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.
This resource guide presents an overview of mediation evaluation with a specific focus on how to make use of participant questionnaires in evaluating mediation programs. A CADRE Publication. This document was published in December 2002 and updated in August 2007.
Video of Using Trauma Sensitive Strategies 6 0 About the Webinar: There is a growing awareness that trauma is pervasive and that the impact of trauma is often deep and life-shaping. Whether or not it is fully recognized, educators work with survivors of trauma, including students, families and colleagues. This session will increase understanding of trauma and its impact into adulthood, as well as how a more trauma-informed approach will enhance work with families. Participants will be introduced to the essential elements of a trauma sensitive school and specific strategies for improving...
Video of Spanish Language Webinar Sobre el seminario web: Los Centros de Padres a lo largo y ancho del país están asistiendo a padres de familia cuyo idioma no es el inglés para que se preparen para las reuniones del IEP de sus hijos. El personal que atiende a estas familias necesita información y recursos que sean lingüística y culturalmente apropiados para explicarles a los padres su papel en el proceso del IEP y guiarlos sobre cómo participar de manera más efectiva. Este webinar en español ha sido especialmente diseñado para el personal bilingüe de centros de apoyo, y padres líderes en su...
About the Webinar: Most agencies are made up of persons who are from dominant culture, mainstream communities. When many agencies and institutions engage other cultures, it can quickly become apparent that they are ill-equipped to effectively and successfully interact, communicate and work with non-dominant, non-mainstream communities. These interactions are complex, subtle and significant. They usually occur in settings and contexts arranged, organized and controlled by the agency or institution. It is a very different engagement when individuals from the agencies and institutions dare to go...
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...
Kacey Gregson is the Director of Dispute Resolution at the Arizona Department of Education, overseeing the state’s mediation, state administrative complaint, and due process systems. Kacey previously worked as an Assistant Attorney General at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, providing legal representation and advice to the Arizona Department of Education and the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. Kacey has also worked as an attorney in private practice, representing school districts on a variety of special education and general education matters. Clip 1: You oversee...
Kerry Voss Smith is the Director of the Pennsylvania Office for Dispute Resolution, which provides the resources for parents and educators to resolve special education disputes. In addition to due process and mediation services, ODR also offers IEP and Resolution Meeting Facilitation; ConsultLine (a parent helpline); and communication and conflict resolution skills training. Kerry was employed by the Department of Education's Office of Chief Counsel for two years prior to ODR, where she spent the majority of her time handling federal special education litigation. The interviews below were...
Dr. Melanie Reese has been the Dispute Resolution Coordinator for the Idaho State Dept. of Education since 2010. Professor emerita from Boise State University (2009), she serves on the BSU Dispute Resolution Graduate Program’s Advisory Council and teaches courses in mediation, negotiation, and facilitation of groups in conflict, and has co-authored two textbooks: Mediation Theory and Practice and Personal Conflict Management . Previously, Melanie was the Faculty Ombudsman for the College of Western Idaho and served on the Executive Board of the Idaho Mediation Association. She has a...
Nina Meierding has been involved in the conflict resolution field for over 30 years and has mediated over 4,000 cases. She has provided training in over 45 states, as well as internationally. Nina has been involved in the field of special education for over four decades, receiving her Masters in Special Education in 1977, teaching in a residential program and a public school resource program, serving as an attorney for parents, as a mediator for the California State Department of Education, as a trainer of special education mediators, and most recently as the mediation partner for the...
Nissan Bar-Lev is the Director of Special Education for Cooperative Educational Service Agency # 7, a consortium of 38 school districts, and is one of 3 partners in the Wisconsin Special Education Mediation System. He serves on the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Special Services, and co-chairs the Special Projects Committee. Nissan is a member of the national Council of Administrators of Special Education Board of Directors, a member of the Wisconsin PBIS Advisory Council, and is also a member of the National IDEA Partnership Creating Agreement team. Clip 1: As...
Patricia McGinnis holds a degree in education from the University of Minnesota and has over twenty years of teaching experience. She has been the Coordinator of the Minnesota Department of Education's Special Education Mediation Service since 2001, assuring access to the federally required mediation process and Minnesota's facilitated IEP meetings. In addition, she is a statewide trainer of leaders in special education on communication, due process and facilitation of IEP meetings and presents to parents, advocates, the Minnesota's State Bar Association, county social workers, professors,...
Patricia Williams is a consultant with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction who works in the area of special education procedural compliance. She is the coordinator for the State IDEA complaint process and is the liaison to the Due Process Hearing System. Patricia is a former WDPI liaison to the WI Special Education Mediation System. She served as one of the CADRE Exemplar Wisconsin Coordinators for development of the Wisconsin Exemplar Profile development. The interviews below were conducted in 2010 as part of CADRE's Exemplar Initiative . Clip 1: What is the one thing you know now...
Arizona Department of Education and Raising Special Kids 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 April of 2021, CADRE staff interviewed leaders from the Arizona Department of Education (Lori Bird) and Raising Special Kids (Chris Tiffany, Kathy Gray-Mangerson) 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...
Tracy Gershwin Mueller is an Associate Professor at the University of Northern Colorado where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the special education licensure program and coordinates the Intervention Specialist MA program. Tracy specializes in interventions for children and youth with challenging behaviors, family-school partnerships, and alternative dispute resolution in special education. Tracy is also a trained mediator. Clip 1: You've done a lot of work around positive parent engagement. Are there strategies, advice that you would offer about how we can create and really...