Tips for Improving Paraeducator Implementation of Behavior Intervention Plans

Across the United States, there are currently more than 490,000 paraeducators employed within school systems (U.S. Department of Education, 2021) carrying out various responsibilities dependent on the environments in which they work. As the utilization of paraeducators continues to grow (Brock & Anderson, 2021), the roles they hold also continue to evolve. With their unique ability to work with students in small groups or individually, paraeducators maintain a crucial role in the educational programming for students (Reddy et al., 2020), particularly students with disabilities. Not only do they implement academic supports guided by a licensed teacher (V. L. Walker et al., 2020), but paraeducators are also often responsible for completing tasks traditionally carried out by certified teachers (Scheeler et al., 2018). Although paraeducators perform a variety of tasks throughout their workday, research consistently reveals they spend a substantial portion of their time carrying out behavior management strategies (Frantz et al., 2022; V. L. Walker et al., 2021). According to the National Center for Special Education Research Statistics, about 10% to 40% of young students with disabilities and 20% to 40% of secondary students with disabilities engage in challenging behavior (Wagner et al., 2006). With a substantial portion of students with disabilities experiencing difficulty with challenging behavior, paraeducators often find themselves serving as primary behavior interventionists (Fisher & Pleasants, 2012), implementing function-based strategies (Hendrix et al., 2018) and carrying out behavior intervention processes.