Parent Coordination Leadership
By Pam Humphrey
February 10, 2009
Parent Coordination Leadership
Statewide leadership in addressing identified areas of need in special education services is provided through eleven functions and five projects directed by various ESCs. Their primary responsibility is to provide leadership, training, technical assistance, and the dissemination of information throughout the state. The ESCs coordinating these statewide leadership functions and projects are responsible for the implementation of many of the state’s continuous improvement activities.
Though both functions and projects provide statewide leadership, ESC function leads establish and coordinate a 20-region network. This ensures ongoing communication among ESCs about state-level needs assessment processes and planning, as well as implementing and evaluating statewide activities. Project leadership is focused on a specific activity.
The Parent Coordination Network (PCN) is committed to ensuring parents of students with disabilities receive accurate and timely information to assist them in making informed choices in their child’s education. Network members have identified the following priorities: joint training opportunities for parents, collaboration with other parent training organizations, and technical assistance to parents and school district personnel in the area of special education.
Parent Coordination Network Members
State Performance Plan Indicator 8
Region 9 ESC coordinates the statewide Texas Survey of Parents of Students Receiving Special Education Services as part of the State Performance Plan Indicator 8 Parent Participation. Indicator 8 asks each state to report “the percent of parents with a child receiving special education services that report school facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities”. In collaboration with the Lead, the Parent Coordination Network members provide technical assistance to school districts that receive the surveys.
The results of the surveys are listed below with the survey questions. The survey results are also included in the state Annual Performance Report which is located at: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/spp/.
Texas Project FIRST (Families, Information, Resources, Support, Trainings)
As a collaborative effort the Texas Education Agency, Region 9 ESC and Family to Family Network established the Texas Project FIRST website, www.texasprojectfirst.org. The purpose of the website is to provide families with current and accurate information in a parent friendly format. Texas Project FIRST is an activity of the Texas Continuous Improvement Process (TCIP) and is focused on helping to fulfill the goals of TEA and the Parent Training Committee.
Texas Continuous Improvement Process - Public Meetings
Each year, the Texas Education Agency and Education Service Centers conduct public meetings. The public meetings provide the State with a different perspective on the special education system. So while the self assessment provides a quantitative, data oriented view of the provision of special education in Texas, the public meetings provide a qualitative view, based on people’s input across the state. The information gathered during the public meetings is used for continuous improvement at the regional and state level. Members of the Parent Coordination Network assist with their regional public meetings.
The summary of the 2007-08 Public Meetings is posted at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/tcip/0708StateSummary.pdf.
The schedule for the 2008-2009 Public Meetings is found at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/tcip/index.html .
Resources
Surrogate Parent Brochures (English / Spanish)
Texas Resources
Parent Training Information Centers
Partners Resources Network – http://www.partnerstx.org.
Organizations
Advocacy Inc. http://www.advocacyinc.org/index.cfm
Family to Family Network
http://www.familytofamilynetwork.org
Learning Disabilities
Association of Texas http://www.ldat.org
Texas Parent to Parent http://www.txp2p.org
Texas Council for Developmental
Disabilities http://www.txddc.state.tx.us
The ARC of Texas http://www.thearcoftexas.org
State Agencies
Texas Education Agency http://www.tea.state.tx.us
- Division of IDEA Coordination – Special Education http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed
- Education Service Centers Statewide Leadership Functions & Projects http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/decfunc/
- Curriculum Division http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index.aspx?id=3427&menu_id=720&menu_id2=785
- Student Assessment Division http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index3.aspx?id=3534&menu_id3=793
Texas Department of Aging and Disabilities
Services http://www.dads.state.tx.us
Texas Department of State Health
Services http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/
Texas Department of Assistive
and Rehabilitative Services http://www.dars.state.tx.us
National Resources
U.S Department of Education
- Beach Center on Families and Disability http://www.beachcenter.org
- Building the Legacy: IDEA 2004 http://idea.ed.gov/
- National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) http://www.nichcy.org
- National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/nidrr/index.html
- No Child Left Behind : A Parent Guide http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/involve/nclbguide/parentsguide.html
- Office of Special Education Programs http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/index.html
Pam
Humphrey, Educational
Specialist
Pat
Ortega, Program
Support
