WORK, SCHOOL AND THE TEACHER ASSISTANT POSITION
by Nestor Franco

I work as a teacher assistant at "Bose" Elementary School in the city of Los Angeles. I have work in this pace for a year and a half. The reason I applied for this position was that I am a student that needed a part-time job that would allow me to take classes during the day and evening. Very important is that the job leaves enough time to do the work require for the classes I am taking. In addition the flexible schedule makes it an ideal job for a student. All the information gathered for this paper was obtained by direct interviewing of the people who work in "Bose" Elementary School. From the duties and responsibilities of the job which was obtained by talking to the person who is in charge of T.As to recommendations would help the employee to finish school sooner which was obtained by interviewing the T.As. The reason I chose this topic is because working in my other job I never had the opportunity to focus on school the way I do now. The reason is that the other jobs were inflexible when it came to working schedules. I had to work my way around them so that I could take a class or two per semester. Since working in this place the amount of time I have to study has increased as well as the amount of units I take every semester. The working schedule, is very flexible and the people understand the needs a student has when it comes to studying or taking time off to prepare for tests. This job has given me the opportunity to continue my education, and thanks to this job I will finally transfer to the university after this semester Spring 1998. A second reason is after seeing what this job has done for me I feel that more people should have the chance that this job offers. Also the people who are already working and are not using the job the way it is supposed to be use should be dismissed from their positions. My objective in this paper is to show that the teacher assistant position helps the worker to go to school but the position has to be used properly by the worker in order for it to accomplish its objective. A question is asked: is there an interest on the part of the people who have this job to have it as a temporary job, or do they consider it a permanent one? Is the latter choice the reason why most of us try to work more hours? What is the purpose of this position regarding the worker? Some suggestions will be made on how to improve the way the position is managed this will coincidentally make the T.A be more serious about school. All throughout the time that I have worked at this site I have noticed an inclination toward working more hours than the regular time, which is three hours per day. The minority of T.A's do not have extra hours. The rest are assigned to other activities within the school. Furthermore the people who work the most hours are also the ones that have worked the longest in this school. These are people who have worked more than four years in this location and they are not going to finish school any time soon. The problem with this is that there are people who need a job like this one to be able to attend school, but the job is being taken up by workers who are not motivated to work on their studies and finish school. Other students can use this position to help themselves accomplish their educational goals. The T.A position is a temporary employment and it is not to be taken as a permanent job. After a few years working in this job the person should move on and let other people have the opportunities that this job offers. In 1994 I was very unhappy with the job that I had because it was a full-time job, very tiring, and worst of all it deprived me of a chance to continue my education after high school. It was my intention to find a job that would allow me to go to school, where I could work part-time so that I would have time to attend college. As time passed and I did not find such a job, and I began to feel frustrated. Talking to friends and relatives about my plans to get another job in hopes that one of them knew about a job where I could apply and eventually realize my objective, did not help at all. As time went on I began to forget the idea of finding another job. However, around this time a distant friend of mine told me about her job working as a teacher assistant for the Los Angeles Unified School District. This was a part-time job with a very flexible schedule and one of the requirements for the job was to be enrolled in school. At last the job that I was looking for; it was as if it was made for me. After a conversation with my friend, it took me months to go to a school and apply for a T.A position. Finally I applied for the position and I began working as a T.A at "Bose" Elementary School in the city of Los Angeles in October 1996. The current requirements to keep the job are not good enough to make the worker focus more on school, instead it has develop a tendency on the part of the T.A to work more hours and focus less on school. For years the requirements to become a T.A have not changed and the requisites to keep the job have not change either. The last time the prerequisites were changed was seven years ago. The requirements have been unsuccessful in achieving their purpose which is getting more of the workers to graduate from college. Among those who used to be T.As only have become teachers. This is the direct result of maintaining the same unsuccessful requirements for this amount of time. Everyone whom I interviewed had at one time a T.A job and everyone of them was asked for the same qualification except those who had the job before 1991. Regarding the duties of the T.A it has also remain the same since the position was first created in 1968. The official rules as explained by the person who is in charge of the T.As at "Bose" Elementary School is to work with the students in the classroom either individually or in groups. Although the job obligations are the same regardless of the teacher the T.A is working for, these obligations might differ somewhat depending on the teacher. The prerequisites and perimeters of the job are as follows: a. Be a high school graduate or have an equivalent to it. b. Be enrolled in school and take 12 units per year if in the semester system of 16 if in the quarter system. c. Have no criminal record. The complete qualifications, duties, responsibilities of the employee was included at the end of this paper. Most of the T.As are in their 20s. They all have to be going to school in order to have the job and they must have a high school diploma. A drawback I see is that there is no test to check how