Roadblocks and Supports for Parent Engagement Within Special Education

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Centering Families in Special and Inclusive Education (Table 16)

Abstract

Research has documented long-standing racial inequities within special education. In this paper, I argue that the role that parents are required to play—and their differential positioning to do so—may contribute to some of these inequities. In this interview study with a diverse national sample of 60 parents, I use a conceptual framework of organizational routines to investigate parents’ reports of organizational practices that support and hinder their engagement. I find there is often a difference between ideal special education-related routines and the ways these routines are performed. Parents reported school practices they believed were intended to dimmish their participation, deliberations occurring outside of the IEP meeting, and that school finances—not their child’s needs—dictated services and supports.

Author

• Jennifer R. Cowhy, Northwestern University
  Presenting Author