Paraprofessional involvement in self-determination instruction for students with high-incidence disabilities

Abstract

Although enhancing students' self-determination is advocated as a central element of high-quality special education and transition services, little is known about the ways in which paraprofessional are involved in promoting self-determination or the extent to which they share teachers' views regarding its importance. The authors surveyed 223 paraprofessional from 115 randomly selected public school to examine their perspectives on promoting self-determination among students with high-incidence disabilities. Overall, paraprofessional attributed high ievel of importance to each of the 7 component elements of self-determination (i.e., choice making, decision making, problem solving, goal setting and attainment, self-advocacy and leadership, self-management and self-regulation, and self-awareness and self-knowledge). The extent to which paraprofessional reported providing instruction addressing each of the 7 components of self determination was moderate, with average ratings all slightly above the midpoint of the scale. This article presents implications for the involvement of paraprofessional in supporting the development of self-determination among students with high-incidence disabilities, along with recommendations for future research.