Grants, Projects and Partnerships

Current Grants and Projects

Changing the Cultural Context in Schools  –

Inclusive Education Empowerment Project (IEEP)

PEAC will continue much of the same work that we have been able to do under our original Educational Rights Grant from PA DDC. Our partnerships with school districts and universities will grow and our Parent Consultant Network will continue to be strong.

Some of the highlights of the new project include:

• Develop Inclusion Committees that include students, families, and people with disabilities, school administrators, building principals, teachers and university personnel in each district.
• Conduct roundtables and community forums to solicit both members and member-generated ideas for strengthening inclusive education.
• Develop a network of student self-advocates who will receive training and support to share their educational experiences and beliefs regarding inclusive education and disability. This will include the leaders who have benefited from the “Competencies and Confidence Partners in Policymaking” (C2P2) Emerging and Established Leadership Development Program through Temple University Institute on Disabilities.
• Collaborate with agencies such as Vision for Equality and their Latino Project that provides technical assistance to the Latino community. Recruit these family members to become Parent Consultants.
• Develop a Council of Cultural Brokers: PEAC will identify leaders within the targeted regions/neighborhoods that are willing to act as cultural brokers who can extend their influence and trust to resident families of children with disabilities. These may be religious leaders, neighborhood business leaders, neighborhood elders and others.
• Conduct IEP clinics that will serve as both trainings and opportunities to provide one-on-one technical assistance to families and educators.

We look forward to continuing our work with all of our current and new partners to keep PEAC strong.

*Funded by the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council (PA DDC)

Previous Grants and Projects

Educational Rights Project

PEAC’s Educational Rights Project is a unique and multi-faceted approach to supporting inclusive education through parent-professional collaboration. Overall, the Educational Rights Project creates a space for families and educators to collaborate – a vital part of successfully educating students with disabilities. Collaboration efforts range from problem-solving for individual students, to addressing school-wide needs and barriers to inclusion, to advocating for statewide system change towards best inclusive practices.

PEAC’s Educational Rights Project was initially funded by the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council (PA DDC) for three years, from 2007 to 2010. However, the far-reaching success of this project has resulted in a two-year extension of funding from the PA DDC through 2012!

Objectives:

• Create partnerships for inclusion with five local school districts and universities.
• Develop a training series on the best practices and legal foundations of inclusive education.
• Provide training and individualized support to parents, educators, and universities.
• Expand, train, and utilize the Parent Consultant Network

Partners:

Montgomery County

• Upper Dublin School District
• Arcadia University

Bucks and Philadelphia Counties

• Bristol Township School District
• Holy Family University

Delaware County

• Wallingford-Swarthmore School District
• Neumann University

Supporting Diverse Learners in School and in the Community

PEAC published a three-volume training curriculum in collaboration with the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University in 2002. The curriculum offers extensive training and resources on how to make inclusive schools and inclusive communities a reality. The training curriculum is available for sale from the Institute on Disabilities here (ID201).

PA Developmental Disabilities Council Collective Advocacy Grant

In 2005, PEAC was awarded a Collective Advocacy Grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council (PA DDC). The objectives of this project were to increase PEAC’s membership, establish local chapters, provide training and support to parents, and provide training and resources to schools and communities.

* This grant funded PEAC’s 1st Inclusion Conference