Effective Strategies for Working with Paraeducators

As paraeducators are hired for special education classrooms, teachers are often responsible for providing training, monitoring their progress, managing their schedules, addressing challenges, and informally evaluating their efforts. This comprehensive guide, along with the Paraeducator Handbook (purchased separately), are designed to help educators navigate this role. With this guide, teachers can provide a level of training and support that results in a cohesive, positive, and effective classroom benefiting everyone—administrators, teachers, paraeducators, and most importantly, students.“I literally went from babysitting to being trained to teach students real life skills like telling time and money use both in the classroom and in the community. The disability awareness training has given me the insight to appreciate each student’s unique learning style.”—Sally Semenock, ParaeducatorTogether, Dr. Candice Styer and Suzanne Fitzgerald have over 40 years of classroom experience both as paraeducators and as teachers working with paraeducators. They were inspired to write this manual based on their own experiences and the experiences of other teachers and paras with whom they have consulted. “The knowledge I gained working as a paraeducator in Suzanne and Candi's special education classroom was so valuable. The positive work atmosphere as well as being a cohesive team allowed us to get the most out of our students and see them flourish. This manual is something that all classrooms should have!”— Holli Lawrence, ParaeducatorThis manual includes a teacher’s copy of the Paraeducator Handbook, a companion book available for purchase for each of your paraeducators.Effective Strategies for Working with Paraeducators belongs to Styer-Fitzgerald Publishing's line of outstanding educational products, including the Styer-Fitzgerald Program for Functional Academics. Unique among special education curricula, the Styer-Fitzgerald Program provides a comprehensive approach to teaching functional skills to students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities, including autism. For more information about the entire line of Styer-Fitzgerald products, visit the website at www.styer-fitzgerald.com.

Candice Styer, Ph.D. and Suzanne Fitzgerald, M.Ed.

Candice Styer has worked in special education for over 30 years. She received her teaching certification, M.Ed., and Ph.D. at the University of Oregon.

Dr. Styer has developed the content in The Styer-Fitzgerald Program for Functional Academics throughout her career with an emphasis on the vital mix of research-supported best practices and classroom practitioner experience-based wisdom. She developed the life skills assessment and curriculum over the last 30 years while teaching middle school and high school students with moderate and severe disabilities.

Suzanne Fitzgerald began collaborating with Candice on the Styer-Fitzgerald Program for Functional Academics as she entered the special education program at the University of Washington. Recognizing the unique value of the material, she worked with Candice to standardize and refine the content and structure and has added complementary material from her own work in the field.

Suzanne has worked with children and adults with developmental, physical, emotional, and behavioral disabilities in classroom, vocational, residential, and recreational settings for the past 21 years. She received her BA in Human Services from Western Washington University and her Teaching Certification and M.Ed. from the University of Washington. She was a middle and high school special education teacher for the Snohomish School District.