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Paraeducators have an essential role in providing the supports necessary forstudents with disabilities to be included in the general education classroom. The purposeof this study was to investigate to what extent there is a relationship between the minutesof paraeducator support a student with a moderate disability receives each day andachievement scores as measured by the Kansas Assessment of Modified Measures(KAMM) in reading and mathematics. A quantitative research design was used tomeasure the association between quantitative variables. The amount of paraeducator timereceived daily by a student was the independent variable, while student achievement inreading and math were the dependent variables. The population included students ingrade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 or 11 who received special education services in a Midwestsuburban school district during the 2011-2012 and the 2012-2013 school years. Studentsin the sample qualified to take the KAMM Reading and KAMM Mathematics to measureacademic achievement. Correlations were calculated to index the strength and thedirection of the relationship between two variables. A t test was conducted to test for thestatistical significance of each correlation. The results revealed that for students in grades3, 4, 5, and 7 in reading and students in grades 3 and 7 in mathematics, there was astatistically significant negative relationship between the number of paraeducator minutesstudents receive daily and achievement scores in reading and mathematics. These resultsindicated that as the number of paraeducator minutes increased, reading and mathematicsachievement decreased. The results revealed that there was no statistically significantrelationship for students at any grade level for either reading or mathematics in whichachievement increased as the amount of paraeducator support increased. This study has implications for district personnel and parents interested in improving outcomes forstudents receiving special education services. Among recommendations for futureresearch are replicating the study using revised state assessments and investigating theimpact of paraeducator competencies and professional learning experiences on studentoutcomes. |
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