1. Perfect Together – Aligning and Leveraging State and Parent Centers in Shared Work
Carolyn Hayer - Statewide Parent Advocacy Network
Sharon Coppedge-Long - Oklahoma Parents Center, Inc.
Christa Knight - Oklahoma State Department of Education
Helen Post – Utah Parent Center
Kim Fratto – Utah State Board of Education

2. Oklahoma Partnership SPDG and OPC
Oklahoma State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG)
Oklahoma Parents Center, Inc. (OPC) - Parent Training and Information Center

3. Oklahoma State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) Overview
Goals of the Oklahoma SPDG:
Goal 1: Improve academic and social outcomes for students with disabilities through supporting schools to adopt and implement the Oklahoma Tiered Intervention System of Support (OTISS).
Goal 2: Improve academic and social outcomes for students with disabilities through increasing parent awareness and knowledge of OTISS.

4. Oklahoma Parents Center (OPC) Responsibilities in the OK SPDG
Development
Participates in SPDG Leadership Team Meetings
Collaborates in the planning and development of SPDG parent engagement activities
Implementation
Participates in monthly OTISS Leadership Meetings
Provides parent trainings at OTISS SPDG Support Sites and OPC Regional Institutes
Provides regular feedback/suggestions to SPDG team for improving implementation and parent engagement activities

5. Oklahoma Parents Center (OPC) Responsibilities in the OK SPDG
Evaluation
Provides data from OTISS parent trainings and OPC Regional Institutes to the OK SPDG’s External Evaluator
Collaborates with the SPDG Leadership Team to review data and determine additional needs of parents and schools and necessary changes to implementation activities

6. Understanding Our Culture
We are “tools or resources” that are not only available to schools, families, and children, but also to each other.
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Oklahoma Parents Center
Special Education Resolution Center
Oklahoma Directors of Special Services
Oklahoma Disability Law Center
Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration

7. Slide 8

8. Strategies for Building Positive Relationships
Build trust/respect
Does not happen overnight
Do what you say you’ll do
Promote open communication
Call, text, … Anytime
“Be present” when collaborating
Create a shared vision
Focus on improving student outcomes

9. Strategies for Building Positive Relationships
Be open to other points of view
Learn to give and receive constructive feedback
Keep each other updated
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Avoid pride/turf issues
No hidden agendas

10. Benefits of Our Collaboration
Improved parent engagement activities
Redesigned parent engagement presentation
OPC created parent engagement flyers and training materials to better support the success of the parent engagement activities
Stimulates “fresh” thinking
Provides different perspectives and ideas to address the needs of the target populations
Identification of additional areas that need addressed through the OK SPDG
Behavioral trainings

11. Other State Level Projects
Indicator 8 – Parent Survey Brochure
Parent Engagement
Annual Statewide Conference
Regional Parental Involvement Institutes
State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) Improvement Strategies
Accommodations trainings for Educators and Parents
Assistive Technology (AT) trainings for Parents
Parent Guidebook

12. Other State Level Projects
The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) Work Study Group
Develop/improve state-level SEA/Parent Center collaboration
Jointly develop resources, and/or activities that help families and schools effectively resolve conflict

13. Results of the Collaboration
Referrals from OSDE
Up to 20% of calls each year
Provide data to OSDE
Hot spots in the state
Current issues in schools

14. What the OPC Does NOT Do
Don’t extend past our assigned roles/responsibilities
We are Not the Special Education Police
Change Policy?

15. QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

16. Contact Information
Christa Knight Sharon Coppedge Long Assistant Executive Director Executive Director Special Education Services Oklahoma Parents Center, Inc. Oklahoma State Department of Education P.O. Box N. Lincoln Blvd. Holdenville, OK Oklahoma City, OK (405) (405)

17. USBE/UMTSS and UPC Utah’s “Perfect” Partnership
Utah Multi-Tiered System of Supports
State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG)
Utah Parent Center
Parent Training and Information Center

18. Historical Relationship
Utah Parent Center (UPC) and the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) …actively working together since when the UPC received their initial PTI grant.
Relationship has continued to develop and grow through contact, cooperation and collaboration.
Aligning and leveraging resources in our shared work is what we have always done.

