Equitable Parent Engagement in Special Education: An Analysis of Research Participant Trends

• In Event: Examining the Body of Research in Inclusive and Special Education

Abstract

Family engagement is a federally mandated critical component of special education, but families in the US are exceedingly diverse. We sought to determine the extent of diversity of participants in research regarding family engagement with special educators and to investigate trends around participant demographics in the last 14 years. We did so by employing quantitative content analytics to parent engagement articles from 12 broad-topic special education journals. We analyzed trends around participant race, inclusion of parents and teachers as participants, and student exceptionality categories reported in research. We then used forecasting calculations to justify continued need for this focus. We conclude with a call for increased focus on equity in research on parent engagement with special educators.

Authors

• Hollie Mason, Western Illinois University

• Marcia L. Rock, University of North Carolina - Greensboro

• Kari Alberque, University of North Carolina - Greensboro