Orientation, Placement Protocols, and Professional Conduct

Why Orientation Comes First

Before you speak to a single student, you need to understand the rules of the worksite. Schools are regulated environments. Every adult who enters a classroom carries legal obligations, and those obligations begin the moment you walk through the door — not after training is complete. This lesson covers what those obligations are, how the placement is structured, and what professional conduct looks like every day.

Understanding the Placement Structure

Your externship places you inside a real school alongside a cooperating teacher. That teacher remains legally responsible for the students at all times. Your role in the first two days is to observe only — no leading instruction, no managing behavior independently, no pulling students aside. Use that time to study how the classroom runs: how students enter, how the teacher gives directions, how transitions between activities are handled, and how the teacher addresses disruptions. Record at least three specific observations in your reflective log each day. These entries are not summaries — they are detailed, factual records of what you saw and heard.

Sign in and out every day using the school's official procedure. Many districts require volunteers and paraprofessionals to sign a physical log at the front office and wear a visible badge while on campus. Learn the location of emergency exits on your first day and confirm them on the site safety checklist your cooperating teacher must co-sign.

FERPA: Student Privacy Is Not Optional

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. As a paraprofessional or placement student, you will see and hear information about students — their names, grades, behavior records, disability status, and home situations. FERPA prohibits you from sharing any of that information with anyone who does not have a legitimate educational need to know it. That includes your friends, family members, and social media followers.

Practical rules under FERPA:

• Do not discuss individual students by name outside the school building.
• Do not photograph students or their work without explicit district authorization.
• Do not access student files or records beyond what your cooperating teacher shares with you directly.
• If a parent asks you about their child's records, refer them to the classroom teacher or the office — never answer independently.

You will sign a written FERPA confidentiality acknowledgment before beginning placement. Violating student privacy can result in removal from the site and may affect your eligibility for state licensure.

Mandatory Reporting: You Are Required by Law to Act

Every state has mandatory-reporter laws that require certain adults who work with children to report suspected abuse, neglect, or endangerment to the appropriate authority — typically a child protective services agency or law enforcement. As a paraprofessional working in a school, you are almost certainly a mandatory reporter under your state's law.

Key points:

• You do not need proof. Reasonable suspicion is the legal standard in most states.
• You may not delegate the report to your cooperating teacher and assume it is handled. Depending on state law, your own duty to report may be independent.
• Reports are made to the designated agency, not to a parent.
• If a student discloses abuse to you, listen calmly, do not promise confidentiality, do not investigate, and immediately notify the cooperating teacher and follow the school's reporting protocol.

Your placement handbook will identify your state's reporting process and the school's internal procedure. Read that section carefully before your first day of student contact.

Professional Conduct Every Day

Schools hold staff to a high standard of professional behavior. The following expectations apply throughout your placement:

Attendance and punctuality. Notify your cooperating teacher and program supervisor before your scheduled start time if you will be absent or late. Unexcused absences may result in a failing placement grade.

Dress code. Follow the district's dress code for staff. Clothing should be neat, conservative, and appropriate for a school environment. Avoid anything with offensive language, graphics, or very casual styles.

Language and tone. Use respectful, calm, professional language with students, staff, and families at all times — including in writing and in digital communication.

Electronic devices. Personal phones should be silenced and stored during instructional time unless the cooperating teacher has given specific permission for a work-related task.

Social media. Never post about students, staff, or the school in any way that could be traced to the worksite. Even anonymized posts can constitute a FERPA violation if enough details identify the student.

Boundaries. Maintain professional relationships. Do not share personal contact information with students or families. Do not accept gifts of significant value.

Safety at the Worksite

Your CPR/First Aid card must be current before placement begins. If a medical emergency occurs, follow the school's emergency response plan — typically alert the teacher, call the office, and provide first aid only if trained and directed to do so. Know the location of the nearest AED if the school has one. Do not leave students unsupervised in an emergency; alert another adult first.

Complete and submit the signed site safety checklist on day one. It confirms that you have located exits, reviewed the emergency action plan, and received a staff introduction. Without it, you cannot advance to direct student contact.

Completing the Entry Requirements

Three documents are due to your program supervisor before direct student contact is authorized: the signed site safety checklist, the signed FERPA and mandatory-reporter acknowledgment, and your first two reflective log entries. All three must be complete and accurate. Partial submissions do not qualify. This requirement protects students, protects you, and ensures you are genuinely ready to support learning in a school setting.