much the new employee knows to place them where they can best help the students. Training is very rare and usually does not teach any new skills that will be used when working with the kids. Proof has to be submitted every year that shows that the worker is taking classes at a college. All the responsibility of directing, supervising and organizing the duties of the teacher assistant is handle by one person at "Bose" Elementary School.. One person is not enough to make sure the T.As are complying with the requirement needed to keep position the job at. This person has to arrange the schedule of the worker that is usually from 8 am to 11 am and she has to assign each T.A to a specific classroom. Besides assigning the worker to the classroom this person can increase the amount of time that a T.A can work. The extra hours that a T.A can work are usually in the area of supervision and tutoring. When meetings are held this person is the one responsible for conducting them. The T.A coordinator is the person that the T.A has to talk to when asking to work more hours, change of schedule or anything that has to do with the T.A position. All the schools in the district have T.As. The teacher assistants are paid under the federal programs called tittle I. The length of time the T.A can have the job is limited, but this time limit was not specified. It was mentioned by the T.A coordinator sources that if anyone has worked for more years than allowed this would be the result of an office mistake. I want to mention that there are several different teacher assistant positions, such as those who work with special education students. These T.A's are under different terms than regular T.A's. By regular T.A's I mean people who work in the classroom with the teachers and where there is no special knowledge or training to have the job except the ones mentioned previously. This paper will refer only to regular T.A's. The first day in this job I was wondering what my duties were going to be. Whom would I be work with? What skills will I have to learn to perform my job? To get an idea of what was expected I began asking several T.As who work in the same School about the type of work they were assigned. At first I noticed that the assignments for the T.A differed from teacher to teacher and that there was not a format or set of assignments that the T.A has to follow. For example the first teacher I worked with expected me to have a lesson plan and teach a small group of children in the classroom. The second teacher that I worked with never assigned me a group of children. My job here was approximately that of a guard, making sure everybody was doing what they were supposed to do. After working a few weeks in this place I began to notice a pattern among the T.A's. There is an interest in working more hours (everyone starts out working 3hrs/day) and most of us had obtained them. Those who worked few hours, 3-5 hours, also had obtained different positions within the school or had a second job. At first it appears that it is more important to work more hours and to go to school just to keep the job. In fact I have found some people who have been working as T.A for more than 5 years and during all of this time they have also been going to school. Therefore a question comes to mind: are these people interested in or serious about school? Is this job all they want to do? After learning more about the T.A position, although it is written nowhere, I found that this is a position that is temporary for people to have while they are attending college and obtain a degree. This position is used to give experience to those who want to become teachers, although the job is not exclusively for them. Another point of interest that I found is if most of the workers are interested in working more hours are we also interested in making sure we are doing our job, that is teaching the children or are we there only for money? It will be difficult to find out whether we are doing or job or not because there is only one person who supervise us. In this position it is very easy not to do our job. Since we are working with children, between the ages of 7-11, it is easy to let them do what they want such as playing when instead we should be teaching them something. The children at school call a person who does not give them work to do a good teacher therefore there won't be any complains on the part of the students making it less likely anyone will find out if the T.As are doing their job. In December of 1996 the program "L.A's Best" began at "Bose" Elementary. Several T.As came from different schools came to work on the program and I was one of them. Our job was to teach a specific subject such as math, science, art, etc. As the first few weeks went by and more communication began to develop between us it became clear to me that there were very few doing their job. Because there was no one supervising the classrooms it was very easy to let the students play. It was very unlikely that anyone would find out if you were doing your job. For seven months I worked for this program and during all this time, the situation remained the same. After the experience of working for "L.A Best" with T.As from other schools I realized that my suspicion about T.As trying to work as many hours as possible was not unique to Esperanza but extended to others schools. A few of the people with whom I was working in L.A Best got jobs at "Bose" Elementary and within a few weeks each one of them obtained more hours and still kept their job working for "L.A Best". An educated guess is that for those people working 5-6 hours during the day and 3 more hours in the afternoon will have very few hours left in which to go to school. There will be even less time for these people to do their homework. From personal experience, I know that if a person spends the day working and goes to school during the evening then that person must stay up during the night studying to pass. To stay up during the night is difficult especially when it is done several nights per week. Another possibility might be that this person is working these hours, as several of the T.As are, but is only taking one class per semester. That brings back the question, are we going to school just to keep our job? I find it very disturbing to see that there are T.As who take this job as if it was any other employment when obviously is not. This position is intended to help individuals who are attending college. Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity that this job offers some of the people working in this job take the employment as their permanent job. It seems that they do not see the opportunity that this job offers in a way a student would. It gives the opportunity to have plenty of time for school, if working regular hours, and it also allows one to pay some of the expenses that going to school incurs. It is unfair to let people who do not really care about their education take a job like this one and keep from obtaining this position someone who will use it to realize his educational goals. This is a job that can make the difference in someone's life because of the opportunities it gives such as flexible schedule and that is not a hard job. As an example how flexible the schedule is during the summer of 1997 I asked for permission to be absent for a month from the job the reason was that I was going to attend a summer program at a University. I was allowed to be away for that month without problem and what made it possible was that the reason was school related. Furthermore, since I began working at "Bose", I have changed my work schedule three times depending on the schedule of the classes that I have to take during the semester. Other T.As are allowed to do the same. The schedule is very flexible and it can easily be accommodated so that it is possible to work and to attend school. For the person who wants to go to school, this job provides a rare chance to do so. This job permits the individual to change his/her schedule of work, hence the worker is able to be a full-time student and to finish school faster than as a part-time student. In the past year and a half, three T.As have become teachers. During the same time, about nine new T.As have been hired to fill positions such as academy, tutoring and classroom help. For those people who have become teachers, the transition has been smooth. The new teachers have gotten a permanent position within weeks of becoming teachers some of them have stayed within the school. It easy to obtain a teacher position after working as a T.A. There is help from the school to obtain the new job as a teacher. The help from the school is encouraging for the T.A because after obtaining their degree it is not much problem to get a job. There are more than fifteen T.As at "Bose" Elementary and about one-third have been working there less than a year. As discussed earlier, the T.A position was created for people who are going to school and this job is a help so that the workers can have time to study but is the goal of the job the goal of the worker? In my quest to obtain information about the T.A position, I wrote a questionnaire and I distributed them among the T.A's. Of the T.As who returned the questionnaire about 90% were those who have been working less than a year and a half. The other 10% were of T.As who have been working in the range of two to three years. None of the T.As that have more than three years experience answered my questionnaire. From the answers I received, I found that they all agreed that this job is for people who are interested in school and want to become professionals. The average amount of hours they work per week is twenty the average units they take per semester is twelve, and this is the only job they have. From the information I gathered pertaining to the T.A it appears that only those who are serious about school answered my questionnaire. None of the people whose opinion I was very interested in obtaining, because they have been working as T.A for more than four years, answered my questions. Information was collected from teachers who used to be T.As. From the answers obtained from them, the result was that they also agree that the T.A position was created for those who are serious about school. Another result was that none of them had a second job while working as a T.A. The average amount of hours they worked per week was twenty hours. They took about 10-12 units per semester and they worked in this position between one year and a half to two years. One of the questionnaires that I received back from one of the ex-T. As showed that as the amount of hours someone works increases the amount of units this person can take per semester decreases, meaning that it will take longer to finish school. The answers received from those who used to be T.As tells that in order to finish school it is necessary to work less and spend more time for school. Is also shown that this job is temporary, and it is not a permanent job. It is more a way to help the student to accomplish their educational goals. A third questionnaire was given to teachers who have never been T.A. The opinions and information obtained from them differ from those of the T.A and ex-T.As. Teachers see the T.A position as a great way to help them in the classroom. It gives them the opportunity to focus and help those children who need help the most. In the case of those teachers who do not speak the same language as the students the T.A can serve as translator, therefore allowing the teacher to communicate with the students. It was mentioned in the questionnaires given to the teachers that just the fact of having two adults in the classroom teaching the children is of great benefit and advantage for the student. The T.A are very helpful and pleasant to work with. This seems to be the opinion of teachers about T.As. It does not appear to be any concern whether the T.A is there to learn and become a teacher. It is more important that there is another person in the classroom, and that this person will help them with the class. From the answers obtained from the questionnaires it shows that T.As who works along with the requirements are the ones who will most likely graduate from college. The T.As who are working as many hours as they can get or have more than the T.A job do not usually finish school because they do not have the time to study and succeed in school. Everyone who applied for this job and can show that he/she is attending school should be able to obtain the job. What should be changed is the way people are allowed to keep the job. It is suggested that every worker must be a full-time student and the amount of hours each person works should be limited to allow the individual to have enough time to study and to do such things as homework , test preparation and other school assignments.. The length of time allowed for someone to have the job should also be limited to a four years after which this person will have to find another job. Because of the semester or quarter system anyone should be close to obtaining his/her degree. An extension should be made after the four years for the workers who show true progress toward obtaining their degree. By following the