Advocating for the educational rights of a child with a disability can be intimidating for parents, even for those who are well versed in the language and protocols of the special education system. Securing the rights of a historically marginalized group has indeed been a challenging task and required much effort on the part of parents, educators, lawyers, and policy makers. Even so, parents of children with disabilities have continued to encounter barriers in becoming equal members in the educational planning process (Burke & Sandman, 2015; Epstein, 2001; Pomerantz, Moorman, & Litwack, 2007) notwithstanding their expanded role as set forth within the most recent reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; 2004, P.L. 108-446). Parents are typically not skilled in the terminology, rules, and settings with respect to special education, and as a result express feelings of discontent in their efforts to secure positive school outcomes for their children (Fish, 2006; Lake & Billingsley, 2000; Stoner et al., 2005). Despite the obstacles related to understanding the nature of school systems, parents continue to perceive advocacy for their children as integral in achieving positive school outcomes (Harry & Klingner, 2006; Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Trainor, 2010). Educational planning for more than 6 million students with disabilities has become part of the landscape in American public schools because the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) placed an emphasis on learning outcomes for students with disabilities (Collier, Keefe, & Hirrel, 2015; Kaufman & Blewett, 2012). Despite raised expectations for all students, students with disabilities experience sizable achievement gaps when compared with peers without disabilities. Recent data from the Building a Grad Nation Data Brief: Overview of 2013-14 High School Graduation Rates (Civic Enterprises and Everyone Graduates Center, 2016) suggest a significant gap exists between the two groups in the rates at which they graduate from high school. In the 2013-2014 school year, only 63.1% of students with disabilities earned a high school diploma, far short of the overall national graduation rate of 82.3%. Counterpart to the graduation rate is the gap in performance on academic assessments as well. Scores on the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests indicate 8% of students with disabilities scored at 690114L DQXXX10.
