Early Childhood Severe Needs Para Educator (Pool Posting, Location To Be Determined)

FLSA CLASSIFICATION: Non-Exempt

COMPENSATION PLAN: Educational Support Personnel

PAY RANGE: Range 6

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SUPERVISOR: School Principal or designee

LAST UPDATED: 11/15/2023

JOB SUMMARY: Under the guidance of licensed special education staff, assist students with severe special education needs by helping individuals or small groups of students with curriculum, implementing programming, generalizing learned skills, and implementing behavior strategies. Assist licensed special education staff by preparing student materials, monitoring students, and recording student achievement and progress. Provide technical physical care for students. Maintain a clean and hygienic work environment where appropriate. When working in an online/remote environment, provide support to students by assisting them with access to remote learning, re-teaching curriculum, implementing programming, setting up executive functioning strategies, generalizing learned skills, and completing assignments. Assignments include: Autism, Behavior Development (BD), Early Childhood Education, Homebound (FAPE) Program, Integrated Learning Center (ILC), Serious Emotional Disability (SED), and Transition Programming.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: The following tasks describe the basic functions of the job and represent the type of work performed. They do not constitute an exhaustive list of the duties and responsibilities performed on the job. The following frequencies and percentage of time spent are approximations only and are subject to flexibility dependent on organizational needs.

SHARED JOB DUTIES ACROSS ASSIGNMENTS:

• Assist students with classroom activities, including adapting the curriculum to individual student needs. Assist with curriculum delivery to both individuals and small groups to ensure generalization of skills. [Daily 35%]
• Implement student accommodations, supports, modifications, procedures, and programming outlined in the student's Individual Education Plan (IEP). Maintain records of student progress and behavior in conjunction with licensed staff, which may include special reports, providing feedback, and reporting observations to the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team. [Daily, 30%]
• Assist special education licensed staff in preparing materials, administering tests, attendance, etc. Assist with paperwork and documentation as needed. Assist with other classroom events, such as fire drills, as necessary. [Daily, 5%]
• Perform other related duties as assigned or requested. [Daily, 5%]

INTEGRATED LEARNING CENTER (ILC) AND HOMEBOUND (Free Appropriate Public Education/FAPE) PROGRAM ASSIGNMENT JOB DUTIES:

The ILC program includes a focus on skills in communication, social, academic, daily living, independence, sensory motor, vocational, and other related areas.

• Monitor students and reinforce appropriate behavior for individual student needs. Assist in verbal de-escalation and non-violent crisis interventions to reduce the risk of self-harm and harm to others. Assist student development of social interactions or communication between students with special needs and general education peers. [Daily, 15%]
• Provide technical physical care for students with special needs as assigned, which may include toileting, grooming, cleaning ventilation devices, feeding, care of gastrostomy tube (G-tube), positioning, and improving range of motion (Autism Classroom or ILC). Following training and as delegated by a registered school nurse, accurately follow student medication delivery orders. [Daily, 10%]

SERIOUS EMOTIONAL DISABILITY (SED) ASSIGNMENT JOB DUTIES:

The SED program includes a focus on IEP programming and behavior planning for students with significant emotional and behavioral difficulties.

• Monitor students and reinforce appropriate behavior for individual student needs. Assist in verbal de-escalation and non-violent crisis interventions to reduce the risk of self-harm and harm to others. Assist student development of social interactions or communication between students with special needs and general education peers. [Daily, 25%]

ONLINE/REMOTE ENVIRONMENT JOB DUTIES:

• Assist small groups of students or individuals with online classroom activities, during synchronous or asynchronous learning, including curriculum accommodations or modifications. Assist with curriculum delivery or practice to ensure generalization of skills. If working in DHH Program, develop student language, vocabulary, reading, and writing using sign language for students who need a signing para-educator. [Daily, 75%]
• Prepare assignments for students to complete at home and support students in completing assigned work. [Daily, 10%]
• Maintain records of student progress and behavior in conjunction with the licensed staff, which may include special reports, providing feedback, and reporting observations to the Individualized Education Program team. [Daily, 5%]
• Support students in troubleshooting technology issues. [Daily, 5%]
• Perform other related duties as assigned or requested. [Daily, 5%]

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: The minimum amounts of formal education, professional work experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities that must be met for a candidate to be considered for a position

• High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma
• No professional work experience required
• Basic knowledge of typical office equipment such as telephones, copiers, fax machines, email, etc.
• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Intermediate verbal and written communication skills
• Intermediate interpersonal relations skills
• Intermediate organizational skills
• Ability to work alone and with others
• Ability to appropriately modify curriculum
• Ability to implement behavior modification techniques
• Ability to diffuse and manage volatile and stressful situations
• Ability to maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the job
• Ability to work one-on-one and in small groups with students
• If working in the DHH Program, ability to understand the impacts of hearing loss on learning and social interaction
• If working in the Homebound program, ability to set appropriate boundaries and build appropriate relationships while working in the home setting with families and other student healthcare providers
• If working in the Homebound program, the ability to have appropriate communication and boundaries with families while working in their homes with students
• Criminal background check and fingerprinting required for hire

MINIMUM CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENSES: The minimum certifications and licenses that must be met, valid, and unexpired for a candidate to be considered for a position

• Mandatory biennial Crisis Prevention Intervention training provided by the District for staff working in an Autism, Behaviorally Disordered, or ILC assignment.
• Medication administration training provided by the District as needed.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Any job-related formal education, professional work experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, certifications, licenses, and other criteria that are inessential and in addition to the minimum qualifications, certifications, and licenses

• Associate’s degree
• Work with special needs children in a paid program or licensed special education teaching experience
• Experience working with students with autism, behavior challenges, medically fragile conditions, hearing or vision loss, or intellectual disabilities
• Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds
• CPR and First Aid certification
• Racially conscious and culturally competent with the skill, will, capacity, and knowledge to commit to a culture of continuous improvement

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DEMANDS: The physical exertion, cognitive capacities, and work environments required to perform a position’s duties and responsibilities

• Very heavy physical effort
• Lifting 50 pounds
• Primarily works indoors
• Prolonged standing and walking
• Frequent bending, reaching, and climbing
• Frequent lifting, pulling, and/or pushing
• Squatting
• Overhead work
• Eye/hand coordination (e.g., typing, ten key)
• Visual concentration
• Concentrated reading/writing/mathematics
• May work outdoors when monitoring student activities
• May be required to perform physical restraint depending on assignment
• May be required to assist students with custodial needs (feeding, toilet, etc.) depending on assignment
• If working in the Homebound program, home educational environment that may include potential volatile outbursts
• Normal school district environment that may include potential volatile outbursts