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 for children and youth with disabilities served by public and private agencies. The following policy was stated in Director’s Memo # ACC-98-058, February 26, 1998: “It shall be the policy of the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) that 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 through the Arkansas Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (ACSPD).” The ADE is providing another opportunity for paraprofessional training, as outlined in this memorandum.
This training will allow paraprofessionals employed by public agencies to be trained in the Core, Early Childhood, Secondary, Special Health Care Needs, Cultural Awareness, and/or Behavior 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/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. Submit the registration form listing all paraprofessionals (names and social security numbers printed clearly) representing a school district, educational cooperative or other agency, as well as the form indicating the training site. Upon completion of each training module, each paraprofessional will receive a certificate of completion and be entered into the Arkansas Paraprofessional Registry of trained paraprofessionals maintained by the Special Education Unit. If a paraprofessional has previously completed the training, he/she will not receive an additional certificate.
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. The times for the Core and Behavior training programs are comprised of two days, 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. For the Early Childhood, Secondary, Special Health Care Needs, and Cultural Awareness training programs, each is an 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m day. Note the training sessions and dates for each of the regional sites listed on the registration form and mark the dates of choice.
Complete and return the attached registration forms for the June and July sessions no later than May 30, 2003. For the other training sessions, please submit registration forms by June 27, 2003.
Any additional assistance or questions may be referred to Cassandra D. Green at 501-682-4222 or cgreen@arkedu.k12.ar.us. Return the registration forms to:
Cassandra D. Green
Arkansas Department of Education, Special Education
1401 West Capitol, Suite 450
Little Rock, AR 72201
Fax 501-682-4248