Co-Teaching Reference Guide for Parents / Caregivers

Reference guide for parents/caregivers on: what is co-teaching, benefits of co-teaching, co-teaching models, and FAQs

Supporting Students with Disabilities at School and Home: A Guide for Teachers to Support Families and Students

This guide highlights 5 key practices for teachers and families to support all students, including students with disabilities, at school and home. For each practice, the guide provides (a) tips for teachers to support students with disabilities during instruction; (b) tips for families that educators can share to support or enhance learning at home, especially during periods of remote instruction; and (c) free-access resources that include strategies shown to be effective by research (e.g., informational guides, downloadable materials, research-based programs).

Reflecting on the IEP: A Continuous Improvement Approach (after the IEP)

This resource discusses the power of reflecting on the IEP process and gathering feedback from all team members on their educational experiences, IEP goals, and the support they receive to ensure meaningful participation and success.

Family Engagement Toolkit. Continuous Improvement

The toolkit is designed to address the following questions and challenges: Family engagement activities are often isolated from other initiatives in districts; Family engagement staff in districts often work in a silo, not in collaboration with other district departments; Families of low-income students and families of students of color are often underrepresented in family engagement activities; Educators struggle with how to evaluate family engagement programs and activities, beyond tracking the number of participants attending events; While opportunities for family members to gain skills and knowledge are growing, building educators’ capacity to partner with families is not yet a focus in many districts.

CASEL Caregiver SEL Discussion Series

This discussion series, based on CASEL’s series of the same name, includes an explanation of the facilitator’s role, suggestions for how to set up and promote the discussion series, and links to discussion resources on 10 SEL topics.

Parent Outreach and Support Compilation of Resources for Family Support

This resource provides direct links to community based resources for children and their families.

My Vision for My Future

This resource is a user-friendly template designed to help students map out their future vision. It guides them in thinking about both short-term goals and long-term dreams, such as potential jobs and whether they plan to pursue higher education. Ideal for encouraging thoughtful planning, this template empowers students to envision and take steps toward their future.

All About Me- Student Slide Template for Elementary Students

All About Me Student Presentation Template for Early Childhood/Elementary Students. This presentation template is designed for preschool and elementary students to encourage incorporating their input and voice into their IEP meetings.

All About Me Slide Template for Secondary Students

"All About Me Student Presentation Template for Secondary Students. This presentation template is designed for middle and high school students to encourage incorporating their input and voice into their IEP meeting."

Preparing for the IEP Meeting

Thorough preparation for an IEP meeting can help ensure a smooth and efficient process. It's important to review both the procedural requirements mandated by IDEA and strategies that foster a collaborative environment, including preparation of the meeting space, engagement with parents, and effective team collaboration.

Pathways to Partnership Active Listening Handout

This handout identifies a range of listening strategies facilitators can use to gather information, support mutual understanding and help themselves and team members to have empathy for others' position, which reduces conflict.

State Performance Plan Indicator Information & Feedback Opportunity

The California Department of Education (CDE) would like to receive feedback and input on the targets and improvement strategies to improve educational and functional outcomes for students with disabilities. SPP Indicator summary handouts have been developed to broaden knowledge and awareness of the indicators and offer educational partners and parents an opportunity to engage and provide feedback on the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) indicators.

Appendix 4.3: English Learner Student Questionnaire: Language-Use

Appendix 4.3 English Learner Student Questionnaire from California Practitioners’ Guide for Educating English Learners with Disabilities

Building on My Strengths (Family Edition)

Building on My Strengths (Student Edition)

Knowing the importance of building on student strengths during the IEP journey, this tool from the High Quality IEPs project is made for students to help document and ultimately share who they are as a learner.

Building on my Strengths- Aproovechar mis fortalezas (Family)

"An easy-to-use form to provide input about your student from a student perspective Cada niño es único y tiene sus propias fortalezas. Usted es quien mejor conoce a su hijo. Al compartir lo que sabe sobre su hijo con el maestro, podrá ayudar a suplir sus necesidades de aprendizaje en la escuela. "

Pathways to Partnership Remaining Neutral Handout

Helpful strategies in how to engage with IEP team members and remain neutral in the meeting.

Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: Student Attendance Success Plan

As part of California’s Compliance and Improvement Monitoring (CIM) process, Chowchilla Union High School District set a goal to decrease chronic absenteeism for students with disabilities to below 20% in two years. To accomplish this, they participated in the SIL Attendance Network and implemented a Student Success Plan designed to empower students to reflect, set goals, and commit to daily attendance. Adapted from Attendance Works Attendance Success Plan, this personalized plan encourages students to reflect on attendance barriers, identify trusted adults, and commit to daily attendance.

Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: Parent Collaboration Protocol

As part of California’s Compliance and Improvement Monitoring (CIM) process, Corning Elementary School District set a goal to decrease chronic absenteeism for students with disabilities to below 20% in two years. Corning Elementary participated in SIL’s Attendance Network, where the team developed a clear process for communication between the school and family, incorporating feedback loops to ensure ongoing, collaborative support for the student.

Empowering Families: Pre-IEP Parent Collaboration Protocol

As part of SIL’s Innovating for Student Excellence (ISE) Networked Improvement Community, districts, SELPAs, and County Offices of Education across California collaborated to create a Pre-IEP Parent Collaboration Protocol to facilitate conversations with families prior to holding IEP meetings. This protocol standardized conversations with families, provided case managers with a clear framework for discussing IEPs, and facilitated family engagement and understanding in the IEP process.

Strategies that Work Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: Parent Collaboration Protocol

As part of California’s Compliance and Improvement Monitoring (CIM) process, Corning Elementary School District set a goal to decrease chronic absenteeism for students with disabilities to below 20% in two years. Corning Elementary participated in SIL’s Attendance Network, where the team developed a clear process for communication between the school and family, incorporating feedback loops to ensure ongoing, collaborative support for the student.