Balancing Diverse Teams Through the IEP Facilitation Process

With IDEA 2004, IEP teams have more responsibility to collaborate than ever before.  Bringing diverse groups together to hold a student centered meeting continues to be the expectation and challenge facing team members.  Instructional leadership, as a goal, is not often achieved as administrators strive to juggle the daily demands that fragment their day.  For teachers and service providers improving student achievement now competes for your time along with reassuring frustrated parents, navigating problem-solving contentious and time-consuming IEP meetings, dealing with paperwork and sorting through often disorganized data.  Parents feel they need an advocate or attorney to get the answers and outcomes they are requesting.  IEP teams need an efficient and collaborative way to acknowledge and address the needs of the child and the diversity of this team.  This energetic and interactive three hour presentation illustrates the benefits of utilizing a systems framework built around Facilitated IEP process tools and solution integration for serving students and supporting student achievement.  The IEP Facilitation model used in this presentation focuses team discussion of goals, objectives, and placement decisions upon measurable strengths and challenges of the student, thus eliminating team conversations based upon inappropriate proposals that many times result in lack of consensus.  This solution also deals with a myriad of meetings and topics, especially as related to resolution meetings.  Through interaction, modeling, perspectives from IEP team members and simulated IEP scenarios that involve conflict resolution, participants will gain a better understanding of IEP Facilitation practices, receive information on an innovative IEP Facilitation training model, gain program evaluation data, and leave with implementation strategies for campuses and districts encompassing various socio-economic and cultural/linguistic situations.