Transcript Slide 1

Communication
and
Conflict Management
in Special Education
DoDEA Center for Early Dispute Resolution
Vicenza, Italy
September 28-29, 2010
Anita Engiles, Dispute Resolution Specialist, CADRE
Leila Peterson, Executive Director, SchoolTalk
1
CADRE Priorities
• Promote problem solving and agreement reaching skills
• Implement effective dispute resolution processes
• Enhance state agency and parent center collaboration
• Assist states to implement dispute resolution provisions of IDEA
• Support improved state system performance
• Compile information and data on state systems
• Disseminate knowledge about dispute resolution
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Major Activities
CADRE Website
Over 900 individual resources
CADRE Continuum of Process & Practices
Over 70 individual state/local ADR examples
RAISE DataBase
Over 240 abstracted research/practice articles
Symposia Gallery ~ All presentations materials from 2005 National
Conference on IEP Facilitation & 2006 National Symposium on
Dispute Resolution in Special Education
Español
9 translated resources, primarily directed at family members
Rich Media
Flash videos on CADRE, Listening Skills (English & Spanish),
Understanding Interests (English & Spanish), Tale of Two
Conversations and Study Guide
3
Major Activities (cont.)
Developing Community, Creating Partnerships &
Leveraging Resources
NPTAC/RPTAC/State PTIs/CPRCs
NASDSE/IDEA Partnerships/Project FORUM
NICHCY – National Dissemination Center
RRCs/Dispute Resolution Workgroup
COP Listservs: Mediation/ADR, State Written Complaints, Due
Process Hearings
National Symposia
First National Symposium on Dispute Resolution (2000)
Beyond Mediation: The Second National Symposium on Dispute
Resolution (2002)
Moving Upstream: The Third National Symposium on Dispute
Resolution (2004)
National Symposium on IEP Facilitation (2005)
On the Road to Agreement ~ IDEA ’04 & More: The Fourth National
Symposium on Dispute Resolution (2006)
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Major Activities (cont.)
Data
SPP/APR Analysis
"Longitudinal DR Database" - Table 4 and Table 7 summaries
online (5 years of data online)
State-Specific Work
Dispute Resolution System Integration and Performance
Enhancement (DR SIPE)
Looking To The Future
Exemplar Work
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CADRE Activities Result in…
• Earlier dispute resolution
• Vibrant communities of practice
• State dispute resolution system improvement
• Compilation of research and evaluative data
• Information on national dispute resolution use and
outcomes
• Improved collaboration and dispute resolution skills
• Reduced use of adversarial dispute resolution
processes
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Workshop Objectives
Participants will gain an awareness of:
• the sources and dynamics of conflict.
• different styles for approaching or managing conflict.
• ‘listening to understand’ as an essential relationship
and communication skill.
• the difference between ‘positions’ and ‘interests.’
7
Workshop Objectives (cont.)
Participants will become:
• familiar with the continuum of special education
dispute resolution options, including innovative
approaches to prevention and early resolution.
• aware of skills required to promote positive parentprofessional relationships and increase productive
communication.
• familiar with CADRE, The National Center on Dispute
Resolution in Special Education.
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Assumptions…
•
Conflict is a healthy reflection of a diverse and
changing society
•
Most parent/school relationships are or can be
positive and mutually respectful
•
Skills can be acquired and strategies implemented
that facilitate productive relationships
•
Culture influences an individual’s perspective on
conflict and how it’s most appropriately approached
•
Workshop participants are already skilled at
communicating, negotiating and problem-solving
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CONFLICT
What does the word
“conflict” bring to mind?
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Two Definitions of Conflict
Any situation in which people have apparently
incompatible interests, goals, principles, or
feelings . . .
