A RTICLE C RITIQUE D IMENSIONS OF F AMILY AND P ROFESSIONAL P ARTNERSHIPS : C ONSTRUCTIVE G UIDELINES FOR C OLLABORATION Karen Stewart University of South Florida EEX 5752

P URPOSE According to Blue-Banning, Sunners, Frankland, Nelson & Beegle (2004), the purpose of the research conducted in their article, “was to increase understanding of the indicators of professional behaviors associated with collaborative partnerships from the perspectives of parents and professionals” (p.180). What are the expectations for professionals? Family perspective Professional perspective

M ETHOD -P ARTICIPANTS Family member participants-137 Parents were biological, adopted/foster, other family members Ethnic diversity included African American, Latino, White, small percentage of others Varied age ranges Even income distribution Children with varying levels of disability More female than male Professional participants-53 Majority female Administrators and direct service providers

M ETHODS -I NTERVIEW P ROTOCOL Two rounds Round One-focus groups Round Two-individual interviews with questions from Round One transcripts Individual interviews were held in a place participants were most comfortable. $20 gift certificates for family-member participants

R ESEARCH AND D ATA COLLECTION Developed open-ended questions that were used in focus groups and individual interviews. Round 1-participants were asked the questions and had the opportunity to answer and elaborate. Round 2-participants were given the responses from Round One and asked to comment on the answers already given and to make any additional points in relation to the question. Sessions lasted two hours and were documented with recordings and notes.

D ATA ANALYSIS : C ODING Individual respondent comments were not coded with demographic indicators since it was not relevant to the purpose of the research. All focus groups and individual interviews were transcribed verbatim and any errors were corrected. A ‘codebook’ was made to organize the themes discussed. Transcripts were imported into Ethnograph, a qualitative analysis software program designed to organize and retrieve data. The codebook was revised as needed. Agreement/disagreement of accuracy was checked. Larger categories were given sub-codes. Resulted in 39 categories/indicators organized into 6 broad themes

D ATA ANALYSIS : VERIFICATION P ROCESS Verification Multiple data sources Multiple researchers and analysts Verbatim transcripts Coding checks Member checks at the end of each focus group-allowed participants to evaluate the research team’s analysis Each participant was sent a summary of the report, along with a response form and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Participants were asked if the summary was accurate and if anything was left out. Responses did not indicate significant revisions. Follow up calls were made if the form was not returned.

R ESULTS Six themes to foster successful collaboration between families and professionals: Communication Commitment Equality Skills Trust Respect Each theme contained subcategories, or indicators, to serve as a guideline to what each theme should represent and look like. Each theme was described through quality and quantity measures.

R ESULTS -E XAMPLE OF A T HEME Theme-Communication Quality measure- Communication should be positive and respectful Quantity measure- Communication should be to the level needed to be effective and efficient Subcategories of Communication Being open Being honest Being clear Sharing resources

S TRENGTHS Multiple perspectives from families and professionals Only open-ended questions were used This allowed for elaboration and explanation as participants found necessary Diverse participants All information was thoroughly recorded and a summary report was sent to all of the participants to ensure their perspectives were accurately portrayed

U NANSWERED Q UESTIONS Were there any similarities between specific subgroups regarding answers and input? Race and culture Age groups Gender Family versus professional opinions Socioeconomic status

A UTHOR D ISCLAIMER “We hoped to create a profile of partnership components that identified common themes across a wide range of cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic points of view. Therefore, although we had no intent to compare points of view, we tried to ensure that diverse voices could be heard among our participants” (Blue-Banning et al., 2004, p. 170).

F UTURE R ESEARCH Comparative list regarding the differences in opinions for what constitutes an effective collaborative effort. What can be done to bridge the gap for any discrepancies or misconceptions?

A RTICLE R EFERNCE Blue-Banning, M., Sunners, J., Frankland, H., Nelson, L., & Beegle, G. (2004). Dimensions of family and professional partnerships: Constructive guidelines for collaboration. Exceptional Children. 70(2),