Hidden Teachers, Invisible Students: Lessons Learned from Exemplary Bilingual Paraprofessionals in Secondary Schools

The aims of this three-year, multiple-site ethnographic study were to closely and collaboratively examine the work of four exemplary bilingual paraprofessionals in secondary schools in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Data suggested that these bilingual paraprofessionals had, against the odds, made visible their largely invisible English Language Learners within their respective school districts. They had reached ELL students in ways that most other teachers had not, worked within nearly overwhelming demands on their time, under fragmented schedules, and received very little pay or institutional support for their efforts.