Parent Involvement in Education for Children with Disabilities

The Wisconsin Statewide Parent-Educator Initiative (WSPEI) is a service for parents, educators, and others interested in parent-educator partnerships for children with disabilities.

WSPEI is all about partnerships. Its goal is to help parents and school districts find or create the resources that will help them build positive working relationships that lead to shared decision making and children's learning.  It supports increased sharing of information among parents, schools, projects, organizations and agencies through networking meetings, conferences, person-to-person contact, and media.  It is based on:

•  Support and leadership for parents and local school districts
•  Collaboration with the twelve Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs)
•  Information exchange and referral to other agencies and organizations
•  Cooperation with the Community Learning and Partnerships Team
•  Alignment with and access to state and federal initiatives such as the Parent Leadership Hub

Current Information and Events

• Check out the new Response to Intervention (RTI) Parent Module on the Wisconsin RTI Web site.
• Parent Leadership Hub Weekly E-Newsletter: http://www.wispdg.org/pl/e-news.html.
• Parents in Partnerships (PIP) and Youth in Partnerships with Parents for Empowerment (YiPPE) Schedule for 2013-14.

To reach WSPEI toll-free, dial 1-877-844-4925. Mary Skadahl, State Project Coordinator, will answer or return your call and help you to:

• decide what kind of information or assistance you need
• find a parent coordinator who is in your school district or CESA
• find a special agency or organization;
• find or develop training for parents or educators
• find or develop educational materials for parents or educators
• establish parents on school advisory committees
• mentor parent liaisons within districts or CESAs
• learn about reaching agreement between parents and educators
• find other assistance related to families and special education