Special Education

Mediating Special Education Disputes (for families and schools)
Mediation can be helpful in resolving areas of disagreement about services or placement for a child.  Issues might include transportation, teacher support services, coding, placement, or IEP's.

Facilitation and Mediation Skills Training (for SPED teachers)
The Mediation Center of Peterborough offers a dynamic two day training that provides staff with the skills to effectively facilitate and mediate Special Education Meetings with parents.

Mediating Special Education Disputes

What is mediation?
Mediation is the use of an impartial person to help people make informed decisions, reduce conflict and develop mutually acceptable agreements.  Mediation is a voluntary and confidential process for disputing parties.  Mediation can help ensure that decisions about providing services are made in fair and appropriate ways.                       

What issues are appropriate for mediation?
Mediation can be helpful in resolving areas of disagreement about services or placement of a child.  Issues might include transportation, teacher support services, coding, placement, or IEP's.

How does mediation work?
Parties review and sign the agreement to mediate.  During mediation, the mediators help the parties explore interests, needs, options, alternatives and solutions.  The mediators may caucus privately with each party, where they can confidentially explore options.  By actively listening and helping the parties clarify and define their own issues, needs, and goals, mediators can help facilitate a conversation that may not have been possible otherwise.  By using a collaborative, future oriented approach, the parties may resolve their differences.

What are the benefits of mediation?
When the parties work together to resolve a problem, the child wins.  Since the parties reach mutually acceptable solutions, mediation can preserve ongoing relationships.  There is greater impetus for implementation and follow through in decisions reached jointly.

What is my role in mediation?
Parties are expected to come to mediation with the intent of negotiating in good faith to find a solution to the disagreement.  All relevant information should be available to both parties in order for parties to make fair and informed decisions.

Who are the mediators?
A team of professionals from The Mediation Center of Peterborough will provide the mediation services.  The staff at the Mediation Center is Richard Dufresne, MSW; Peggy Brown, M.Ed., CMM; and Susan Howard, Esq.

How long are mediation sessions?
Mediation is generally scheduled for a 2-hour block during the workday.  Additional time can be scheduled as necessary.

Can I bring an advocate or an attorney to mediation?
Yes.  Either party may bring a resource person.  It is expected that this resource person will be oriented to and supportive of the mediation process.

Does a mediator make a decision regarding my case?
No. A mediator's job is to facilitate an agreement by helping the parties develop their own solutions.

Facilitation and Mediation Skills
Training for Educators

Contents

• Special Education Personnel Need Facilitation Skills
• Effective Facilitation and Mediation of Special Education Meetings
• Format of the Two Day Training
• Participating Educators' Comments
• Parent Comments
  

Special Education Personnel Need Facilitation Skills.  Why?

The Special Education Meeting Process can be very challenging for educators and parents. This can result in wasted meeting times and children's learning needs not being met. Effective facilitation can create smoother, more efficient meetings with positive outcomes.

As an educator, do these meeting descriptions sound familiar?

• A general dread of the upcoming meeting
• Parties blaming each other
• Parents who are so angry that they are unwilling to agree to a plan
• Colleagues who are unprepared and act unprofessionally
• Parents who demand every service without knowing why
• Highly adversarial and unproductive meetings
  

• When they feel blamed for the child's problem
• When many professionals are in attendance
• When professionals disregard parents' perspective of their child's needs
• When meetings are adversarial, unproductive, and poorly facilitated  

• Pre-training and post-training assessments of the participants of their meeting facilitation skill level and needs
• Development of a customized training program that meets the
  expressed needs of participants
• Two intensive day long trainings for skill development
• Individual coaching and small group supervision to reinforce learning
• Pre and post training assessments from parents evaluating the
  effectiveness of special education meeting.