How Teacher and Paraprofessional Partnerships Shape Inclusion

By Maya Kendall

For a child who needs help following classroom routines, a paraprofessional might provide a picture schedule. For another child, that support might mean extra time to respond to a question, help joining a game, or guidance through an unfamiliar activity. Paraprofessionals, often abbreviated as “para,” also called paraeducators or instructional aides, support students and instruction under the direction of teachers or other designated professionals. Their responsibilities vary across schools, programs, and student needs [1].

But having another adult in the classroom does not automatically create a coordinated team.

Teachers and paraprofessionals must decide who gives directions, how they share observations, when a child needs help, and when that child needs an opportunity to try independently. These decisions shape how support is delivered and whether the child remains connected to the teacher and classmates.

Jennifer Armus, an inclusion specialist at a nursery school and an after-school program, has worked with students with disabilities for more than 30 years. Her role includes helping teachers and paraprofessionals coordinate their support. For her, the starting point is clear.

“Just because a child has a para doesn't mean they're suddenly the para's student,” Armus explains. “They're still part of the class, and they're still the teacher's responsibility” [2].

Understanding the Roles

A classroom teacher is responsible for teaching the class. A special education teacher provides instruction and support tailored to students with disabilities and may also coordinate or supervise paraprofessionals. Depending on the setting, a paraprofessional may support one child, a small group, or several students across the classroom [1], [3].

These roles involve different responsibilities, but they also require knowledge that flows in both directions. A teacher plans instruction and considers the needs of the whole group. A paraprofessional working closely with a child may notice patterns in communication, participation, or distress that the teacher has fewer opportunities to observe.

Armus describes her coordinating role as helping the adults answer practical questions: When should the paraprofessional step in? When can they step back? What does the teacher need to know, and what has the paraprofessional learned about the child? [2]

Unclear job expectations can leave both adults uncertain about their responsibilities [3]. Armus describes two ways uncertainty can affect a child: a teacher may begin to rely on the paraprofessional to handle everything, or a paraprofessional may begin giving every direction, answering for the child, and managing every interaction [2]. Clear roles require agreement about how each adult will help the child stay connected to the teacher and the group.

The support can then become a separate educational experience within the same room.

Respect and Responsibility

The relationship between a teacher and a paraprofessional includes a difference in authority. Teachers may direct and supervise paraprofessionals' daily work. That difference can become a source of tension when expectations are unclear or when one person's experience is overlooked [1], [3].

Trust, openness, and the ability to raise concerns without being dismissed are important parts of a strong partnership. Teachers and paraprofessionals working with students with severe disabilities describe their relationships as shaped by shared goals, everyday interactions, administrative support, and working conditions [1].

For Armus, coordination includes making sure the teacher hears what the paraprofessional knows about the child. When the paraprofessional notices something the teacher has not seen, that observation needs to inform the child's support [2]. A shared goal gives the conversation direction: deciding how to help the student while keeping responsibilities clear [1].

A paraprofessional's knowledge of a child should inform the team's approach. At the same time, a teacher's responsibility for that child cannot be transferred simply because another adult provides close support.

“A para can know a child really, really well because they're with them so much,” Armus explains. “They see things the teacher might not see” [2]. The teacher, meanwhile, is responsible for the whole group. A discussion about one child's participation needs both perspectives: close knowledge of the child and an understanding of the classroom as a whole.

Training for Both Members of the Team

Working effectively with children does not automatically prepare a teacher to supervise another adult.

Supporting paraprofessionals requires more than knowing how to teach children. Teachers also need to understand appropriate roles, communicate expectations, solve problems, organize work, and show respect. These areas of knowledge, skill, and professional attitude can be developed through teacher preparation, school and district support, and continued professional growth [4].

Paraprofessionals also need preparation for the responsibilities they are given.

Paraprofessionals may receive training that does not align with their assignments, face unclear job expectations, or lack direction on who should provide feedback. Teachers and paraprofessionals also describe experiences of paraprofessionals being devalued or excluded from the educational team [3].

“We give them a huge responsibility, and then sometimes they're just put in a classroom and expected to know what to do,” Armus says [2]. A paraprofessional assigned to support a child's communication, participation, or behavior needs preparation for those responsibilities, along with clear guidance and feedback [3].

Preparation is needed on both sides of the partnership. Paraprofessionals need guidance for their particular assignments, and teachers need the skills to explain expectations, listen to observations, and provide useful feedback [3], [4]. In the classroom, Armus describes the practical decisions that preparation should support: when to intervene, when to step back, and when to reconsider an approach [2].

Resolving Disagreements Through Observation

Disagreement does not necessarily mean a partnership has failed. 149 teachers across 59 elementary schools reported favorable ratings for these relationships. Those ratings reflect the teachers' perspectives and do not establish that their paraprofessionals experienced the partnerships in the same way [5].

A relationship that feels positive to one adult still needs room for the other adult's concerns. When their views differ, the team needs a practical way to work through the disagreement.

Conflict can be treated as an expected part of collaboration. Listening without judgment, naming the concern, and agreeing on steps toward resolution gives the adults a way to work through different perspectives [6].

When the adults disagree about how much help to provide, Armus begins with what each person is actually observing. What are they trying to help the child do? What happens when an adult intervenes? What happens when the child has time to attempt the task? [2]

“Are we sure they can't do it, or are we just so used to helping them that we don't give them the chance?” Armus asks [2].

