What Michigan Learned While Building a Successful Informal and Early Special Education Dispute Resolution System (3.8)

The first to provide free neutral facilitation in addition to federally mandated mediation services, Michigan has been a leader in high quality early dispute resolution since 1997. Michigan has increased its number of mediation agreements by over 50% since 2017 and now facilitates nearly 900 meetings/year. The most recent CADRE data per 10,000 students (2022-23) shows, Michigan had 7.9 mediation agreements – double the national average; an overall agreement rate of 74%, well above the national average of 53%; settled 1.8 DP cases – over twice the national average of .8; and finally, had a 71% DP case agreement rate – more than double the national rate of 33%. We believe this is the result of the robust program Michigan Special Education Mediation Services has built. In this session you will learn the five keys to a high-quality early dispute resolution program: Outreach, Intake, Quality Facilitation/Mediation, and State supported facilitation.