Collaboration Drives Partnerships

Think of the start of the school year as a new beginning. What better time than now to begin to build a home-school partnership and learn the skills needed to create a solid and effective educational team for the student.

As educational consultants, Peggy Bud and Tamara Jacobson, believe parents are equal members of their child’s IEP team. We have written a book entitled Navigating Special Education, A Guide to Building Parent-Educator Partnerships, awaiting publication.

Our book teaches the importance of using the 5 Cs of Communication (Conversation, Cooperation, Collaboration, Compromise and Consensus).?We recommend all stakeholders understand the value of the 5 Cs because they are an integral part of building a strong home-school partnership. In addition, our book provides information about Special Education and the law and presents effective communication tips on active listening, data collection, and letter writing.

Collaboration, one of the 5 Cs of Communication, helps parents and educators build a trusting and transparent relationship. The Collaboration portion of our book, provides insights on how to develop educational programing that alone, none of the stakeholders would have envisioned.

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

– Henry Ford

Collaboration is the act of working with others to create something new.?It allows parents to work effectively within the confines of a school culture and build alliances with school board members, administrators, and teachers. Through collaborative discussions, parents and educators expand upon the student’s individual learning experience by designing improvements that neither party could have independently proposed. What emerges is often different from what parents or the district might have originally envisioned; yet is a more effective way to address the student’s needs.?

We should think of collaboration as an important strategy to help educational teams accomplish a common goal, providing the student what they need. It is essential for parents and school districts to recognize, only when working together, can they create an effectively superior program for the student.?

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), that drives the Special Education process directly and indirectly, embraces collaboration. IDEA requires parents to be members of their child’s Individual Education Team. The law states if a parent is not present at an IEP meeting, the team cannot legally make any decision regarding the child’s program or placement. Only when all team members are present will the actions of the team be considered legally binding.??

IDEA ensures parents are members of the IEP team by having a section in the IEP document where parents' concerns and input are documented. This aforementioned requirement is found on the Present Level of Performance page of the IEP and labeled Parent and Student Input section. The district is required to gather this information. In addition, parental concerns, input and comments voiced during the IEP meeting should be recorded in the minutes.

For more information on How to Build a Vital Collaborative Partnership, contact Peggy Bud and Tamara Jacobson at [email protected]

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