Mediation in Okinawa?: The Challenges of Providing a Spectrum of Special Education Conflict Management Services in a Worldwide School System

The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) runs 194 schools worldwide for eligible dependents of active duty and DoD civilians who reside on military installations and is subject to the special education requirements of IDEA. The military and it's families have a unique culture which has strong affects on the K-12 education of military dependents. Students and their families experience high mobility, potential enrollment in both the DoDEA and various public school systems, and the deployment of parents to war zones. The educational programs of special education students need to be regularly negotiated with new sets of players and often with one parent unable to participate or attempting to participate remotely while deployed. DoDEA, as an organization, also faces the challenges of providing special education services on a worldwide basis and the greater challenges of providing a spectrum of special education conflict management services for conflicts that might arise in North Carolina, Bahrain, . . . or Okinawa. Until 2010, when CEDR (DoDEA’s Center for Early Dispute Resolution) began providing services, DoDEA was only prepared to provide statutorily-required options; any other conflict management efforts were left to the individual initiatives of those in the field. Since then, CEDR has worked with CADRE and D.C.-based SchoolTalk to develop a two-day training, Communication and Conflict Management in Special Education. The training is intended to present new knowledge and skills related to special education conflict and conflict management to build internal capacity to address special education conflict constructively. It was designed to fit the needs and culture of DoDEA personnel and, over time was adjusted based on feedback from participants in four locations. CEDR has also offered IEP facilitation services for the first time at schools in the continental United States, while creative informal approaches in the field (for example, the use of an assessor as an “honest broker” who can assist CSC teams to function better) help resolve conflict and prevent its escalation in more remote locations. Participants in this session will learn about the specific needs of military families with children with individual education plans, DoDEA culture as it appears in the field, and particularly how its challenges affect special ed conflict and its management. The spectrum of dispute resolution options that CEDR and CADRE are developing to meet these challenges will be reviewed and the informal conflict resolution mechanisms that have been developed in the Pacific will be discussed. These are particularly relevant because of the challenges in providing third parties to distant locations. Participants will also lend their expertise and ideas for creative ways in which to address DoDEA’s geographical challenges.