Instructional Assistant

Instructional Assistant

Position Location: PWHS-GAC

Bargaining Unit: William Penn Educational Support Personnel Association - 10 months

Effective Date: 3/19/26

Job description last updated: 3/19/26

Position Summary: The ideal candidate will support the District's mission and vision and will have the primary responsibility to assist teachers with children with special needs in achieving teaching objectives. They will do this by working with individual students or small groups of children to help them achieve the skill levels of the class as a whole.

District Summary: The William Penn School District is located in southeastern Delaware County and serves approximately 5,000 students residing in the Boroughs of Aldan, Colwyn, Darby, East Lansdowne, Lansdowne, and Yeadon. We share a collective vision to educate, nurture, and empower all students to become career- and/or college-ready.

Key Responsibilities & Essential Duties:

• Assists the teacher in the daily classroom operation as directed
• At the direction of the teacher, conduct learning exercises with small groups of children
• Demonstrates understanding of students' problems and demonstrates initiative and creativity with students and their programs
• Follows through with prescribed behavioral management programs
• Guides children in working and playing harmoniously with other children
• Alerts the teacher to the special needs of individual children
• Provides escort and assistance to children as necessary
• Helps maintain individual records for each child as required
• Fosters good eating habits and table manners in children
• Assists the teacher in maintaining neat work and study areas
• Assists with the supervision of children as directed during regular play periods and lunch, as well as in the classroom
• Collects and displays suitable material for educational displays
• Other duties as assigned by the teacher or administrator

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Knowledge/awareness of one's own cultural identity and how this influences behavior, and a desire to learn about the cultural identity of others.
• Ability to establish and nurture an environment that promotes cultural competence and equitable treatment of staff, students, and patrons of the District.
• Ability to understand and hold oneself and others accountable for promoting and attaining the goals as outlined in Focus Forward Beyond.
• Ability to recognize that each person is a unique individual, even as we celebrate their group cultural heritage.
• Knowledge of PA Core Standards and Eligible Content
• Knowledge of Instructional Planning Guides as it relates to the instructional block
• Knowledge of Digital Curriculum components
• Ability to courageously lead conversations focused on equity, closing opportunity gaps, and equal access to technology-infused lessons of rigor.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with District staff and administrators, students, parents or guardians, outside agencies, and the public, in a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multilingual environment.
• Ability to receive and implement feedback to improve practice and systems.
• Ability to read, write, and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence, and memos.
• Ability to effectively present one-on-one and in small group situations to staff, parents, students, and administrators.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent, and to draw and interpret bar graphs
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed instructions given by uninvolved, written, or oral instructions
• Regularly required to sit, walk, or stand; use hands to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. Frequently required to reach with hands and arms; occasionally squat, stoop, and kneel. May need to lift or move students who are disabled and use adaptive equipment if needed.

Required Qualifications:

• High School Diploma or GED
• Evidence of obtaining Highly Qualified status: Apply here for HQ Exam with PaTTAN

Preferred Qualifications:

• 60 college credits or an Associate's Degree
• 2+ years of experience in special education environments

Pre-employment Paperwork Requirements:

• Pennsylvania Criminal Background Check, FBI Fingerprinting Background Check, Pennsylvania Child Abuse Clearance
• Sexual Misconduct/Abuse Disclosure Release (Act 168) forms
• School Personnel Health Record and TB test

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements:

• Work scheduled hours consistently
• An indoor office environment is subject to frequent interruptions
• Pushing, moving, and lifting objects with a strength factor of light work
• Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate a variety of standard office equipment
• Clarity of vision at varying distances
• Verbal, auditory, and written capabilities to effectively communicate in an articulate manner
• Sitting and standing for extended periods of time
• Frequent sitting, standing, and walking
• Reaching overhead, above the shoulders, and horizontally to retrieve and store files and supplies
• Lifting objects with a strength factor of light work
• Occasional bending, reaching, and stretching
• Occasional kneeling, crouching, and squatting
• Occasional pulling, pushing

Level of Compensation: Based on experience.

Disclaimer: The preceding list is not exhaustive and may be supplemented as necessary. The statements contained herein reflect general details as necessary to describe the principal functions of this job, the scope of responsibility, and the level of knowledge and skills typically required, but should not be considered an all-inclusive listing of work requirements, skills, or duties so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside their normal responsibilities from time to time.

All employment open positions are made available on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability, or veteran status.

Job descriptions are written as a representative list of the ADA essential duties performed by the entire classification. They cannot, and are not intended to, include every possible activity and task performed by every specific employee.