~~~
 Expressed or repressed struggle
 Two or more people
 Interdependent relationship
 Strong emotion
 Perceived blockage of needs and/or values
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Sources of Conflict
Structure
Data
Relationships
Values
Interests
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Costs of Conflict
• Financial costs
• Educational costs: takes energy away from
instruction, can interfere with needed
consistency
• Human costs: stress, burnout, marital discord
• Relationships: hurts relationships among people
who have to work together
• Societal costs: parents, families, schools divided;
bad press for special education; missed
opportunities
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Types of Conflict
Relationship Conflicts
•
Occur because of repetitive negative
interactions, misperceptions and
stereotypes
•
Often fuel disputes and lead to escalating
spiral of conflict
•
Often worsened by poor communication
Types of Conflict
Data Conflicts
•
Occur because of disagreements related
to data collection, interpretation or
evaluation




lack of information
misinformation
disagreement on which data is relevant
how to interpret competing assessment
procedures
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Types of Conflict
Interest Conflicts
• Occur when a person believes that in order to
satisfy his or her needs, the needs and interests
of another must be sacrificed
 Interest-based conflicts may occur over
 substantive issues (such as money, physical
resources, time, etc.)
 procedural issues (the way the dispute is to be
resolved); and/or
 psychological issues (perceptions of trust,
fairness, desire for participation, respect, etc.)
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Types of Conflict
Structural Conflicts
•
Caused by forces external to the people
 limited physical resources
 authority
 geographic constraints
 time
 organizational changes, etc.
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Types of Conflict
Value Conflicts
•
Occur when people attempt to force one set of
values on others or lay claim to exclusive value
systems that do not allow for different beliefs
•
Occur when belief systems are perceived to be
incompatible
•
Often create the most intractable conflicts
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The Five Conflict
Handling Modes
Personal Goals
Controlling
Collaborating
Compromising
Avoiding
Accommodating
Relationship Goals
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Source: Thomas- Killman Conflict Mode Instrument
Avoiding
Personal Goals
• What is it:
•What –
is Sidestep,
it:
postpone, or withdraw
Sidestep,
frompostpone,
the issue or
forwithdraw
the present
from the issue for the present
• When
•When
to useto
it?use it?
– When
potential
outweighs
When
potential
harm harm
outweighs
benefits
to resolve
benefits
to resolve
When
time istime
needed
to collect
– When
is needed
to collect
information
or coolordown
information
cool down
Relationship Goals
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Personal Goals
Accommodating
• What is it?
– Sacrifice your own personal goals to
satisfy the concerns of the other(s)
– Yield to another point of view
• When to use it?
– When relationships are most
important
– Reach a quick, temporary solution
Relationship Goals
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Personal Goals
Controlling
• What is it?
Pursue own ends without agreement of
others
Achieving one’s goals is paramount
• When to use it?
When unpopular actions must be
implemented
When dire consequences will be the
result of inaction
Relationship Goals
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Personal Goals
Compromising
• What is it?
– Quick, mutually acceptable
alternatives
– Both parties give up something
• When to use it?
– When two parties of equal power
are strongly committed to mutually
exclusive goals
– To achieve temporary solutions to
complex issues
Relationship Goals
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Personal Goals
Collaborating
• What is it?
– Identifying concerns of each person and
finding alternatives that meet both sets of
needs
– Finding a solution that fully satisfies needs
and concerns of both people
• When to use it?
– When relationships & issues are both
important
– To gain commitment and acceptance for a
high-quality decision
Relationship Goals
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The Five Conflict Handling Modes
Collaborating
Controlling
Personal Goals
Compromising
Avoiding
Accommodating
Relationship Goals
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Source: Thomas-Killman Conflict Mode Instrument
What are Your Values?
Achievement
Advancement/Promotion
Adventure
Affiliation
Balance
Challenging Problems
Change/Variety
Close Relationships
Community
Competence
Competition
Cooperation
Creativity
Decisiveness
Economic security
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Ethical practice
Excellence
Excitement
Fame
Family
Fast Pace
Flexibility
Freedom
Friendship
Fun
Growth
Health
Helping Others
High Earnings
Integrity
Independence
Involvement/participation
Job Tranquility
Knowledge
Loyalty
Meaningful work
Money
Order (stability)
Physical Challenge
Personal
Development
Precision Work
Pressure
Power/Authority
Quality
Recognition
Respect
Reputation
Security
Spirituality
Stability
Status
Time Freedom
Tradition
Trust
Work Alone
Work w/Others
_____________
_____________
Shared Values
What are your personal values? (Practiced)
Put your 5 values in
ranked order
List two behaviors that exhibit each
value
1.
