A paraprofessional has recorded tallies for a student all quarter. The teacher opens the sheet and finds a column of marks with no dates and no sense of how long each observation lasted. The effort was real. The data are not usable.
Paraprofessionals often spend more time with a student than anyone else, which makes them good observers. This guide covers what the rule and one state's guidance say about their role in data collection, and how a teacher can train and check the work.
What the rule says
Section 300.156(b)(2)(iii) says that paraprofessionals and assistants who are appropriately trained and supervised, in accordance with State law, may be used to assist in the provision of special education and related services. So the federal rule allows the help and puts two conditions on it: training and supervision. The details are up to each state.
What one state spells out
The Texas Education Agency's field user guide on working with paraprofessionals is specific. It lists, among the duties that a paraprofessional may do under supervision, assisting in the collection of data on the student's mastery of behavior and academic goals and objectives using criteria developed by the special educator. It lists among the things a paraprofessional may not do: develop IEP goals and objectives, and be responsible for determining or reporting student progress for either general education or special education goals.
It also says paraprofessionals must be directly supervised by a certified teacher, with supervision by a certified special educator when the paraprofessional is responsible for implementing an IEP. And it says that teachers have the ultimate responsibility for communicating progress, concerns, and results, and that paraprofessionals should redirect parents to the teacher for student information.
That is Texas. Your state may differ, so look up its paraprofessional guidance. But the shape is common: the paraprofessional collects, and the teacher decides, interprets, and reports.
| Task | Teacher | Paraprofessional |
|---|---|---|
| Choose the measure and write the criteria | Yes | No |
| Train and check | Yes | Takes the training |
| Record observations on the sheet | May | Yes, as directed |
| Interpret the graph | Yes | No |
| Decide to change instruction | Yes | No |
| Report progress to the family | Yes | No |
| Share a concern the same day | Receives it | Reports it |
Train, then check
Queensland's FBA guide says an observer must be taught how to complete the form accurately and have the chance to practice, and that it can be very helpful for novice observers to do an observation with a more experienced person and then compare notes. It also suggests that for low-frequency behavior, someone who is usually with the student be trained to record.
A short training routine, adapted from that advice:
- Show the sheet and the definition. Read the behavior definition aloud. Give two examples and two nonexamples.
- Model it. Record a few minutes while the paraprofessional watches.
- Practice together. Both record the same ten minutes, then compare.
- Resolve differences. If you differ, find the phrase in the definition that caused it.
- Check again later. Compare on a sample once a month, and when the task changes.
Choose methods that fit the room
Project ACCESS calls its fact sheet "Classroom Friendly Data Collection Methods." Frequency counts, duration, and latency are straightforward for a staff member who is also supporting a student. Time sampling can be easier than continuous recording, because the observer looks at set moments rather than the whole time. See interval recording and time sampling.
The IES practice guide on classroom behavior recommends keeping methods very simple for teachers with large classes. The same applies to a paraprofessional who is also helping a student with work.
Give a one-page plan
Compare this with the plan for general education teachers in data collection in general education classrooms.
A sheet a paraprofessional can keep
Compare the unusable tally with this invented log, which takes about a minute a day.
| Date | Time | Activity | Count of target behavior | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 12 | 9:00 to 9:30 | Reading group | 3 | Fire drill at 9:20 |
| Oct 13 | 9:00 to 9:30 | Reading group | 2 | |
| Oct 14 | 9:00 to 9:20 | Reading group | 2 | Assembly cut it short |
Every row has a date, a start and end time, the same activity, and a count. The note column explains the two odd days. The teacher can turn the counts into rates, and the graph will make sense. Nothing on the sheet asks the paraprofessional to judge whether the student is improving, which is the teacher's call.
When the numbers do not match
Sometimes the teacher's sample and the paraprofessional's differ by more than a point or two. Treat that as information about the definition, not a mistake. Sit together, go through one session line by line, and find the point where you diverged. Often the paraprofessional counts a smaller version of the behavior, or the teacher counts only the loud ones. Rewrite the definition, add an example, and compare again the next week. Over a month, the match usually improves, and the data become something the whole team can trust.
Confidentiality
The Texas guide says paraprofessionals must understand all aspects of confidentiality. Sheets that travel between rooms should use initials or codes, not full names, and should be kept out of view. See data privacy for IEP records.
What good support looks like
- Dates and times on every sheet. A tally with no date cannot go on a graph.
- Opinions kept off the data sheet. The sheet records what happened. Talk about why afterward.
- Short, regular check-ins. Five minutes a week to look at the sheet together.
- Credit given. Tell the paraprofessional what the data showed. They are part of the team.
- Backup. When a paraprofessional is absent, the substitute needs the plan too.
Where paraprofessional data go wrong
- Training once and never checking. Drift sets in within weeks.
- Asking a paraprofessional to interpret. Under Texas guidance that is the teacher's job.
- Changing the measure and forgetting to tell them.
- Using the paraprofessional as the only data source for a goal. Take your own sample often enough to compare.
Terms are in the glossary.
State law on paraprofessionals
State law decides what a paraprofessional may do and how supervision must be documented. The Texas guide is one example. The federal rule asks only that assistants be appropriately trained and supervised. If your district has a paraprofessional handbook, follow it, and ask your special education director when it is silent.