Small-group coaching: Building Strong Family Engagement in Special Education

Teachers in a workshop.

What you'll get

Through a series of hands-on coaching sessions, your school or district team will create a clear, step-by-step plan to improve Family Engagement in Special Education. Each session includes practical support, time to solve real problems, and ready-to-use tools.

Suggested participants: 

A team of 3-6 people, including building or district leadership, Special Education leaders, Family Engagement coordinators, Family Liaisons

By the end of the series, your team will have:

  • A clear vision for Special Ed family engagement
  • Increased insight into how to support your families
  • Stronger communication strategies that will help you build trust
  • A detailed plan that fits your district’s goals for Family Engagement
  • Practical tools like checklists, templates, and assessments to support your work
  •  

    No matter where your team is in the process, this series will give you the knowledge, support, and tools to build strong, lasting partnerships with families of students with disabilities.

Cost

$3,000 for 8 sessions (team of 3-6 people)

Structure

 

Want to learn more or schedule your series? Contact us

Agenda

  • Session 1

    Defining your why:
    What can strong Special Ed
    family engagement do for you?

    We will provide grounding in Special Education Family Engagement and explore the problems you are hoping to solve through improved family engagement in Special Education. 

    What would success look like?

    Take-away tool

    Vision planning worksheet

  • Session 2

    Assessment:
    Identifying what’s working and where you want to build

    Building on session 1, we will review what you know about how family engagement is going within your school or district. 

    We will help you outline and prioritize your highest impact opportunities for change.

    Take-away tool

    Family Engagement Self-Assessment Checklist

  • Session 3

    Defining your priorities

    We will explore which segments of your population are your priority for building collaborative relationships. This may be a cultural or linguistic group, families of transition-aged students, or others.

    We will identify approaches and strategies to help address your biggest challenges.

    Take-away tool

    Understanding the needs of our families worksheet

  • Session 4

    Creating positive
    beginnings for families
    new to Special Education

    We will review your practices with families who are new to Special Education and identify approaches that can help you build trust and strong relationships from the start with these families.

    Take-away tool

    IEP Welcome Kit

  • Session 5

    Strengthening communication
    to build trust

    We will review your current communication practices to understand what’s working and what’s not serving you (or your families).

    We will identify concrete changes you can make to improve communication with SPED families.

    Take-away tool

    Special Ed Communication Practice Assessment

  • Session 6

    Identifying strategies for success

    Using the priorities you identified in previous sessions, we will begin identifying tools and approaches that can help you move forward towards your goals.

    Take-away tool

    Menu of strategies

  • Session 7

    Implementation planning

    In this session we will develop a plan to implement the strategies you prioritized in session 6.

    Take-away tool

    Family Engagement Mad Libs tool

  • Session 8

    Sustaining engagement:
    What’s next for your team?

    Review progress against goals and identify concrete next steps for your team.

    Take-away tool

    Implementation checklist

Learn how Exceptional Lives can support you!

Interested in learning more about Exceptional Lives coaching sessions? Use the form below and someone will be in touch.

  • No spam, ever.
  • We won't sell or share your information.
  • By submitting this form, you consent to be contacted by a member of our team.