Project LINK - Leaders In Education Networking Kids

What is LINK?

LINK is funded by the TN Department of Education and The Council on Developmental Disabilities to facilitate local parent-educator groups to identify and address local issues and needs. Our role is to help local groups achieve their goals and achieve success by their own standards. LINK helps to improve the quality of IEP Teams by helping families and educators learn to work together.

LINK helps families and educators with:

• Meaningful parent involvement
• Identifying local needs
• Developing plans to meet needs
• Long-range planning
• Developing Special Education Family Advisory Committees
• Improving CIMP (Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process) Plans
• Accessing state and national resources
• Networking with other LINK Groups across Tennessee
• Connecting families with the TN Division of Special Education's Regional Resource Centers
• Identifying each group's success, by their own standards
• Improved communication between families and educators
• Building real family-educator teams

THE LINK VISION: LINK facilitates team-building between families who have students with disabilities, and the schools and educators who serve them. Families will become informed and develop leadership abilities and learn how to work with schools to make education better for all students. Families and educators communicate better and work together, locally and statewide to achieve their goals.

THE CHALLENGE: When it comes to the Special Education Process, a great divide has grown between families and educators. Federal law requires that we work as a "team" to plan educational services for children. However, it is not possible to legislate teamwork. Outside the IEP (Individualized Education Plan) process, parents, educators, and administrators often have the same concerns. LINK works to help families and educators rebuild bridges of communication.

LINK OUTCOMES: Project LINK helps families and educators build better relationships to improve the educational experience of all children. LINK is sensitive to the fact that each TN community is different and that those unique needs may change over time.

LOCAL LINK GROUPS: Each LINK group determines the activities they will work on. Some groups host family information fairs, secondary and preschool transition fairs, sponsor training events, and more. Contact the regional coordinator to learn about LINK in your community.

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED WITH LINK? Everyone can help - especially family members of children receiving special education services, and educators who would like to help local families, learn how to work with their local school system to make education better for all students.

Join our Yahoo group: TNLINK to talk with others about Special Education issues, etc.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, WHOM DO I CONTACT?

West Tennessee
Treva Maitland
email tmaitland@thearctn.org
phone 731-559-4187

Middle Tennessee
Loria Hubbard-Richardson
email lrichardson@thearctn.org
phone 615-215-2065

East Tennessee
Mary Ann Schenk
email maschenk@bellsouth.net
phone 423-267-0500