A Preliminary Evaluation of a Community-Based Parent Mentor Program: Empowering Families to Navigate Special Education

• In Event: Engaging and Empowering Parents and Families

Abstract

Parent-to-Parent individualized mentoring is an understudied strategy that has potential for supporting parents of children with disabilities as they learn to navigate the educational planning process. This presentation shares preliminary findings from a formative evaluation of individualized, intensive parent-to-parent mentoring launched in January 2019 by a statewide Parent Training and Information (PTI) center. Data were collected from a pre-post Family Empowerment Scale survey, as well as an open ended questionnaire for school professionals. Results offer both school and community professionals preliminary evidence on how parent mentor services might influence critical parent-school partnership boundary dynamics. While significant increases in family empowerment were achieved, analysis of data from school professionals uncovered critical questions that are important for the field to explore further.

Authors

• Heidi R Cornell, Wichita State University

• Jennifer Stone, Wichita State University