The Importance of Good Communication Skills: Strategies for Team Building

Before beginning the special education process, it may be useful for you to review the skills that can help build a collaborative relationship with your child’s school in order to develop an effective special education team. When an eligibility committee determines that a student needs special education services, parents often find themselves thrust into a new role as a special education advocate. In addition to learning about their child’s specific needs, parents also need to learn the skills necessary to communicate effectively with school staff members and to become integral members of their child’s education team. It is important for parents to develop a relationship of mutual respect and trust with school staff members. Parents and staff members need to express their thoughts in direct, honest, and appropriate ways while retaining and displaying respect for the rights and opinions of others.

The following hints and tips will be useful when preparing for a meeting about your child, whether it is an eligibility or IEP meeting or an informal meeting to discuss your child’s progress and/or your concerns. They will help you become a more effective member of your child’s education team and promote a positive, collaborative relationship with your child’s teachers.

• Assume honorable intentions on the part of people who work with your child. This is a phrase developed by the Pacer Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a federally funded parent information, referral, and advocacy center. Even though parents may disagree with the opinions and decisions of school staff members, they should realize that people are acting out of genuine concern for their child and in what the staff members believe to be the best interests of the student. Every teacher wants his or her students to succeed, and every teacher and principal wants parents to be supportive and satisfied with the services their child is receiving.

• Make sure there is an agenda for each meeting you attend. Get the agenda in advance and/or give the school your agenda with a list of things you’d like to discuss before the meeting. This will allow everyone to be better prepared for the meeting and will ensure that adequate time is allotted for the meeting and that all your concerns are addressed.

• For both IEP meetings and general conferences, find out in advance how much time will be allocated to the meeting. If you have not completed the agenda items or the IEP by the end of the meeting, schedule a time to reconvene. Meetings tend to become unproductive if they are unreasonably long. It is easier to determine the date for a new meeting right then, when people are present and can coordinate their schedules, rather than adjourning the meeting and trying to schedule a meeting later when everyone will have to be contacted individually.

• Keep the meeting focused and stick to the agenda. Make sure that your concerns as well as those of the school staff have been addressed. If other issues come up, save them for another meeting unless they are important to the discussion.

• Prepare for your meeting by organizing your thoughts and concerns. Use the Parent Information form or see Appendix F for a Student Profile to help clarify your perceptions of unaddressed needs. You may want to pass out completed copies to staff members.