Classroom Aides

Classroom aides are staff who support lead teachers in educating students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). Classroom aides assist with lessons, prepare materials, and help maintain the classroom. Classroom aides also can be one-to-one assistants who deliver direct services to students with ID/DD. Classroom aides and one-to-one assistants work in kindergarten to 12th grade general and special education classrooms. They represent the fastest growing personnel segment in education. The success of students with ID/DD can depend in many ways on the supports classroom aides provide. This entry describes the number and types of classroom aides, the settings in which they work, their training, their roles and responsibilities, their real-work practice, and future directions for role differentiation and training.