The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and its ensuing regulations require State Education Agencies (SEAs) to address in their State eligibility documents a mechanism for ensuring that Local Education Agencies (LEAs) maintain appropriately qualified personnel to provide special education and related services to children and youth with disabilities who are served by public and private agencies. The following policy was set forth in Director's Memo # ACC-98-058, February 26, 1998: "It shall be the policy of the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) that the paraprofessionals, educational interpreters for the deaf and hearing impaired or other assistants employed by public agencies to assist in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities, birth to 21 years of age, will be appropriately trained and supervised in accordance with guidelines established by the ADE, Special Education Unit." To address this requirement, the ADE, Special Education, through the Arkansas Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (ACSPD), is providing various Paraprofessional training opportunities, as outlined in this memorandum. The paraprofessional trainings will be held at the locations listed on the attached registration form.
The listed trainings will allow paraprofessionals employed by public agencies to have the opportunity to be trained in the Core, Special Health Care, Secondary, and Early Childhood Paraprofessional Training Modules, developed by the ADE, Special Education Unit. Each site will have a trained facilitator(s) that will assist with activities conducted during the video training, including dissemination of materials and pre- and post-test activities for determination of competency acquisition.
A registration form is attached. For necessary materials to be prepared by the facilitators at the sites, paraprofessionals must pre-register to attend all sessions or any make-up sessions missed during previous trainings. Please submit the registration form listing all paraprofessionals (names printed clearly) representing a school district, educational cooperative or other agency, as well as the form indicating the training site. Upon the completion of all modules, each paraprofessional will receive a certificate of completion and be entered on the Arkansas Paraprofessional Registry maintained by the Special Education Unit.
Registration will be limited (Note the number by the site on the registration form). Participants will be registered on a first come, first serve basis. Each day of training will be from 8:00 A.M. - 3:30 P.M. Please note the training sessions and dates for each of the regional sites listed on the registration form and mark the dates of choice. Due to expense of training materials and lunch provided, there may be a small fee to cover the costs. The participants' registration acknowledgement will specify the fee.
Complete and return the attached registration forms for the summer sessions (through August) no later than May 18, 2001. For the fall training sessions, submit registration forms by August 31, 2001(September through October).
Return to:
Susie Branon
Arkansas Department of Education
# 4 State Capitol Mall, Room 105-C
Little Rock, AR 72201-1071
Fax 501-682-4313