Chapter 9 Engaging Families

Rationale for Collaborative Family-School Partnerships

• •Education of students with special needs is a shared responsibility and requires strong partnerships among school, community and family.

• Need to tell them all the things the student does.

• Family members are a child’s first and most influential teachers.

• •Family-school partnerships are mandated by legislation and so collaborating with parents and caregivers is not just the “right thing to do”; it is required by law.

Benefits of Family and School Partnership

What are the Legal Mandates for Family Engagement?

What is the Equal Partnership Model?

Which are the steps of the The Equal Partnership Model??

• Examine personal values

• Build collaborative relationships

• Initiate home-school interactions

• Individualize for parents

• Evaluate home-school collaboration

Which are potential challenges in working with families?

• I don't like to talk to people.

• The history and attitudes of parents and other family members.

• Families with unfamiliar characteristics and structures.

• The ubiquitous Blame Game

• Cultural and linguistic diversity.

What are the Six key elements for successful I E P meetings?

What are some benefits of having students participate in, and sometimes lead, the conferences for their individualized programs??

• Receiving information about their progress.

• Feeling involved in their own educational planning.

• Being more strongly motivated to improve and more enthusiastic about school-based learning.

• Being aware that home and school are working collaboratively on their behalf.

• They are in charge of the decisions that are made.