Perspective: Community Partnerships Lead to Success
By Anne Ladd
Students with disabilities face unique challenges to achieving positive post-school outcomes. Research shows that there is a direct correlation between families engaged in their child's education and higher achievement.
And while, understanding that family engagement is critical for achieving better outcomes, there are additional barriers for families of students with disabilities. In an attempt to overcome those barriers, the Georgia Department of Education's (GADOE) Division for Special Education Services and Supports developed a family engagement initiative, Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership, to target those particular needs. The group was founded in 2002 when five school districts partnered with the division and hired parent mentors to infuse family engagement into school and district activities.
The mission of Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership became to build effective family, school and community partnerships that lead to greater achievement for students, especially those with disabilities. What makes the parent mentor position unique is that being a parent is actually a job requirement. More specifically, the men and women who work as parent mentors have a child who presently receives, or in the past has received, special education services through an Individual Education Program (IEP).
Parent mentors are parents of children with disabilities who choose to share their experience as parents, acquired knowledge, strategies and listening skills with other parents of children with disabilities to lead to better student outcomes. In addition to the day-to-day support and training for families, each parent mentor and their district special education director develop an annual plan to guide family engagement activities during the year.
Activities like training parents how to meet with the schools and teachers, host transition fairs, and providing resources to empower parents to become leaders in the community help make the mentoring program a success.
These plans are based on the Georgia DOE's Strategic Plan goals and indicators from the Georgia State Performance Plan (SPP), which is submitted to the United States Office of Special Education Programs each year. The mentors select an indicator which addresses a need in their district. Once the parent mentors develop their goals, they work to develop initiatives to meet the goals and improve outcomes for students with disabilities.
Currently, 65% of the parent mentor plans focus on the indicators relating to graduation and career readiness (reducing dropout rate and increasing graduation rate) and improving outcomes in transitioning from school to adult life. This past year, parent mentors have been involved in supporting student-led IEPs to increase self-determination skills of students; facilitating futures planning including person centered planning and MAPs, helping students and families identify the steps to reaching their goals; developing Circles of Adults Focusing on Education (C.A.F.E.) to bring communities, parents and school together to discussed shared concerns; and, leading Transition Learning Groups, an opportunity for families to identify their role in supporting their child's transition from school to adult life.
Today, the partnership boasts nearly 100 mentors working in 90 school districts in Georgia who have found great success in bringing families, communities and schools together to build effective partnerships leading to better outcomes and ultimately prepare Georgia students for a full life after school.
For more information about the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership and the work being done by parent mentors around the State please visit www.parentmentors.org.
Tags: GCDD, Making a Difference, Perspectives