A collaboration between the Federation for Children with Special Needs, the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and Children's Hospital

Strong and effective parent-professional collaboration improves results for children under IDEA. Yet, one of the most frequently expressed concerns by parents and professionals focuses on the difficulty of building these collaborative working relationships in special education planning. Such a relationship arises out of:

• a shared goal for the child
• mutual trust
• cultural competence
• effective communtication and problem-solving skills, and
• a clear vision with high expectations for student achievement

Once learned, these attitudes and skills must be continually improved through practice in the context of school environments, early intervention programs, and post-secondary or employment settings.

The A.P.P.L.E. Project will provide collaborative school-system teams with training that will allow parents of children receiving special education services to learn skills that will help them become full and effective partners with their schools.

The Project will accomplish this goal by:

• Establishing a Parent Leadership Institute which includes oppurtunities to learn and apply collaborative leadership skills in real settings to prepare parents to assume collaborative leadership roles as members of local and State education councils, special education advisory councils, and other groups designed to improve educational results for students.

• Implementing a research program on the collaboration of parents and professionals in the context of education and special education planning and policy development.

• Designing and implement a national strategy for dissemination of key findings learned from the project activities.

• Conducting evaluations to determine the project's success in reaching it's goals and demonstrating improved student outcomes.

For more information about the A.P.P.L.E. Project, contact Barbara Popper (800.493.2338 x 322; bpopper@fcsn.org) or Rich Robison (800.493.2338 x 373; rrobison@fcsn.org) at the Federation for Children with Special Needs.