Alternative Dispute Resolution

Photo of diverse group of four adult women who are smiling - banner for ADR main page

The Alternative Dispute Resolution Project at CDE

In 2013, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) recognized, from parent and educator feedback, the need for more options to prevent IEP’s from moving into contentious and costly dispute processes AND result in better outcomes for students. The Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Board was formed to look at best practices across the United States in alternative dispute resolution and decide where Colorado should start. As a result of the Advisory Board work, it was decided that Special Education Facilitation was a highly promising practice that could work well in Colorado’s local control model. Use the buttons below to learn more about the project.

2024 Facilitation Request Link

Tele-Facilitation

ADR
Advisory Board

Information & FAQ on
Facilitation

Trainings
in Facilitation Skills

Special Education Conflict Engagement Office Hours

Special Education Directors/Administrators are invited to attend Conflict Engagement office hours hosted by the Dispute Prevention and Assisted Resolution Team. We will discuss trends in special education conflicts occurring within IEP Teams and strategies for working through them. Each session will focus on a different topic and have time for questions and answers.

Upcoming Office Hours Dates and Topics:

January 17th - Strategies to support IEP teams working through the common misconceptions causing conflicts within meetings.
February 21st - Strategies for working with "high conflict" meeting participants.
April 18th - Strategies to use when the IEP Team's history is the primary source of conflict.
May 16th - Ending the school year forward-facing, even with challenging teams.

For more information and to register for office hours, click here.

Contact Katherine Rains, rains_k@cde.state.co.us, with any questions.

Additional Resources

The Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Education (CADRE) is a national center that has many resources for "Encouraging the use of mediation and other collaborative strategies to resolve disagreements about special education and early intervention programs."
Working Together is a collection of CADRE video resources on Listening, Positions & Interests, and a Tale of Two Conversations that are designed to support effective communication and collaboration between parents, schools, and early childhood programs.
Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators/Facilitators
PEAK Parent Center

Our Partners Who Help Us Help You:

Peak Parent Center [Exiting CDE]

Thrive [Exiting CDE]

Disability Law Colorado [Exiting CDE]

Contact

Katherine Rains, J.D.
Dispute Prevention and Assisted Resolution Supervisor
Exceptional Student Services Unit
201 E Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80203
Phone: 720-990-1464
Email Katherine Rains

Having trouble with this webpage?

If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact the Exceptional Student Services Unit at ESSU@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.