Learning pathway
Multilingual / English learners
Pathways are suggestions, not requirements. They order existing content by what tends to matter most for a role — you can switch pathways or browse everything any time.
Primarily English language learners and multilingual students.
Language-aware instruction leads here. One equity line runs through all of it: language acquisition is not a disability — don't let limited English read as limited ability, and watch for the reverse too.
Lead competencies for this role
Instructional SupportCommunication & CollaborationInclusion & IEP Implementation
Guides for this role
English Language Learners
- ELL Paraprofessional BriefYou support a multilingual student — bilingual para, ESL para, Title I para, or SpEd para with an English Learner on your caseload.
- Title I and Title III ParasYour para position is funded by Title I or Title III — and you want to know what that means for your qualifications, supervision, and scope.
- Newcomer SupportA new student has just arrived in the U.S. — first day, first week, first six weeks of supporting them in your classroom or building.
- SLIFE SupportYour student has had little or interrupted formal schooling — they may be 14 or 16 with minimal literacy in any language, and standard ELD strategies aren't enough.
- Long Term ELLsYour student has been in U.S. schools for six or more years, sounds fluent in conversation, but still struggles with academic reading and writing.
- WIDA and Language Proficiency LevelsYour student is an English Learner — and you want to know what their WIDA level actually predicts about what they can do in each domain.
- See all in English Language Learners →
Equity & Cultural Responsiveness
- Disproportionality in Special EducationYour school has persistent patterns where students of color are over-identified for SpEd, placed in more restrictive settings, or disciplined at higher rates — and you want to know what individual paras can do.
- Implicit BiasYou hold egalitarian beliefs and want your daily decisions to match — and you understand that implicit bias operates in everyone, not just people with explicit prejudices.
- Disability Identity and LanguageYou're navigating person-first vs. identity-first language ('person with autism' vs. 'autistic person') and want to do right by students and families.
- Cultural ResponsivenessYou support students or families whose cultural background differs from yours — and you want a stance that works, not a checklist.
- LGBTQ StudentsYou support an LGBTQ+ student — out, not out, questioning, gender-expansive at any age — and you want to be the one supportive adult research shows matters.
- Religious ConsiderationsYou support students whose religious practice affects their school day — fasting, dietary laws, dress, prayer, observance — and you want to honor it without imposing your own framework.
- See all in Equity & Cultural Responsiveness →
Instructional Practice
- Instructional Roles of the ParaYou do instructional work all day — and you need a clear line between supporting and teaching, with the skill ceiling that comes with each.
- Prompting HierarchiesPrompting is most of what you do — and the difference between skilled and well-intentioned prompting determines whether the student becomes independent.
- Prompt FadingYou prompt students through skills they can't yet do alone — and fading those prompts is where actual independence gets built.
- Programming Sheets and Procedural FidelityYou run programs that another adult also runs — and consistency between you is the difference between the program working and not.
- Reinforcement BasicsYou use reinforcement every day — and the difference between great reinforcement and "bribery" is whether you know what you're doing.
- Errorless Learning and Error CorrectionYou teach skills where the student's errors matter — and where uncorrected wrong responses get rehearsed into harder-to-undo patterns.
- See all in Instructional Practice →
Collaboration
- Working with the Supervising TeacherYou're building the working partnership with your supervising teacher — or you can feel that partnership drifting and want to reset it.
- Working with the Gen Ed TeacherYou're an inclusion para in someone else's classroom — pushing into gen-ed for part of the day or full-time.
- Working with the SLPYour student receives speech-language services — articulation, language, AAC, social communication, fluency, or feeding — and you're delivering carryover across the day.
- Working with the OTYour student receives occupational therapy (OT) services — sensory regulation, handwriting, self-care, executive function, adaptive equipment.
- Working with the PTYour student receives physical therapy (PT) services — mobility, transfers, positioning, wheelchair use, or adaptive PE.
- Working with the BCBAA Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) designs the behavior plan you implement — daily, weekly, or just at IEP meetings.
- See all in Collaboration →
When the moment is happening
Open these cards during the situation — not to study.
- A new student from another country just arrivedA student who just arrived from another country joined your room. They speak little or no English.
- A parent just asked you a question you can’t answerA parent at pickup, drop-off, or in the hallway just asked you a question you can’t or shouldn’t answer.