Upper Elementary: Instructional Assistant, Multiple Positions

Forest Grove Sd 15•Forest Grove, OR

10h•Onsite

About The Position

This position is for an Instructional Assistant at Tom McCall Upper Elementary, with multiple openings. The role involves assisting classroom teachers and administrators in the instruction and supervision of students, providing academic, social-emotional, and behavioral support, and performing clerical duties. Employees in this classification do not supervise others. The job requires constant supervision and monitoring of students, especially during transitions, and providing individual and small group instructional services. Behavioral support includes redirecting, positive reinforcement, and collaborative conversations aligned with the district's Behavioral Health and Wellness model. The assistant will coach students on social, emotional, and academic skills, adapting interaction styles as needed. Personal care assistance, including toileting, hygiene, feeding, and mobility, may be required. Crisis intervention and physical management according to district-approved training are part of the role to ensure safety. Collaboration with counseling, administration, and classroom staff is essential to understand student needs and objectives. Limited clerical functions directly related to instruction, such as preparing materials and communicating with parents, are also expected. Adherence to mandatory reporting laws for child abuse, neglect, or endangerment is required. The role also involves assisting other personnel and maintaining consistent attendance.

Requirements

High School diploma or equivalent; 72 quarter hours of accredited college or equivalent education or passing score on Workkeys Test.
Prior job related experience paid or volunteer with school age children.
Operate a computer, office machines, telephone and other technology equipment.
Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills.
Excellent organization skills.
Must be alert to cognitive and physical handicaps (i.e. Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy) and the capabilities of students who experience disability, and react in a sensitive and helpful way to situations in the classroom and school setting.
Skills to perform instructional activities, communicate with parents, students, staff and community, basic arithmetic calculations, operate standard office equipment, use English in verbal and written form, use correct grammar, punctuation and spelling, and perform basic clerical functions.
Must have a background to assist with a wide variety of subject matter, i.e. reading, social studies and mathematics.
Work harmoniously with others.
Work and communicate effectively with students, parents, and school personnel from diverse cultures or backgrounds in English, Spanish, or other languages related to the job.
Work independently without supervision, and with minimum oral/written instructions.
Ability to sit and/or stand for prolonged periods, understand and carry out oral and written instructions, maintain confidentiality of student records, meet schedules and deadlines, read/interpret/apply rules, regulations and policies.
Ability to concentrate on multiple tasks simultaneously.
Ability to rapidly learn methods and materials used in a variety of instructional situations and use appropriate teaching methods as described by program supervisory staff.
Ability to manage student behavior through the use of verbal and physical cueing.
Significant physical abilities include lifting/reaching/handling, talking/hearing conversations, near/far visual acuity, moving to various locations within the classroom and school.
Ability to perform physical management techniques on children.
Pre-employment criminal justice fingerprint clearance and criminal background check.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual (English/Spanish) highly preferred
Successful experience working to teach students lagging social, emotional and behavioral skills, or an equivalent amount of education and experience preferred.
Knowledge of principles of child development and instructional processes, preferred.
Knowledge of Social Emotional Learning modalities and behavioral supports (e.g. PAX, PBIS, Collaborative Problem Solving), preferred.

Responsibilities

Provides constant supervision and monitoring of students, particularly during transition points in the school day (e.g. arrival, meals, breaks, recess, etc.) in conjunction with other staff members.
Provides individual and small group direct instructional services, including progress monitoring of students, administering tests, and planning, under the supervision of a licensed staff member.
Provides behavioral support inside and outside the classroom using methods such as redirecting, positive reinforcement, collaborative conversations, and planning with students, as aligned with the district Behavioral Health and Wellness model.
Coaches students to focus on the acquisition and practice of lagging social, emotional, and academic skills.
Adapts interaction style for the needs of individual students.
Provides personal care and assistance to students for the purpose of helping students to access their education, which may include toileting, personal hygiene, feeding, positioning, mobility, and delegated nursing and/or therapy services.
Performs crisis intervention and physical management according to district approved crisis prevention training as needed to maintain the safety of students, staff and facilities.
Collaborates with counseling, administration, and classroom staff to become familiar with student skill levels, characteristics, strengths, disabilities, learning modalities and primary objectives.
Performs limited clerical functions directly related to the instructional assignment for the purpose of instructing students (i.e. preparing materials, instructional records for student files, communication with parents, reporting progress, etc.)
Understands and adheres to mandatory reporting laws and reports to building administrators (or designated substitute) all suspicions of potential abuse, neglect, self-harm and/or endangerment of others.
Collaborates with other staff to provide creative solutions for challenging student situations.
Maintains familiarity with program safety protocols and implements all required instruction, drills and procedures.
Confers with licensed staff members, parents and/or appropriate community agency personnel for the purpose of assisting in evaluation of students’ progress and/or implementing of students’ objectives.
Reports observations and incidents relating to specific students (i.e., accidents, fights, inappropriate social behavior, violations of rules, safety conditions, etc.) for the purpose of communicating information to appropriate instructional and/or administrative personnel.
Participates in various meetings for the purpose of sharing information and/or improving one’s skills/knowledge.
Assists other personnel as may be required for the purpose of supporting them in the completion of their work activities (i.e., small groups, computer labs, physical and/or occupational therapy, and/or talented and gifted).
Maintains consistent and predictable attendance to meet the requirements of the position.
Performs other duties as assigned.