Best Practices in Parent Center – State Collaboration to Improve Student Achievement Federation for Children with Special Needs and Massachusetts Department of Education July 31, 2006

The History… New PTI Director and State Director 1998 Partnering on statewide committees 1999 SIG - Project Focus 1999 Co Author Parent Guide to Special Ed 1999 Parent Training Grant 2000 PTI conference 2000 Create & Co-present Workshops 1999 “IEP” & 2004 “Measurable Annual Goals” 2003 Inclusion on State level teams for Transition Initiatives 2004 Special Ed Information Exchange (stakeholders group) 2005 SIG - Project Focus Academy 2005 State Performance Plan indicator focus groups

Partnering on Policy Statewide Advisory Council Focus Monitoring Steering Committee MCAS Alt Advisory Group Special Ed Information Exchange

State Improvement Grants Project Focus Statewide Parent outreach and support under IDEA Parts B and C Project Focus Academy Parent support on three topics in 9 high schools; PBIS (EDC), UDL (CAST), Post Secondary (ICI)

Parent Guide to Special Ed Co-produced in three languages

PTI Annual Conference Provide funding support for parent participation and attendance. Present workshops on changes in state and federal laws Co-present with parent trainers on best practices in special ed

Create & Co-present Parent Workshops “IEP 2000”: Orientation for parents to the new IEP forms and process under IDEA “Measurable Annual Goals”: Strategies for writing and tracking the progress of annual goals.

State Performance Plan Participate on Steering Committee to set targets for Indicators Recruit Parent Participants for Indicators focus groups

APPLE Leadership Project: OSEP Funded Model Demonstration Research Project Seeks to Replicate strong collaboration by: Building respectful relationships at a district (LEA) level Improved collaboration between parent leaders and Special Ed Administrators Building skills in communication, conflict management, team building and inclusion of those not at the table Create a plan for enhanced parent involvement

Benefits to Students and Families Attention to fairness reduces unnecessary acrimony Co-authorship allowed for common materials Presenting to one another’s audiences enhances trust Benefit to both organizations: built PTI capacity to expand training opportunities, created forum for MADOE to provide for parent training needs.

Strategies and Barriers Clarifying boundaries of what we can address and what we cannot Understanding decision making process in both organizations Respecting our relationship, especially in difficult conversations Independent decisions based on merits of an issue – using a problem solving approach Establishing empathy for each other’s position Agree to Disagree

Advice to Others… Essential that you work at it Necessary to build trusting relationships at multiple levels Empowering each other in the relationship through openness Maintaining open communication “It takes the right people with the right attitude at the right time”.