By Coral Saban
This issue ofNASET’s Classroom Management series was written by Coral Saban. Parent involvement has been proven by countless studies to have significant ramification on the academic success of students. In special education, parent involvement is especially critical to ensure that the needs of the students are being met. Nonetheless, increasing parent involvement is a difficult obstacle for schools to overcome. Parent involvement is often challenged by language barriers, diverse cultural backgrounds, various socioeconomic factors, and an overwhelmingly amount of information that must be shared. Schools and educators could overcome these hurdles by establishing a steady stream of communication through continuous parent-teacher collaboration. Initiating school-wide collaborative activities such as providing parents with opportunities to volunteer in classrooms, offering teacher-led trainings to parents, and publishing multilingual newsletters are some of the ways to increase parent involvement through parent-teacher collaboration.
Abstract
Parent involvement has been proven by countless studies to have significant ramification on the academic success of students. In special education, parent involvement is especially critical to ensure that the needs of the students are being met. Nonetheless, increasing parent involvement is a difficult obstacle for schools to overcome. Parent involvement is often challenged by language barriers, diverse cultural backgrounds, various socioeconomic factors, and an overwhelmingly amount of information that must be shared. Schools and educators could overcome these hurdles by establishing a steady stream of communication through continuous parent-teacher collaboration. Initiating school-wide collaborative activities such as providing parents with opportunities to volunteer in classrooms, offering teacher-led trainings to parents, and publishing multilingual newsletters are some of the ways to increase parent involvement through parent-teacher collaboration.
Increasing Parent Involvement of Parents of Students with Disabilities through Collaboration
In the world of Exceptional Student Education (ESE), laws concerning the rights of students with disabilities are familiar to most educators. These laws were established to ensure that all students receive free and appropriate education and that all their educational needs are met. Educators and schools must strictly adhere to these laws and could be held legally liable when they are not. This is where parent-teacher collaboration and parent involvement carry the most significance, however, what happens when parents of students with disabilities are not aware of these laws or have no knowledge of their children’s rights? The impact on the educational outcomes of their children could be devastating. Wagner, Blackorby, Cameto, & Newman (1993) found that “for children and youth with disabilities, parental involvement has been shown to be an important protective factor against adverse educational, social, and employment outcomes in young adulthood” (as cited in Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012).
Developing consistent parent involvement is no easy task for schools to accomplish as they encounter many challenges that could influence parent involvement such as language barriers, diverse cultural backgrounds, various socioeconomic factors, and an overwhelmingly amount of information that must be shared. Nevertheless, consistent parent-teacher collaboration is the most effective way to overcome these challenges and increase parent involvement. Connery (1987), Harry (2002), and Matuszny (2004) found in their studies that parental involvement oftentimes is heavily influenced by the lack of trust parents may have toward educational stakeholders who they feel are not sharing adequate information about various available resources or their children’s educational rights and are lacking cultural sensitivity (as cited in Matuszny, Banda, & Coleman, 2007, p.25).
Historical Perspective
Maintaining continuous parent- teacher collaboration is not a foreign obstacle educators and parents face. Research found that in the 1970’s, many parents of students with disabilities “lacked knowledge about their rights under the law as well as an accurate understanding of team decisions about their children’s education (Hoff, Fenton, Yoshida, & Kaufinan, 1978)” (Valle, 2011, p.186). Further, the lack of knowledge parents had regarding their children’s educational rights greatly influenced educators’ perspective on parent input when it came to their children’s Individualized education plans (IEPs). Yoshida, Fenton, Kaufinan, and Maxwell (1978) found that during the IEP process parent-teacher collaboration was fairly minimal and educators often perceived the role of parents “within IEP meetings to be that of a passive recipient of information rather than an active contributor” (as cited in Valle, 2011, p.186). This inaccurate attitude toward the amount of contribution that was required from parents continued well into the 1980’s and 1990’s. Goldsmith (1993) noted that in the 1990’s “the use of technical language and educational jargon in special education committee meetings functioned in such a way as to exclude parent input” (as cited in Valle, 2011, p.187).
