Family & Community Special Communities
Special Education Appeals

Mediation

About Mediation | The Mediation Process | Preparing for Mediation | Mediation FAQs

Preparing for Mediation

Before you attend mediation, it may be helpful to:

1. Make an outline of your viewpoint of the dispute: What's involved? What are you in disagreement about?
2. Decide what you want for the student and what you would be willing to propose.
3. List the solutions you would be willing to offer to settle the dispute. You may want to list the most important one first, next important second, and so on.
4. Check out your viewpoint and ideas. Ask others (colleagues, friends, relatives) to react and comment on your position, what you are seeking, proposed solutions, etc.
5. While it is not required, if you decide you need someone to assist you (attorney, advocate, consultant, etc.), seek an advisor who will represent your interests.
6. Think about both short and long-term solutions.
7. Negotiate with the attitude that, in developing an agreement, it is frequently advisable to start with a plan that might work (even though not your first choice) and then later build on it or modify it as needed, rather than maintain a single solution that is unacceptable to the other party.
8. Recognize that mediation requires the give-and-take of ideas and offers, before solutions are agreed to and an agreement reached. Therefore, mediation can be a very creative, spontaneous and dynamic process for the participants.
9. Remember to keep the focus on the student's needs.
10. Be prepared to explain to the mediator (and opposing party) what issues you'd like to address during the mediation session.