Episode 57:  Why Evaluating Your Paraprofessionals is a Must-Do

I'm riding solo this week to bring you a public service announcement...

EVALUATE YOUR PARAPROFESSIONALS on a consistent and frequent basis.

You see...I am a reflective teacher through and through. I will take a 20 minute car ride home in complete silence processing the events of a day and trying to figure out what went right, what went wrong and how I can improve.

When I get my evaluations from admin, I use their words...heir comments and suggestions...as fuel to the fire within me.

And it is in my humble little opinion, that all teachers should be willing to have an open mind to constructive criticism so that they can improve. And what better way to improve than to receive consistent and frequent input on what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong (or not as right.)

For the most part, you paraprofessionals want to learn. They understand they don’t know everything you know because they weren’t formally trained, but many of them are open to constructive criticism and want to improve.

When it comes to evaluating paraprofessionals, I have a strong opinion that evaluating them 1 or 2 times a year based on district requirements is NOT good enough.

If you are responsible for evaluating your paras, I beg you...make your evaluations more often, more meaningful and more intentional.

Today's episode of the Sped Prep Academy Podcast talks about a different way of providing that feedback to your paras.

The rubric I've used for the last 5 years looks something like this..

1. The headings along the side are: 
2. Work ethic
3. Student interactions
4. Ability to provide instruction 
5. Behavior management skills, and 
6. Their relationships with their colleagues.

 
When ranking them, a teacher is able to choose unsatisfactory, needs improvement, meets expectations or exceeds expectations. At the bottom, it gives a total score and has a place for strengths, weaknesses and a goal.

All teachers, special education and general education, who work with this para are given a rubric to complete. Once we have them all back, we sit down  and go over their strengths and weaknesses and set some goals for the next 9 weeks. We reiterate over and over that this evaluation is not intended to be a negative thing...it’s not intended to be used as a basis for dismissing a para. It’s only a tool to help them improve.

By doing evaluations in this manner and this often, you are building a culture of team improvement...everyone has strengths and weaknesses and we are all here to help each other be the best we can be. 

You can find the rubrics here:

Paraprofessional Handbook from All Things Jenn

Paraprofessional Handbook from Sped Prep Academy

Evaluating Paraprofessionals (Stand alone product)

Mentioned in the Show...

Sped Prep Academy. com/quiz

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