PARENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS THAT WORK: A MODEL

Some people may see an inconsistency in the fact that a parent involvement center was conceived, developed, and is now flourishing in Albuquerque, New Mexico -a state that chose to not participate in the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, PL 94-142.Those who know the people and their values, however, realize that having a parent center whose main purpose is to further cooperative relationships and positive interactions between parents and school personnel is not incongruous at all.In fact, parents and professionals joined forces in a lawsuit against state officials in 1975 -to provide more services for exceptional children.Organizations such as the New Mexico Association for Retarded Citizens, the New Mexico Federation of the Council for Exceptional Children, the Albuquerque Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, and the Albuquerque Association for Gifted and Talented Students, as well as individual parents and professionals have worked together for many years to further the education of exceptional children.Thus, a Parent Center, housed in a wing of the Inez Elementary School, financially supported and staffed by the Albuquerque Public School (APS) system, with support from staff at the University of New Mexico (UNM), came into being.Although the current focus of the Parent Center is on the parents and professionals of the APS population, the tentacles of the Center reach throughout the state and across the nation.Thousands of parents and school personnel from the other 49 states and a few foreign countries have visited the Center and have been trained by Center staff.Materials developed at the Center are currentJy being used in most states by university professors, principals, classroom teachers, and parents of exceptional children in rural and urban settings, with Native American, Hispanic and Black populations, and at a wide range of socioeconomic levels.The Albuquerque Public Schools encompass a .large,urban district of 75,150 students.The primary emphasis of the Parent Center is the special education population of approximately 11,000 children.Staffed by three coordinators of parent