About PLD

Vision

Mission

Strategy

General Project Description

Information on Collaborating Organizations

Design of Training

Research & Study Design

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Our strategy is based on the key concept of Adaptive Change. Parents of children with disabilities have extensive experience making adaptations in their roles, responsibilities, and family activities to ensure the positive development and academic success of their child with special needs. By focusing on leadership for adaptive change, the PLD Project builds upon and enhances the personal adaptive strengths of such parents to become adaptive leaders in schools.

For more information on Adaptive Change see our Adaptive Leadership Practices and Publications sections.

General Description of the Project

The PLD Project is designed to promote the development of a cadre of community leaders who can promote adaptive change in service delivery systems for individuals with disabilities.

Leadership Fellows participate in specially designed training and workshops to increase their leadership skills and their knowledge of disability issues and services. Each Leadership Fellow develops an Individual Action Plan indicating what type of change the Fellow would like to bring about, e.g., improve transition services for children served under the Early Steps Program in Miami-Dade county; increase the participation of parents of students with disabilities on School Advisory Committees; increase the number of students with disabilities who are served in general education classrooms at a particular school or throughout the district; increase the number of young adults with disabilities who find employment after high school.

Leadership Fellows receive coaching and support from a trained Coach to implement their Individual Action Plans and modify these plans as needed to ensure maximum success of their leadership efforts.

Information on Collaborating Organizations

The PLD Project is a joint effort of the following organizations:

University of Miami School of Education - http://education.miami.edu/
The primary mission of the University of Miami School of Education is the preparation and continuing education of professionals in teacher education, research and evaluation, counseling, exercise physiology, higher education/enrollment management, sports medicine and sport administration.

The School enrolls approximately 230 undergraduate students and 560 graduate students. Corollary missions of the School include research and community outreach. The School’s Department of Teaching and Learning offers an initial teacher certification program in special education as well as Masters and Doctoral degrees in Special Education. The School has a commitment to diversity and supports the training of minority scholars and professionals in special education through a variety of federal grant programs.

University of Miami Mailman Center - http://pediatrics.med.miami.edu/mailman/mailman.htm
The Mailman Center for Child Development at the Miller School of Medicine is an integral part of the Department of Pediatrics and of the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. It is an academic center that that addresses concerns of individuals with developmental disabilities and children with special health care needs through research, clinical service, training of professionals and community members, and advocacy.

For more information on University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development please contact Paula Lalinde at: Telephone: 305-243-6123 or E-mail: plalinde@med.miami.edu

Parent to Parent of Miami - http://ptopmiami.org/
The mission of Parent to Parent of Miami is to build and sustain an active network of families whose common interest in their children binds them together to help their children achieve their highest potential and live independently.

Parent to Parent of Miami, Inc., receives federal funds as a funded under special education legislation. The program is a community wide, tax exempt, non-profit organization that provides information, educational training, support, and emergency assistance, to families who have children and adults with disabilities and/or special needs. The services are provided in English, Spanish and Creole.

For more information on Parent to Parent of Miami please see the website: http://ptopmiami.org/ or contact them at: Telephone: 305-271-9797, E-mail: info@ptopmiami.org.

Herald Article About Parent to Parent of Miami (This is a .pdf file, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open this file.)

Florida Department of Education,
Bureau of Exceptional Student Education -
http://www.firn.edu/doe/commhome/
The Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services supports school districts and others in their efforts to provide exceptional student education programs for students ages 3 - 21 who have disabilities and students who are gifted.

The bureau provides training to school staff, district administrators, and others on important issues and current instructional practices; gives the districts information on state and federal law relating to the education of exceptional students; monitors the districts' compliance with those laws; helps resolve conflicts between school districts and families of exceptional students; and provides any other technical assistance school districts need.

The Children’s Trust - http://www.thechildrenstrust.org/
Recognizing that the needs of children in Miami-Dade County far exceeds the resources and support systems available, The Children’s Trust was created by voter referendum in 2002 as a dedicated source of funding to meet those needs. The Trust, the staff and 33-member board are committed to funding programs that offer the highest possible quality services, with the goals of implementing best practices and improving the lives of children and families in our community.

A strong emphasis on active partnerships that move beyond typical mechanisms of collaboration is critical to improving services and access for children and families in Miami-Dade. The Trust encourages creative approaches to coordinating, integrating, and funding services across and within the areas of health, safety, development and to promote increased parental and community involvement on behalf of all of our children.

Design of Training

The Leadership Development Institute focuses on the development and application of adaptive leadership skills. This training demonstrates both how to reduce the risks of leadership and increase one’s capacity for it. The program introduces the framework of Adaptive Leadership, which includes essential diagnostic and strategic skills such as distinguishing between technical and adaptive problems, “getting on the balcony,” and thinking politically. In addition, participants are exposed to ideas about critical, often neglected aspects of exercising leadership, including managing one’s personal vulnerabilities, caring for oneself, and sustaining one’s spirit.

During the training sessions, participants identify specific leadership challenges related to disability services and programs to which the skills of adaptive leadership can be applied over the course of the project. The leadership challenge that each Leadership Fellow identifies is the foundation for his or her Individual Action Plan.

The Leadership and Systems of Care Workshop builds an understanding of the systems of care that serve children and adults with disabilities. The specific disability content is blended with the leadership practices through case studies and an interactive and participant-focused delivery method.

The Leadership Enhancement Workshop provides an opportunity for the participants to review the leadership practices and gain additional experience exercising them within a training context. Fellows have the opportunity to share their successes and challenges since beginning to implement their Individual Action Plans.

The Coaches Institute provides training in specific techniques that Coaches can use to sustain and support the emerging adaptive leadership skills of the Leadership Fellows.

Research & Study Design

The aim of the study is to assess the effectiveness of the Parent Leadership Development training program in enhancing participants' leadership skills and promoting adaptive change within service delivery systems that affect individuals with disabilities and their families. Various instruments will be used to answer the following questions:

• To what extent does participation in the PLD program promote development of participants' leadership skills?
  
• What actions do PLD program participants undertake to promote adaptive change within service delivery systems?
  
• What specific impacts at the school, program, agency, and/or state level are associated with participants' efforts to promote adaptive change?