Cobbling Together Services: Parental Resources Shape Parental Actions within Special Education

• In Event: Parents, Equity, and Implementation of Special Education

Abstract

Research has long-documented inequities within the implementation of special education policy. A separate sociological literature has long-documented that parental resources affect children’s experiences in formal schooling. In this paper I argue that parents’ have differential access to types of economic, social, and cultural capital, which contribute to injustices within special education. In this interview study with a racially and socioeconomically diverse group of 60 parents, I find that parents from different socioeconomic statuses take different actions and have differential access to resources to perform their administrative and implementation responsibilities. This study has implications for research, policy, and practice.

Author

• Jennifer R. Cowhy, University of Arkansas