COACH training site, University of Vermont Affiliated Programs - Choosing Outcomes and Accommodations for Children, a step-by-step IEP process starting with parents' vision for their child.

The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates COPPA) - An independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization of attorneys, advocates and parents established to improve the quality and quantity of legal assistance for parents of children with disabilities.

Home-To-School Communication Systems - great ideas on how to help students who are none verbal share what happened during school and at home.  (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader )

Homework Survey: Completed By Parent To Help Educators Understand - Families play a vital role in educating America's children. What families do is more important to student success than whether they are rich or poor, whether parents have finished high school or not, or whether children are in elementary, junior high, or high school.

How to Disagree with the IEP Team - When the team asks you to sign consent to the IEP, pick up a ball point pen and put the IEP on a hard table top. Write this statement on the IEP: "I consent to this IEP being implemented but I object to it for the reasons stated during the meeting."

How New Teachers Can Work Effectively with Veteran Teachers, Parents, Principals, and Teacher Educators - In it are the reflections of award-winning first-year teachers who talk candidly about their successes and setbacks, with a particular emphasis on the relationships they formed with their colleagues, university professors, and their students' parents.

Planning is The Key To Success - What do you want your child to achieve this year? What are your long-range goals for your child? What do you want your child to be able to do when he or she leaves the public school system? What steps do you need to take to help your child meet these goals?

Seven Steps to Effective Mediation - Settling a case before trial often involves mediation. In its most basic form, mediation is a process in which a neutral third party called a mediator acts to encourage and facilitate the resolution of a dispute between two or more parties. It is a nonadversarial process designed to help the disputing parties reach a mutually acceptable agreement.

View from the Other Side: Too Often School Staff Don't See the Parents as Allies: It Doesn't Have to be that Way - As an attorney advocating on behalf of parents, as a former speech pathologist who worked on special education teams for 20 years, and as a past instructor of a university-level class on "The Exceptional Child and the Family," I have a variety of experiences with special education.