Statewide Paraprofessional Training using Encourse

Each year, education paraprofessionals in Pennsylvania must obtain in-service training hours related to the PA Credential of Competency required by Pennsylvania regulations. These trainings are designed to provide practical information regarding educational methods and resources that may be used by special education paraprofessionals working with students in a variety of educational settings.

Prior to working with Frameweld...

the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) would provide these trainings on specific dates at specific locations throughout the state. Paraprofessionals had to take time off work and travel to the closest location and attempt to complete as many trainings as possible during the time they were there. The costs began adding up and the PaTTAN came to Frameweld looking for a solution to their problem. How could they continue the training sessions while reducing costs?

The online system currently hosts 37 sessions, and since the program's inception has granted over 200,000 certificates of attendance to 38,000 Paraprofessionals.

The Solution

Frameweld delivered an innovative solution using its learning platform, Encourse, that allowed Paraprofessionals to obtain their certificates of attendance from the convenience of their homes or offices. No more missing days of work to travel to the training location. No more costs to have instructors appear at multiple locations over several days. All that was needed was a computer and an internet connection. Each training session comprised a video presentation, a set of review questions and a certificate of attendance.

How it's done

Captions appearing below the video ensured that the presentations were accessible. The tracking technology in Encourse ensured users were watching the full video before giving them access to the review questions. Once the review questions were answered, the participant was given immediate feedback on their results and granted access to their Certificate of Attendance. The courses are fully searchable, and remain available to paraeducators as a tool they can use to access information easily when they need it.

The Result

The system empowers course administrators and PaTTAN staff to gather detailed analytics on performance and usage. For example, staff can analyze performance on assessments to identify opportunities for new course material, and improvement of existing courses.