CLEARINGHOUSE ON TEACHING AND TEACHER EDUCATIONDigest #96-2Diversifying the Teaching Force: Preparing Paraeducators as Teachersby: Michael Genzuk, Ph.D.University of Southern CaliforniaRossier School of EducationIntroductionThe current demographic makeup of our student and teaching populations, as well as theprojections for the future, show a striking discontinuity between teacher and student diversity(American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 1994). The nation’s nearly 500,000paraeducators working in K-12 classrooms embody a promising source of prospective teacherswho represent and may be more rooted in the communities they serve. Paraeducators are schoolemployees whose responsibilities are either instructional in nature or who deliver otherservices to students. They work under the supervision of teachers or other professionalpersonnel who have the ultimate responsibility for educational programs (Pickett, 1994). Paraeducator to teacher programs capitalize on the attributes that paraeducators bring to theprogram and the program streamlines their pathway into teaching. These programs fosterstronger school/university collaboration, improved induction into teaching, and more graduatedassumption of teaching roles as knowledge and skills are refined. Studies suggests thatparaeducator to teacher program graduates bring a wealth of community and student knowledgeto their practice, attributes that are highly regarded in today’s diverse classrooms. (Haselkorn& Fideler, 1996).Paraeducators as a Source of Future TeachersFor several reasons paraeducators have the potential to become the ideal teachers of ournation’s students. They expand the pool of potential teachers from under represented groups. Alarge percentage of this population have been shown to be prospective teachers of color(Haselkorn & Fideler, 1996). School reformers have pointed to the lack of synchrony betweenhome and school culture as a significant obstacle to minority student achievement (Brice Heath,1986). Because paraeducators tend to typically know their students and communities well,they help make the school experience less alienating and connect it to the students’ culturalexperience. In many cases they are native speakers of the students' languages and provide asorely needed language resource. They bring with them a great deal of classroom experience anda sense of how children learn based on how they themselves learn. Another compelling indication that paraeducators have great potential for beingoutstanding educators is the large number of such individuals currently employed in schoolswho have expressed a desire to become teachers. Survey research estimates that 52 percent ofthe Latino paraeducator population in Los Angeles schools aspired to become teachers before theyhad become paraeducators. After having worked as paraeducators for an average of 5 years, 75percent now wish to become teachers (Genzuk, 1995). High rates of teacher attrition, particularly in urban schools have contributed to a widevariety of fiscal, as well as pedagogic concerns. Paraeducators, with already strong roots in thecommunity, represent a staying power that’s critically needed (Hentschke, 1995). This notonly provides stability and consistency to schools’ instructional programs, but suggests the costassociated with support for Paraeducator to teacher programs is more than offset by savingsassociated with lower attrition rates in teacher education programs and among newly hiredteachers (Hentschke, 1995). Barriers to Paraeducator Teacher ProductionData indicate four primary obstacles that, if mediated, may facilitate successfulpathways for paraeducators attempting to receive teacher certification (Genzuk, Lavadenz, &Krashen,1994). 1. Financial : Students of low socioeconomic status depend greatly, if not entirely, onfinancial aid to pursue degrees in higher education. Aid, however, is not easily available. Unfortunately there has been a shift from grants for minority students to loan programs. Understandably many paraeducators are less inclined to incur more indebtedness. In addition,regrettably, higher education institutions from community colleges to four year institutionshave made notably few efforts to secure funding to increase their minority enrollment(Leighton, Hightower, & Wrigley, 1995). 2. Social : It appears that for many students, minority and white students alike, socialfactors may strongly influence their educational and occupational pursuits (Tinto, 1993;Genzuk, 1995). External communities (families, neighborhoods and places of work) and theirsupport, or lack thereof, may play a pivotal role in minority student success at the university. Such communities may differ from college communities in the values, norms and behavioral andintellectual styles that characterize everyday life. As a result, the adaptation of behaviors andnorms appropriate to college may be more difficult for minority students. The majority of paraeducators are women who are also responsible for caring for afamily. Lack of support and obligations imposed by spouses, parents and children, in addition toother social pressures encountered by paraeducators, are often obstructive. Houston andCalderón (1991) point out that minorities often have no role models to emulate. Many are thefirst persons from their family to attend college, and emotional support and encouragementcomes only from their peers at the college. For this reason it could be expected that personsfrom backgrounds with low rates of higher educational participation may face particularlysevere barriers in attempting to complete degree programs. While pressures of family andpeers for minority students may be no different in kind than those for other students, they may,however, be more intense. 3. Academic : Though there is little direct evidence, there is reason to hypothesizethat minority paraeducators attempting to become teachers will run into more academicproblems than other teacher education candidates. For example, minority candidates have alower than average pass rate on admissions tests for teacher education and on teachercompetency tests (Gillis, 1991). The use of tests for teacher certification has reduced thecertification rate disproportionately among minorities even more (Crawford, 1995). 4. External Communities : Many paraeducators find it daunting to accommodate themultiple demands of work, family, and studies. The