Action | Revisions to comply with the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004” and its federal implementing regulations. |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 6/30/2008 |
MAKE MANDATORY at least Disability-Specific (to the student) and Behavioral-Related Training of "aides," "teaching assistants," "assistants," "parapros." Apparently most of the "aides," "teaching assistants," "assistants" -- whatever title you use -- are folks who are "anybodies" pulled off the streets in some of Virginia's SDs, and have little or NO training that would make these people effective in ASSISTING and intervening on behalf of/helping the students they're assigned to. Southeastern part of Virginia apparently doesn't understand this or doesn't care enough to change this state of affairs. Apparently some of these folks are trained to do is physically RESTRAIN a student, or yank them out of a classroom. Parents -- ASK (directly) your child's Aide, Assistant, Teach. Assist. what specific training they've had and how much. You may be surprised!
The "aides" intervention becomes more like a babysitting service, with not enough real educational or functional help given to the student. Students are short-changed; more problems occur b/c aides can't be as effective as they should be. Help the assistants understand their "charges" and the antecedents to their students' weaknesses and behaviors -- help them to be honest and informed observers and data-takers.