Parents’ Experiences as Predictors of State Accountability Measures of Schools’ Facilitation of Parent Involvement

Abstract

The aim of this study was to ascertain which dimensions of parents' experiences with schools are most strongly associated with parents' perceptions that schools are or are not facilitating parent involvement as mandated by the federal accountability system under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Participants were 92 parents of students with disabilities from 18 schools in 8 school districts in a large southeastern state. Parents completed the quantitative measure used by their state to report on schools' parent engagement efforts; they then described their experiences collaborating with their child's school. Data from the qualitative analysis of parents' comments were transformed into quantitative variables used to predict success, defined as meeting the state's standard on the quantitative measure of schools' facilitation of parent involvement. Results suggested that schools prioritize responsive communication with parents and careful monitoring of students' progress to improve collaborative relationships with parents of students with disabilities.

A Description of Parent Input in IEP Development Through Analysis IEP Documents

“…While perhaps unintentional, this type of wording suggests the limited nature of parent membership on IEP teams. Yet IDEA continues to center parents as key members of the IEP team (2004), and research confirms their critical role in IEP development (Elbaum et al, 2016;Francis, Hill, Blue-Banning, Turnbull, & Haines, 2016).…”

The Opinions of Mothers of Children with Special Needs Regarding Inclusive Education

“…In their study, Ben-Yehuda, Leyser and Last (2010) determined that teachers successful in increasing the social interaction of children with special needs acquainted themselves with the child's past and established meaningful and positive relationships with their families. Another study found that parent-school collaboration was an important factor affecting parents' opinions of the school (Elbaum, Blatz & Rodriquez, 2016).…”

Mixed-Methods Case Study of Parent Involvement in the Special Education Schools of Isfahan City, Iran

“…In this view, a few parent stated that they are not desire to involve every IEP process as the agenda was prepare in advance and there is no balance between IEP objective and school performance [57]. In this regard, Hammond [61] showed that almost all parents indicated that being involved in their child's educational program was a crucial factor that parents should perform in their child's education.…”

“…In this regard, Hammond [61] showed that almost all parents indicated that being involved in their child's educational program was a crucial factor that parents should perform in their child's education. The interview study performed by Blue-Banning, et al [62] identified six themes associated to collaborative familyschool partnerships: communication, commitment, equality, skills, trust, and respect Elbaum [57]. As Epstein [37] propose, what is needed in schools is an extensive system of parental involvement.…”

“…In this view, it was revealed that parent-teacher communication in special education could be described as a shared and productive focus on child-directed services [57,58]. For strengthening the degree of communication between parent and teachers of special school, Pelco, et al [59] have suggested that psychologists have a essential role and can assist teachers to enhance their communication skills with parents, as well as methods for organizing effective parent-teacher conferences [60].…”