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CADRE OFFERS IDEA-BASED MEDIATION GUIDANCE

June 17, 1999

With the arrival of new federal guidelines for implementing the 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act comes a whole new set of questions for educators and support professionals to answer. Among them is how to make mediation more effective. The Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education argues part of the solution is avoiding the need for such a drastic measure in the first place. In a new report published this month, CADRE tries to help parents, teachers and administrators forge more cooperative relationships.

In "Team Based Conflict Resolution In Special Education," CADRE suggests getting everyone involved before a child's educational experience becomes controversial may avoid the need for the federally mandated one-on-one hearing. Under the IDEA '97 requirements, a due process hearing with a single mediator is legally required to resolve a dispute. CADRE says it is not trying to skirt this rule but rather reduce the need for it.

CADRE, a project of Direction Service, in Eugene, Ore., provides technical assistance and serves as an information clearinghouse on dispute resolution in special education. The new report, written by Anita Engiles, Marshall Peter, Susan Baxter Quash-Mah and Bonnie Todis, was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. It is available at the CADRE Web site: www.directionservice.org/cadre/articles/team2.htm

Working for the Student

According to CADRE, the team approach applies the same concept on which IDEA '97 is built: "Parents and schools, when working cooperatively together, are uniquely suited to make the best decisions regarding appropriate educational programs for students." The goal is to create the best Individualized Education Program for the student.

"Building and nurturing the partnerships necessary for good IEPs is at the heart of making IDEA work," CADRE argues. "When parents and providers of educational services see themselves as partners, they cooperate in the design of the student's IEP."

In the report, CADRE encourages the development of local, community-based mediation teams that follow a preordained process for resolving disagreements. The principles of CADRE's suggested conciliation approach work toward not just resolving the dispute at hand but making further communication easier, CADRE says. The approach focuses on empowerment, collaboration, respect, acceptance and confidentiality. This approach, in addition to the IDEA-mandated one-on-one meeting, "may be of particular value when those disagreements include issues of culture, gender or class bias," CADRE says.

CADRE suggests the team approach, where all parties firmly believe they are on the same side rather than adversaries, could be an effective preliminary step to mediation. The one-on-one meeting could then be the second option if cooperation does not work, CADRE says. "In cases where parents and schools are unable to agree about what is best for a particular student, IDEA provides each party with the right to a due process hearing to resolve their disagreements, the group notes.

Mediation Drawbacks

According to CADRE, the due process hearings prescribed by IDEA have several disadvantages. On the practical side, such hearings are costly and time consuming, making people on all sides of the issue less than eager to submit to that approach. In addition, CADRE argues due process hearings focus more on the facts and less on the emotional aspects of the dispute. "Conflicts between parents and teachers are highly emotional; the problem has usually been growing and doing damage for some time before someone requests a hearing," the group notes.

Finally, the due process hearings make adversaries of people who should be working together, CADRE argues. Once a hearing is requested, communication can become more difficult as each participant begins to view the other as the opposition. "The guarded, defensive, and sometimes aggressive interactions among parents, teachers, and school administrators during the preparation and hearing often damage relationships and create enemies whose ability to work collaboratively following the hearing is severely compromised," according to CADRE.8