The Political Will to Improve Early Childhood Systems
Advocates for Special Education are using effective strategies to collaborate with school districts, families, and educators to make the most informed decisions in regards to students needs. The advocates make voices for parents and explore various avenues of concerns that may be present. They look for opportunities that may be missed or are not funded by the school district, and ensure that the parents are afforded that greatest opportunities for their child. There are not any credentials that are to be verified in order to be an advocate, so it is important that the parents do their research and background investigation to ensure they can meet their needs. The collaborative efforts with the school can make a huge impact on the successes of the student.
Parents feel a sense of security when the advocate is familiar with the school district that their child attends, and that they are informed about how the school district operates. The comfort that parents feel from having an advocate that can make informed decisions for their student makes parents at ease. Advocates do typically charge fees, but there are ways to assist with the cost.
The part of this work that appeals to me the most is the research and knowledge that goes into collaborating within the field. The work that gets put into the meetings that make the best decisions for the children. Also, comforting skills for the parents and making them understand the decisions that are made for the child.
Hi Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteIt is great to have individuals in the field that will collaborate and work with children and families to ensure that the best decision is put forth for each individual child. In Head Start we work diligently with disabilities specialist and with the local school district. We come together to create IEP’s (Individual Education Plans) for children who are in need of them, and we schedule IEP meetings with the child’s parents, teachers, specialist, and school district to collaborate and ensure that children are getting the best services. At times though, it does not always go as perfect as we would like in the Head Start programs, as I sometimes feel that the teachers don’t have enough training strategies to deal with certain behaviors that are presented in the classroom. However, this is an issue that is continuously being studied in order to get the overall best results.
Hello Jasmine Market
ReplyDeleteI agree that parents do feel a sense of security when the advocate is familiar with the school district that their child attends, and that they are informed about how the school district operates. It is very important that there are individuals in the field who can collaborate and work with children and families to ensure that the best decision is being made for each individual child. It is important that parents always feel comfortable with the inform decisions which are made by the advocate. Research and knowledge are things that changes every day in the Early Childhood Education.
Hello Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post. It was very detailed in information regarding special education.