________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
2.
________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
3.
________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
4.
________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
5.
________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
Cultural Competence
& Diversity
• Recognize that many people communicate and
process information differently
• Check-in with yourself, monitor behavior
• Allow time for reflection, don’t always fill silent
spaces
• Engage community leaders and cultural liaisons
• Actions and words don’t always have impact we
intend
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Cultural Awareness
Cultures have different ways of responding to conflict.
Culture shapes status, relationships and social
behaviors with regard to conflict resolution.
Recognize that many people communicate and process
information differently.
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Cultural Competence

Strategies to address cultural competency range from
the policy to the program to the personal level.

Cultural competency is a process,
 not an outcome.
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Moving from Cultural Competence
to Cultural Reciprocity
Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.
You can only practice cultural reciprocity if you listen
with the heart…for the heart…and share your heart.
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Listening
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“Seek first to understand,
then to be understood.”
Stephen Covey, “Habit 5”
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
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High Risk Responses
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Ordering
Threatening
Moralizing
Advice
Logical Argument
Questions
7. Judging
8. Praising
9. Name-Calling
10. Diagnosing
11. Reassuring
12. Diverting
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Certain Responses …
•
•
•
•
•
Derail the conversation
Take the focus off the other person
Block the other person from finding a
solution
Distance you from the other person
Diminish the other person’s motivation
and sense of being valued
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Communication Loop
Sender
Receiver
Message
Filtering Lenses
Reflective Listening
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What Contributes to the
Meaning of What We Hear?
Intonation, Inflection, Volume, Speed, and Vocabulary
=____%
Appearance, Posture, Gestures, Clothing, Surroundings
= ____%
Verbal = ____%
38% 55% 7%
From “Listening to People,” Harvard Business Review
EARS
The Chinese characters that make
up the verb “to listen” tell us
something about this skill.
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Two Types of Stances
TELLING
LEARNING
Judgment
Curiosity
Hubris
Humility
Pretense
Presence
Dismiss
Acknowledge
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Attending & Following Skills
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Environment
Posture
Contact (distance, eyes, touch)
Acknowledgment Responses
Gestures
Door Opening Questions
Open-Ended Questions
Interested Silence
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Responding Skills
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reflecting Feeling
Reflecting Content
Reflecting Meaning (linking feelings and
content)
Validating
Empathizing
Clarifying
Summarizing
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Listening to Understand
Reflect Back:
Feeling
Content
Meaning-Values
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Three-part Listening
This is a communication exercise to practice separating out the content
(facts or thoughts), the feelings and the values.
Directions:
• Divide into groups of 4.
• Choose one person to begin talking.
• The second person listens carefully for content information (facts
and thoughts).
• The third person listens for feelings-both spoken and underlying.
• The fourth person listens for the values expressed by the speaker.
• The speaker should talk for about 1-2 minutes. Then the three
listeners, one at a time, paraphrase what they heard.
• Repeat this process with different speakers and different listening
roles.
Listening is a Disciplined Skill
•
You can’t do two things at once if
one of them is listening well.
•
•
You can’t listen if you are trying to
figure out what to say.
•
You can’t listen if you are assuming.
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“The most cost-effective component
of a dispute resolution system is
listening.”
Mary Rowe
MIT Ombuds & Scholar
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Listening Video
http://www.directionservice.org/cadre/Listening.cfm
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Positions & Interests
http://www.directionservice.org/cadre/understanding_pos.cfm
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Positions & Interests
Position
• Specific solution proposed to resolve problem
- the “WHAT”
Interest
• Underlying real need or desire that gives a
position its life (i.e., beliefs, expectations,
values, fears, priorities, hopes, concerns)
- the “WHY”
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Finding the Interests
• What need is the person taking this
position attempting to satisfy?
