Qualifications:

• High school diploma with successful passing grade on the Para Pro exam or two year degree, or 60 hours of college credit from an accredited college or university
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Prior work with children
• Knowledge of computers
• Preferably Bi-lingual communication skills
• Such alternatives to the above qualifications as the Board may find appropriate and acceptable

Reports To:  Principal

Job Goal

To assist the teacher to achieve teaching objectives by working with individual students or small groups to help them achieve the skill levels of the class as a whole.

Performance Responsibilities

• Administers, scores, and records such achievement and diagnostic tests as the teacher recommends for individual students.
• Works with individual students or small groups of students to reinforce learning of material or skills initially introduced by the teacher.
• Assists the teacher in devising special strategies for reinforcing material or skills based on an understanding of individual students, their needs, interests, and abilities.
• Operates and cares for equipment used in the classroom for instructional purposes.
• Helps students master equipment or instructional materials assigned by teacher.
• Guides independent study, enrichment work, and remedial work set up and assigned by the teacher.
• Guides students with group activities such as drill work, and reading aloud.
• Supervises testing and make-up work as assigned by the classroom teacher.
• Reads to students, listens to students read, and participates in other forms of oral or written communication.
• Alerts the teacher to any problem or special information about an individual student.
• Serves as the chief source of information and help to any substitute teacher assigned in the absence of the teacher.
• Maintains the same high level of ethical behavior and confidentiality of information about students as is expected of fully licensed teachers.
• Participates in in-service training programs, as assigned.

Specific Job Requirements

• Possess and utilize excellent team building skills
• Accept delegated responsibilities willingly
• Able to work under occasional stress
• Demonstrate a high level of initiative in job performance

Knowledge

• Education and Training-Knowledge of teaching and instruction for individuals and groups
• English Language-Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar

Skills

• Active Listening-Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate
• Critical Thinking-Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems
• Learning Strategies-Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things
• Monitoring-Monitoring/assessing performance of yourself and other individuals to make improvements or take corrective action
• Mathematics-Using mathematics to solve problems
• Reading Comprehension-Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents
• Judgment and Decision Making-Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one
• Time Management-Managing one’s own time and the time of others
• Desktop Computer Skills-Using a computer application to type text, insert pictures, format, edit, print, save, and retrieve word processing document

Work Context

• Requires standing
• Requires walking
• Job tasks are performed in close physical proximity to other people
• Requires working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions and working outdoors

Terms of Employment:

182 days per school year; Salary based on District Scale for Teacher Assistants

Salary Scale

Evaluation:

Performance of this job will be evaluated in accordance with provisions of the Board's policy on Evaluation of Support Services Personnel.