Building Consensus: Best Practices For Collaboration Between Parents & Child Study Teams

Defining  Terms  

•  Consensus  -­‐    

•  Collaboration -

•  Parents

•  Child Study Team

Decisions  That  Parents  &  Child  Study  Teams  Make  Together  

Where  To  Begin  

Child Is Main Focus

Agreement between all parties that the child is the centerpiece of the collaborative effort.

Respect & Regard

Agreement that the process will move forward in an atmosphere of respect & regard for all participants.

Communication

Agreement on a uniform communication framework; face to face, telephone, email.

Crea=ng  Meaningful  Parent-­‐Team  Partnerships  

Parents  Play  Three  Key  Roles  

They support their child’s education from home. They monitor

their progress.

They advocate for them when necessary.

How  CST  Foster  Parental  Growth  

       - By helping them to formulate and use questions effectively. -By helping them participate effectively with decisions that affect their child.

Parent,  Child  Study  Teams  Other  Stakeholders      

Principals School Counselors Advocates Teachers

?

Who Else?

- Adaptive - Flexible in role - Begin as you mean to end - Case Management vs. Expertise in a Discipline - Uniform Communication Among Team Members - Doing/Sharing Your Homework

Partnership  Strategies  for  CST  Members:  

The  Right  Ques=on  Strategy  

•  Deceptively simple strategy that can be used with all parents

•  Greatly enhances any parents’ ability to partner more effectively with educators on behalf their child

•  Has three core components; one set of specific roles for parents to play and two skills that allow them to play those roles more effectively.

Ques=on  Formula=on  Technique  Produce their own questions

Work with and improve their own questions

Prioritize their questions

Strategize on next steps and how to use their questions

Reflect on what was learned by working with their questions

Five Step Process That Allows Parents To:  

The  Framework  For  Accountable  Decision  Making  

•  One  of  three  core  components  of  the  Right  Ques=on  Strategy  can  be  used  alone.  

•  Provides  parents  with  a  simple  structure  that  makes  it  easier  to  understand.  

•  Par=cipate  more  effec=vely  in  cri=cal  decisions  that  affect  their  child.  

Building  Founda=onal  Skills  to  Par=cipate  Effec=vely  in  The  IEP  Process      

Schools and students would greatly benefit from parents playing an active, confident role in the development and implementation of IEP’s. Being savvy begins with the ability to identify decisions and understand that any decision is the selection of one option among two or more. Then knowing what a decision is, the parent can apply the three criteria in the Framework For Accountable Decision Making.

Three  Criteria  Applying  to  Decisions  Using  the  Framework  for  Accountable  Decision  Making:  

Legitimate Reasons For The Decisions

Transparency Throughout Decision Making Process

Making The Parents Central To All Decisions

The  FADM  Then  Enables  Parents  To  :  

Produce their own questions about options, reasons, process and role. Improve their questions. Strategize on how to use their questions in the best interest of their child.