Paraprofessional Requirements

There are several laws which impact the requirements and ongoing training required to be a paraprofessional in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

No Child Left Behind requires that all individuals entering the paraprofessional field to be Highly Qualified. Individuals are required to hold an Associate’s degree or higher, or have earned at least 48 credits post-secondary training or have passed a rigorous local assessment in reading, writing and mathematics. Interested individuals need to contact each school district or intermediate unit to learn more about their procedures for obtaining the Highly Qualified designation.

Chapter 14 of the PA School Code requires paraprofessionals working with special needs children to have 20 hours of professional development per year. Please see our upcoming events for training opportunities. Also check the PaTTAN website for further training opportunities.

Upcoming professional development opportunities