Nancy French, PhD is an educator with over 30 years of experience. She has been studying the employment and supervision of paraprofessionals in education for nearly 20 years.
In 1994, French founded the Paraprofessional Research Center (The PAR²A Center) at the University of Colorado Denver, where she served as executive director until 2006. The Center, part of the School of Education and Human Development, promotes professional development for paraprofessionals who support the learning of students with various educational needs (special education, learning English as a second language/ELL, and literacy and/or math remediation, etc.). She was also research professor at the School of Education and Human Development until retiring in 2006.
French has used the findings of her research on the employment and supervision of paraprofessionals in education to develop a statewide training system for paraeducators in Colorado. She consults with school districts to set up systems that maintain high standards for paraprofessional-professional teams.
She has published over 50 articles and chapters, mostly on the topic of paraprofessionals. For National Professional Resources, Inc./Dude Publishing, she wrote the laminated reference guides, Paraeducator’s Resource Guide, and A Guide to the Supervision of Paraeducators. She is also a featured presenter in training video, Paraeducators: Quality Supervision & Training, produced by NPR, Inc.
