As much as schools have been studied over the years by outside researchers, you would think that at least some of the inquiries would have focused on paraprofessionals and their role in the educational process. But that's really not the case. Almost every study of schools has looked at what teachers do, with only incidental attention to paras.

To help fill this gap in the research--and, in the process, to give some scientific validity to what most paras already know--the AFT and Johns Hopkins University teamed up on a project titled "Effective Uses of Paraprofessionals in Restructuring Elementary Schools." Fitting the long and somewhat academic title, the project is a serious research study involving one of the best-known education researchers in the country. And the findings of the report, a final version of which is due out later this year, highlight what is essentially common sense about the conditions and practices that help paras in good schools make significant and vital contributions: things like adequate professional development, good working relations with teachers and clear roles in the classroom.

"These things sound straightforward," says Johns Hopkins researcher Sam Stringfield, who co-directed the project along with Marian Ceasor of the Fat's educational issues department (herself a former AFT paraprofessional leader in Cleveland), "but in many places, that just isn't the case."

To single out what Stringfield calls "intelligent, productive" uses of paras, the researchers came up with a list of eight schools, each in a different district, located in six states (Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Texas). These were high-poverty schools, employing significant numbers of paraprofessionals, that were conducting whole-school reforms and getting better student achievement results than would be expected, given their demographics. Some used nationally developed reform models, such as Success for All, Core Knowledge and Direct Instruction, while others had devised their own approaches or adapted elements of other models.

In addition to focusing on paras, the project primarily used AFT-represented paras and teachers as the researchers who visited the schools, observed what went on in the classrooms, interviewed paras and other educators, and compiled their observations. "We knew paras work hard," says Margaret Dalton, a para and member of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, "and we saw that in action."

Brenda Mitchell, the newly elected president of the United Teachers of New Orleans and the one AFT teacher on the research team, came away impressed with what she observed in the various schools. "We saw very highly skilled paraprofessionals," Mitchell says. "That's important because we can begin to say to the critics who are always beating up on paras that we have data to support the fact that when they are used correctly and trained and supported, paras can do the job and do it well."

The good news about paras

The report is especially timely given the current debate in the U.S. Congress over the future of the Title I program (see p. 14), which provides funding for paras in virtually every school district in the country. Some critics of Title I have charged--usually without data to back up their criticism--that Title I paras are not effective and should be barred from providing any sort of instruction.

The AFT/Johns Hopkins research team, which presented its preliminary findings at the AFT's QuEST conference in July, has quite a different story to tell. Stringfield outlined a number of themes that emerged from the school visits:

A unifying vision, and related to that, whole-school reform--The most effective reforms involved the entire school, not just a few classrooms or teachers. The consistency management approach used by a school in Houston, for example, trains the whole school staff--teachers and PSRPs alike--on effective techniques for preventing behavior problems and maintaining positive discipline.

Whole-school professional development--If the reform approach really does involve the entire school, then it makes sense that everyone should receive adequate training. At its best, the training includes teachers and paras working together on what they'll be implementing in the classroom.

Clear tasks for paraprofessionals--This includes academic as well as managerial tasks. In no schools, the researchers found, were paras sitting in the back of the room unclear about their roles. And teachers in those classrooms were skilled at getting the most out of their paraprofessionals.

Teachers and paras coordinating and instructing seamlessly--In many of the classrooms they visited, Stringfield says, it was sometimes difficult at first to tell the para from the teacher because they worked so well together and were doing substantive work with kids.

Faith in a set of practical methods for teaching reading and math--Some of these came from the national programs, such as Success for All or the Open Court textbook series, but in each case, the educators in the school used programs that produced results.

An atmosphere of shared respect--Again, this meant paras and teachers working well together, filling clearly defined roles and supporting each other in the classroom.

Paraprofessionals as "translators" between the school and the community--Sometimes, Stringfield explains, this literally meant serving as second-language translators with students and parents who might not speak English well. But more broadly, because paras tend to live in the school community while teachers often do not, it meant they had a connection to the community and were in touch with the daily events and issues.

Involvement in solving ongoing problems--All of the adults in the successful schools were working together to deal with the difficult problems that can arise in tough, high-poverty schools. Stringfield likes to tell the story of the Houston school where the paras offered to run the lunch program; they restored order and even had the children listening peacefully to classical music, which obviously put them in a more relaxed, productive state for class after lunch.

Principals in the effective schools also were clear about what they expected from various staff, and they understood the important contributions of their non-certified employees. "Some principals just don't know how to use paras until someone tells them," says research team member Hattie Hollie, a para who coordinates paraprofessional staff development for the Baltimore Teachers Union. "Paras are there to help the child succeed."

After studying paraprofessionals for the first time in a long and distinguished career as an education researcher, Stringfield says he has concluded that it makes absolutely no sense to talk about eliminating them, as some would like to do with Title I paras. Considering everything they do in school and the important roles they play when employed properly and trained well, Stringfield says, paras are a tremendous resource for school districts.