to at- risk students. Paraprofessionals work with at-risk students to improve learning and assist them in achieving their goals while being supervised by professional and trained staff. Previous studies have shown that paraprofessionals play an important role in the support of at-risk students and training is needed but most times is not feasible for every school district to implement for each paraprofessional that is employed in their school. A school improvement plan was created to put in place a mentoring program to help paraprofessionals become more equipped and increase understanding of instructional and behavioral intervention strategies that support student achievement