Mediation, Resolution or Litigation? Special Education

Special education mediation is a three party process, the families, school district, and a neutral trained mediator. Parents should bring a Special Education lawyer and or a Special Education expert if they feel the DISTRICT is OBSTRUCTING/HOSTILE or HIDING NONCOMPLIANCE ISSUES. The specially trained neutral mediator helps to resolve issues of educational access and IDEA compliance. They may find the school in compliance with some level of noncompliance, they may require the school to modify educational programs or offer corrective and compensatory educational services. A dispute between a parent and school district is not in the interest of the child. Some Special Education personnel may be overwhelmed by their caseloads and they are unable to meet the Goals and objectives of a child's special education program. This does not mean school districts can opt-out and not provide full services.

QUESTION YOU MIGHT ASK BEFORE GOING to MEDIATION or your first IEP meeting? 

• Is my child making measurable academic progress? Is my child regressing or stagnating academically? What are the progress monitoring instruments being used to measure, evaluate, and modify the special education programs when progress is not made or goals and objectives not being met? Are they Science-based, Research-based, Evidence-based, and or CBM BEST PRACTICES? What documentation do you have and or use, is the documentation in full compliance with state or federal IDEA requirements. 
• What evaluation tools, diagnostic inventories, and baseline assessments are you using to evaluate my child for the initial IEP and or ongoing progress monitoring? What documentation do you have and or use, is the documentation in full compliance with state and federal IDEA requirements. 
• What documentation do you use to evaluate the effectiveness of your special education programs and the effectiveness of your goals and objectives? 
• Are you using overarching goals with no short-term objectives?
• Do your IEP goals and objectives match the student's current academic levels? What documentation do you have and or use, is the documentation in full compliance with state and federal IDEA requirements. 
• What ongoing documentation do you use and have that shows what occurs when a student is not making progress on short-term objectives or long-term goals?
• How competent are the progress monitoring tools? What determines what progress monitoring tools are used and how often. What is the frequency of their use, weekly, monthly, annually or semi-annual? What do you measure (evaluative /diagnostic)? What is your interpretation of a comprehensive baseline of current academic skills and or competency levels? What documentation do you have and or use, is the documentation in full compliance with state or federal IDEA requirements. 
• Are the goals and objectives clearly/explicitly based on current comprehensive academic baseline data? What documentation do you have and or use, is the documentation in full compliance with state and federal IDEA requirements. 
• Is progress monitoring being effectively used with my child, is it researched and a scientifically based best practice? What documentation do you have and or use, is the documentation in full compliance with state and federal IDEA requirements. 
• Is the data collected from progress monitoring and the comprehensive academic baselines being used to write new long-term goals and short-term objectives? What documentation do you have and or use, is the documentation in full compliance with state or federal IDEA requirements. 
• Do you write SMART goals and objectives for each academic subdomain (reading: decoding, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension)  and or area of weakness for each academic area on the IEP? What documentation do you have and or use, is the documentation in full compliance with state and federal IDEA requirements. 
• What kinds of data do you use to chart progress monitoring? 
• How often do you collect data from progress monitoring and share that data with teachers and parents? 
• What procedures do you have in place when a student is not meeting short-term objectives? 
• How often is progress monitoring data being presented to me my child, and the teacher?

[PDF]Parents' Guide to Special Education Dispute Resolution - Virginia ...The special education process and identifying options to resolve concerns. The parent ..... This manual will explain and describe mediation, complaints, and due ...About 2,190,000 results (0.46 seconds) 

[PDF] Mediation of Special Education Disputes in Pennsylvania - Penn LawPennsylvania's Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR) operates the mediation ..... Zhou's holding that ODR's “Special Education Dispute Resolution Manual” ...

[PDF]Special Education Dispute Resolution Handbook - Center on ...These three programs are: (1) special education mediation; (2) special education complaint ... and working through TEA's special education dispute resolution system. ...... 

[PDF]Special Education Mediation Q & A - p-12 : nysedSpecial education mediation is a voluntary process in which parents of students with disabilities and school ... If the parents and the school district resolve a dispute through the mediation process, they must .... SafeguardsNotice.pdf. How Can ...

[PDF]Comparison of Major Dispute Resolution Options in IDEA PDF ...the special education law.3. Mediation may also address disputes and conflicts related to communication about these issues. Complaint Resolution is an ...

[PDF]Dispute Resolution - NASDSENational Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) ..... primary components of a state's dispute resolution system—complaints, mediation,.

[PDF]Dispute Resolution in Special Education - American Bar Associationto state-sponsored mediation to resolve the matter, but Elena is reluctant to do ... in a special education dispute considers her options, including ones she sees ...

[PDF]IDEA Special Education Mediation - Eric - US Department of Education(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) dispute resolution options. Parent guides in this series include: IDEA Special Education Mediation. IDEA Special ...

[PDF]
Preparing for Special Education Mediation and Resolution Sessions:What is special education mediation? Special education mediation is a process in which a mediatorhelps to resolve a dispute between a parent and school ...


(PDF) Alternative Dispute ResolutionA New Agenda for Special ...structures for practicing appropriate dispute resolution in special education. ... special education; law/legal issues; mediation/information dispute resolution.

[PDF]The IDEA and the Use of Mediation and Collaborative Dispute ...Due process complaints under the IDEA and mediation as a solution to due .... igation/materials/2012_aba_annual/6_1.authcheckdam.pdf; Individuals with .... The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) re-.

[PDF]Alternative Dispute Resolution - CiteSeerXprocess, formal complaints, and mediation, are all discussed as they relate to this growing ... structures for practicing appropriate dispute resolution in special education. ...... http://www.aupeace.org/files/Fisher_ThirdPartyConsultation.pdf.

[PDF]Mediation - Office for Dispute ResolutionWhen they agree to discuss their concerns, the Office for Dispute. Resolution (ODR) assigns a mediatortrained in special education law and conflict-resolution.

[PDF]Alternative Dispute Resolution in Special Education - Laura A. Athens ...resolution as a preferred means of resolving special educa- tion disputes. The Act, which .... Education also provide for mediation of special education disputes.

[PDF]Quick Guide to Special Education Dispute Resolution Processes for ...IEP. Facilitation. Not required by the IDEA; availability varies by state. Mediation. Resolution. Meeting. Written State Complaint. Due Process. Complaint/.

[PDF]Considering Mediation for Special Education Disputes: A School ... states where mediation was available, “parents and schools have resolved their ... child with disabilities in resolving their dispute in an informal setting. The mediator ... districts may decline tomediate special education disputes. Some of the ...