As a paraprofessional, I have a communication form that I fill out for the parents of the special education students with whom I work. On it I write comments avoid each day. My supervisor advised me that from now on we have to get their approval before finalizing comments on those forms to make sure that they are positive in nature. In other words, if I express concerns about a child swearing or not listening in class, then I have to run that by my supervisor who then calls the parents. It seems that a parent got confused and angry about such a constructive comment and advocated for a change to be made. I feel like a servant because I have less of an ability to express the things that I saw while working with their children. As it is I can’t directly talk to parents at all. Do you agree with this change? Should I request more rights as a paraprofessional since I work directly with students and the supervisor is constantly out at meetings?
You must log in or register to comment.
As a parent of a special needs (non verbal) kid, this has been so frustrating to me. I get so little information about what goes on at school, no assignments, no grades, no lesson plans, nothing. The “daily sheet” like what you are describing generally just has little icons of activities like “PE” or “laundry” that are circled or not circled, and a happy or sad face, and this satisfies the requirement to keep parents (you know, IEP team members, partners in education) informed about my kid’s school experience and expectations. It’s 💯 legal cover and meant to just shut you up about everything because you have no actual information.
Request more rights, but be prepared to be denied.
I work primarily with nonverbal students, so I feel you. I cannot directly empathize with your frustrations because I am not a parent, but I do feel like there are too many bureaucratic barriers between children and parents nowadays.
