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Supporters of NCLB say that its provisions will ensure that paraprofessionals will be far better prepared to assist students to achieve learning goals. However, critics express concerns that many paraprofessionals don’t have the time, money and other resources to make a commitment to the training that is now required to maintain or gain a position as a paraprofessional.

The assessment option is appealing to many school districts because it may be the quickest route for people to meet the "highly qualified" requirements of NCLB. For example, 90% of the paraprofessionals in the largest school district in Utah opted to take the assessment route. According to recent surveys, however, many current paraprofessionals are nervous about the new NCLB requirements. While the January 2006 deadline mandating full compliance looms large, many states are still struggling to determine which assessments to adopt. There are widespread concerns about job security, the level of difficulty of assessments and the question of who is going to pay for the tests.

The costs for the two commercially available assessments range from $25 to $40. Also, many paraprofessionals who take the assessment route rather than attending college are likely to need a test preparation course. While community colleges in many states plan to offer such courses (sometimes including the test as part of the course), paraprofessionals are wondering who will pay.

Paraprofessionals are among the lowest-paid workers in the field of education, and experts argue that most are not in a position to pay either tuition or testing costs. Districts and schools are allowed to use up to 10% of the federal grant money they receive to cover tuition and training for paraprofessionals, although this would result in taking money away from student programs.

Also, federal grant funds are supposed to go toward helping both teachers and paraprofessionals meet NCLB requirements. States and districts will face difficult decisions in determining how to divide training funds. It is not clear whether providing support for professional development for these paraprofessionals will be very high on the agenda, given all the other requirements that have to be met.

There are concerns that when faced with a choice of having to complete two years of college or pass a challenging assessment test, many paraprofessionals will choose to leave education altogether. An unintended consequence of NCLB may be that more-stringent employment criteria will result in fewer paraprofessionals in classrooms, more teachers on their own without assistance and lower-quality education. The goal of strengthening the qualifications of people working in America’s classrooms may actually result in a serious exacerbation of the current teacher shortage.

State and Local Responsibilities

State and local education agencies have begun developing standards and procedures to meet the NCLB assessment requirements. But questions remain as to whether these new systems will adequately reflect the ability of paraprofessionals to support classroom instruction in reading, math and writing. Concerns also remain as to whether efforts will be piecemeal, or will lead to the infrastructures and policies essential to successful professional development, and therefore improve the quality of instruction in every classroom.