Determining When a Student Requires Paraeducator Support

decide when they need to hire paraeducators, or teaching assistants? When should the individualized education program (IEP) require the use of paraeducators? How do schools prevent overreliance on paraprofessionals? How can they encourage communication among educators and paraeducators and prevent burnout among paraeducators? To address some of these issues (see box, “What Does the Literature Say?”), we developed a process to help IEP teams determine when to assign paraeducators to support students with disabilities. This article outlines the rationale for developing the process and then describes the formal, decision-making model, its benefits, and its effects.