Three Approaches - One Purpose: Early Dispute Resolution Strategies

The three presenters each work as consultants and/or employees for school districts throughout California with the purpose of identifying disputes early and working to resolve them or preventing disputes by developing training and programs for all stakeholders to assist in relationship-building and improved processes. This 90 minute workshop will provide an overview of the approaches used by each presenter, with the strengths and pitfalls of each program. Together they will provide insight into the needs they observe for creating even more capable school sites, Districts, and SELPA’s. The three presenters worked together for many years as special education mediators for the State of California and have transitioned into these new roles focusing on earlier dispute resolution, bringing with them a depth of experience and insight into the conflict experience of families and Districts. They will discuss:unique components of their programs (and their communities; getting buy-in from all stakeholders; outcomes of their programs for their populations; capacity and skill building through quality training. A shared strong commitment of the three presenters is the goal of providing quality training to all stakeholders in how to build relationships and how to make meetings more effective. The presenters will provide and discuss the key content areas of their stakeholder training. They focus on the human aspects of special education conflict and resolution, as it is their shared belief that this is at the heart of effective early intervention.