ARISE Coalition Communication Guidelines

Last updated March 23, 2023

 

ARISE Coalition Mission

The members of the Action for Reform in Special Education (ARISE) Coalition have joined together to provide a collective and powerful voice in support of students with disabilities and learning differences in New York City public schools.   We seek to improve day-to-day experiences and long-term outcomes for these students and champion systemic reform to: 

• Improve services and support for students with disabilities and learning differences; 
• Assure meaningful inclusion and integration; 
• Promote greater transparency and accountability; 
• Mitigate practices that lead to discrimination and disproportionality in rates of referral, suspension, and segregated placements; and 
• Increase positive outcomes and options for all students.  

With over 250 individuals on the listserv and multiple named individual and organizational members, we note that those with lived experiences in the NYC special education system as students and parents add key perspective and particular value to our community.

Overview of Communication Guidelines

There are two primary vehicles for member communication, a listserv and meetings (virtual and in person).  These communication guidelines were developed to ensure that those forums are welcoming and inclusive spaces, consistent with the experiences we aim to create for NYC students. To that end, all members are expected to: 

• Demonstrate commitment to the ARISE mission; 
• Be thoughtful about language choices and the impact of language, written or oral, on others; 
• Be sensitive and responsive to issues of culture, diversity, and inclusion; 
• Exercise respect and care for others’ lived experiences, personal and professional; and 
• Respect privacy/confidentiality; “what’s said here stays here, what’s learned here leaves here.” 

Members are expected to work to find places of agreement on policy issues.

Please note that this document is a work in progress and as amendments become necessary, we will revisit the document.

ARISE Listerv

Purpose of the ARISE Listserv: 

• Sharing relevant information, announcements, and soliciting advice or best practices relevant to ARISE’s mission  
• Notifications of upcoming meetings 
• Sharing agenda items and notes for and of coalition meetings and committee meetings 

The listserv is not a forum for extensive debate about ideological differences.  We encourage those exchanges to be held in forums better suited for that kind of dialogue.  Member-moderators will have the discretion to move such conversations to another forum as appropriate.

Expectations about Messages:

• The ARISE listserv is moderated.  All messages will be reviewed by an ARISE member-moderator ^[1] prior to being distributed to the entire group. Messages that do not adhere to these guidelines will not reach the group.
• As a moderated listserv, emails will take time to be approved.  During the week, member-moderators will try to review all listserv messages within 36 hours, Monday through Friday.  Moderators will not be asked to do so over the weekends and on holidays.  Please plan accordingly.  
• Use signature lines for all postings that include your name and affiliation, if applicable. 
• Include clear subject lines that relate to what is in your email.  Start a new thread if you change the subject/topic. 
• When sharing experiences in emails to the full group, members should note whether they do so to invite further discussion or if they are seeking help.   Other members are expected to respond accordingly. 
• Communication via listserv cannot provide the same freedom of expression as would be possible in a private conversation among confidants. Keep in mind that your message will be distributed to hundreds of people (i.e., don’t assume people know you or know what you mean). 
• Exercise courtesy in transmitting messages. 
• To the extent possible while providing context, be brief, clear, and direct.  
• Only send messages to the entire list that are relevant to ARISE’s mission. 
• Messages such as “thanks for the information” or “me, too” should be sent directly to individuals – not to the entire list. 
• Administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” should go directly to the list manager. 
• If messages are returned by moderators as not appropriate for the listserv, members are welcome to consider the moderator’s concerns and rewrite their message in a way more in line with these guidelines. 
• If members notice inappropriate postings, they should bring their concerns to the member- moderator directly for discussion.

Inappropriate Submissions: 

• Defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are not allowed. 
• Information or other materials should not be shared without permission of the original poster.  
• Members may not post confidential information or anything that would infringe upon the privacy or personal rights of others. 
• Personal attacks on individuals, groups, or organizations will not be accepted. 
• Spam and for-profit marketing/advertising are prohibited. 

