Pathways for Paraprofessionals

• Missouri State continues to be the largest teacher education preparation institute in the state. We support preparing the highest quality of educators while ensuring that we partner with our K-12 schools.
• Missouri State is the only certified apprenticeship for special education.
• The Pathways for Paraprofessionals Program offers a teacher certification in K-12 Mild/Moderate Cross-Categorical Special Education that you work on collaboratively with other paraprofessionals from area public school districts.
• Using grants, scholarships, and other sources of funding, completing the program could be at little or no cost to you.
• Paraprofessionals earn college credit for practicum and student teaching on-the-job while earning a salary as a paraprofessional.
• 100% of the Missouri State University Professional Education coursework is offered after school hours (late afternoon or early evening), online, or summers at a site in a regional location or at Missouri State University.
• Depending on your current number of college credits, there is the potential for paraprofessionals to finish the degree in 2-3 years (if they attend full-time in the fall and spring and take courses in the summer).
• While not required, the MSU Special Education Program offers two Accelerated Masters in Education Program options that allow 12 mixed credit hours to count in both the Bachelor’s of Science in Education (BSED) and the Master’s of Science in Education (MSED) degree program options, thus allowing completion of BSED degree with certification in K-12 Special Education and completion of 12 hours towards a Master’s degree upon graduation.

• The paraprofessional must work for a school district. And meet the admissions requirements of Missouri State University.
• Applicants must hold a position or have opportunities to work and collaborate with a K-12 Mild/Moderate Cross-Categorical Special Education classroom while participating in the program.
• Building Principal approval –Building Principal must verify:
  • Recommendation of paraprofessional for Pathways to Paras Program
  • Review of program requirements & approval of field placement competencies in the paraprofessional’s position
  • Approval of Lead Teacher as appropriate “cooperating teacher” for supervision and mentoring of paraprofessional seeking teacher certification.

• Missouri State University offers an alternative certification option for persons with a non teaching bachelor's degree OR a teaching degree in a field other than special education. The MSED: Special Education Alternative Certification Track (MSED: SPE-SEACT) provides candidates with a Masters degree + Missouri Certification in K-12 Mild/Moderate Cross-Categorical Special Education.
• Candidates who work as paraprofessionals in a K-12 Mild/Moderate Cross-Categorical Special Education program can complete their field placement at their job site.
• MSED: SPE-SEACT students are eligible for Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) Provisional Certification in K-12 Mild/Moderate Cross-Categorical Special Education, which allows them to serve as the teacher-of-record while completing certification & degree requirements.
• MSED: SPE-SEACT courses are fully available online via INET or Zoom platforms.

Missouri State University-West Plains offers an Associate Arts in Teaching Degree (https://wp.missouristate.edu/academics/teaching.htm) we are working on creating a seamless transition from our West Plains courses into our Pathways for Paras program to ensure t we have a full continuum of supports to help you achieve your dream.

Paraprofessional must agree to:

• Engage in full completion of employment responsibilities while completing certification and degree coursework
• Conduct field experience and course competencies on-the-job while working collaboratively with Lead Teacher in their school district
• Complete 2 years of coursework in conjunction with employment in an approved K-12 Special Education Paraprofessional position to replace required Student Teaching semester [MO DESE requires verification of 2 years of supervised paraprofessional employment while concurrently completing coursework toward certification.]  Two years of employment and coursework must be completed at the same time during the Pathways for Paras program (prior years of service do not count toward the two-year minimum).

The cost of tuition per credit hour can be found here: https://www.missouristate.edu/costs/undergraduate-costs.htm. For most of our students there are multiple financial aid opportunities through grants and scholarships which can support you moving forward and make this a fiscally responsible decision. Common grant funding includes the FASTrack Grant, the TEACH grant, and the College of Education scholarships. Additionally, if you school district participates in the Learn while you earn portion of the program up to half of your coursework can be taught on site. These courses have no tuition paid and can reduce the total cost by up to 50%.

Interested school districts can contact us to think about creating a district or collaborative multi-district cohort. With this model, almost half of the required coursework (Bachelor’s or Masters) could be offered by professionals within your district with district priorities and experiences to help you be ready for the demands of your job. This coursework would be on a schedule to ensure it meets your needs and tailored to fit the specific needs and courses of the individuals within your cohort. Cost associated with each course would be minimal (i.e. small assessment fee!) and would be included on your diploma and transcript as a Missouri State University course before your degree completion. Once certified you would be able to teach anywhere within Missouri.

Interested school districts can contact us to create a district or collaborative multi-district cohort. With this model, almost half of the required coursework (Bachelor’s or Masters) could be offered by professionals within your district with district priorities and experiences to help you be ready for the demands of your job. This coursework would be on a schedule to ensure it meets your needs and tailored to fit the specific needs and courses of the individuals within your cohort. Cost associated with each course would be minimal (i.e. small assessment fee but no tuition to the university) and would be included on your diploma and transcript as a Missouri State University course before your degree completion. Once certified you would be able to teach anywhere within Missouri.

We are hoping to have you identify when you would like to start this program, and if your district is participating in the Learn While You Earn initiative. Please note that this district component is NOT a requirement. All coursework can be taken through the university. For coursework taken at the university, all courses are online and either in a strictly online format or are facilitated via an online format such as zoom. As for coursework which can be taught by your district, this is up to the district and them meeting your needs but also the needs of the district. It is common for course offerings to occur in the evening, professional development days, back to school days, or other times which you may have already reported to the district. Many of these classes that are taught by your district you will see are practicums or are based around application of knowledge. This is perfect to complete on the job as you will already be doing these skills. As said before though, if you school is not participating it is not a worry. You can still hold your paraeducator position and these practicum courses be your paraeducator/teaching placement, but the content presented will be done through the university.

At this time, this is the only pathway for paraeducators. However, the state allows students to test into other certification areas such as early childhood once you have a degree. All information on the additional assessments can be found here: https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/content-assessments-add-additional-area-certification. We will work with your unique situation to see how your experience will fit into certification and make recommend a summer placement in a traditional K-12 setting or other alternative options to ensure that we are meeting the state requirements. After admission this will all be individualized with your advisor.

We have pathways for individuals at the graduate level to gain initial certification and also achieve their masters. The advantage of this program is that individuals in this track can qualify for a provisional teaching license where they can be a teacher of record and be hired as the teacher for a K-12 classroom.