Education support includes tutoring, counseling services, access to learning materials and technology. It also involves creating a supportive environment and fostering positive relationships with students.
ESPs — paraeducators, custodians, cafeteria workers and bus drivers, among others — play a critical role in ensuring student success. They are the foundation of every school and they deserve decent wages, respect and safe working conditions.
Supportive Environment
Education support is the various forms of assistance students receive to help them overcome educational obstacles and enhance their learning skills. This can include tutoring, mentoring, counseling and access to additional resources that may not be available in the classroom. It helps boost students’ confidence and self-assurance, while providing them with a more comprehensive learning experience.
Education support also offers a student-centered approach to learning, which prioritizes the individual needs, interests and concerns of each student. It focuses on building relationships with both educators and students and encourages collaboration, discussion and teamwork. It can also promote a sense of community by fostering peer-to-peer support, which is important for the emotional well-being of students.
From classroom assistants and custodians to cafeteria workers, bus drivers, secretaries and security and technology staff, MSEA education support members are the backbone of every school in Massachusetts. They are dedicated to the total student learning experience and deserve decent wages, better working conditions and respect for their vital contributions to our schools and communities.
Individualized Instruction
Individualized instruction tailors content, learning strategies and pacing to student needs and interests. It is a powerful way to increase student engagement and academic achievement.
It can be used on its own or as part of differentiated teaching. This pedagogical approach meets the learning needs of all students, even those with exceptionalities or disabilities.
Unlike traditional classroom teaching, which moves on to new material before all students have fully grasped the previous subject, individualized instruction allows teachers to provide more time for deep practice for students who need it. This can be especially important in subjects such as math, where building skills requires repetition and practice at the right level of challenge.
Students who prefer one-on-one attention with instructors, like to ask lots of questions or love to work on projects will thrive in a school that provides individualized instruction. It can give them the confidence boost they need to pursue their goals and excel in all subjects.
Technology
Technology is more than an education add-on – it provides the foundation for modern educational learning. It empowers teachers to innovate, excite and inspire students.
Digital tools help teachers improve the quality of their instruction, support student learning and make the best use of their time. However, the cost of many devices and internet connectivity remains out of reach for disadvantaged groups, compounding inequality.
Online platforms such as collaborative software and e-commerce systems allow students to share assignments, work on projects together or exchange ideas with classmates. Digital tools also save paper and space, reduce the need for sharpening and rewriting, and allow learners instant access to information.
Technology supports learning continuity in emergencies. However, most education systems’ distance learning efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic were led by non-educational actors as short-term emergency responses and have limited recorded impact. More robust, evidence-driven education technology decisions are needed. Regulators should ensure unbiased public procurement. They can decentralize procurement or leverage e-commerce and open source platforms to limit the risks of collusion and corruption.
Feedback
Education support programs must be flexible to ensure that they can meet students’ changing needs. This may involve implementing new teaching methods or making adjustments to existing ones. It also involves assessing students’ progress and engagement with their education.
Feedback is important for improving learning outcomes. It can provide information about a learner’s performance, help them evaluate their own self-assessment, and cultivate metacognitive skills (such as goal setting, task planning and monitoring, and reflecting on their own work). Feedback can be based on the performance of a particular task, the underlying processes or understandings, or the learner’s management of the learning process and/or self-regulation.
Effective feedback is timely, specific, and clear. It can be provided by teachers, peers, or self-reflection. Peer feedback is often more useful than teacher feedback, and simple structures such as Wows and Wonders and critical friends protocols can be used to elicit helpful feedback. Feedback that is designed to move students from the task level to the underlying processes or understandings is most effective.