Partners in school: An example of care coordination to ensure consistency of evidence-based practices across home and school for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015) mandate that families participate in shared decision-making with schools. For youthwho receive special education services, such as those who have ASD, having parents and teachers aligned in their practices is even more crucial. Unfortunately, consistency of evidence-based practices (EBP) across home and school is rarely experienced. This chapter describes the development of Partners in School, an example of coordinating care between home and school settings for youth with ASD. The goal of Partners in School is to ensure that parents and teachers are implementing the same EBPs in the same way (i.e., consistently). It draws from the literature on school consultation, business negotiations, and health communication/shared decision-making. The scientific literature is merged with the perspectives of parents and teachers of elementary students with ASD from a large urban school district. The chapter begins by anchoring this approach on the empirical evidence for family-school partnerships, and then concludes by describing the implications of Partners in School for care coordination.