Who We Are
NH Connections is a project funded by the Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education in response to the meet the need of schools/school district personnel for information and resources on effective ways to enhance strategies to create and sustain partnerships among school personnel and parents of children with disabilities and their families.
The NH Connections team is made up of a Program Coordinator and five Regional Support Network Facilitators dedicated to advancing the work of partners in special education.We provide technical assistance, workshops, and resources to school districts. (Our updated Technical Assistance Flyer for the new school year will be available soon!)
Members of the NH Connections team are also available for speaking engagements and we offer a series of workshops as well as facilitation skills for the management of world café style conversations, strategic planning, and action planning. We are equipped to provide technical assistance to special education directors, coordinators and teachers on how to engage parents of children with disabilities and their families in their child’s school and learning and development. And we are eager to help you to engage parents to be involved in priority issues around special education at your school.
NH Connections offers toolkits, checklists, and resources that will help to create, maintain, and sustain relationships among school personnel of special education teachers, special education coordinators and paraprofessionals, and parents and families.
Call the NH Connections facilitator for your region today to receive free consultation and strategies to enhance the current ways that you are encouraging partnerships in special education. Let's work together as we move forward to improve the results of Indicator B-8 on the State Performance Plan, Annual Performance Report.
What's Happening Statewide!
The New Hampshire Department of Education has updated their website.
To find out more visit
http://www.education.nh.gov/
Each month Key Messages are shared in pdf format. We encourage you to download them to share with your school.
The July 2010 Key Message from New Hampshire Department of Education is available by clicking
here
Click
here to read previous issues
What's Happening around Parent Involvement!
Connect with Anne Henderson by watching this conversation about schools and parent involvement.
For research and Conversation with Anne Henderson please click
here Why Partner?
“The main reason to create partnerships is to help all children to succeed in school and in life. When families are involved, students hear common messages from home and school about the importance of attending school, staying in school, and working hard as a student.
There are many benefits for developing family, school and community partnerships. Partnerships can improve school programs and school climate, provide family services and support, increase parents' skills and leadership, connect families with other families in the school and in the community, and help teachers with their work.”
Joyce L. Epstein, Karen L. Mapp, and Anne T. Henderson.
“Embrace a philosophy of partnership and be willing to share power with families. Make sure that parents, school staff, and community members understand that the responsibility for children’s educational development is a collaborative enterprise”.
Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships at
Johns Hopkins University.
The New Wave of Evidence is a review of research on parent involvement and student achievement. Taken together, the studies strongly suggest that when parents are involved in their children’s education at home, their children do better in school. When parents are involved at school, their children go further in school, and the schools they go to become better. Programs to improve achievement are more likely
to have positive results if they engage families.
A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School,
Family and Community Connections on Student Achievement. Anne T. Henderson and Karen L Mapp ( 2002)
To download a copy for your school or school district click
here
Welcome to
NH Connections!
THANK YOU for visiting NH Connections online resource
for your Family~School Partnerships.
We've updated our website to better serve your needs,
but we are always seeking your feedback.
You can also connect with the NH Connections team on
Now Offered!
Free Train-the-Trainer Workshops for Fall 2010
PIRC’s Train-the-Trainer sessions are free and are ideal for teachers, parents and community volunteers who want to contribute to their school community by offering high-value, relevant workshops. We provide all the materials you need to deliver a successful workshop experience, including trainer’s manual, PowerPoint presentation, exercises, and handouts.
You don’t need to be an expert —
you just need to care.
Registration is open. Click here for more information.
Regional Support Network Forums
Regional Support Networks Forums provide the platform for the exchange of knowledge and experiences gained during the creation, development, and sustainability of the local school partnership groups. Regional Support Networks consist of partners to support opportunities for active engagement among school districts and parents or children with disabilities to address issues that are unique to the region or statewide system, and provide access to an infrastructure for communication of events and stories.
Regional Support Network forums are planned to take place early in the school year and will foster events that follow in fall/winter and spring. The forums will gather stakeholders to discuss increasing family/school partnerships, with the purpose of identifying regional topics or priorities around family/school partnerships. At the forums participants will be encouraged to network with partners who share in the want to create change for student success in special education. Out out from each forum will be shared through this website and the NH Connections e'newsletter "Catch the Buzz"
Three meetings will follow to address the topics and priorities developed during the forums.
These events will also be featured on our website.
On each Region's page:
- The Success Stories tab includes stories of active engagement of schools and their community of families that have lead to advancement of services for children and youth in special education.
- The School District Connections tab includes a listing of SAU's, school districts, and special education contact.
- The Parent Connections tab includes a listing of Parent Groups which support families and their local school district or region.
- The Community Connections tab includes a list of links to organizations and individuals who provide services to children and youth with disabilities and their families.
What is Happening in NH Around Parent Involvement in Special Education?
Parent involvement is a priority. It is on the radar nationwide, statewide and in your school district. The NH PIRC website offers a wealth of information on the importance of parent involvement in schools/school districts as the evidence is in that parent involvement impacts student outcomes. Governor Lynch has proclaimed October to be Parent Involvement in Education month.
What does parent involvement in special education mean to school personnel in your school district? What does parent involvement mean to students with disabilities and families of children in special education? What does parent involvement mean to parents who are key decision makers in their child/ren’s Individual Education Plan?
More...