19. What Helps Our Partnership…
Proximity
We know each other
Communication
Many staff involved – sustainability of the relationship
Trust and be trustworthy
Mutual respect
Culture based on the belief that we can’t do the work without each other!

20. Building on the Relationship – Authentic Engagement
Implemented a different way of defining collaboration and engaging stakeholders by moving beyond “informing” to creating opportunities for interaction, building consensus, and sharing leadership opportunities.
Relationships across stakeholder groups are aligned with The Collaboration Continuum.

21. What Helps Build Authentic Engagement…
Using a facilitator
Not starting over, but building on what you do well and committing to different kind of collaboration
Establishing common understanding and getting buy-in
Aligning and leveraging multiple initiatives to be complementary and to maximize efforts

22. Collaboration Continuum Graphic
Refer to your handout

23. Collaboration Continuum
Contact
Cooperation
Coordination
Collaboration
Convergence
Investment, Risk, and Benefit

24. Utah’s Activities Along the Collaboration Continuum
Contact
Open honest dialogue
Focus groups to gain stakeholder feedback
Information sharing
Panel discussions
Facilitated discussions
Open invitation to provide feedback
More informed parent perspective and voice being incorporated in planning and implementation of SPDG and other initiatives.

25. Utah’s Activities Along the Collaboration Continuum
Cooperation
Shared Goals
Sharing data (UPC to USBE)
Cross training of staff
Identifying common goals
Open invitation to participate in professional development
Leads to a common language and shared understanding of process, policy, activities and needs for all stakeholders involved.

26. Utah’s Activities Along the Collaboration Continuum
Shared Achievement of Goals
Direct involvement in writing the SPDG
Aligning SPDG with USBE and UPC shared goals
Reporting of shared activities that support the SPDG work
Collaborative development of materials and presentations
Increased capacity to identify, understand and implement relevant training for stakeholders around UMTSS topics and initiatives.
Coordination

27. Utah’s Activities Along the Collaboration Continuum
Shared Resources
SPDG funding to support UPC activities
UPC active on implementation and state leadership teams
High level of trust in the expertise of each agency
Co-presentations to LEA and stakeholder groups
Dissemination of materials for parent and LEA use
LEA specific collaboration to increase parent participation on MTSS teams
Problem-solve and jointly implement strategies to address areas of need
Increased parent awareness and knowledge about what the SPDG can do in their LEA to improve student outcomes.
Collaboration

28. Utah’s Activities Along the Collaboration Continuum
Convergence
“Synthetic Infrastructure”
USBE and UPC have an ongoing, “extensive, engrained, and assumed” relationship that is part of the infrastructure
Relationship is planned and purposeful and requires ongoing maintenance
Invested in mutual success
Problem-solve and jointly implement strategies
A continued collaboration that withstands the test of time and changes in personnel.

29. Working on “Perfect”: Utah’s Areas to Improve
Contact: Increase our reach bringing in new families and stakeholders.
Cooperation: Build supports that lead to increased cooperation among the LEA staff, parents and students.
Coordination: Support LEAs in educating parents about UMTSS.
Collaboration: Increase family engagement on all levels.
Convergence: What does this look like? The parent to school relationship is extensive, engrained and assumed. Parents are involved at all levels. Communication is bi-directional, valued and consistent.

30. Other Collaborative Efforts
Indicator 8-Parent Survey
State monitoring team
Annual UMTSS conference
State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) for Part B and C
Co-sponsor training events
Parent Book Studies
Parent handbooks (resource guides)
Co-presentations at conferences

31. Questions? Thoughts?

32. Here’s to working together “perfectly”!

33. Contact us…
Kim K. Fratto, M.Ed. Education Coordinator, Special Education Section Utah State Board of Education Helen W. Post Executive Director, Utah Parent Center