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The paradigm shift to an inclusion model of education demands strategic planning and programming by teachers to ensure individualized instruction for students with disabilities. Paraeducators or teacher assistants are increasingly being used in the delivery of instruction to students with disabilities; therefore, directing or supervising the work of the paraeducator is an integral part of planning and programming for inclusive classrooms. Research-based elements and components of paraeducator supervision are shared to help teachers and other professionals utilize paraeducators effectively in supporting instructional needs of students with disabilities.

Training, particularly in the form of comprehensive professional development, continues to be a need for paraeducators (also known as teacher assistants). Training needs begin with an initial set of knowledge and skills and is built based upon the paraeducator’s role with individual students and the educational settings. Standards or guidance documents are available from a few individual states within the United States, higher education systems, and professional organizations that serve individuals with exceptional needs and agencies. An international professional organization, Council for Exceptional Children [CEC] (2011), identified a common skill set that reinforces standards for defining curricula when providing training to paraeducators. Key to their ongoing professional development is the on-the-job coaching by the education professional (teacher), to support the application of skills into the inclusive setting. Various forms of professional development are available including online trainings in addition to face-to-face.

Special education teachers and paraeducators who generated and analyzed metaphors to describe their relationships uncovered insights into how they perceive their roles and responsibilities, and identified models for a more effective collaboration. The metaphors generated by 67 special education teachers and paraeducators indicate that they value relationships characterized by compatibility (e.g., “peanut butter and jelly”) and coordination of effort (e.g., “well-oiled machine”) and have diverse views on the relative contributions paraeducators make to the instructional program (e.g., “my right arm” vs. “icing on the cake”). Notably absent is acknowledgment of the teacher’s critical role as team leader, responsible for directing the work of paraeducators; metaphors like “two peas in a pod” far outnumber those like “architect and builder.” The chapter includes a description of a process that teachers and paraeducators can use to generate and analyze metaphors to serve as models for a more effective collaboration; examples are provided.

This chapter examines the teacher's role as supervisor of support staff (Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the UK, school paraprofessionals in the US) – a role for which there is typically little administrative or infrastructural support. Working from a UK perspective, the chapter draws on research from the UK and the US to address questions pertinent to the education systems of all countries which employ paraprofessionals: What types of behaviours do conscientious teachers engage in to provide effective supervision to paraprofessionals? How do paraprofessionals view the supervisory behaviours of their supervising teachers? Given the important role of paraprofessionals, the high levels of expertise required by their assigned roles, and the uneven provision for their professional development, the chapter also makes recommendations for building the teacher's supervisory role into the infrastructure of schools, rather than relying on its emergence as a discretionary behaviour.

Facilitating inclusive supports and services for learners with low-incidence disabilities involves collaborative teaming, understanding the benefits and challenges involved in delivering inclusive supports, and appreciating the diverse and unique needs of this population. In this chapter, we provide families, educators, researchers, academics, related service personnel, and other professionals with examples of models of service and support delivery. Emphasis will be on school-age learners with low-incidence disabilities. Additionally, an insider perspective of the opportunities for, as well as benefits and barriers to, successful implementation of supports and services for learners with low-incidence disabilities is presented. The chapter concludes with future directions for research.

Despite the critical role of support personnel in education, the literature about their supervision has been less than informative. In an effort to provide additional guidance to school leaders seeking to improve the supervision of such personnel, the purpose of this paper is to examine and compare three distinct groups of support personnel: school custodians/janitors, school secretaries, and paraprofessionals in special education.

The paper begins with two analyses. One is that of the general importance of the role of support personnel in public schools in the USA. The other consists of a brief argument as to why the literature about the supervision of support personnel has not been overly informative. The paper proceeds with descriptions of three distinct support personnel groups.

The examination of three support personnel groups highlights the visibility of the school custodian/janitor, the multi‐dimensional responsibilities of the school secretary, and the background of the paraprofessional in special education.

A comparison of three distinct groups of support personnel has implications for their training, compensation and scheduling, and work design and supervision.

The paper content offers an information‐rich and multi‐faceted view of support personnel in schools, with implications for their overall supervision and the importance of their contribution to the organization.

This chapter presents an over-review of the related literature and describes current findings in learning disabilities. Specifically, a definition of learning disabilities (LD) is provided, followed by a description of the prognosis for students identified with LD, predictors of success, factors in coping, and the relationship of LD to behavior. Methodologies are presented to effectively train teachers in the use of research-validated methodologies, particularly in the area of positive behavior support (PBS). The authors also explain how a problem-solving process, embedded within the framework of school-wide PBS, can help children with learning disabilities increase their chances of achieving success over time and across a broad range of environments. Case studies and an application process are included to support and guide teachers in their implementation efforts.

Teachers play a vital role in the structure of their classrooms. Part of this structure is having a clear understanding of the importance of not only supporting their students, but also the teacher assistants/support staff with whom they collaborate. Providing teacher assistants/support staff with guidance, information on student needs and classroom structures, team-building strategies, training, and supervision sets the stage for a positive climate for collaboration, teamwork, and learning. Consequently, teachers should be proactive and diligent to ensure high-quality training and supervision for teacher assistants/support staff, as this will have a direct impact on the services and learning opportunities being provided to the students.

As teachers make desperate pleas for more paraeducators to be hired to support a diverse student population, the number of paraeducators working in public and private school classrooms is steadily rising as it reaches nearly half a million in the United States alone (Stockall, 2014). “Teacher shortages, increasing numbers of English language learners and the rising enrollment of students with disabilities and other special needs are just some of the factors that make the need for a dynamic school team more necessary than ever” (National Education Association, 2014, para. 1). Currently, limited research exists on paraeducators’ perceptions of their role in the inclusive classroom. Paraeducators are responsible for many duties throughout the course of the school day, have a high level of responsibility for the quality of services they provide to the students, and have many concerns and challenges related to their work (Downing, Ryndak, & Clark, 2000; Monfore, Lynch, & Erickson, 2013; Rosales, n.d.). This chapter expresses the voices of many paraeducators in the field and highlights their thoughts on best practices and the continued implementation of collaboration, effective teaming, and equality.