The IDEA Partnership recognizes the goals of each of its 55 partner organizations and encourages organizations to coalesce around common interests. One ways in which the Partnership encourages new understandings across groups is participation in meetings that shape the direction of efforts by the Partnership or other federal investments.

The following are examples of meetings that were informed by cross-partner teams attending and representing their perspective on issues of shared interest and concern.

IDEA Partnership Meeting
IDEA Partnership Meeting, August 2007 was held August 7-8, 2007 at the Holiday Inn on the Hill, 415 New Jersey Avenue, Washington, DC. The Partnership meeting was focused on discussing how the Partnership will interact with each other and OSEP in Year 5 of the Partnership project. The essential question was: What collaborative activities/actions would the organizations commit to in year 5 to further the engagement with others at the national, State and local levels?

Click here to read about the meeting events, the rollout of three collaborative collections -- Dialogue Guides for IDEA 2004 regulations, Response to Intervention (RTI) and Communities of Practice (CoP) -- and the growing interconnections with OSEP work.

Click on the title to view these historical reports.
Supporting the Performance of Diverse Learners March 26-28, 2006

Professional Development/Adult Learning Communities of Practice Meeting March 20-21, 2006

IDEA Partnership Winter Meeting March 2-3, 2006

NCCRESt FORUM February 15 - 17, 2006

National Community of Practice on Transition Community Meeting February 6 & 7, 2006


Another way to bring organizations into shared work is to create connections within organizations so that Partnership efforts become important to the members of organizations and start to involve many members
These are just a few examples of how national organizations are getting into the work of the Partnership. Watch this site to learn why the partners want to be involved and read stories of members all over the country involved in this work.

American Association of School Administrators (AASA)
The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) has engaged its leadership networks in several partner activities at the national and states levels including: professional development pilots, dialogue guides, the National Community of Practice on Behavioral Health and the National Community in Support of Transition.

American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is engaged in bringing state affiliates into the Partnership work around professional development /adult learning and Dialogue Guides.

American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) has actively engaged its members and worked with the Partnership to promote the organization’s national agenda for behavioral health. AOTA state representatives have been key players in many state Request for Proposals (RFP’s) and are actively engaged in the Partnership communities of practice. AOTA is investing energy into making the organizational learning connection in Partnership work.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has been active in the Partnership since its inception, contributing to the Dialogue Guides and to the work related to the state “seed grants” for professional and consumer development. Involvement has spanned staff, members, and state affiliates.

Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE)
The Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) devoted their entire Winter Institute to community building and the role of local directors in the IDEA Partnership. Many CASE members signed on to help build state connections, become dialogue writers and host dialogue.

CASE Winter 2005 Institute on Communities of Practice -- Concepts, Applications, and Real Examples: Council of Administrators of Special Education/Council for Exceptional Children

Michigan's PowerPoint Discussion Guide at the 2005 Winter Institute of the Council of Administrators of Special Education: Michigan's IDEA Partnership, Collaborative Adult Learning

Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)
The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) and The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) are prime supporters of the change we envision for the relationship between states and stakeholders. In support of the professional development/adult learning pilots, NASDSE and CCSSO will work with the partners to develop training for state education agency leaders and state staff. This work is critical in creating new capacity to collaborate and build more permanently collaborative systems. Click on this link to read about IDEA and NCLB Collaboration Conference

Supporting the Performance of Diverse Learners
The Supporting the Performance of Diverse Learners conference was sponsored by the Consortium for School Improvement at the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the IDEA Partnership at NASDSE, the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, and the Comprehensive School Reform Support and Capacity Building Program at the Education Alliance at Brown University March 26-28, 2006. The conference focused on the conditions that education stakeholders must create in order for diverse learners to succeed. Click on link below to view the full conference report.
Supporting the Performance of Diverse Learners March 26-28, 2006


Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (DDEL/CEC)
The Partnership sponsored organizational representatives to the national meeting co-sponsored by the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt), the Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (DDEL/CEC), and the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE). Recommendations for future work were presented at the full Partnership meeting in February 2005.

Federation of Families of Children with Mental Health Needs (FFCMHN)
The Federation of Families of Children with Mental Health Needs (FFCMHN) is an active partner in the Shared Agenda Seed Grants in several states and the National Community of Practice on Behavioral Health.

Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA)
The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) is working with the Partnership to host organizational representatives at their annual meeting to participate in two workshops on early intervening services and response to intervention. The representatives will debrief with interested organizations and report back to the full Partnership.

National Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI)
The National Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) has engaged its state affiliates in the Professional Development /Adult Learning pilots.

National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)
The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) and The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) are prime supporters of the change we envision for the relationship between states and stakeholders. In support of the professional development/adult learning pilots, NASDSE and CCSSO will work with the partners to develop training for state education agency leaders and state staff. This work is critical in creating new capacity to collaborate and build more permanently collaborative systems.

National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) is bringing its leaders and state affiliates into the Partnership work around Dialogue Guides and is an active partner in the National Community of Practice on Behavioral Health.

National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is involved in the National Community of Practice in Support of Transition and has been engaged in the Community of Practice in several states. NASSP is bringing its school business partnership work into the communities of practice in states.

National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) and The Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (DDEL/CEC). The Partnership sponsored organizational representatives to a national meeting co-sponsored by the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt), the CEC Division for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (DDEL/CEC) and the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE). Recommendations for future work were presented at the full Partnership meeting in February 2005.

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is growing a community of House and Senate Education Chairs, interested state legislators and state legislative staff to work with the Partnership on interagency issues.

A Living Record, Updated in December 2005 - State Legislatures: From Special Education Finance Reform to Promotion of Interagency Collaboration: National Conference of State Legislatures

The National Education Association (NEA)
NEA is actively working to engage its state affiliates in the work of the Partnership, as well as the National IDEA Resource CADRE and the Special Education Caucus of the national organization.

TASH
TASH is actively engaged in supporting the Partnership work in early childhood behavioral health and secondary transition in the states.

Watch for more information on our work with national organizations!