Understanding the Lived Experiences of Special Education Teachers Tasked with Ensuring Parental Involvement in Special Education Processes

Overview & Synopsis

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) mandates parental participation in special education processes, yet families, especially culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families, often face obstacles in their active involvement as an equal team member in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Although there has been research on identifying the barriers families face in their active involvement in their child's special education programming, little has been done to understand the impediments teachers face in alleviating this problem and adequately enforcing parents' rights within special education processes. This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of special education teachers responsible for implementing parents' rights to participative activity in special education processes. The study explored special education teachers' self-efficacy in facilitating parental rights in special education processes, and whether special education teachers' self-efficacy was impacted when working with White families versus CLD families. This study revealed that 100% of participants had positive beliefs about parent-teacher collaboration, and felt confident in their ability to collaborate effectively with families within special education. Special education teachers' confidence in fully enforcing parents' rights in special education varied; the three educators that reported lower self-confidence attributed their low confidence to a lack of understanding of special education laws and factors outside of their control. All participants self-perceived their confidence in collaborating effectively with CLD families lower compared to White families. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]