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 English-language-learner 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 →
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.
- Cafeteria Recess Bus StaffYour student goes to lunch, recess, and the bus, and the adults in those settings are not the people who know the IEP.
- Working with FamiliesYou interact with families at drop-off, pickup, on the phone, or in meetings, and you want to be a partner without overstepping.
- Working with Outside ProvidersYour student also receives services from an outside ABA agency, private SLP/OT, community counselor, or developmental pediatrician.
- Conflict with a ColleagueYou're navigating professional friction with a colleague: communication breakdown, conduct concerns, or something more serious affecting student welfare.
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.
- You’ve just been asked to interpretSomeone just asked you to interpret or translate for a family — right now, on the spot.
- Someone just asked if this student should be evaluatedA student who is learning English is silent or struggling, and someone just asked whether they should be evaluated.
- 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.