The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its implementing regulations require State Education Agencies (SEAs) to address in each 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 list of sites.
The listed trainings will allow paraprofessionals employed by public agencies to have the opportunity to be trained in the Core, Early Childhood, Secondary, Special Health Care, Cultural Awareness, and Behavior 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/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 PRINTED CLEARLY) representing a school district, educational cooperative, or other agency. Ensure that the Training Site information is included. Upon completion of the module(s), each paraprofessional will receive a certificate of completion and be entered in the Arkansas Paraprofessional Registry maintained by the ADE, Special Education.
Registration may be limited (Note the number by the site on the Training Site form). Participants will be registered on a first come, first serve basis. Each day of training will be from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM. Note the training sessions and dates for each of the regional sites listed on the registration form and mark the dates of choice. Some sites may have a participation fee due to expense of training materials and lunch being provided. Individual sites will announce the cost. The participants’ registration acknowledgement will specify the small fee.
Complete and return the attached registration form for the summer sessions (through August) prior to May 15, 2004, to:
Cindy O'Riley, CSPD
ADE, Special Education Unit
1401 W. Capitol
Victory Bldg. Suite 450
Little Rock, AR 72201
Fax 501-682-4248