Alternative Dispute Resolution

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The Alternative Dispute Resolution Project at CDE

In 2013, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) recognized, from parent and educator feedback, the need for more options to prevent IEP’s from moving into contentious and costly dispute processes AND result in better outcomes for students. The Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Board was formed to look at best practices across the United States in alternative dispute resolution and decide where Colorado should start. As a result of the Advisory Board work, it was decided that Special Education Facilitation was a highly promising practice that could work well in Colorado’s local control model. Use the buttons below to learn more about the project.

Facilitation Request Link

Tele-Facilitation

ADR
Advisory Board

Information & FAQ on
Facilitation

Trainings
in Facilitation Skills

Special Education Conflict Engagement Office Hours

Special Education Directors/Administrators are invited to attend these office hours. We will discuss trends in the special education conflicts occurring within IEP Teams and strategies that can be used to work through them.

Each session will focus on a different topic and follow the format below:

5 minutes reviewing recent trends in parent phone calls and facilitation requests.
25 minute presentation on the session topic, including answering questions submitted in advance.
15 minutes answering questions raised during the 1st half of the session.
15 minutes moderated open discussion with attendees.

Directors will need to register in advance for each session. A list of topics is available by clicking on the registration link below. There is an opportunity to submit questions pertaining to each topic.

Dates & Times:

September 19th from 1:00 to 2:00 pm via Zoom - How to Help Identify and Correct Miscommunications When They Occur.
November 21st from 1:00 to 2:00 pm via Zoom - The Power of Perspective Taking
January 16th from 1:00 to 2:00 pm via Zoom - Encouraging Your Teams to Lean into Difficult Conversations.
March 20th from 1:00 to 2:00 pm via Zoom - How to Help Schools Debrief Challenging Meetings
May 15th from 1:00 to 2:00 pm via Zoom - TBD based on trends

Registration

Registration will close two weeks prior to each date.

Contact Katherine Rains, rains_k@cde.state.co.us, with any questions.

Additional Resources

The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Education (CADRE) is a national center that has many resources for "Encouraging the use of mediation and other collaborative strategies to resolve disagreements about special education and early intervention programs."
Working Together is a collection of CADRE video resources on Listening, Positions & Interests, and a Tale of Two Conversations that are designed to support effective communication and collaboration between parents, schools, and early childhood programs.
Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators/Facilitators
PEAK Parent Center

Our Partners Who Help Us Help You:

Peak Parent Center [Exiting CDE]

Show & Tell [formerly Thrive Center] [Exiting CDE]

Disability Law Colorado [Exiting CDE]

Contact

Katherine Rains, J.D.
Dispute Prevention and Assisted Resolution Supervisor
Exceptional Student Services Unit
201 E Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80203
Phone: 720-990-1464
Email Katherine Rains

Having trouble with this webpage?

If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact the Exceptional Student Services Unit at ESSU@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.