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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Subbing special education, or a room with a para

In a special education room, or a class with a para (an aide), your job is the room as a whole and the para's lead on the students they support. Find the para before the bell and ask what the day looks like. You may be shown a student's plan, an IEP or a 504 plan: use it today and leave it in the room. Anything about health, medicine or helping a student physically is for the para, the nurse or the office.

Checked October 31, 2026. The lines about the rules come from the federal pages listed at the end. Your district and state may add their own: ask the office.

Make a day with a para in the room ▸

What to ask the para, before the bell

  • What does the day look like for the students you work with? Is anything different from the schedule on the desk?
  • What helps, and what should I avoid? (A warning before a change, a quiet corner, a visual schedule, a word or a sign the class uses.)
  • Who goes where at lunch, recess, specials and the bus, and who walks with them?
  • Is there anything you do that I should leave to you, and anything you'd like me to do?
  • If something goes wrong, do you call the office, or do I?

A student's plan: you may be told; you don't keep it

  • A school must make a student's IEP available to each teacher and provider responsible for carrying it out, and tell each of them what they are responsible for and which accommodations and supports the student gets. [1]
  • A school must protect students' personally identifiable information when it is collected, stored, shared and destroyed. [2]
  • FERPA, a federal law, gives parents rights over their children's education records and some control over who sees information from them. [4]
  • So if you're shown a plan, read what applies to today and follow it. Leave it where you found it: don't copy it, photograph it, or write about a student in your own notes or the sub log.
  • In the note to the teacher, say what happened, not what you think a student has. "Took two breaks in the quiet corner during math" helps; a guess at a label doesn't.

Working with the para

  • Federal rules let paras and assistants who are trained and supervised under their state's rules help provide special education services. [3]
  • The para often knows the students and the routines better than anyone in the room that day. Follow their lead on routines, breaks and how work is changed for the students they support.
  • Agree on who gives directions to the whole class, so students hear one voice. Usually that's you; the para works with their students.
  • Thank them by name in the note to the teacher. It is often the most useful line in the note.

Low-demand activities for a room that needs a calm day

  • A read-aloud with pictures, where listening is the whole task.
  • Drawing to music, or coloring sheets, with no right answer.
  • Puzzles, mazes and dot-to-dots at a table, done alone or with the para.
  • A silent brain break card, read aloud, at the student's own pace and seat.
  • Matching or sorting games the class already knows. Keep the day's routine the same as you can: a familiar order matters more than a new activity.

What to leave to someone else

  • Medicine, health care, feeding and toileting help: the para, the nurse or the plan's named adult. Never give medicine.
  • Touching, holding or moving a student: don't. Call the office, keep the rest of the class safe, and wait for the adults the school sends.
  • Changing what a plan gives a student (a break, a tool, extra time): keep it as written, even when the class says otherwise.

Sources

  1. 34 CFR 300.323(d), on eCFR (U.S. Government Publishing Office): accessibility of the IEP. Each public agency must make sure the IEP is accessible to every teacher and provider responsible for carrying it out, and that each is told their specific responsibilities and the accommodations, modifications and supports the IEP requires. Read October 31, 2026.
  2. 34 CFR 300.623, on eCFR: safeguards for personally identifiable information. Each participating agency must protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information when it is collected, stored, disclosed and destroyed, and everyone who collects or uses it must be trained in the state's policies. Read October 31, 2026.
  3. 34 CFR 300.156(b)(2)(iii), on eCFR: personnel qualifications. Paraprofessionals and assistants who are appropriately trained and supervised, under state law, regulation or written policy, may be used to assist in providing special education and related services. Read October 31, 2026.
  4. U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office: What is FERPA?. FERPA is a federal law that gives parents the right to see their children's education records, to ask for them to be amended, and some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from them. Read October 31, 2026.

This page explains what the rules say in general. It is not legal advice; your school's own rules come first.

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