The Social Construction of Parents in Special Education Legislation Over Time

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 3:35 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Policy Influences on Exceptionality Education (Table 11)

Abstract

A recent paper posits that special education (SE) policy conscripts parents to act as policy agents to implement and enforce SE policy for their children. In this archival study of federal SE laws and Congressional hearings documents, I leverage social construction of target populations theory to explore how parents’ roles came to be and how they have changed over time. I found that parents’ roles within the legislation were initially constructed in three ways: parents as targets, partners, and policy agents. These constructions have largely held over time and despite concerns raised within Congressional hearings. Additionally, I found that as parents were discussed more negatively within hearings, parents were assigned more burdens to implement and enforce SE policy.

Author

• Jennifer R. Cowhy, University of Arkansas