What are the responsibilities and job description for the Early Childhood Program Teaching Assistant position at Urbana Early Childhood School?
Urbana School District #116
TITLE: Early Childhood Program Teaching Assistant
LOCATION: Urbana Early Chilhood School
SUPERVISOR: Certified Classroom Teacher, Building Principal
JOB SUMMARY: Work under the assigned teacher's immediate supervision and the principal's general supervision.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily.
- Be a part of instructional planning in classroom as arranged by classroom teacher.
- Participate in debriefing sessions at the end to evaluate the session, record data, and plan for needed changes.
- Attend inservice training sessions as required by principal/district.
- Assist all students to successfully achieve independence, progress on his/her educational goals and objectives, meet the individual unique needs, engage in positive social interactions with peers.
- Implement lesson plans and behavior management procedures developed by the classroom team.
- Prepare instructional materials before class and organize them to be easily accessible.
- Organize and maintain orderly classroom centers.
- Facilitate instruction in large and small group activities and facilitate learning in child-directed activities.
- Assist with tasks related to the food program.
- Prepare classroom displays, bulletin boards, arrange for audio visual equipment, etc.
- Learn and use language intervention techniques (including sign language whenever necessary) to increase the child's language development during all activities and interactions with children.
- Play with children in a manner that will contribute to developing their self-esteem, curiosity, and thought processes in and out of the classroom.
- Assist teachers with record keeping.
- Maintain knowledge of individual child goals/objectives and family needs as appropriate.
- Maintain a high level of professional behavior, including keeping confidential records.
- Take children to the bathroom and assist children with personal care activities.
- Be a role model by always demonstrating the expected behavior of the children.
- Assist staff and children to maintain a clean classroom environment, such as clean tables and chairs at the end of the day and put chairs on top of tables in preparation for custodian.
- Follow classroom arrangements and procedures for bus arrival and departure.
- Follow established procedures for documenting communications between family and school.
- Collaborate with classroom and building staff to support all ISBE and district mandates and expectations.
- Perform all other duties that the classroom teacher and principal assign.
QUALIFICATIONS:
EDUCATION
- Must meet all requirements for the position designated by the ISBE. A Paraprofessional Certificate or 60 hours of college credit are required.
EXPERIENCE
- 2 years of school-based experience preferred
OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
- Highly organized
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills
- Excellent problem-solver
- Should be able to work with students with a history of behavior or learning problems
- Proven to work under pressure and can prioritize multiple tasks
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT:
- Salary and Benefit information can be found on the Human Resources webpage. There are many opportunities for employees to earn additional compensation (stipends, differentials, extra duty pay, etc.) during the regular school year and in the summer.
- This is a position within the collective bargaining unit and is not an administrative position.
- This is a non-exempt position.
- Student Contact Days and other days stipulated on the work calendar in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.
EVALUATION: To be completed as per PNS by the principal with input from the classroom teacher.
START DATE: School Year 2025-2026
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
REVISED: March, 2025