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Effective Partners in Education: Positive Advocacy By Cheri Dowling, Director of Advocacy In order to advocate for your child, you need to understand the importance of advocacy and partnership. Understanding the steps to effective partnerships include communication, organization and preparation so you can participate effectively in your child’s IEP or your child’s IFSP. A partnership is a relationship between two people in which each has equal status and certain independence but also some obligation to each other. Partnerships require the sharing of knowledge. Each partner brings viewpoints and contributions for cooperative decision-making. A partnership has the responsibility to work together towards a specific goal – in our case, for a child’s education. Effective advocacy is not negative. It simply means to be in support of something. As parents, we are natural advocates for our children. You are your child’s first teacher and first role model, and responsible for your child’s welfare. Who better to advocate for your child’s best interests? You know your child better than anyone else. The school system is involved with your child for a few years, but you are involved with your child for life. Your child depends on your active role in planning his/her education. As the parent, you have at least two goals:
• To ensure that the school provides your child with a “free appropriate public education” that includes “specially designed instruction…to meet the [child’s] unique needs…” (20 U.S.C. §1401), and • To build a healthy working relationship with the school. Findings about parental involvement show the importance of parents being actively involved in their child’s education. • When parents are involved, children do better and go further in school, thus making the schools they go to better. • When children and parents talk regularly about school, children perform better academically. • The earlier parent involvement begins in a child’s educational process, the more powerful the effects. • Positive results of parental involvement include improved student achievement, reduced absenteeism, improved behavior, and restored confidence among parents in their child’s schooling. • Parent involvement is more important to student success, at every grade level, than family income or education. Steps to effective advocacy are: • Communication • Organization and preparation • Participation in the IEP process 37