Armus's questions give the adults a shared problem to investigate. Her approach is to agree on something to try, observe the child's response, and change course if needed [2]. Listening to both perspectives and deciding on practical next steps keeps the discussion focused on resolving the concern [6].

“I don't think everything has to become this big thing where somebody is right, and somebody is wrong,” Armus says [2]. The aim is to understand what helps the child, rather than settle which adult wins the disagreement.

Inclusion Means Participation and Belonging

Inclusion means more than placing a child with a disability in the same room as peers. It involves opportunities to participate, learn, build relationships, and belong.

A child may be physically present while spending most of the day interacting with an adult rather than classmates. The paraprofessional may become the person whom peers approach when they want to communicate with the child.

Armus describes a familiar interaction: a classmate asks the paraprofessional, “Does he want to play?” The question is intended for the child, but it goes to the adult instead. She encourages the classmates to communicate directly, with any support they need, so the child has a place in the interaction [2].

The paraprofessional can help make that interaction possible without becoming the intermediary in every exchange.

“It's not just that you're physically in the room,” Armus explains. “Do you actually feel like you're part of the class?” [2]. Sitting beside classmates is only one part of inclusion. The child also needs opportunities to join their conversations, games, and activities.

Armus asks the adults to look at what the child is doing: Are they participating, connecting with peers, and looking to the teacher? Are they doing things for themselves, or waiting for the paraprofessional before every action? [2]

Those questions make the child's experience a measure of how well the partnership is working.

Independence Requires Individual Support

Supporting independence means finding opportunities for a child to act, communicate, and participate with the assistance they actually need.

Indirect support can create opportunities for independence by helping a child participate without an adult directing every action [6]. Armus offers concrete examples: a visual reminder instead of repeated spoken directions, extra processing time before someone answers for the child, or greater physical distance, with the paraprofessional remaining available if needed [2].

Stepping back is a decision the adults need to coordinate. They must consider what the child can do, what support remains necessary, and how to recognize when the approach needs to change. Armus emphasizes that two children with the same diagnosis may require different levels of assistance and that a child's needs can change over time [2].

Reducing help is therefore not a universal goal or a reason to remove necessary assistance. The question is whether the support makes participation possible while preserving opportunities for the child to do things for themselves.

Armus recognizes that some children will continue to need support in particular areas. Her goal is to preserve that assistance while giving them opportunities to act independently wherever they can [2].

Making Time to Work Together

Teachers and paraprofessionals cannot be expected to coordinate complex support entirely through brief hallway conversations.

“So much communication happens while kids are walking in, in the hallway, or in two minutes at the end of the day,” Armus says. “That's not enough” [2]. Teachers and paraprofessionals need time to discuss what is working, what has changed, and whether they are continuing to assist a child who no longer needs it.

School leaders help establish the conditions for those conversations through clear expectations, responsive support, and shared time for planning [1]. Dedicated time allows teachers and paraprofessionals to clarify responsibilities and solve problems together [3]. The questions Armus raises—whether a child still needs particular assistance, or whether a new difficulty has gone unnoticed—then become part of the workday rather than something squeezed into a passing conversation [2].

Effective collaboration is partly an organizational responsibility. Schools and programs need to create conditions in which teachers and paraprofessionals can actually work as a team.

Conclusion

Teachers and paraprofessionals bring different responsibilities and observations to a child's education. Their partnership works best when those differences become a source of shared understanding.

That requires clear roles, respectful communication, appropriate training, and time to coordinate. It also requires attention to the child: whether the support helps them learn, participate, connect with peers, and, where possible, become more independent.

“The para is there to support the child in the classroom, not become the child's whole classroom,” Armus says [2].

The relationship between the adults matters because it helps determine the child's place within the group.

References

[1] E. E. Biggs, C. B. Gilson, and E. W. Carter, “Accomplishing more together: Influences to the quality of professional relationships between special educators and paraprofessionals,” Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 256–272, 2016, doi: 10.1177/1540796916665604.

[2] J. Armus, inclusion specialist at a nursery school and an after-school program, unpublished interview responses provided to the author.

[3] R. A. Mason, A. B. Gunersel, D. W. Irvin, H. P. Wills, E. Gregori, Z. G. An, and P. B. Ingram, “From the frontlines: Perceptions of paraprofessionals’ roles and responsibilities,” Teacher Education and Special Education, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 97–116, 2021, doi: 10.1177/0888406419896627.

[4] E. E. Biggs, C. B. Gilson, and E. W. Carter, “Developing that balance: Preparing and supporting special education teachers to work with paraprofessionals,” Teacher Education and Special Education, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 117–131, 2019, doi: 10.1177/0888406418765611.

[5] C. M. Dudek, B. Bronstein, L. A. Reddy, J. Fingerhut, N. B. Wiggs, and T. A. Glover, “Teachers’ perceived relationships with paraprofessionals who support students with challenging behaviors,” Contemporary School Psychology, vol. 29, pp. 633–646, 2025, doi: 10.1007/s40688-024-00529-0.

[6] J. M. Urbani, P. LePage, and S. Watson-Alvarado, “Building and sustaining a collaborative educational team: Teachers and paraprofessionals,” TEACHING Exceptional Children, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 6–13, 2024, doi: 10.1177/00400599241231215.