SSC Offering ParaEducator Courses and Assessments

The Minnesota Service Cooperatives have partnered with The Master Teacher to access discounted pricing on the Paraeducator Online Training and Assessments for member districts. Paraeducator is recognized by the Minnesota Department of Education as an option for the formal assessment required to consider a paraprofessional highly qualified. Paraeducator also provides high quality professional development that districts can use to support all paraprofessionals.

Paraeducator Online Courses Include

• 150+ self-paced courses covering general education and special education environments (Course listing)
• Courses that are organized into bite-sized units and are perfect for training days.
• Post-tests at the end of each course that are automatically graded.
• Training and assessments to highly qualify paraprofessionals and meet Title I, Part A requirements.
• Transcripts and course certificates that paraeducators can access to document their training.
• Content that aligns with CEC standards for paraeducators endorsed by CASE.
• Research-based content written by experts in the field.

Assessment Information

Highly qualified prep courses in the areas of mathematical skills, reading skills, writing skills, and supporting instruction, will be assigned to those taking the assessment. We strongly recommend that individuals complete these prep courses prior to taking the assessments (estimated to take 8-12 hours to complete). The passing scores are 65% for the Instructional Support test and 70% for the Knowledge and Application test.

SSC will provide testing on various dates at our location (dates/times published here), or individuals may schedule an appointment to take the assessment at SSC. Individuals testing at SSC must be assigned a license and registered prior to the testing date and provide his/her own internet-accessible laptop. Please contact Christi Fosland at cfosland@ssc.coop or (507)281-6684 to book a testing appointment.

Districts also have the option to provide testing at their site with a designated proctor.

License Costs

$79 / license - Access to highly qualified online prep courses, access to all online PD courses, and assessments
$59 / license - Access to all online PD courses only
$20 / attempt - Each additional assessment retake

Benefits to accessing this service through SSC

• Coordination support for districts to purchase licenses
• Discounted rate on license cost
• Multiple testing dates
• Convenient testing location at SSC in Rochester · 
• Individuals receive their score immediately following completion of the assessment. If time allows, individuals may re-take the exam upon payment of $20.00.

How to Access Licenses
Districts interested in purchasing Paraeducator training and/or assessment licenses should complete and submit the Paraeducator License District Order Form to Christi Fosland at SSC (cfosland@ssc.coop). 

Individuals interested in purchasing Paraeducator training and/or assessment licenses may reach out to Christi Fosland at SSC via email (cfosland@ssc.coop) or phone (507)281-6684.

Title 1 Compliant Assessments

1. Reading, Writing, and Math - Instruction Support - Evaluates the paraeducator's ability to support reading, writing, and math instruction.
2. Reading, Writing, and Math - Knowledge and Application - Evaluates the paraeducator's knowledge and skills to solve problems in reading, writing, and math.

Courses to Prepare for Assessments 1 and 2:

Supporting Instruction

• TITLE 1 Reading
• TITLE 1 Writing
• TITLE 1 Mathematics

Reading Skills

• TITLE 1 Narrative Texts
• TITLE 1 Informative Texts
• TITLE 1 Decoding Language and Utilizing Layout
  

Writing Skills

• TITLE 1 Parts of Speech and Effective Sentences
• TITLE 1 Mechanics of Writing

Mathematics Skills

• TITLE 1 Understanding the Basic Skills
• TITLE 1 Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages
• TITLE 1 Basic Algebra
• TITLE 1 Basic Geometry
• TITLE 1 Basic Data Analysis

PLUS Title 1 Practice Assessments