RISE to the Challenge: Resolve, Innovate, Support, Engage
RISE to the Challenge: Resolve, Innovate, Support, Engage, took place October 28-29, 2021. CADRE hosted its 8th National Symposium virtually this year! Symposium participants included OSEP staff, state dispute resolution coordinators, directors of special education, dispute resolution practitioners, parent center staff, parents, parent leaders, attorneys, educators, service providers, and researchers. Sessions were recorded and will be made available in the coming weeks.
Objectives for this Symposium
Symposium participants will have the opportunity to:
- Examine collaborative dispute prevention and conflict management strategies within the expanding continuum of dispute resolution practices in special education and early intervention in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Learn about innovations, initiatives, and current research in the field of dispute resolution.
- Receive information, resources, and guidance related to the design, implementation, and improvement of dispute resolution processes and systems with a focus on virtual environments.
- Enhance communities of practice, and connect dispute resolution coordinators, practitioners, educators, and parent leaders with each other and nationally renowned experts in the field.
- Acquire conflict management skills and knowledge critical to the effective resolution of disputes.
Keynote Speaker
Announcing Paul K. Chappell as CADRE's Keynote Speaker for the 8th National Symposium
Paul K. Chappell is the Executive Director of the Peace Literacy Institute, an international peace educator, and founder of Peace Literacy. He graduated from West Point, was deployed to Iraq, and left active duty as a Captain. Realizing that humanity is facing new challenges that require us to become as well-trained in waging peace as 
soldiers are in waging war, Chappell created Peace Literacy to help students and adults from all backgrounds work toward their full potential and a more peaceful world.
Chappell grew up in a violent household. Born in 1980, he was raised in Alabama, the son of a Korean mother and a Black father who was a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. These experiences were part of what compelled him to forge a new understanding of war, peace, rage, trauma, and our shared humanity.
This understanding is conveyed in his seven-book Road to Peace series. The first six books are Will War Ever End? (2009), The End of War (2010), Peaceful Revolution (2012), The Art of Waging Peace (2013), The Cosmic Ocean (2015), and Soldiers of Peace (2017).
The Peace Literacy Institute offers free curriculum for pre-K through college and adult education. Paul K. Chappell also facilitates professional development workshops with the following learning outcomes:
Identifying our human needs and the tangles of trauma
Understanding the anatomy of aggression
Building strong and resilient communities
Resolving conflict and learning the power of respect and calm
Understanding emerging digital technologies in terms of human needs
More information is available at peaceliteracy.org.
