The qualitative research study was guided by the following research questions: What factors impede how parental advocacy works in collaboration with the IEP team, and what motivates parents to be involved and/or engaged with their child? The qualitative study examined the everyday experiences of parents and school personnel as they collaborate to…

This document provides information about the process a school-level team will use to complete the Predictor Implementation School/District Self-Assessment (PISA) (ED629041). This process involves four major steps including (1) identifying team members, (2) establishing a location and time for the meeting, (3) preparing for the meeting, and (4)…

Family-to-family services are emerging as an important adjunctive service to traditional mental health care and a vehicle for improving parent engagement and service use in children's mental health services. In New York State, a growing workforce of Family Peer Advocates (FPA) is delivering family-to-family services. We describe the development…

How can library media specialists encourage kids to read outside the curriculum and maintain this reading beyond elementary school? What does it take to get children involved in recreational reading and turn their focus to books? At Sycamore Elementary School in Avon, Indiana, library media specialists have organized reading programs which have…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

In today's world of restrictive school budgets and increasing property taxes, it is an unfortunate reality that many school districts will be faced with a budget crunch crisis that unenlightened school boards may try to solve by cutting or eliminating funds for music. At the crisis stage, it is often only the effective advocacy of an organized…

Described is an empowerment and self-advocacy training program for individuals with disabilities and parents of young children with disabilities, called Partners in Policymaking. Discussed are first-year activities, program evaluation data from participants, and both quantitative and qualitative short-term outcome data collected from first-year…

The article illustrates how social change for individuals with disabilities can be made through the legislative process. The author recounts a four-year process that concluded with the passage of legislation for a preschool program for handicapped children supported by an appropriation of one million dollars. (Author/CL)

This resource training manual for family advocacy workers is designed to help these workers meet the needs of families who care for adolescents with emotional disabilities. It is intended for use with a companion manual which focuses on the needs of youth themselves, and stresses that effective case management must integrally involve both youths…

Designed for parents of handicapped children in Kentucky, the booklet contains suggestions for parent involvement and advocacy. Planning informal activities is the focus of the first section which covers informal get togethers, discussion groups, and film viewing sessions. Planning steps for more formal group activities such as workshops are…

This workbook is a guide for the development of self-help/advocacy groups for parents of children and adolescents who have serious emotional problems. The workbook offers background information and then offers guidelines for: (1) creating a beginning plan for the development of a self-help/advocacy group; (2) developing concrete plans for…

Opinions of professionals from 16 agencies were obtained to identify techniques that agencies serving adults or adolescents with mental retardation could utilize to provide systematic sex education and counseling. Recommendations are offered in five areas: self-advocacy and self-determination, individual design, staff training and support,…

In October 1994 the President signed into law the "Improving America's Schools Act." Title I, the largest primary and secondary federal education program was reauthorized by this legislation, which, among other things rewrote the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The reauthorized law provides parents, advocates, and school…

This report of a conference session dealing with recreation and leisure activities for people with deaf-blindness and other profound multiple disabilities contains three papers and a working group report. The title paper by Lori Goetz reviews "model indicators" for recreation and leisure educational programming with individuals who have severe and…

This report reviews ongoing projects by the Parent Advocacy Center for Educational Rights (PACER), in particular its parent training program and programs for students. The Parents Helping Parents project is described and evaluated, including its efforts concerning public information, workshops for all parents, workshops for special groups,…