Strengthening Partnerships to Enhance Family Engagement in the SPP/APR
Overview: The US Department of Education funds 4 Regional Parent Technical Assistance Centers (RPTACs) to provide targeted and intensive technical assistance to the network of 90+ OSEP-funded Parent Centers (Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers). Navigating Excellence – Parent Center Assistance and Collaboration Team (NE-PACT) is housed at the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN). NE-PACT serves as the Region A Parent TA Center, providing TA to the 26 Parent Centers in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states and the territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The Maine Parent Federation, the PTI serving families of children and youth with disabilities in Maine, is one of the 26 Parent Centers in Region A.
The Issue: Federal guidance regarding the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) requires meaningful engagement with and input of families and of Parent Centers. The Maine Parent Federation (MPF) had a relationship with their Department of Education around the SPP/APR and provided their own input based on the data they collected from families they had assisted. They also had a role in the SPP/APR process through their membership on both the State Interagency Coordinating Council and the Special Education State Advisory Panel. But MPF was concerned that families themselves were not informed about the SPP/APR process or provided with meaningful opportunities to share their ideas and recommendations.
Technical Assistance: NE-PACT/Region A PTAC’s impact is far-reaching, supporting systems improvements in many states as well as improvements in reaching and serving the full range of diverse families. The NE-PACT team provided guidance to MPF on reaching out to their Department of Education about the importance of obtaining parent voice in target setting for the SPP/APR. NE-PACT also provided ideas on how MPF could help to not only increase outreach to parents but also to solicit ideas and recommendations from families directly impacted by special education.
How MPF Used the TA: Using that information, MPF contacted the Maine Department of Education and was able to secure funding to educate parents about the SPP/APR process and the opportunity to help shape the SPP/APR targets. Acknowledging that indicators, targets, and baselines can be confusing and overwhelming terms for most parents, MPF worked with the ME DOE to create family friendly videos with embedded surveys. The first video provides a general overview of the entire SPP/APR process with additional videos for the specific indicators. All videos were created with family friendly language, images, and surveys. In addition, MPF hosted webinars with the ME DOE to reach out to families about the videos and surveys.
Impact: For the first time since the SPP/APR process was instituted, the ME DOE received informed input directly from families whose children are current recipients of special education services and not just from parents who were staff of MPF or the State Advisory Panel members. The collaboration between the Parent Center and the State Lead Agency also led to a better understanding of each other’s work, as well as a greater appreciation on the part of the State Lead Agency about how working with the Parent Center can be mutually beneficial and contribute to increased positive outcomes for students with disabilities and their families.
One parent participant reported, “The videos were very helpful in supporting me with this new experience of providing feedback to the Maine Department of Education.”
In addition, the ME early intervention program took notice of the videos which were created and have expressed an interest to explore the same process for the next round of SPP/APR target setting for the Birth-5 Program.
Links to Resources: https://www.maine.gov/doe/learning/specialed/stakeholder
*******************************************************************************
Navigating Excellence: Parent Center Assistance and Collaboration Team (NE-PACT)/Region A Parent TA Center is a project of the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, www.spanadvocacy.org funded through a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs No. H328R23004. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Department of Education. No official endorsement by the US Department of Education of any product, commodity, service or enterprise mentioned in this document is intended or should be inferred. Find out more at www.parentcenterhub.org/region-a/. Contact Diana Autin at diana.autin@spanadvocacy.org.
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
570 Broad Street, Suite 702
Newark, NJ 07102
973-642-8100