ED PARA,BASIC,C

Orange County Public Schools; Orlando (FL); On-site; USD 17,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

Orange County Public Schools is seeking a paraprofessional to provide classroom support under direct supervision. The role involves assisting teachers and students with reading, writing, math, and other activities, and supervising students in various settings.

Applicants should have an associate degree or 60 college hours, or paraprofessional certification as a substitute. The position emphasizes assisting with instructional delivery and maintaining student records as needed.

Qualifications

• Associate’s degree or 60 semester hours from an accredited institution.
• Paraprofessional certification exam can substitute for degree requirement.
• Applicant must be highly qualified prior to starting employment with OCPS.
• Must meet physical and dexterity requirements for classroom support.

Responsibilities

• Assist teachers by leading small group and individual instruction.
• Monitor and supervise students to ensure safety and discipline.
• Prepare instructional materials and classroom activities.
• Assist in lesson planning and pre-planning sessions.
• Maintain attendance records and student data as required.
• Coordinate with media center staff and classroom resources.
• Support teachers in assessing student progress.

Skills

Verbal aptitude

Mathematical aptitude

Human interaction

Data utilization

Situational reasoning

Functional reasoning

Education

Associate’s degree or 60 semester hours

Paraprofessional certification exam substitution

Job description

Salary Schedule

Under direct supervision, the purpose of the position is to provide staff support in an educational or childcare environment, performing paraprofessional work in assisting teachers and students. Employees in this classification work with children individually or in small groups by providing basic instruction in reading, writing, math, spelling, art, or other education-related activities. Position is responsible for leading and supervising a variety of developmentally appropriate activities, as directed by assigned teacher(s). Essential functions as outlined herein are performed according to the needs of the assigned teacher(s). Performs related work as directed.

Examples Of Essential Functions

• Responds to internal and external customers in a timely, accurate, courteous and empathetic manner representing OCPS in a positive light.
• Monitors activities and behavior of children during and in the absence of classroom teachers to ensure the physical and environmentally safe keeping of students, as well as adherence to appropriate conduct and disciplinary controls.
• Assists teachers in the supervision of learning activities, circulating within the classroom, and provide assistance and learning support to students.
• Provides instruction to students as prescribed by the supervising teacher and reinforces skills introduced by the teacher; may utilize games, stories, or other constructive activities to enhance students' learning skills.
• Assists teachers in checking and objectively evaluating students' work; teaches students individually and in small groups reinforcing skills based upon instructional guidelines.
• Assists in managing student behavior and maintaining classroom order; reinforces rules of the school and classroom; escorts students to time out and/or the principal's office.
• Assists in the preparation of lesson plans and teachers' pre-planning sessions; provides input and assistance in the development of classroom activities and learning tools.
• Assists in the diagnosing student math and communication skills; monitors students’ progressive learning skills; makes teacher aware of students learning deficiencies; documents, record of learning activities and diagnosis.
• Prepares or assists in the preparation of instructional materials; performs support tasks such as copying materials, laminating items, typing correspondence, and filing paperwork and documentation.
• Coordinates with media center staff for classroom learning resources; sets up equipment in classroom for teacher's instructional studies.
• Assists in preparing classroom bulletin boards, classroom decorations, displays of student activities, and other classroom objectives.
• Prepares instructional reports and completes required forms, schedules, and other data as required; maintains attendance records and assigns student seating; learns assigned bus route(s).
• Maintains accurate and complete records of a variety of student information which may require the use of a computer terminal to enter student scores and other student data.
• May be assigned monitoring duties, i.e., hallways, lunchroom, restrooms, and bus duty; ensures appropriate student conduct during these periods; escorts students to designated activity areas, i.e., music room, computer room, art classes, assemblies, etc.
• May be assigned to various labs provide assistance to teachers and instruction/information to students; may translate lesson plan and other information to students for better understanding and comprehension.
• Responsible for keeping up to date on current technology, as job appropriate, being used by OCPS. With the support of the district, attends training to ensure skill level in various technologies is at the level required to perform in current position.
• Responsible for timely and accurate information they maintain as part of their job responsibilities.

Marginal Functions

While the following tasks are necessary for the work of the unit, they are not an essential part of the purpose of this position and may also be performed by other unit members.

Performs related duties as directed.

Minimum Training And Experience

Associate’s degree or higher; or at least sixty (60) semester hours from an accredited institution of higher education (official transcript required to validate education). Passing the paraprofessional certification exam can substitute for the educational requirement to meet the highly qualified status. All applicants for this position must be highly qualified prior to the start of their employment with Orange County Public Schools.

Ability to fulfill the dexterity and physical requirements of the work, and effectively attend to the needs of school age children; previous vocational training or work experience in a licensed childcare environment preferred.

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 school grade classroom of assignment, may require the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; may require ability to calculate decimals and percentages; may require ability to utilize principles of fractions and/or 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.

ADA COMPLIANCE

Physical Ability

Tasks involve the ability to exert very moderate physical effort in light work, typically involving some combination of stooping, kneeling, crouching, and crawling, and which may involve some lifting, carrying, pushing and/or pulling of objects and materials of moderate weight (12-20 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.

The Orange County School District will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to allow them to perform the essential functions of the job when such individuals request accommodation.

10/01/2025