ED PARA,INTENSIVE DISAB,C (ESE)

Orange County Public Schools • Orlando, FL

7d • Onsite

About The Position

Under direct supervision, this position provides assistance in the education, care, and development of students with severe disabilities. The employee performs instructional, clerical, and behavioral management duties under the direction of a certified teacher, guidance counselor, or administrator. Duties are performed according to the exceptional needs of assigned students, and related work may be assigned. All new hires must successfully complete ESE Training within 45 days of hire.

Requirements

• Associate’s degree or higher, or at least 60 semester hours from an accredited institution of higher education; an official transcript is required to validate education.
• Passing the paraprofessional certification exam may substitute for the educational requirement for highly qualified status.
• Applicants must be highly qualified before beginning employment with Orange County Public Schools.
• At least two years of experience working with exceptional-needs school-age children (Pre-K through 12) in an educational environment, with broad familiarity with the physical and emotional behaviors and challenges of children with severe disabilities; additional education may substitute for experience year for year.
• Ability to fulfill the dexterity and physical requirements of the work and effectively attend to the needs of school-age children with special needs.
• Strong stress-management skills.
• Successfully complete ESE Training within 45 days of hire.
• Ability to evaluate, audit, deduce, or assess data and information using established criteria and exercise discretion in identifying alternatives.
• Ability to assist people in carrying out specialized therapeutic or physical care plans and procedures.
• Ability to operate, maneuver, or control special-needs equipment and devices.
• Ability to use a wide variety of reference, descriptive, and advisory information.
• Depending on classroom assignment, ability to perform arithmetic and work with decimals, percentages, fractions, or graphs.
• Ability to apply principles of motivation, incentive, and leadership and use independent judgment to resolve problems.
• Ability to exercise judgment, decisiveness, and creativity when evaluating information against sensory, judgmental, or subjective criteria.
• Ability to perform very heavy physical work, including climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and lifting, carrying, pushing, or pulling heavy objects up to 100 pounds and occasionally heavier items.
• Visual perception and discrimination are required; some tasks require oral communication and the ability to perceive and discriminate sounds.

Nice To Haves

• Previous vocational training or work experience in a licensed child-care environment.

Responsibilities

• Respond to internal and external customers in a timely, accurate, courteous, and empathetic manner, representing OCPS positively.
• Provide instructional, behavioral, and developmental assistance to students with severe disabilities as directed by a supervising teacher or other certified professional.
• Apply basic positive behavioral support practices and assist students with problem-solving skills.
• Assist with behavior interventions, including monitoring and charting behaviors specific to students with severe disabilities.
• Apply crisis-intervention principles when students display aggressive behavior and may require physical restraint.
• Assist students arriving by bus, escort them to and from learning areas, physically transfer them from wheelchairs, and monitor medical and social/emotional needs.
• Support and follow up with students with severe disabilities assigned to in-school suspension.
• Reinforce school and classroom rules, encourage appropriate behavior, and identify inappropriate behavior using a positive behavioral support approach.
• Escort and provide one-on-one assistance during breakfast, lunch, restroom visits, and other activities throughout the school day.
• Assist with gross motor activities, including grasping, holding objects, posture, crawling, walking, and running, as appropriate to individual development.
• Assist with fine motor activities, including use of assistive devices, job skills, and leisure skills, as appropriate to individual development.
• Assist with daily living skills, including dressing, eating, lavatory needs and diapering, grooming, and personal hygiene.
• Assist teachers with lesson plans, behavior intervention plans, accommodations, learning activities, and preparation of instructional materials.
• Assist teachers with collecting and reporting data for progress monitoring, progress reports, and IEP development and review.
• Perform assigned monitoring duties in areas such as hallways, lunchrooms, restrooms, and buses; ensure appropriate conduct and escort students to designated activities and areas.
• When assigned to labs, assist teachers and provide instruction or information to students; may translate lesson plans and other information to support student understanding.
• Keep current with job-appropriate technology used by OCPS and attend district-supported training to maintain required technology skills.
• Maintain timely and accurate information as part of job responsibilities.
• Perform related duties as directed.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree