The study investigated the effectiveness of the Partner Project, a participation strategy on the participation of learning disabled high school students and their parents during the annual individualized education program (IEP) conference. Eleven students and their parents received the IEP participation strategy training which focused on communication skills and consisted of three student training sessions, a partner (parent and student) training session, and a review session. A contrast training group received a single-session IEP orientation lecture and discussion, while a control group received only the review session held just prior to the IEP conference. Measures used to determine strategy effectiveness were the number of goals identified, verbal contributions made by students and parents during the conference, evaluations of student and parent participation, and conference length. Overall results indicated that the participation strategy training was more effective than either the IEP orientation session or no training in facilitating the ability of students and parents to generate student goals at the IEP conference. However, verbal contributions during the conference did not demonstrate many differences between groups. Implications for curriculum adaptations, format of the IEP conference, and policies related to Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, are discussed. References and sample letters and forms are appended. (JW)