Parents' Experiences as Policy Actors Within Special Education

• In Event: Expanding Who Counts as a Policy Actor in Supporting the Whole Child

Abstract

In this paper, I reframe the role of parents in special education from policy targets to that of policy actors. In this interview study with a diverse national sample of 60 parents, I explore how parents make sense of their role within special education and how parental resources and parent race shape their experiences as policy actors. Using a conceptual framework that brings together theories of organizational sensemaking with parental capital, I find: parents see themselves as their child’s primary advocate; parents with more economic resources and institutional “know how” reported that their children received what they needed because of their actions; and parents of color were more likely to report adversarial and less supportive relationships with their children’s schools.

Author

• Jennifer R. Cowhy, Northwestern University
  Presenting Author