The Arkansas Department of Education, Special Education Unit (SEU) has received a five-year State Improvement Grant (SIG) from the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs to expand and enhance effective services to students with disabilities across the state. A major initiative within the SIG is to create a network of parents with children receiving special education services in the local schools, such that the parents can receive training to support other parents in the areas of student literacy and positive student behavior. More specifically, the SEU will provide SIG-sponsored training and materials to the parents so that the parents can work with other parents in the respective schools and/or district to implement effective reading/literacy and positive discipline/behavior management approaches and strategies with the children in the individual homes.
This is very consistent with the spirit and outreach intent of Act 603 of 2003. As part of this Act, beginning on October 1, 2004, “every school district shall review and update the district’s parental involvement plan and file a copy of the district’s parental involvement plan with the Department of Education.” The Act also requires a “parent involvement program in each school (that) promote(s) and support(s) responsible parenting.”
As districts and schools prepare to meet the requirements of Act 603 of 2003, the following considerations are strongly encouraged:
1. To identify two (2) to three (3) parents in the district with children with disabilities and/or are receiving special education services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to serve as an integral part of the parent involvement processes and decisions in the district.
2. To provide the parents’ names, addresses, and phone numbers to the Contact Person at the Department of Education, Special Education Unit by October 30, 2004.
3. To include in the district’s budget funds to support the parents’ activities and participation relative to involvement in the SIG’s state-wide network of parents of children with disabilities, such that the parents can be trained in the SIG’s recommended effective reading/literacy and positive discipline/behavior management approaches and strategies.
4. To support the parents as they work to disseminate information provided in SIG training(s) to other parents in the district.
5. To support all of the above explicitly in the district’s Parent Involvement Plan.
Additional information on SIG parent involvement initiatives will be provided at the Statewide Parental Involvement Forum, September 8-9, 2004, at the Doubletree Hotel in Little Rock (see D.M. NO: SI-04-074). For more information, please contact Dr. Howard M. Knoff, Director, State Improvement Grant, at 501-682-4325, Arkansas Department of Education, Special Education Unit, 1401 W. Capitol, Victory Building, Suite 450, Little Rock, AR 72201 or via e-mail at hknoff@arkedu.k12.ar.us.