In Scranton, Pa., training modeled on AFT project translates into success in the classroom

When paraprofessionals in Scranton, Pa., return to work this fall, they will have one less thing to worry about. All 80 of them completed a special program last school year that the Scranton Federation of Teachers (SFT) developed to help the paras it represents meet the new job requirements outlined in No Child Left Behind.

“We feel like the weight of the world is off our shoulders,” says Christine Jones, a kindergarten paraprofessional at Francis Willard School.

The Scranton training grew out of the SFT’s active Educational Research and Dissemination (ER&D) program, which had mostly served teachers in the past. After Kathy Buzad, the SFT’s local ER&D coordinator, heard a presentation about an AFT pilot project to help paras meet the new standards, she put together a local version. It included hours of training in classroom management (run by two SFT paraprofessionals), reading and math. In a decision that proved vital to the program’s success, the union got the paraprofessionals released from their classrooms to complete the work during school time.

“Many of our paras have more than one job,” Buzad notes, “so making them come after school or in the evening wouldn’t be fair.”

Even though the Scranton paras are an experienced group, many of them with 20 years on the job, taking formal classes was intimidating. “I hadn’t taken a class since I graduated from high school,” Jones says. “We work in school every day, but when it came time for us to go to class, we were in panic mode.” The two trainers quickly put their adult students at ease, and by the end, the training was a resounding success that left the paras wanting even more.

“It was really nice for us to go and learn and feel valuable,” Jones says. “I could go every year and take classes and just keep learning.” Typical of ER&D, the training was very hands-on and practical. Part of the assessment involved the paras going back to their classrooms and implementing what they’d learned the previous day.

The union worked with the district’s Title I director and the state education department to make sure the program met NCLB guidelines as one of the routes paraprofessionals can take to be considered qualified under the law. (Fewer than 10 Scranton paraprofessionals had enough college credits to meet the guidelines.)

After years of working mostly with teachers, Buzad says she was pleased to be able to help a group of fellow educators. “This is probably the best thing I’ve ever done in my career in filling a need for our brothers and sisters in the union and also helping the district,” she says.