Education - Paraprofessionals - Supporting students without hovering

1. Only as Much as is Needed:
Hovering, Helicoptering or Helping?
4/16
1.5 hr
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2. Presented by:
Sheri White, Ms. Ed for
Northwestern Illinois Association
4920 East State St. Unit 6
Rockford, IL 61108
(815)964-0937
Fax: (815)964-2210
www.thenia.org
swhite@thenia.org
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3. Objectives
1. To understand the effects proximity has on student independence
2. To realize how peer and teacher relationships are affected when a student is
supported by a paraprofessional
3. To appreciate the value and benefit of peer support in helping students gain
independence
4. To embrace the idea of “aide, then fade” and learn other strategies to support
students without hovering
5. To become familiar with 4 levels of support
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4. 4
Realize that your services are an IEP need for support,
not the need for a 1:1. Often times, paras are assigned to classrooms, not students.

5. Benefits of 1:1 Support
• Assists in providing special education and related services under the
direction of a qualified teacher/certified staff
• Implements positive behavior interventions, supports and strategies
• Facilitates social interaction between peers with and without
disabilities
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6. Effect on Teacher’s
Role?
• May defer important curricular , instructional,
and management decisions to the para
• Para may be viewed as the “expert” in
understanding the student’s needs.
• Responsibility for the student’s educational
progress transfers to the para (Marks, Shrader,
&Levine, 1999; Giangreco, Broer, & Edelman, 2001)
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Office of Special Education
West Virginia Dept of Education, Feb. 2013

7. Proximity Effects on Student Independence?
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8. Proximity Effects on Student Independence
Paras maintain close proximity
with student
• Physical contact
• Sitting immediately next to
student
• Accompanying students
everywhere
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Office of Special Education
West Virginia Department of Education, Feb. 2013

9. Proximity Effects on Student Independence
• Student learns to rely on the
aide
• Minimizes the frequency and
type of peer interactions
• Decreases student’s opportunity
to become an independent
learner.
Office of Special Education
West Virginia Dept of Education, Feb. 2013
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10. Effects on Students’ Social/Emotional Development
• Paras may separate the student from
his/her classmates
• Hovering paras interfere with natural
peer supports
• Paras interaction with the student may
interfere with the general education
students’ attention and concentration
• Students may feel a loss of privacy
(Giangreco, Edelman, Luiselli, & McFarland, 1991)
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………..say some students in your classrooms………
Imagine this
being a student
saying this
instead of a
teacher.

12. Have you heard this before?
“Hover cover, Velcro effect”
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13. Think about it……
• 2 examples of how you have “helped” a student
• 2 examples of how you have “hovered” over a student
Together: Choose 2 students at your school with whom you may or
may not work on a regular basis. For each student, list three
independent skills that he or she needs to acquire. What might the
role of a para be in maintaining and increasing the students’
independence with those skills?
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14. How to Decrease Dependency
How to Increase Independency
• Create a mindset: I should not do for the students what the student can do
for himself.
• Use “fading” and “prompting” intentionally and strategically.
• Understand and appreciate that your job is not to keep the student from
bothering the teacher (Levine, 1999).
• Allow student’s work to be authentic, rather than completed by para.
• Defer communications with parent to teacher.
• Advocate for cross-training/rotating of paras with students.
• Ask if 2 paras can be assigned a student with demanding needs (am and pm)
• Hope for time to discuss plans with teacher.
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15. Increasing Student Learning
and Independence
Promote self-sufficiency by:
• Resisting urge to step in and do things for them
• Asking leading questions:
• What’s next?
• What should we do first?
• What else?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMwaruBi3M4 (1:18)
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16. Ask yourself :
1) Can the student participate independently?
2) Is there another student who can provide support?
3) If my support is required, how can I “aide, then fade” ?
4) Am I supporting this student out of need, or out of habit? Does this student truly
need support at this moment or am I just in the habit
of offering support in this kind of situation?
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17. Role of Para: Social Support/Peer Relationships
• Facilitates appropriate social interactions between students
• Allow students time to communicate independently using their
mode(s) of communication
• Provide and encourage association with appropriate peer role
models.
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18. Collaborative Instruction
Among Peers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUl-qurQ6Gs (1:43)
The Swift Center
(is a national K-8 center that provides academic and behavioral support to promote the
learning and academic achievement of all students, including students with disabilities and
those with the most extensive needs). http://www.swiftschools.org/
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20. Benefits of Peer Support
Give 2 examples of when a peer assisted
a student rather than a para.
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21. Levels of Support
Low
Medium
High
Transitional
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Handout

22. Levels of Support
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23. Intentionally plan to FADE prompts/support
• Facilitate independence by VARYING the amount of support,
monitoring, and prompting based on need and independent level of
student.
• Plan, systematically with the teacher, on when and how to fade.
• Replace your support with visuals. Teach natural, environmental cues.
• Aide then fade.
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24. Strategies to Facilitate Independence
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