The District's Role
Adapted from Epstein’s Framework for Six Types of Involvement
What role do school districts play in parent involvement in special education?
The framework of six types of involvement helps educators to develop more comprehensive programs of school-family-community partnerships.
NH Connections has adapted the framework to support partnerships in Special Education and to better achievement of students with disabilities.
Each type of involvement includes many different practices of partnership. Each type has particular challenges that must be met in order to involve all families, and each type requires redefinitions of some basic principles of involvement. Finally, each type leads to different results for students, families, and teachers.
Although all schools may use the framework of six types of involvement as a guide, each school must choose practices that will help achieve important goals and meet the needs of its students and families.
Special Education Administrative teams choose practices to boost the parent engagement beyond the requirements within IDEA.
- Special education teams work within their schools raising the overall levels of parent involvement across the Six Types.
- IEP team members foster collaboration with families to improve student achievement.
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TYPE 1--PARENTING: Assist families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families.
Schools develop a specialized approach to supporting the parents of their students with special needs.
- Members of the IEP team have access to and shares research on effective strategies and interventions for teaching and raising children with disabilities.
- IEP team members research and create the circumstances in which the student is most available to learn.
- Training is regularly available to parents, educators, and students.
- Special education teams understand how parenting children with special needs increases the everyday demands on the parent, and their family.
TYPE 2--COMMUNICATING: Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.
Special Education team members encourage parents and educators to exchange information on the child’s development and how their disability(ies) impact their ability to learn.
- At appropriate times and intervals, IEP team members agree upon the appropriate and effective way for team members to communicate among and between each other.
- Schools and parents use a variety of communication methods designed to promote meaningful exchanges.
- Schools describe programming and share student progress in ways parent and family members understand.
TYPE 3--VOLUNTEERING: Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school programs.
Special Education Administrative teams work with their schools to ensure that parents and family members of their students with special needs have have equal opportunities to be part of the volunteer programming.
- Results of surveys such as the Parent Involvement Questionnaire underline the strengths of parents, and help build opportunities for them to be comfortable, and productive volunteers.
- Schools encourage volunteers to help develop volunteer policies and programming that is considerate of special needs.
- Schools celebrate parent volunteers’ achievements.
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TYPE 4--LEARNING AT HOME: Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-linked activities and decisions.
Special Education Administrative teams enable parents and families of students with special needs to extend the learning opportunity for their children into the home and community.
- Strategies, supports, and accommodations developed in the IEP are implementable at home, in the community, and in the school.
- Schools share curriculum information with parents in advance and promote preparation and learning at home.
- The IEP team members have the highest expectations of students in special education.
TYPE 5--DECISION MAKING: Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and other parent organizations.
Successful policy development and implementation results when all stakeholders collaborate with parents, families, and their students with special needs.
- Schools support parents, family members, and their students with disabilities to hold positions on school board, parent involvement committees, and school improvement teams.
- Superintendents and administrators engage the expertise of those experienced in directly supporting students with disabilities to develop and implement policies and procedures that supports improved student achievement.
TYPE 6--COLLABORATING WITH THE COMMUNITY: Coordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community.
Individuals representing the family, the school, the community, vocational and support organizations, together, work to further education, employment, and recreation opportunities to support students with disabilities within the community.
- IEP team members are the connectors for parents and families of a child with disabilities.
- Special Education Administrators work to build collaborative skills within the IEP team.
- Schools support parents and students to gain the necessary skills to enhance and improve successful graduations.
- Schools, families, communities, employment organizations, and businesses understand how all activities benefit students from these relationships.
For families with members who are disabled, development of these relationships establish the supports needed for the child with a disability to transition to post school activities.
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Adapted from http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/sixtypes.htm Retrieved October 24th 2009 6:55 pm
