Instructional Assistant - General

MSD of Warren Township; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 20,000 - 23,000; Part time

Job summary

MSD of Warren Township is seeking an Instructional Assistant to support teachers and students in an educational setting. The role involves assisting with reading, writing, math, and other activities, supervising students, and helping prepare instructional materials under direct supervision.

The position requires an associate degree or 60 college hours (or ParaPro), plus prior experience with school-age children and required clearances.

Qualifications

• Education: Associate’s degree or 60 college hours, or ParaPro tested.
• Experience: prior work with school-age children preferred.
• Certifications: Expanded Criminal History Check and Expanded Child Protection Index Check.

Responsibilities

• Assist teachers in supervision and small‑group instruction.
• Provide instructional support in reading, writing, math, spelling, and related activities.
• Prepare instructional materials and assemble learning aids as directed.
• Maintain classroom records and document student progress as required.
• Support classroom management and student conduct under teacher supervision.
• Assist with lesson plans and materials preparation for activities and labs.
• Monitor student behavior during transitions and bus duty as needed.
• Coordinate with media center staff for classroom resources.

Skills

Classroom supervision

Reading support

Small group instruction

Paraprofessional duties

Education

Associate’s degree or 60 college hours

ParaPro certification

Job description

Job Title

Instructional Assistant

FLSA Classification

Non-exempt, hourly employee

Standard Hours Per Day

7 hours per day (not including a 30‑minute unpaid meal break)

Work Days

181 days when students are scheduled to attend school

Work Year

The Instructional Assistant is scheduled to work all days when students are scheduled to attend school, depending on the school calendar.

Salary Schedule & Benefits

The Instructional Assistant is paid on the "Instructional Assistants" salary schedule and is eligible for benefits on the "Support Staff" benefits schedule on the first of the month following 60 days of employment. Starting pay $16.05 per hour.

Reports To

The Instructional Assistant is supervised by one or more teachers; teachers report to the building Principal.

Supervises

The Instructional Assistant does not directly supervise any other employees.

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 and 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 diagnoses.
• 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 teachers’ 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

• Education/Training: An associate’s degree or higher, or at least sixty (60) semester hours from an accredited institution of higher education (official transcripts required to validate education), or if you have passed the ParaPro test.
• Experience: Previous vocational training and/or work experience with school‑age children is preferred.
• Certifications & 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.
• 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 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 communication 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.