• What is motivating the person?
• What is the person trying to accomplish?
• What is the person afraid will happen if a
demand is not fulfilled?
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Questions to Elicit Interests
• “What would having that do for you?”
• “What would that mean to you?”
• “What would be different if you had that?”
• "Why is that solution so important for you?“
• “Why are you suggesting…?”
• "What if that did/didn't happen?”
• “How will you be affected by…?”
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What are Possible
Underlying Interests?
• “We don’t provide 30 minutes of speech
therapy 5 days a week.”
• “We want an American Sign Language
interpreter in that English Lit class.”
• “I demand an apology now!”
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Power, Rights and Interests
Power
Rights
Interests
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Power Imbalances
Inherent in Conflict
•
Actual and perceived power may differ
•
Participants may not be equipped or supported
to participate effectively
•
Cultural differences may contribute
•
Recognize there are formal and informal forms of
power
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Addressing Power Imbalances
•
Advocacy
Cultural Competence
•
Student Involvement
•
Well-facilitated processes and trained participants
•
Well-built relationships
•
Skilled neutral third party helpers
•
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Facets of Conflict
Problem
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Structure of Problem Solving
 Sharing Information
 Identifying Interests
Generating Options
Evaluating Potential Solutions
Reaching Agreement
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Responding to High
Energy People
•Attending Strategies
•Responding Strategies
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Structure of Problem Solving
Sharing Information
Identifying Interests
 Generating Options
Evaluating Potential Solutions
Reaching Agreement
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Brainstorming
•Develop as many options as possible
•Thinking of an option does not mean
committing to it
•No evaluation of options
•All ideas are welcome
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Techniques for Generating Options
•
•
•
•
•
•
Focus on specific interests
Assess needed information
Turn complaints into options
Encourage behavioral options
Shift perspectives
Let there be silence
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Structure of Problem Solving
Sharing Information
Identifying Interests
Generating Options
 Evaluating Potential Solutions
Reaching Agreement
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Evaluating Potential Solutions
•Establish objective criteria
•Compare solution to criteria
•Is this option acceptable to all?
•How realistic is this?
•What obstacles exist?
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Interest-based Negotiation
• Aims not to change the other person, but to change
negotiation behavior.
• Shifts from ”your position versus mine” to “you and I
versus the problem”.
• Involves a mutual exploration of interests to yield
more creative options.
• Uses objective criteria.
Adapted from Highnam, K. (2001). Interest-based negotiation,
CCSEA 2001 Fall Conference and AGM. Surry B.C., Canada. CCSEA;
Fisher and Ury, Getting to Yes
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Structure of Problem Solving
Sharing Information
Identifying Interests
Generating Options
Evaluating Potential Solutions
 Reaching Agreement
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Make a Plan
•Be specific
•Who? What? When? Where? How?
•What if…? (contingency plans)
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Satisfaction Triangle
SUBSTANCE
Effective conflict resolution meets the needs, expectations of the
people involved in three important aspects.
What Is a Facilitated
[IEP] Meeting?
A facilitated IEP meeting uses a trained,
neutral third party to guide the meeting.
This person is responsible for the process
of the meeting – not the outcome. “The
facilitator encourages full participation,
promotes mutual understanding and
cultivates shared responsibility.”
Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making by Sam Kaner, page 32
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Role of Facilitator
Guides the group through the process
• Encourages participation by everyone in the group
• Keeps the group focused on the issues - not on
personalities
• Seeks clarity on issues
• Avoids expressing views or solutions
• Facilitates problem solving and completion of the
task
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Qualities of an
Effective Facilitator
• Big Ears
To listen to what is being said and what is between the
words, to hear the foundation of consensus being built
even before the group can hear it
• Clear eyes
To read body language and other visual cues the group is
offering
• Small mouth
To keep your opinions about the content to yourself (if
that is your only role)
• Strong Heart
To have concern that each person be treated with
respect, and to have compassion for the challenge of
people working together
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You Should Have A
Facilitator When…
• There is a history of difficult meetings, bad
relationships, or unresolved differences.
