Maximising The Impact Of Teaching Assistants

Product Description

Teaching assistants have become an integral part of classroom life yet pioneering research by the authors has shown that school leaders & teachers are not making the most of this valued resource. Results from the Deployment & Impact of Support Staff (DISS) project showed that the more support pupils received from teaching assistants the less academic progress they made. Yet it is not decisions made by the teaching assistants themselves but decisions made by school leaders & teachers about how their support staff are used & prepared which explains these provocative results. Prompted by the wake-up call the DISS project findings provided this timely book of guidance will help school leaders & teachers in primary & secondary schools improve the way they use teaching assistants & will add real value to what can be achieved in the classroom. Based on the authors' collaborative work with schools in the Effective Deployment of Teaching Assistants (EDTA) project this book provides essential practical tools & classroom-tested strategies that will allow schools to conduct a fundamental review of current practice & provides a framework for reforming teaching assistant deployment & preparation & the way they interact with pupils. Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants provides much-needed & well-informed guidance on how to unleash the huge potential of teaching assistants working in schools & is essential reading for all school leaders.