The Role of the Paraeducator/Job Coach
The Role of the Paraeducator/Job Coach
The following excerpt, The Role of the Paraeducator – Job Coach is taken from the School-Based Job Coach Training Manual, which was created by the Nebraska Department of Education – Job Coach Technical Assistance Guide.
It is a basic overview of several components, including: the role of the paraeducator, the code of ethics, the role of the Job Coach, Job Coach Responsibilities, What is Task Analysis, and What is Job Training.
As schools work to increase the vocational skills of their students, especially in the junior/senior years of high school, it is more important to make sure our paraeducators have a strong understanding of the differences between being a classroom paraprofessional and that of a job coach, if they are serving dual roles.
It is critical that the job coach/paraprofessional understand how to do a task analysis of the job(s) that the student is assigned to do, and then to monitor the student’s progress at increasing their time on those tasks. The job coach paraprofessional also needs to do a weekly evaluation of the student’s improvement of skills. Most importantly, the job coach must fade the support that they have been providing as the student masters the job skills to ensure that they become as independent as possible at the job site.
There are a wide variety of evaluation forms that can be used, and may need to be developed in relationship to the specific job. Some examples include:
This information can also be found under the RESOURCES tab: Job Coach Resources
As more information is released, we will keep you updated!
WIOA what?!?
No… that is NOT Iowa spelled incorrectly! If you have heard the acronym “WIOA” it stands for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.
There are still lots of details to work out as this new process moves forward, so to help you have some basic information, here are several documents that may help you understand some of these changes:
- Memorandum of Agreement notice between IVRS & the DE
- WIOA Webinar Powerpoint – Dec. 2015
- WIOA Webinar – approximately 30 minutes
- FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
All of the information above may be found on the Department of Education website under Special Education/Secondary Transition.
As more information comes out, we will keep you posted!
Job Interests Picture Inventory & Strengths, Interests, & Preference Visual
The Job Interests Picture Inventory is another great tool you can use with your students that may need a visual cue on possible employment options.
This form was created by a fellow teacher, so a special thanks for both his creativity AND his willingness to share! Helping and learning from others…. now that’s what we want to model for our kids, right? 🙂
So, since he showed us a great example, if there are other careers that you want your students to have to choose from, you now have a guide for creating one on your own.
You could do something similar by using pictures from a computer program like Board Maker, etc. to make a visual representation to help your students determine their strengths, interests & preferences. Click Strengths, Interests, Preferences Picture Options for yet another great sample that was shared!
Keep all your great ideas coming! Together, we can help make our kids/student’s transition as seamless as possible!
April Transition Trainings Update
We are excited and wanted to update you on our upcoming Transition Trainings! As of today, the I Have A Plan and More Training on April 23rd is full, and we have a few openings yet for our training on April 10th. We are so excited about the trainings, and feel that you will walk away from both with new practical ways to implement the information right into your classroom instruction!
If you haven’t signed up yet, and would like to for the April 10th training, please use the following link: April 10th Transition Training
We are keeping a short waiting list in case there are some cancellations, so if you already have signed up and find out you cannot attend, please email Laurie DeWall so she can let the next person know they can attend.
We look forward to learning with all of you!
Career Exploration
I am meeting with Kandy Martin and Lori Kolbeck to discuss job exploration and employment options in the Webster City area. The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability (NCWD) has lots of good information about preparing students for the world of work.
http://www.ncwd-youth.info/innovative-strategies/practice-briefs/career-exploration-in-action
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