ED PARA,PRE-K,C

Job Title

Under direct supervision, the purpose of the position is to provide staff support in an educational or childcare environment, performing paraprofessional work in assisting teachers and pre-kindergarten age students.

Job Description

Employees in this classification work with children individually or in small groups by providing basic instruction in abilities and skills developmentally appropriate to pre-school age children. Position is responsible for assisting teachers with transporting children to various scheduled activities, i.e., lunch, rest time, restrooms. Essential functions as outlined herein are performed according to the needs of the assigned teacher(s). Performs related work as directed.

Responsibilities and Qualifications

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS Responds to internal and external customers in a timely, accurate, courteous, and empathetic manner representing OCPS in a positive light. Monitors activities and behavior of pre-kindergarten age children during and in the absence of classroom teachers to ensure their physical and environmentally safe keeping, as well as adherence to appropriate conduct and disciplinary controls. Assists teachers in the supervision of learning activities, circulating within the classroom, and providing assistance and learning support to children. Provides instruction to children as prescribed by the supervising teacher and reinforces skills introduced by the teacher; may utilize games, stories, or other constructive activities to enhance learning skills. Assists teachers in checking and objectively evaluating progress; teaches children individually and in small groups reinforcing skills based upon instructional guidelines. Assists children with gross motor activities such as grasping, holding objects, posture, crawling, walking, and running; assists children with fine motor activities through activities such as playing with toys, cutting materials, or coloring. Assists in the preparation of lesson plans and teachers' pre-planning sessions; provides input and assistance in the development of classroom activities and learning tools. Assists in the diagnosing and apprising teachers of potential learning or communication deficiencies; monitors children's progressive learning skills; documents record of learning activities and diagnosis. Prepares or assists in the preparation of instructional materials; performs support tasks such as copying materials, laminating items, typing correspondence, and filing paperwork and documentation. Coordinates with media center staff for classroom learning resources; sets up equipment in classroom for teacher's instructional studies. Assists in preparing classroom bulletin boards, classroom decorations, displays of children's activities, and other classroom objectives. Maintains attendance records and assigns student seating; learns assigned bus route(s). Maintains accurate and complete records of a variety of data which may require the use of a computer terminal to enter scores and other children's data. May be assigned monitoring duties, i.e., hallways, lunchroom, restrooms, and bus duty; ensures appropriate student conduct during these periods. May be assigned to various labs providing assistance to teachers and instruction/information to students. Responsible for keeping up to date on current technology, as job appropriate, being used by OCPS. With the support of the district, attends training to ensure skill level in various technologies is at the level required to perform in current position. Responsible for timely and accurate information they maintain as part of their job responsibilities.

MARGINAL FUNCTIONS While the following tasks are necessary for the work of the unit, they are not an essential part of the purpose of this position and may also be performed by other unit members. Performs related duties as directed.

MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE Associate's degree or higher; or at least sixty (60) semester hours from an accredited institution of higher education (official transcript required to validate education). Passing the paraprofessional certification exam can substitute for the educational requirement to meet the highly qualified status. All applicants for this position must be highly qualified prior to the start of their employment with Orange County Public Schools. Ability to fulfill the dexterity and physical requirements of the work, and effectively attend to the needs of pre-school age children; previous vocational training or work experience in a licensed childcare environment preferred.

PERFORMANCE APTITUDES

Data Utilization : Requires the ability to arrange, compare, count, differentiate, measure and/or sort data and/or information. Includes judging whether readily observable functional, structural or compositional characteristics are similar to or divergent from prescribed standards, procedures or routines.

Human Interaction : Requires the ability to provide guidance, assistance, and/or interpretation to others on how to apply procedures and standards to specific situations.

Equipment, Machinery, Tools, and Materials Utilization : Requires the ability to operate, maneuver and/or control the actions of standard office equipment.

Verbal Aptitude : Requires the ability to utilize a wide variety of reference data and information.

Mathematical Aptitude : Requires the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Functional Reasoning : Requires ability to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions. Involves routine work according to clearly prescribed standard practices, with some latitude for independent judgment.

Situational Reasoning : Requires the ability to exercise judgment, decisiveness and creativity in situations involving a variety of generally pre-defined duties which are often characterized by frequent change.

ADA COMPLIANCE

Physical Ability : Tasks involve the ability to exert very moderate physical effort in light work, typically involving some combination of stooping, kneeling, crouching, and crawling, and which may involve some lifting, carrying, pushing and/or pulling of objects and materials of moderate weight (12-20 pounds).

Sensory Requirements : Most tasks require visual perception and discrimination. Some tasks require oral communications ability. Some tasks require the ability to perceive and discriminate sounds.

Environmental Factors : Tasks are regularly performed without exposure to adverse environmental conditions, such as dirt, dust, pollen, odors, wetness, humidity, rain, fumes, temperature and noise extremes, machinery, vibrations, electric currents, traffic hazards, animals/wildlife, toxic/poisonous agents, violence, disease, or pathogenic substances.

The Orange County School District will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to allow them to perform the essential functions of the job when such individuals request accommodation.