Instructional Assistant

GENERAL SUMMARY OF DUTIES: Under direct supervision, the Instructional Assistant provides support in an educational environment, performing paraprofessional work in assisting teachers and students. The Instructional Assistant works with children individually or in small groups by providing basic instruction in reading, writing, math, spelling, art, or other education-related activities.  The Instructional Assistant is responsible for leading and supervising a variety of developmentally-appropriate activities, as directed by the assigned teacher(s). Performs related work as directed.  ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:  Monitors the activities and behavior of children during the absence of the classroom teacher(s) to ensure the physical and environmental safekeeping of students, as well as adherence to  appropriate conduct and disciplinary controls; Assists the teacher(s) in the supervision of learning activities, circulating within the classroom and providing assistance and learning support to students; Provides instruction to students as prescribed by the supervising teacher(s) and reinforces the skills introduced by the teacher(s); may utilize games, stories, or other constructive activities to enhance students’ learning skills; Assists teachers in checking and objectively evaluating students’ work; instructs students individually and in small groups reinforcing the skills based upon instructional guidelines; Assists in managing student behavior and maintaining classroom order; may be asked to provide input and assistance in the development of classroom activities and learning tools; Cooperates if asked to assist in the preparation of lesson plans; cooperates if asked to provide input and assistance in the development of classroom activities and learning tools; Assists the teacher(s) by noticing students’ language, math, and communication skills; monitors students’ progressive learning skills; makes the teacher(s) aware of students’ learning deficiencies; documents records of learning activities and diagnosis; Prepares or assists in the preparation of instructional materials; performs support tasks such as photocopying materials, laminating items, typing correspondence, and filing paperwork and documentation; Coordinates with media center staff for classroom learning resources; sets up equipment in the classroom for the teacher’s use; Assists in preparing classroom bulletin boards, classroom decorations, displays of student work, and other classroom objectives; Cooperates if asked to prepare drafts of reports and to tentatively complete forms, schedules and other data as directed; Learns students’ assigned bus assignments to assist with proper boarding of students; Maintains accurate and complete records of a variety of student information that may require the use of a computer to enter student scores and other student data; Cooperates if assigned monitoring duties, i.e., hallways, lunchroom, restrooms, and bus duty; ensures appropriate student conduct during these assignments; escorts students to designated activity areas, i.e., music room, computer labs, art classes, assemblies, etc..; Cooperates if assigned to provide assistance to the teacher(s) in various labs and to provide instruction/information to the students; may explain lesson plans and other information to the students for better understanding and comprehension; Responsible for keeping up to date on current technology, as job appropriate, being used by Warren.  Responsible for timely and accurate information they maintain as part of their job responsibilities.  NON-ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Performs related duties as directed.  ENTRY-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS: 1. EDUCATION/TRAINING: An Associate’s degree or higher, or at least sixty (60) semester hours from an accredited institution of higher education (official transcripts are required to validate education), or if you have passed the ParaPro test. 2. EXPERIENCE: Previous vocational training and/or work experience with school-age children is preferred. 3. CERTIFICATIONS &/OR LICENSES: Able to meet the requirements of a paraprofessional as outlined in ESSA.  Pass the required Expanded Criminal History Check and Expanded Child Protection Index Check.  Must have at least an associate’s degree or two years of college or passed the ParaPro Assessment.  The Highlander Park  offers the ParaPro Assessment at no cost for all Warren Township prospective employees.  Testing is offered Monday through Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.  To register for your free assessment, email adulteducation@warren.k12.in.us or call 317-532-3000. 4. OTHER: Ability to perform the essential functions, meet the performance aptitudes, and fulfill the physical/sensory/environmental requirements of the job (with or without reasonable accommodations) is required. 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: Depending on the grade level of the classroom assignment, may require the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; may require the ability to calculate decimals and percentages; may require the ability to utilize principles of fractions and/or to interpret graphs; 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.  PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Tasks involve the ability to exert very moderate physical effort in light work, typically involving some combination of standing, walking, climbing, stooping, kneeling, crouching and crawling, and which may involve some lifting, carrying, pushing and/or pulling of objects and materials of moderate weight (10-20 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.