As a result, various educational laws were developed and revised to address this issue. In 2004, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guaranteed parent involvement in its procedural safeguards. IDEA (2004) states that “these procedural safeguards guarantee parents’ rights to share in decision making with the school regarding identification and diagnosis, evaluation, placement, services, individualized educational planning, and transition to adulthood” (as cited in Mandic et al., 2012, pp.195-196). Nevertheless, problems continue to emerge when parents are not aware of the laws and procedures that were explicitly created to increase parent involvement. This is where parent-teacher collaboration makes the greatest impact.
Overcoming Challenges
As mentioned earlier, there are various challenges that could influence an effective parent-teacher collaboration. Language barriers, diverse cultural backgrounds, various socioeconomic factors, and an abundant amount of information are just some of the challenges educators and parents face as they try collaborating with one another.
Language Barriers
In many culturally diverse places across the United States dealing with language barriers is a common occurrence. Consequently, in the education system facing language barriers is a common issue but one that could lead to miscommunication, spread of misinformation, and the educational needs of students with disabilities not being met. Sohn and Wang (2006) found in their research on the perspective of Korean mothers on parents’ involvement in American schools that language was one of the main obstacles they encountered when trying to communicate with teachers. In this study, one mother mentioned that “although I really want to communicate with my child’s teacher, I felt frustrated when the teacher often did not understand my English” (p.128). As evidenced by this study, dealing with a language barrier could cause a great deal of frustration in both parents and educators. This frustration could be reduced and maybe even avoided if educators practiced frequent communication that is accessible to all parents. Arias and Morillo-Campbell (2008) suggested that schools and educators could accomplish this by “providing a home-to-school coordinator, sending out multilingual newsletters, and/or establishing a multilingual telephone homework line” (as cited in Tarasawa & Waggoner, 2005).
Diverse Cultural Backgrounds
Special education and diverse cultural background coalesce as Gottlieb, Gottlieb, and Trongone (1991) found that children of color are referred for special education evaluations more often than their Caucasian counterparts (as cited in Irvine 2012). Moreover, effective communication between parents, educators, and schools could be challenged when educators and schools are not in touch with the diverse cultural backgrounds of their students and their families. Irvine (2012) noted that when schools and educators are not appropriately trained on how to communicate with their diverse families it could lead to negative consequences “such as miscommunication; confrontations among the student, the teacher, and the home; hostility; alienation; diminished self-esteem; and possible misclassification in special education programs” (p.269). Being able to communicate with parents while remaining informed of their various cultural backgrounds is a significant component of creating successful parent-teacher relationships where both sides continuously collaborate. Ford (1992) suggested that “professionals should be educated in historical and contemporary contributions of different cultural groups, lifestyles, value systems, interpersonal communication patterns, learning styles, and parental altitudes about education and disabilities” (as cited in Harrison & Arnold, 1995). This reinforces the notion that for parent-teacher collaboration to be successful, trainings in multicultural diversity should be available to all educators as well as mandatory in every college education program across the country.
Socioeconomic Factors
Socioeconomic factors such as a family’s income, a parent’s level of education, and employment status can heavily influence parent involvement when collaborating with educators. Research by Turney and Kao (2009) revealed that parents from a lower socioeconomic status (SES) often struggle to remain active participants in their child’s education compared to parents from a higher SES and those who possessed higher formal education (as cited in Malone, 2017, p.59). Further, socioeconomic factors have a substantial role in the enrollment of students in special education. Researchers found that children of immigrants are at a higher risk to be referred to special education because their families commonly face “social and economic disadvantages upon arrival in the United States, including limited familiarity with English, a lack of community and school ties, lower levels of parental human capital and fewer financial resources (Bean and Tienda 1987; Kao and Tienda 1995; Zhou 1997)” (Hibel & Jasper, 2012). For this reason, working with families through their socioeconomic hurdles could be considerably beneficial in the process of creating a productive parent-teacher relationship. Malone (2017) recommended administrators implement strategies such as “flexible volunteer opportunities, offering childcare, offering training programs for parents, and increasing awareness to meet specific needs for working parents” (p.61) as a way to overcome these challenges and increase parent involvement.
