IDEA and other federal laws protect the confidentiality of your child’s education records. These safeguards address the following three aspects:
the use of personally identifiable information;
who may have access to your child’s records; and
the rights of parents to inspect their child’s education records and request that these be amended to correct information that is misleading or inaccurate, or that violates the child’s privacy or other rights.
A Tale of Two Conversations is a two-part video showing actors playing a parent of a child with a disability and a school administrator. The meeting was requested by the parent and takes place in the administrator’s office. Take One shows the parent and administrator talking about the child’s special education program. They are talking, but not listening. Their communication is unproductive. Take Two shows each person using more effective communication skills.
Both video conversations are available for viewing online at CADRE, as is a companion Study Guidethat looks more deeply into the effective communication skills shown in the second video. Read more about and access the resources here.
IDEA requires school systems to have procedures to make mediation available to parents and public agencies to resolve a dispute involving any matter arising under Part B, including matters arising prior to the filing of a due process complaint. Mediation is entirely voluntary.
There are times when parents and schools simply do not agree on some issue affecting a child’s education. They may try informal approaches to resolving the conflict, such as reviewing and revising the child’s IEP or holding a facilitated IEP meeting (an approach emerging in the field). When these don’t result in agreement on what represents an appropriate education for a child, the law (IDEA) provides several approaches that parents and schools can use to help resolve the dispute.
There are times when you, as a parent, may want to communicate in writing with your child’s school about some problem or concern with your child’s education or well-being. This page presents a model letter or email you might write to file a complaint with the State Education Agency as an approach to resolving a dispute with your child’s school.
We are pleased to offer you the overview below on the due process hearing as a dispute resolution option, which will include the following:
Short summary
Each party’s rights in the hearing
Role of the hearing officer
Timelines
Can the hearing officer’s decision be appealed?
IDEA now requires that school systems convene a resolution meeting within 15 days of receiving notice that a parent has filed a due process complaint and before the school system initiates the due process hearing hearing.
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