Teacher‐Paraeducator Classroom Relationships: A Scoping Review

The special education workforce faces an ongoing shortage and high turnover rates, negatively impacting students and classrooms. Positive collegial relationships between teachers and paraeducators can reduce educator burnout and improve job satisfaction, potentially leading to reduced turnover. This scoping review identifies areas of knowledge and gaps in the literature pertaining to teacher‐paraeducator relationships, which may be used to inform future interventions intended to enhance collegial relationships and educator well‐being. Our scoping review identified 72 articles for our analyses. Most articles focused on how staff delegated responsibilities and established role clarity between teachers and paraeducators. Most articles were descriptive or used qualitative or mixed methods and examined teacher‐paraeducator relationships in the context of primary school (Grades K‐5) within inclusion/general education classrooms. From these findings, we present a call for more studies within the field that use experimental methods and that examine the relationship between teacher‐paraeducator relationships and student outcomes.