LEVELS OF PARAPROFESSIONAL SUPPORT IN THE MAINSTREAM ENVIRONMENT

This rubric serves as a guide for educational teams to work toward a shared understanding of the degree of paraprofessional support a student
requires in the mainstream environment. Each Level provides general descriptors about the types of prompts the student requires, how
physically close the student needs the paraprofessional to be, the degree of modifications/adaptations regularly pursued so student can access
the academic content and the level of independence the student has when navigating social and emotional situations. This guide intends to
provide teams with a common language and a framework for discussion, and in no way defines or mandates various paraprofessional duties.

LEVEL

Level I

Level II

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Physical Proximity

Types of Prompts

Para is able to be out of the

classroom for about 25-50% of
the time; remaining 50-75% of
the time, para is able to
circulate, helping other students
and occasionally the target
student. Para does not need to
be consistently seated with
student for more than 5 minutes
or so.

Para provides primarily verbal

prompting only to clarify or to
direct the student to task, to use
other visual supports in place or
to seek peer assistance. Para
gives no more than 1 prompt
for each redirection or situation,
then the student performs
appropriately. Para only needs
to help 1-3 situations during the
class; otherwise, the student is
independent.

Para needs to be seated directly

with the student about 25% of
the time; other 75% of the time
para spends circulating around
the classroom. Para may be
able to leave the room for 5-10
minutes with the target student
still performing adequately and
on task.

Para provides either a verbal or

a visual prompt 1-2x per redirection or situation before the
student performs. Para needs to
prompt about 25% of the class
time; remainder of the time,
para may be prompting other
students or even assisting the
teacher with clerical tasks.

Academic Content
Adaptations/
Modifications

Social-Emotional
Support

Para/Teachers do not need to

provide any modification to the
content of the materials (i.e. rewrite material to a lower level).
Student may require adaptations
ONLY to the length of materials
or to the students output (student
dictates rather than writes; uses
alphasmart; works with 1 peer
partner rather than in a small
group, etc.) Student can work at
grade level and is independent
with these adaptations.
Teachers need to modify the
actual content intermittently
only for occasional larger
assignments or test situations.
Most adaptations are in the
presentation of the material
reduced length, extra time given,
scribing for the student, masking,
visual cues, graphic organizer,
etc. Student works at or slightly
behind grade level.

Para is rarely (0-1x per class)

needed to help student handle
frustration, peer situations,
attend to teacher, stay with
the group or complete
assignments. Processing
difficulties is not required in
the moment with the student;
it can be done afterward or
later in the day. Student
interacts with a few peers
regularly, spontaneously and
age-appropriately.
Para is needed 2-4 times per
mainstream session typically
to help student manage
emotional responses,
intervene with peers, cue for
attention and stay on task.
Student is able to
independently gain paras or
teachers attention to ask for
help. Student interacts with
1-2 familiar peers with the
para present.

LEVELS OF PARAPROFESSIONAL SUPPORT IN THE MAINSTREAM ENVIRONMENT (CONTD.)

LEVEL

Level III

Level IV

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Academic Content
Adaptations/
Modifications

Social-Emotional
Support
Para regularly (every 5
minutes or so) needs to
prompt the student to stay
on task, remain quiet/
attentive, etc. Para
frequently needs to interact
with peers for the student
to find partners, ask
questions, share materials,
etc. Para may need to take
student aside or return to
center-based room when
student is agitated.
Para needs to continuously
prompt via verbal/visual/
kinesthetic means to attend
to the teacher, remain
calm/quiet and stay in the
vicinity of the group. Para
nearly always needs to
interact for the student
socially or to provide direct
social models for student to
imitate. Student agitation
occurs in nearly every
mainstream session and/or
often needs separation
from the group in order to
calm.

Physical Proximity

Types of Prompts

Para needs to be seated

directly with the target
student 50-75% of the time.
The remaining 25-50% of
the time the para can spend
circulating around the room
helping other students.
Much of the time, the student
requires direct para support.

Para provides 3-4 verbal

and/or visual prompts before
the student performs. Para
may physically model the
task. Without consistent
prompting, the student has a
very difficult time attending,
staying with the group or
completing the task.

Teachers need to modify about

50% of the academic content
and provide consistent and
regular presentation
accommodations such as
masking, reducing task length,
providing breaks, writing for
the student or taking turns
reading for the student, etc.
Student is about one grade
level delayed in the
content/skill area.

Para needs to be seated

directly next to the target
student for 75% or more of
the time. The para may help
2-3 other students in the
same vicinity, but the
majority of attention is on
the target student.

Para prompts verbally,

visually and physically
(hand-over-hand or
modeling) through 75-100%
of the class expectations.
Student requires consistent
attention and a variety of
methods of assistance and
cueing.

Teachers need to modify 75100% of the academic content

re-writing assignments,
requiring only a small portion
(25% or less) of the regular ed
expectation, etc. Student may
be working on a different
curriculum, skill set or
assignment from the general
education students during this
mainstream time. The student
is 2 or more grade levels
delayed in the content/skill
area.