Cluster Area III: 
Parent Involvement

 

Executive Summary/Overview The New York State Education Department and the office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) recognize that educational and supportive programs will best help students reach their full potential when parents, families and schools work collaboratively. A significant body of research exists to support the premise that when schools work together with families to support learning, children tend to succeed not just in school, but throughout life. Three decades of research have demonstrated that parent-family involvement is a critical element of effective schooling and contributes significantly to improved student outcomes. Students, parents, teachers, administrators, and communities all derive benefits from family involvement. The VESID Leadership Team has developed the following Family Principles Policy to insure that families of students with disabilities in New York State are informed and to promote and support the involvement of families in educational and vocational processes: VESID recognizes the vital role of families in achieving positive educational, vocational and community living outcomes for individuals with disabilities. VESID seeks the involvement of family members at all levels of policy development, planning, implementation, service delivery and evaluation. To reinforce this principle, VESID will: Actively seek advice from families on statewide policies, programs, and plans; and feedback on services. Recognize individual and family strengths as a starting point for planning and providing all services. Honor the racial, ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic diversity of families. Ensure that all individuals with disabilities and their families have access to consistent and accurate information necessary to exercise choice and participate as full partners in decision-making. The VESID Family Principles represent a construct for significantly increasing the provision of information to parents, and the participation of parents and families in all aspects of their child’s education. The implementation of these principles will increase involvement of parents and families at all levels of the educational process and in the formation of public policy affecting special education in New York State. The significant steps that have been taken towards implementation of the principle ensuring that all individuals with disabilities and their families have access to information are reflected in the following activities: Since 1997, nine publications targeted to parents have been developed. The publications include the newly revised Special Education in New York State for Children Ages 3-21, A Parent’s Guide, and a number of parent-friendly pamphlets that provide clear, concise information about topics of vital interest to families, such as Alternate Assessment and the Safety Net. These materials are also available on VESID’s website. The Department’s mail distribution list for new publications includes 1,131 parents, parent organizations, and advocacy groups. Internet notification of new policy memoranda and publications of interest to parents is provided via list serve to 169 parents, parent organizations, and advocacy groups. A video on Committee on Special Education (CSE) procedures was developed to help parents understand the CSE process. The video was distributed to all school districts and Institutions of Higher Education with teacher preparation programs in the State. Other productions are being planned for development and dissemination. The Department provides fiscal support or complete funding for Parent Centers in Western New York, New York City and Long Island. The Long Island Parent Center (Sinergia) and the New York City based centers were designed specifically to provide outreach and direct services to unserved and underserved families. During the 2002-2003 program year, more than 5,430 parents attended parent center training sessions and presentations, and more than 17,000 parents were provided with information about special education and related topics. The Department funds 15 Early Childhood Direction Centers (ECDCs) which provide information and referral services to professionals and families of young children with disabilities, birth through five years of age. During the 2003-2003 program year, 3,403 parents participated in training events, and the Centers responded to 10,283 requests for information. The Department funds 42 Special Education Training and Resource Centers (SETRCs) and 10 Regional Trainer positions which provide technical assistance and training to professionals and parents across the State. During the 2002-03 program year, 6,381 parents participated in training events provided through the SETRC network, and information was disseminated to 33,952 parents. Initiatives that have been developed to increase feedback on services and promote the involvement of Parents and families in development of statewide policies, programs, and plans are reflected in the following activities: The Commissioner’s Advisory Panel, of which more than 50 percent of the members are parents of children with disabilities or individuals with disabilities, provides information on policy to constituent groups. Monthly telephone meetings are held with a network of 25 parent groups, which provide an opportunity for continuous communication and exchange of information with families. The Special Education Quality Assurance (SEQA) Unit has incorporated parent surveys and parent forums into school review processes that have resulted in increased provision of information to parents and improved communication between parents and schools. As part of VESID’s mental health initiatives, information to parents is distributed through family organizations, web sites and other mechanisms to our interagency partners. Parents have been involved in the development of the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA) from the beginning of its development through membership in the NYSAA Task Force. The NYSAA is administered to students with severe disabilities at the elementary, intermediate and commencement levels. A mandatory component of the assessment is a parent/family/guardian survey. This survey was developed by the NYSAA Task Force as a means of seeking information about the assessed student and encouraging ongoing communication between school and parent regarding the student and his/her education. Parent involvement in New York State’s Autism Initiatives includes participation on a State Task Force on the Education of Students with Autism, membership on advisory groups for regional training and technical assistance centers, and participation in the development of grant proposals for the development of quality, research-based educational programs for students with autism. The Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative (CCSI) is an interagency effort directed at assisting children and their families to maintain a child in their home, school and community through collaborative programs, strength-based approaches and family supports. CCSI reflects strong principles of parent involvement. Results from counties implementing CCSI reveal improved parent participation and outcomes in levels of care, educational achievement and behavior. CCSI counties have developed strong and innovative strategies for parent involvement, including parent training. The Office of Mental Health (OMH) and VESID are jointly supporting expansion of school-based mental health programs across the State. A key component of this initiative is parent support structures established to assist in coordinating efforts to enhance parent involvement. VESID staff and stakeholders have worked with representatives from CADRE (The National Center for Dispute Resolution in Special Education) to design strategies for improving school-parent relationships. As a result, fifteen pilot projects are being implemented at the building level in selected schools to improve parent-school relationships and increase parent involvement. As the plan is refined, a larger group of schools, parents and stakeholders will be involved, and the network of VESID technical assistance organizations will be enlisted to assist in statewide implementation. A technical assistance document, Educating our Children Together: A Sourcebook for Effective Family-School-Community Partnerships, available on the VESID web site on the following “Additional Resources” page: http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/resources.htm, has been developed through a partnership between the New York State Education Department, Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) and the Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE). The document provides a summary of research supporting the effectiveness of family involvement, descriptions of model programs and practical information to assist parents and families, educators, administrators and other individuals who are interested in building effective school-family-community involvement programs. New York’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) State Improvement Grant (SIG) program is working with a cohort of districts to address areas in need of improvement based on VESID’s key performance measures and indicators of disproportionality. Each district must, as a condition of funding, enter into an agreement with a parent organization for the purpose of coordinating home-school collaboration initiatives associated with the SIG.

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