By Nicholas R.M. Martin, M.A.

With so many complex, challenging, and emotionally charged decisions involved, participating in an IEP meeting can seem like navigating through a minefield. But now there’s a practical guide to managing these meetings with a high level of awareness, safety, and confidence. Developed for administrators, teachers, resource professionals, and parents, this skills-based book will help you work as a unified team to design, review, and modify IEPs for children with special education needs. This resource fully addresses

• Effective meeting management. Discover how to promote and maintain the collaboration that leads to consensus. Highlight the characteristics of model IEP teams and meetings. Have a comprehensive guide to conducting successful meetings, from setting ground rules and managing time to planning agendas and accomplishing goals.
  
  
• Principled negotiation. Apply a proven approach to building consensus while minimizing conflict. Learn how to use team members’ underlying interests to move from competition into cooperation, while maintaining a strong and positive team spirit.
  
  
• The emotional side. Examine the central role of feelings as motivators of behavior. Learn how to turn strong emotions into powerful allies, and discover the simple keys that help team members communicate with respect and understanding, work through anger, and maintain diplomacy.
  
  
• Conflict prevention. Discover 25 clear, specific, and practical alternatives for resolving conflict before it escalates into debilitating tensions or legal action.

Written in a user-friendly and conversational style, this much-needed book is supplemented with checklists, outlines, diagrams, and specific examples to make the complex simple. Incorporating the feedback and suggestions of hundreds of special education professionals, this book will be of invaluable help to you and your fellow team members as you work together to create the best possible IEPs for the children in your care.

Part I: Effective Meeting Management

1. A Vision of the IEP Team
2. Conducting the IEP Meeting
3. Achieving Collaboration and Consensus

Part II: Conflict Prevention and Resolution

4. Timelines and Behavior Trains
5. Diplomacy and Support of Feelings
6. The Search for Serenity
7. The Courage to Make Changes
8. The Wisdom to Know
9. Where We Go from Here

Appendix: The Graduate Course