1.1 About the ParaPro Assessment

What the ParaPro Assessment Is

The ParaPro Assessment (test code 1755) is a standardized test built and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS) — the same organization behind the Praxis teacher-licensure series. It measures the foundational academic skills that a paraprofessional (also called a paraeducator, instructional aide, teacher assistant, or teacher's aide) needs to support classroom instruction. The test does two things at once: it checks that you personally have solid reading, mathematics, and writing skills, and it checks that you can apply those skills to help a teacher work with students.

That dual focus — skill plus classroom application — is the single most important idea in this whole study guide, and it shapes every section that follows.

Unlike a teaching-license exam, the ParaPro does not test advanced pedagogy, child psychology, or subject-area theory. It tests the kind of practical academic ability you would use every day while monitoring a small reading group, walking a student through a long-division problem, or helping a child proofread a paragraph.

Because of that, the content sits at roughly a kindergarten-through-grade-8 (K–8) difficulty level. The challenge is less about advanced material and more about accuracy, careful reading of the question, and recognizing the best classroom response among several reasonable-sounding choices.

Exam Snapshot

Why "Some Questions Are Not Scored"

Of the 90 questions you will answer, only about 75 actually count toward your score. The remaining items are pretest (field-test) questions: ETS embeds new questions among the real ones to gather statistics before deciding whether to use them on future forms. You cannot tell which questions are scored and which are not — they look identical — so the practical takeaway is simple: treat every question as if it counts and answer all of them. There is no separate "experimental section" to skip.

Example — what "90 but 75" means for you: Imagine you get 60 of the 90 questions correct. Because 15 of the 90 were unscored pretest items, your scaled score is based only on how you did on the 75 scored questions — not on 60/90. You never see which were which, so you should never leave a question blank hoping it "doesn't count." Always guess; there is no penalty for a wrong answer.

Who Takes the ParaPro — and Why It's Required

The ParaPro exists because of federal education law. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) — the 2015 reauthorization of the older No Child Left Behind law — paraprofessionals who work in a program supported by Title I funding (federal money targeted at schools serving low-income students) must meet a "highly qualified" standard before they provide instructional support. A paraprofessional can satisfy that standard in one of three ways:

1. Complete at least two years of study at a college or university (defined as 48 semester hours or the equivalent), or
2. Hold an associate's degree (or higher), or
3. Pass a formal state or local academic assessment that demonstrates knowledge of, and the ability to assist in instructing, reading, writing, and mathematics.

The ParaPro Assessment is the most widely accepted test for that third pathway. That is the core reason people take it: it lets a qualified candidate who does not have two years of college credit demonstrate readiness on a single exam instead. (The ACT WorkKeys assessment is the other commonly accepted option, but ParaPro is the dominant one nationwide.)

Typical Test-Takers

• Current and prospective instructional aides and teacher assistants in K–12 schools
• Title I program staff who tutor or support small groups
• Special education paraprofessionals supporting students with disabilities
• Library, media-center, and computer-lab aides in instructional roles
• Candidates exploring paraeducation as a first step toward a teaching career

What You Do Not Need

You do not need a teaching license, an education degree, or completed college coursework to sit for the ParaPro. Many candidates take it with only a high school diploma. Note, however, that some states or districts require you to be already employed as a paraeducator before you register, and a few set their own additional rules — so always confirm local requirements before scheduling.

Test Format: Computer at a Center vs. Online at Home

The ParaPro is delivered only by computer — there is no paper-and-pencil booklet version offered through ETS today. You choose between two equivalent delivery settings:

Both settings use the same 90 questions, same 150-minute limit, and same scoring. The choice is purely about logistics and comfort. Online testing is available seven days a week, which makes scheduling flexible, but it has stricter environment rules (a clear desk, no notes, one person in the room).

A Critical Timing Note: ParaPro Is Being Retired

ETS has announced that the ParaPro Assessment (1755) will be discontinued after August 31, 2026 and replaced by a new test, ParaPathways (5757). During the transition both exams are available. If your testing window falls before that date, the 1755 material in this guide applies directly. If you will test after August 2026, confirm with your state or district whether to take ParaPathways instead — the underlying skills (reading, math, writing, and classroom application) overlap heavily, so this preparation remains valuable either way.