recommendations mentioned above, everyone who has this job will be most likely to finish school and those people who are not serious about school will either become serious about it or will not be able to comply with the requirements to keep the job. For those people who have two jobs, and that say they are attending school, it will be very difficult to with the requirements to keep the job since they have to be a full- time student. For someone who has this job and is not serious about school, the length of time that the individual is allowed to have the job will not permit him/her to have the position for an extended period of time. With these suggestions more college students will be able to obtain employment, and for those who want to become teachers this job will give them the experience they will need. As result of changing the requirement to the suggestion already mentioned, there will be an increase in the number of T.As who will graduate from college because the workers will have to show progress that he/she is performing well in school to keep this job. This is a realistic proposal and one that can be accomplished by someone who is a full-time student. It shows from the questionnaires received from those who used to be T.As and are now teachers that in order to graduate from college the worker probably has to be a full-time student, work at between 15-20 hours per week. None of them had the job for more then two years. In contrast to those who have become teacher some of the people who I interviewed were people who worked as T.As but they did not graduate from college. The reason for not graduating are they had more than one job or worked almost a full-time schedule in addition they were part-time students while working the T.A position. Furthermore each of those who did not become teacher had the job for more than three year. Encouragement can help the worker to finish school. My continuing work on this paper has led me to talk to several different people such as T.As, ex-T.As, teachers and the person in charge of T.A at this site and so on. It has come to my attention that it will be helpful for the T.A to have some encouragement to finish school. Some of the ways that may help encourage the T.A are: a. Enforce the time limit rule. b. Obtain scholarships from the job as reward for showing efforts in working hard c. For those who will become teacher count their time working as T.As as work experience to obtain their credential sooner after graduating. d. For those who are attending a junior college they should take classes that are transferable only. e. Flexible hours for the worker. By encouraging the worker to finish school by giving them incentives or simply by allowing the T.A to concentrate more on school will make a difference. The difference will be by making sure the worker is serious about school and there is a continuous progress toward completing their education the T.A will be most likely to obtain a degree. For those who are not taking school serious their attitude will change because they will see the benefits that an education will bring. The job is being abused by some people. I am a witness to how some of the workers are utilizing the job to make the money that otherwise they would not make for the same amount of work somewhere else. A constant effort to try to work more hours is a clear indicator of what their priority is. The fact that it is easy to obtain more hours to work make give a false impression because it can give the sense the job is a full-time employment. As consequence the worker may be inclined toward thinking the job is a permanent one. By enforcing the regulations already established and by adopting new ones the misused of the employment will be reduced at the same time the purpose of the position will be accomplished. The people who have the need for a job to sustain themselves will apply for any job available that they qualify for. When the T.A position is one of this job a conflict arises because this individuals will take this employment as the permanent way to support themselves and not as help to go to school. When one of this subject take hold of one of this job is depriving a student who will benefit from this job. It is not only failure by the system that allow people to have this employment when their intentions are not to follow through with the objective of the job. There is a moral responsibility on the part of the workers to leave this employment to those that will really use the position as it was intended. The teacher assistant position is a temporary position and is not to be taken a permanent one. Class Description TEACHER-ASSISTANT REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS Receives immediate supervision, guidance, and direction from a teacher at the school to which assigned. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Assists teachers in preparing for, carrying out, and following up instructional situations by assisting the teacher with instructional materials, audio-visual equipment, student record, and individual students. 2. Assists with the maintenance of control and a suitable learning environment in assigned classes; cooperates with the school administration and staff in providing such control and environment in buildings and on the grounds. 1. May be assigned part-time teaching responsibility under the immediate supervision of the teacher to whom assigned. QUALIFICATIONS Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Personal Characteristics 1. Understanding of the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional growth patterns of students. 1. Facility in oral and written communication. 1. Ability to properly use and to care for materials, supplies, and equipment employed in teaching. 2. Appropriate personal appearance, cleanliness, and manner. 3. Poise, tact, good judgment, and commitment to education of students. Education and Experience Verification of continuous enrollment in an accredited California public or private college, university, or community college. Health Evidence of freedom from active tuberculosis. Certification 1. A certificate authorizing service in the area and at the level of this class description must be in force and on file in the Office of the Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools. 2. New hires must demonstrate proficiency in basic reading, writing, and mathematics. NOTEA Teacher-Assistant shall not be permitted any multiple assignment in an Education Aide or related Classified classification. WORK, SCHOOL AND THE TEACHER ASSISTANT POSITION Franco,Nestor English 103 Prof. Mr O'Connell Spring 1998