Topics 8 & 9
Holly Tetreault
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
Strategies for encouraging group collaboration and Involving parents and community members.
The Basics
According to the Educational Alliance of Brown University when No Child Left Behind was implemented the idea was that by publicizing schools test results and performance ratings school, states, and districts would be forced to be accountable for their own education and would steadily improve outcomes. However, this hasn’t been the case. Schools that struggled are still struggling in many cases. Schools alone can’t be responsible fore the total outcome of student success. Many other factors come into play. Other publicly funded services need to be utilized to support students in need of additional support in the classroom. These services can be used to support families in need of help. The issue, the alliance believes, is caused by neither group successfully collaborating with the other. Furthermore parents are in the middle and need to belong in the process. Research is showing that there is a lack of this cohesiveness in our public school systems (Educational Alliance, 2008)
This topic focuses on how do we encourage collaboration in our schools among our teachers and when and how do we involve outside sources for support. For teachers there are hundreds of books, articles, and studies that provide collaboration among the staff. Collaboration can take place in the form of team planning, collaboration between general education teachers and special education teachers, or collaboration among teachers and support staff. There are unlimited ways of utilizing each others skills (Department of Education, 1995).
Federal Policies and Legislation
There are certain terms that come into play when discussing rights of teachers, parents, and the community. The following legal terms are from WrightsLaw.
Due Process Hearing (impartial due process hearing): Procedure to resolve disputes between parents and schools; administrative hearing before an impartial hearing officer or administrative law judge. Called a “fair hearing” in some states.
FAPE: Free Appropriate Public Education; special education and related services provided in conformity with an IEP; are without charge; and meets standards of the SEA.
IFSP: Individualized Family Service Plan
LRE: Least Restrictive Environment; requirement to educate special needs children with children who are not disabled to the maximum extent possible.
LEA: Local education agency or school district.
Mediation: Procedural safeguard to resolve disputes between parents and schools; must be voluntary, cannot be us ed to deny or delay right to a due process hearing; must be conducted by a qualified and impartial mediator who is trained in effective mediation techniques.
Statutory Rights: Rights protected by statute, as opposed to constitutional rights that are protected by the Constitution.
According to WrightsLaw the issue of rights often get confused between schools, parents, and outside agencies. As far as collaborating in schools there is not mandate set that forces staff members to work together. However research has shown that with teacher collaboration, student achievement is greater.
As far as legalities involving parents, WrightsLaw states that parents do have legal rights when it comes to their child. They are a member of the IEP team. They are able to participate in the process of developing and implementing an IEP. They are made aware of all changes to an IEP. They do not however have the final say in a child’s placement to receive services. Often the parents idea of LRE and the schools are different. There are other legal issues that can arise, parents need to know that they do have rights and that the more they educate themselves in regards to special education the better they will be able to protect themselves and there child and be an advocate.
When working with outside agencies the line becomes even more fuzzy. Outside agencies are extremely useful, especially for student with behavioral concerns and in need of wraparound services. However, they are not a required part of the team. Once they have begun providing services however they are a member of that child's IEP/Wraparound planning team.
Websites to See
This website from Autism Collaboration offers support and suggestions for parents and teachers.
This website from the North Central Regional Education Library provides suggestions for creating partnerships between schools, parents, and external agencies.
This is an absolutely fantastic article published by Brown University that focuses on how to utilize support.
For additional support in schools, Dr. Marilyn Friend is the foremost educator on collaboration.
This newsletter from Washington shares how teachers in a local district successfully implemented collaboration.