Violations to the guidelines: 

• Violations to the listserv guidelines or otherwise inappropriate messages will be addressed by member-moderators.  
• Repeated inappropriate submissions will lead to suspensions from the listserv or removal from coalition membership. 

How to use the listserv:  

• The ARISE listserv will be a Google Group.   The address for group emails is arise-conversations@googlegroups.com. 
• All current members will be invited to join.  A Gmail account is not required to be in the group. 
• For help using Google Groups, click here. 
• Members are encouraged to take advantage of tools to render the listserv accessible to meet any individual needs and to manage preferences for participation (e.g., you choose whether you want to receive messages in real-time, a daily digest, or a weekly digest).   

ARISE Meetings  (For full coalition, committee and planning meetings)

Meeting Preparation Expectations 

• The agenda will be set and shared at least 3 business days in advance of each meeting to provide opportunity for feedback and solicit accommodations requests. This will enable members to prioritize their participation on topics that are most meaningful to them. Modifications to the agenda will be considered if a new, time-sensitive issue arises (e.g., DOE policy announcement) 
• Each agenda item will include: 
  • Objectives (e.g., educating members; group discussion; decision needed) 
  • Format (presentation, full group discussion, breakout groups, decision-making process) 
  • Time allocation 
  • Facilitator 

Expectations During Meetings 

• Members will be designated as: facilitators; co-hosts; timekeepers; note-takers; and chat monitors. 
• Hosts will leverage accessibility tools (record meetings – for notetaking purposes not for distribution, enable live transcript/captions, read presentation slides aloud, documents in readable format). 
• Note-takers will create a parking lot for topics raised that don’t fit within the agenda. 
• For attendance purposes, all members should sign-in to the chat. 
• Members are encouraged to participate at online meetings with their cameras on when possible, and are expected to add their names to their profiles.  When participating by phone, members should ensure they are identified by name and not just by phone number. 
• Speakers should state their name prior to making comments. 
• Whenever possible, members will be expected to use the hand-raising function on zoom. 
• Members should stay muted when not speaking in order to minimize interruptions. 
• Members should be mindful of time allocations for group discussion.  Facilitators are responsible for ensuring that conversations stay within the designated time allocations. 
• Employ “Step Up, Step Back” – those who have been speaking a lot, should leave room for others to speak.  Instead, members should consider using the chat in place of speaking multiple times (if it is in use for that portion of the meeting). 
• If speakers say something they realize they’ve said in a way likely to cause harm and want to take it back, they can acknowledge that with an “oops” in the chat; Similarly, if someone else says something that lands on a member in a way that feels bad, members can write “ouch” or even “whoa” in the chat. 
• To the extent possible, guidelines for vocal participation apply to the chat. (e.g., chat comments should pertain to the current topic and be placed in a parking lot if they are not relevant).

Post-Meeting Expectations: 

• 10 business days after the meeting, a summary (not a transcript, recording, or formal minutes) will be shared with all members – confirming what was covered, decisions made and key areas of discussion to enable future participation of members who were not present. 
• Feedback on meeting notes should be addressed directly to the notetaker (not all members). 
• Ongoing discussion of topics will take place on the listserv or subsequent meeting. 

ARISE Communication Roles 

• List Manager – adds and removes members to the listserv 
• Member-Moderators – review and either approve or request revisions to messages sent by members; follow-up with members who submit inappropriate messages 
• Facilitator – ensures adherence to the agenda; calls on speakers 
• Co-Hosts – let members into zoom; record meeting; turn on transcription; enable/disable chat function; mute/unmute participants, and help keep time as needed 
• Note-Taker – records attendance, decisions, conversations, action items; keeps track of parking lot issues 
• Chat Monitor – flags key questions or messages for the facilitator and members who may not have access to the chat 

 

[1] Member-moderators are ARISE members who will be trained in this specific task.  At any given time, there will be multiple moderators who are sharing the responsibility.  They will also rotate out of this role, giving other coalition members the opportunity to fulfill this function.