Paraprofessionals
The Four District Collaborative for Diversifying Educators wanted to ensure paraprofessional pathways existed to help diversify teaching staff. Mad River Local Schools had performed early work, including agreements that held jobs open for paraprofessionals while they completed student teaching.
Other supports for paraprofessionals include helping individuals access financial aid, tuition assistance, scholarships, including funds for persons of color, and public loan forgiveness. Access to test preparation and assessment reimbursement is an essential part of this work.
The Teaching Project has information on resources available to help paraprofessionals transition to teaching. The Teaching Project’s work is national in scope and includes ideas from other states.
Paraprofessionals can be an important part of the Grow Your Own pipeline of diverse educators.