• You know the group will face difficult
decisions.
• One team member is requesting outside
assistance.
• There will be a great amount of new
information presented or it is an initial IEP
meeting.
72
You Should Not Be
the Facilitator When…
• You have to play a dual role –
Facilitator/Leader or Facilitator/Expert.
• You have a close, personal relationship or a
negative personal history with a key
participant.
• You know you are biased.
• You are uncomfortable dealing with emotions
and you suspect the meeting will be
emotional.
73
Parent Contact Checklist
• What to anticipate during the IEP meeting.
• Do you have issues outside the scope of the IEP that
you would like to include in the agenda?
• Do you have any information (evaluations, etc.) you
would like the other members of the team to review
before the meeting?
• What is your time allotment for the meeting?
• Explain role of facilitator.
• Is there anyone you would like to bring with you to
the meeting?
• Will the student participate? (as appropriate)
• Do you need special accommodations?
74
Teacher Contact Checklist
•
•
•
•
What to anticipate during the IEP meeting.
Explain role of facilitator.
What is your time allotment for the meeting?
Are there areas you want to emphasize within the
IEP?
• Are there issues that may be “new information” or
“hot topics” to the parent?
• Do you have any personal concerns regarding
the child, parent, or meeting?
75
IEP Meeting Set-Up
Appropriate school records
Paperwork: IEP, blank copies, minutes
Name cards
Food, water, cups, tissues
Extra paper and pens
Someone to greet participants
Flip chart, markers, tape
76
Building an Agenda
• The agenda specifies the action items the team must
address.
• The parent and school jointly develop the agenda or
facilitator proposes.
• Agenda is reviewed at the start of the meeting.
• Each participant is invited to add to the agenda.
• Discuss and agree upon priorities, time limits.
• Elicit group expectations.
77
Managing the Meeting
• Set and stick with beginning and ending times
• Work through the agenda priorities
– Evaluations, Eligibility, IEP, Placement
• Table issues that cannot be resolved
• Refocus, restate, reflect, redirect
• Return to unresolved issues
• Agree to disagree
78
Decision Making
Groups need decision making processes to
achieve results and create action plans
– Voting
– Straw Polls
– Consensus
79
Positive Parent-Professional
Relationships
What educators can do:
• Keep promises and ensure confidentiality
• Be hopeful and honest
• Help parents identify strengths and choices
• Model problem-solving skills
• View parents as equal partners
• Support parents as child’s best advocates
• Value point of view and preferences of family
80
Positive Parent-Professional
Relationships
What parents can do:
• Reinforce at home what your child is learning at
school; follow through on your commitments
• Be honest about what you don’t understand and
what you need to know
• Recognize professionals’ commitment and expertise
and thank them when they are helpful
• Recognize that they are often limited by the systems
in which they work
• Commit to working to find solutions to
disagreements
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Educating Our Children Together:
A Sourcebook for Effective
Family-School-Community Partnerships
Strategy 1:
Strategy 2.
Strategy 3.
Strategy 4.
Strategy 5.
Strategy 6.
Strategy 7.
Strategy 8.
Creating a family -friendly school environment
Building a support infrastructure
Encouraging family involvement
Developing family-friendly communication
Supporting family involvement on the home front
Supporting education opportunities for families
Creating family-school-community partnerships
Preparing educators to work with families
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What did I hear?
What does it mean to me?
• Things I want to remember…
• Questions I have…
• What does this mean for the students
I work with?
83
Developed by CADRE
(the National Center for
Appropriate Dispute Resolution in
Special Education), in association with
Leila Peterson and CEDR (DoDEA’s
Center for Early Dispute Resolution)
84