Beyond the Home-School Dyad: Illuminating the Promises and Limitations of Parental Involvement Policy Through the Case of Educational Advocacy by Latina Mothers of Children With Disabilities

• In Event: Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students and Special Education: Perceptions of Inclusion and Parental Involvement Policy

Abstract

This 20-month ethnographic study examines the role of non-profit parent organizations mediating home-school relationships between Latino families and the special education system in the US. While a recent body of research has explored the role of community-organizing in parental involvement (Mapp, 2012; Delgado-Gaitan, 2001) we know little about this emergent network of parent organizations filling the gap between the “partnership” ideal of federal policy (NCLB Title I, 2001; IDEA, 2004) and the advocacy reality of special education. This paper fills this gap by describing the goals, discourses, and practices of two main organizations serving Spanish-speaking parents paying special attention to how the intersection of race/class, disability, gender, language, and migration status shape their definitions of advocacy and involvement.

Author

• Irenka Dominguez-Pareto, University of California