Successful Partnership with Hispanic Families—Border SPICES’ Endeavors Hsuying C Ward, Ph. D. University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley July 21-24, 2019

2019 OSEP Leadership Conference OSEP Disclaimer 2019 OSEP Leadership Conference DISCLAIMER: The contents of this presentation were developed by the presenters for the 2019 OSEP Leadership Conference. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3 and 3474)

Session Description This presentation depicts a capacity-building and project-based intervention model for building and maintaining partnerships with diverse Hispanic families of children with Autism through authentic field experiences—summer camp for children with Autism. Survey data from parents and practitioners suggest this partnership approach builds trusting practitioner-family partnerships.

Project-based Intervention Model Border SPICES Project-based Intervention is a situated teaching method that incorporates student voice and choice with a structure for feedback and reflection, where students gain and apply skills by working on a real-world, long-term field experience project where they complete an in-depth inquiry into a specific topic or question on a significant content.  Our students are practitioners with 0 to 15 years of teaching experiences. 

Transforming Practice Project-based Learning Traditional Approach Student works alone Context is school Assessment by teacher only Student works alone and in teams Context is family and community Assessment by real audience and teacher

Field Experience Timeline Semester 1:  Summer Camp for Unique Learners 2017: Parent Orientation Day (Meeting the families) ---getting to know the Hispanic families of children with Autism.  ---distrust-miscommunication-defensiveness-doubts----------------- Final Day Mingle with Family Semester 2: Parent-Practitioner IEP workshop (Needing a medium) Semester 3: Practitioner-Parent Summer Camp Planning Committee    (5 practitioners and 7 parents (What’s App group chat)

Timeline continued Semester 4: Au.SOME Summer Camp 2018 Practitioners provided daily report to parents. Practitioners created LessonPix Visual schedules for individual campers and shared visual strategies with the parents.  Parents coordinated and implemented music, arts/craft hour, parents organized field trips/community thank you poster.  Parent leader organized a week of summer workshops for parents. Practitioners shared sensory integration strategies and surveyed parent needs for website construction.  Fire Drill- An Incidence at the End of Camp Celebration: The beauty of collaboration 

Timeline continued Semester 5: Facebook parent and practitioner interactions, practitioners led activities at TAG Night, and practitioners volunteered to share their perspectives in We TAG Autism Meetings.  Semester 6 LENA Study: At risk infant/toddler study through environmental noise analysis United Way LENA Celebration ABA Strategy for parents  parent friendly explanation Poster Gallery for parents

Discussion Question #1: What matters in a professional-family partnership? Capacity: ____, ______, ______, _______ Connection: Sufficient opportunities for parent-practitioner contact through field projects, ________, _______ Cognition: Class activities that change practitioners’ beliefs and behaviors Confidence: ____, _____, _____, ______

Discussion Question 2: What are some essential elements to successful professional-family partnership? Field Experience Project Design Predetermined CEC standards-creation of project opportunities-initiate field contact with community partners-ensure practitioner-family frequent communication and collaboration. End of project report and Post Project reflection. Faulty collaboration Advisory Council Input Understanding Community Needs Key instructional strategies Design appropriate field experiences, support with course work/class activities, and embed multiple opportunities for reflections. For example, We TAG Autism Parents in EPSY 6323 guest lectures.

Discussion Question #3: How can Border SPICES learning opportunities be adapted for your grant project? Does the project Meet standards? Engage students? Focus on essential understanding? Encourage higher-level thinking? Teach literacy and reinforce basic skills? Allow all students to succeed? Use clear, precise assessments? Require the sensible use of technology? Address authentic issues?

Border SPICES Family Engagement Endeavors Target Population: Hispanic Families of Children with Autism Summer Camp 2017 survey Summer Camp 2018 survey Summer Camp 2019 survey Research Projects (parent interview-work with child-parent survey) Accessibility Study 2018 Language Sampling 2018 Individualized instruction 2017 ABA Strategy Share 2019 Mentoring of Undergraduates in Family Engagement and Autism Work

How well do you think the camper buddy did in sharing information with you about your child(ren)?

 How well do you think your camper buddy help your child achieve the summer camp goals?

How responsive have we been to your questions or concerns about your child?

I help families know and understand their rights. I help them understand the Procedural Safeguards and [tell them] that they can request meetings if they have a concern even if their child's annual is not due. I let parents know [their child’s] strengths so, they can work with the student to build upon the strengths. In my class I will incorporate activities to build upon students highlighting their funds of knowledge. I bring the students’ background knowledge into the classroom and support families. Yes, this is achieved through constant communication and collaboration.

Most importantly, they become reflective. The family has knowledge to share about their child and are able to take on different aspects of their education; by collaborating with them and teaching them different strategies to use with their child, [we can help them connect] with their child in areas they didn't think about.

I work with the family to identify, access, and use formal and informal resources and supports to achieve family-identified outcomes or goals. I introduced two of my students with vision impairment to the vision specialist, so that they could find more resources to help [the students] get more help. I advocate for my parents and students finding/fighting for the best resources to promote student achievement. I use formal assessments and observations to identify and promote goals. Either I can or give parents guidance to other professionals that can help.

I, with the family, identify each child's strengths, preferences, and interests to engage the child in active learning. I like to use student interest to motivate and engage. I always approach each child based on their strengths and interests in the classroom. While creating IEPs and during ARDS. Yes, this is achieved through constant communication and collaboration. I explain to the parents what I see in the classroom. The parents share their point of view as well.

I gather and use data to inform decisions about individualized instruction. I was able to use the data I collected on my visually impaired student to know his listening skills are very strong. My instructional materials were mostly for auditory learners. I review IEP‚ objectives and goals while using progress monitoring to ensure I implement best practices for the student to meet their goals. Every three and six weeks I gather data in order to inform myself if the approaches I have been using are being successful. I use test results to help plan instruction. Yes, this is achieved through constant communication and collaboration with parents and teachers as well as through observations and assessments within the resource classroom.

I am responsive to the family concerns, priorities, and changing life circumstances. My teacher assistants and I were discrete when a parent told us she had placed a restraining order on the father of her child. We assured her that the child would not be picked up by the father and that the office knew of her sensitive situation. I am very emphatic and understanding family circumstances. I am always in my classroom when my parents called for concerns. I respond and use ClassDojo to keep an open line of communication with parents and respond to their concerns or needs. I follow the parent's preferences and inputs about the education of their children.

The Best Example of Mutual Trust Parents are open with me and I take that into consideration if any behaviors arise or if it affects the child academically or socially.

DEC Recommended Family Engagement Family-centered Practice Leadership advocacy Assessment Parent input Understandable/ useful report Collaboration Teaming Parental rights Accessing resources Building trust Support responsiveness

The Pre and Post Program Comparison Assessment Trust Access Collaboration Parent Right Entering 54% 88% 36% 70% Exiting 93% 100%

What are some possible barriers you can foresee and eliminate?

2019 OSEP Leadership Conference OSEP Disclaimer 2019 OSEP Leadership Conference DISCLAIMER: The contents of this presentation were developed by the presenters for the 2019 OSEP Leadership Conference. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3 and 3474)