A Wealth of Information
As in anything where laws and regulations are put into practice, parents may struggle with navigating through the world of special education where countless laws are put into place and an unfamiliar jargon is often used. Lytle and Bordin (2001) found that parents of students with disabilities may be inexperienced “with special education procedures and relevant language, may lack an understanding of the limitations of the school and the teacher’s limitations and may be reluctant to question school personnel about the supports and services available to their child” (as cited in Whitbread, Bruder, Fleming, & Park, 2007). Consequently, when parents lack the knowledge on the educational rights of their children they are unable to effectively advocate for them. This is where consistent parent-teacher collaboration is essential. Research by Darch, Miao, and Shippen’s (2004) suggested that educators:
“(a) help parents improve parenting techniques, (b) encourage parents to communicate about their children, (c) suggest options for volunteering in the classroom, (d) provide technical assistance on effective teaching at home, and (e) suggest ways parents can be involved in school-wide activities” (as cited in Valle, 2011, p.187).
Using these strategies could assist educators in developing a communication system with parents where they have multiple opportunities to collaborate, thus making it easier to share important information.
Conclusion
In conclusion, parent-teacher collaboration is an essential component in education. It ensures that parents and teachers establish a relationship where frequent communication is supported and encouraged. Parent- teacher collaboration is particularly influential in special education as it increases knowledge sharing and assists families in advocating for their children. Research regarding parents’ perceptions of satisfaction with the education their children were receiving found that consistent communication and collaboration were primary reasons for parent satisfaction when they were properly implemented. One parent noted that “we have been extremely blessed with the support we have received. All members listen to our concerns and we all try implementing what is working for each place” (Starr & Foy, 2012). Accordingly, administrators and educators should strive to overcome challenges such as language barriers, diverse cultural backgrounds, various socioeconomic factors, and the vast amount of information that is available to guarantee an increase in parent involvement and student academic success.
References
Harrison, L. H., & Arnold, M. B. (1995). Strategies for increasing African American parental participation in the special education process. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 22(3), 230.
Hibel, J., & Jasper, A. D. (2012). Delayed Special Education Placement for Learning Disabilities Among Children of Immigrants. Social Forces, 91(2), 503–530. doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1093/sf/sos092
Irvine, J. J. (2012). Complex Relationships Between Multicultural Education and Special Education: An African American Perspective. Journal of Teacher Education, 63(4), 268–274. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1177/0022487112447113
Malone, D. (2017). Socioeconomic Status: A Potential Challenge for Parental Involvement in Schools. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 83(3), 58–62.
Mandic, C. G., Rudd, R., Hehir, T., & Acevedo-Garcia, D. (2012). Readability of Special Education Procedural Safeguards. Journal of Special Education, 45(4), 195–203. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1177/0022466910362774
Matuszny, R. M., Banda, D. R., & Coleman, T. J. (2007). A Progressive Plan for Building Collaborative Relationships with Parents from Diverse Backgrounds. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(4), 24–31.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1177/004005990703900403
Starr, E. M., & Foy, J. B. (2012). In Parents’ Voices: The Education of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Remedial & Special Education, 33(4), 207–216. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1177/0741932510383161
Sohn, S., & Wang, X. C. (2006). Immigrant Parents’ Involvement in American Schools: Perspectives from Korean Mothers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(2), 125–132. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1007/s10643-006-0070-6
Tarasawa, Beth, and Jacqueline Waggoner. 2015. Increasing Parental Involvement of English Language Learner Families: What the Research Says. Journal of Children & Poverty 21 (2): 129–34. doi:10.1080/10796126.2015.1058243.
Valle, J. W. (2011). Down the Rabbit Hole: A Commentary About Research on Parents and Special Education. Learning Disability Quarterly, 34(3), 183–190. https://doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1177/0731948711417555
Whitbread, K. M., Bruder, M. B., Fleming, G., & Park, H. J. (2007). Collaboration in Special Education. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(4), 6–14. doi-org.ezproxy.fiu.edu/10.1177/004005990703900401
To Access this Article
To download a PDF file version of this issue of NASET’s Classroom Management Series: Click here
