Main Library
This library contains CADRE resources as well as State, Lead Agency and Parent Center resources. Please note that CADRE makes no endorsement of the State, Lead Agency and Parent Center resources included here, nor of any policies, procedures, processes, or documents specific to any item.
TX - New Complaints Process Dispute Resolution Webinar 1
Understanding Positions and Interests
UPC Video - Parents Teaching Self-Advocacy Skills: Helping Your Child Toward Self-Determination
Video of Parents Teaching Self-Advocacy Skills: Helping Your Child Toward Self-Determination Do you want to help your child with a disability live an included and productive life? Your son or daughter needs self-determination skills such as making choices, setting goals, and self-advocacy. The Self-Determination video will provide you with a foundation of how to teach these skills to your son or daughter.
VA - Managing the Timeline in Due Process Hearings
VA - Procedures for Evaluation of Hearing Officer
VFN - Communication and Collaboration within the IEP Process
VFN - Understanding Parents' Rights in Early Intervention Part C
Art Stewart has trained mediators in 22 states, Kenya and Canada. He has testified before Congress on the use of mediation for special education issues. He wrote: “When Parents and Educators Do Not Agree: Using Mediation to Resolve Conflicts About Special Education 1995,” “Preparing for Mediation and Resolution Sessions 2009,” and contributed a chapter on “Building Trust and Resolving Conflict in Special Education” to The Handbook for Administration and Leadership in Special Education 2012. He coordinated the special education mediation program in Massachusetts for fifteen years and is...
Cindy Swain coordinates special education complaint investigations for the Texas Education Agency. She currently manages the state's IEP facilitation initiative in Texas and serves on the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities and the State Task Force for Children with Special Needs. As a member of CADRE's Intensive Facilitated IEP Project, Cindy is especially interested in improving school outcomes for students with disabilities through facilitated IEP team meetings. She served as a classroom teacher, administrator, and college professor for 25 years before coming to the Texas...
Colorado Department of Education and PEAK This Voices from the Field interview series features select OSEP federally-funded parent centers and state education agencies who have well-established and high-functioning collaborative relationships. In October of 2021, CADRE staff interviewed leaders from the Colorado Department of Education (Mary Ann Fleury, Ph.D.) and PEAK (Michele Williers and Ann Wilson) to learn more about what makes their partnership so effective. This hour-long interview provides viewers with tips and takeaways that may help others improve their own relationships and...
Dee Ann Wilson was a consultant with the Iowa Department of Education until her retirement in June 2010. Most of the 29 years while employed with the SEA involved administering policies and procedures concerning state complaints, preappeal conferences (mediations without requesting a hearing), mediations, and due process complaints. Dee Ann received the 2009 JoLeta Reynolds Service to Special Education Award at a national institute for her efforts to promote alternate dispute resolution. The interviews below were conducted in 2010 as part of CADRE's Exemplar Initiative. Clip 1: What is the...
Diana Autin is the Executive Co-Director of the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN), NJ’s Parent Training and Information Center. She also co-directs NE-PACT, the Region 1 Parent Technical Assistance Center, providing technical assistance and capacity-building to the federally-funded parent training and information centers and community parent resource centers in the Northeast United States. Clip 1: As you think about stakeholder involvement in decision making, are there particular benefits that you believe come as a result and any advice about how you can most effectively engage diverse...
Doug McDougall has been active in alternative dispute resolution activities for over 20 years. He has worked as a community mediator, provided dispute avoidance services through a Covenant of Right Relations with faith based communities as well as ADR systems and implementation design with the California Department of Education. Doug is committed to providing options for individuals and organizations to access ADR processes early and often. Video of Voices from the Field: Doug McDougall
Fran Fletcher is an Assistant Policy Scientist in the Conflict Resolution Program of the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration. She manages Delaware's Special Education Mediation program and assists in the design and delivery of training and provides consultative services for parents and school districts on the topic of special education. Clip 1: You've done a lot of really wonderful work in the area of IEP and IFSP facilitation. Are there strategies that you believe work particularly well in those meetings? Clip 2: As you think about a new special ed teacher who is...
Greg Abell is the Principal at Sound Options Group, LLC, which is responsible for the delivery of all special education mediation services for the State of Washington. He also consults nationally in the design and delivery of ADR systems. Prior to entering the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Greg spent fifteen years in public education, eleven of those years working in special education. Clip 1: Are there lessons that you've learned over the years? Video of CADRE Voices from the Field: Greg Abell (1/4) Clip 2: You've been doing a lot of work around leadership and leadership coaching...
Jeanne Bowman works part time with Carlo Rossi as an Independent Child Advocate for Social Advocates for Youth in contract with the Sonoma County Special Education Local Plan Area. Formerly, she worked at the IDEA-funded Region 6 Parent Technical Assistance Center for the Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent Resource Centers in the western states and Pacific entities. In her more than a decade with Matrix Parent Network and Resource Center, Jeanne was a parent advisor, trainer, Early Start program manager, support group leader, and IEP clinic facilitator. As a member...
Jim Gerl is a special education law consultant, is licensed to practice law in West Virginia, Illinois and the District of Columbia, and is the author of the award winning Special Education Law Blog. He has spoken on special education law topics at numerous state, regional and national conferences, and is a regular faculty member for the conferences of the National Association of Hearing Officials. Jim has trained hearing officers from all states, and works with a number of state departments of education. Clip 1: You've had extensive experience with due process hearings as a hearings officer...
J o Anne Blades has been Program Manager for the Special Education Resolution Center since its inception in 2005. SERC was created by contract between the Oklahoma State Department of Education and Oklahoma State University to manage the programs for due process and mediation in special education for the state of Oklahoma. With 17 years of experience in teaching children, she began practicing law in primarily educational matters and served as a Special Consultant to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth regarding special education and Section 504 issues. The interviews below were...
Jody Manning has been with PACER Center for 8 years where she currently serves as the Parent Training and Information Center Coordinator. She presents workshops to parents and professionals on a variety of topics, coordinates a number of projects including dropout prevention, and works individually with parents of children with special needs to help them understand how to advocate on behalf of their children. Jody studied Nursing a nd psychology and worked in the fields of nursing and social services prior to her work as an Advocate . She is the proud parent of her son with special needs who...