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State Examples
Nebraska
Northeast Community College in Nebraska has an AA degree program for education paraprofessionals. The program combines 31-33 credits of general education requirements with 25 credits of education-related courses and suggested electives. Some of the education-related courses include: Introduction to Education, Introduction to Early Childhood Education, Parent Relationships, First Aid, Library Orientation and Usage, Microsoft Office, Psychology and Development of Childhood through Adolescence, Issues of Unity and Diversity, and Elementary Spanish I or Elementary Spanish II. The AA degree with an emphasis on paraprofessional education helps paraprofessionals meet NCLB requirements and also provides the educational background needed to apply for substitute-teaching certification in Nebraska public schools. www.northeastcollege.com/PS_programs_study.html
Kansas
Fort Scott Community College in Kansas offers paraprofessionals the opportunity to earn an AA degree with an emphasis in special education. They can do this by earning college credit for coursework completed with the ParaEducator Learning Network, an online distance-education format created to train paraprofessionals. For every 13 courses completed through the network, students gain one hour of credit from the community college. The program costs $60 per credit hour for in-state residents, and $88-$138 per credit hour for out-of-state students. The online courses include 39 hours of general education courses and 21 hours of education-related courses. The education-related courses include: Introduction to Developmental Disabilities, Overview of Special Education Categorical Areas, Overview of Special Education Paraprofessionalism, Principles of Early Childhood Education, Introduction to Behavior and Classroom Management for Paraprofessionals (Level 1, 2 and 3), Practicum for Exceptional Learners, and General Instructional Competencies for Paraprofessionals Level (1, 2 and 3). www.ftscott.cc.ks.us/wp/courses_paraeducator.asp
Illinois
Illinois convened a task force to work with community colleges that were developing two-year paraprofessional preparation programs. The programs, approved in spring 2003, will lead to an AAS degree and recognition as a paraprofessional educator. One example is Rend College, which started the Paraprofessional Education Applied Science degree in the fall of 2003. This program leads to an AAS degree by providing a curriculum of the necessary skills and information for paraprofessionals. It is not designed for articulation into a four-year teacher preparation program. The program requires 65 credits hours that include a variety of education-related courses but no specific general education requirements.
Ohio
The Ohio Department of Education has developed paraprofessional standards for an associate degree program and is offering planning grant funds to two-year institutions to develop offer such programs. Since October 2002, several campuses have been engaged in developing associate-level programs – either through existing mechanisms such as the AA degree, through revisions to existing early childhood education degrees at the associate level, or through the development of new degree programs. The Ohio Board of Regents has been providing guidance to colleges by addressing program development issues such as need, articulation and supervision of clinical experiences. An approval and impact-evaluation process is planned to address program issues.
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