TY - JOUR
T1 - A critical review of the professional development literature for paraprofessionals supporting students with externalizing behavior disorders
AU - Reddy, Linda A.
AU - Alperin, Alexander
AU - Glover, Todd A.
N1 - Funding Information: The research reported here was supported by a US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences—National Center for Special Education Research grant awarded to Rutgers University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the funder. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - The present paper serves as the first systematic review of the training, methodologies, and outcomes reported in the professional development (PD) literature for paraprofessionals working with students with or at risk for externalizing behavior disorders. A total of 16 investigations including 332 paraprofessionals and 852 children and adolescents were reviewed and coded on 44 variables across four dimensions (i.e., PD components, intervention components, methodologies used, and outcomes reported). Strengths of the literature were inclusion of multicomponent PD, training on implementation, paraprofessional characteristics, and inter-rater reliability estimates. All studies reported paraprofessional and/or student outcomes; however, the details of PD components and interventions delivered varied. The majority of the studies used single-case designs or descriptive case studies to evaluate effectiveness. Weaknesses were lack of inclusion and exclusion criteria, student characteristics, adult experiential learning methods, monitoring of implementation fidelity, and use of statistical testing. Implications for research and practice are offered.
AB - The present paper serves as the first systematic review of the training, methodologies, and outcomes reported in the professional development (PD) literature for paraprofessionals working with students with or at risk for externalizing behavior disorders. A total of 16 investigations including 332 paraprofessionals and 852 children and adolescents were reviewed and coded on 44 variables across four dimensions (i.e., PD components, intervention components, methodologies used, and outcomes reported). Strengths of the literature were inclusion of multicomponent PD, training on implementation, paraprofessional characteristics, and inter-rater reliability estimates. All studies reported paraprofessional and/or student outcomes; however, the details of PD components and interventions delivered varied. The majority of the studies used single-case designs or descriptive case studies to evaluate effectiveness. Weaknesses were lack of inclusion and exclusion criteria, student characteristics, adult experiential learning methods, monitoring of implementation fidelity, and use of statistical testing. Implications for research and practice are offered.
KW - externalizing behavior
KW - paraeducator
KW - paraprofessional
KW - professional development
KW - teacher aide
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U2 - https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22381
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22381
M3 - Article
VL - 58
SP - 742
EP - 763
JO - Psychology in the Schools
JF - Psychology in the Schools
SN - 0033-3085
IS - 4
ER -