IDEA Law, IEP, and Special Education Advocacy for Parents

Overview of Parental Engagement in Special Education

Parental engagement in children's education has been a prominent topic for the past twenty-five years. Before the 1980s, school-family partnerships were the exception rather than the norm. Since then, a growing body of research has indicated that parental engagement positively influences both child learning and academic performance. The subject of parental engagement receives even greater focus in the context of special education. Prior to the 1980s, many parents depended on professionals for emotional support and guidance. However, recent federal law reforms — including NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) — have repositioned parents as equal partners in children's education alongside school faculty (Sapungan & Sapungan 42).

Parental engagement leads to positive academic outcomes for disabled and special needs students, including sustained treatment gains, improved generalization, increased parental satisfaction, better approaches to issue resolution, and improved continuity in interventions. Yet many parents of special needs children do not fully participate in their child's education planning process. Prior research indicates that although parents did attend their child's IEP (Individual Education Program) meetings, they often failed to engage wholeheartedly in planning goals, programs, and assessments (Dameh 31).

Under IDEA, the IEP has been established as the key mechanism for making decisions about special education students. It is mandatory by law that teachers include both children and their parents in all IEP meetings, which must be conducted at least once annually, though they may be held more frequently at the request of either the teacher or the parent. By age 16, meaningful services and transition objectives are required to prepare students for life after high school (Rehm et al. 7).

How to Approach IEP Issues in Classrooms

Classroom educators are sometimes made members of IEP design teams. At other times, they simply receive a student with an IEP into their class. Either way, a key point to bear in mind is that educators are part of the team responsible for plan implementation. Through collaboration, a timely and well-developed approach to integrating specific evaluation and instructional strategies can be accomplished within everyday classroom practice. Students with IEPs, like their non-IEP counterparts, can be found in all educational settings. Though there are numerous differences between pupils — including differences in how they learn — an educator should perceive all classroom students as belonging to a diverse population. In some instances, certain students will require particular accommodations that, in addition to IEPs, may be put in place for a variety of reasons.

Educators must consider IEP goals and objectives when planning class activities and conducting assessments. They also need to take the IEP into account when determining how to measure and evaluate students' academic progress. Evaluation helps gauge whether adopted teaching approaches are proving effective and supports the modification of strategies when needed. A thoroughly collaborative and well-researched IEP will help disabled learners develop their capabilities and succeed academically, while also benefiting the overall classroom by modeling and cultivating a more differentiated, rich, and holistic learning experience for every student.

IEP requirements outlined in IDEA Part B emphasize the following key aspects: the engagement and success of all disabled children within the mainstream curriculum, including addressing unique disability-related demands; child and parental participation with both special and general education faculty in individual decision-making to support pupils' academic success; and preparation of disabled learners for post-school life, including employment. Parents serve as the primary safeguard for all special needs children and are, accordingly, written into nearly every facet of the special education system (Thatcher 4).

Confidence in and understanding of special education procedures and legislation — often referred to as cultural capital — is not the only factor affecting parental engagement. Social capital, defined as the capacity to forge professional relationships for achieving positive academic outcomes, is also shaped by societal, economic, and racial or ethnic factors. Teachers are encouraged to solicit and apply parents' knowledge, since parents are uniquely positioned to understand their own children. Unfortunately, in many cases, parents lack confidence in their procedural and legal knowledge, which hinders their ability to assert participation in special education (Thatcher 10).

Conclusion: Parental Rights Under IDEA

A foundational principle of IDEA is the right of parents to participate in academic decision-making for their disabled child. The law is highly specific about how school systems must ensure parental participation for those who desire it. Parental participation rights may be summarized as follows: parents are eligible to attend meetings associated with their children's educational placement, assessment, and identification, and they are entitled to participate in meetings related to the provision of FAPE (free appropriate public education) for their children (Statewide Parent Advocacy Network para. 3).

Parents have the right to be members of the group that determines whether a given child is disabled and eligible for services such as special education. Parents are qualified to participate in the team that develops, reviews, and amends their child's IEP. If neither parent can attend an IEP meeting in person, the school must use alternative methods to ensure their participation, such as conference calls or individual phone calls. Parents also have the right to participate in placement-related decision-making for their disabled child. If neither parent can be present at a placement meeting, the school must again resort to alternative options — such as video conferencing or individual phone calls — to guarantee their participation (Statewide Parent Advocacy Network para. 3).

Works Cited

Arnini, Sarah. "Parents as Partners: An Analysis of the Barriers to Parental Involvement in Special Education" (2007). Social Work Theses. 12. http://digitalcommons.providence.edu/socialwrk_students/12

Burke, Meghan M. "Improving Parental Involvement: Training Special Education Advocates." Journal of Disability Policy Studies 23.4 (2013): 225–234. DOI: 10.1177/1044207311424910

Dameh, Bilal A. "The Impact of Parent Involvement Practices in Special Education Programs" (2015). Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership. 11. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/edad_etds/11

Hornby, Garry, and Rayleen Lafaele. "Barriers to Parental Involvement in Education: An Explanatory Model." Educational Review 63.1 (2011): 37–52.

Rehm, Roberta S., et al. "Parental Advocacy Styles for Special Education Students during the Transition to Adulthood." Qualitative Health Research 23.10 (2013): 1377–1387. DOI: 10.1177/1049732313505915

Sapungan, Gina Madrigal, and Ronel Mondragon Sapungan. "Parental Involvement in Child's Education: Importance, Barriers, and Benefits." Asian Journal of Management Sciences & Education 3.2 (2014): 23–43.

Statewide Parent Advocacy Network. "Questions and Answers about IDEA: Parent Participation." Center for Parent Information and Resources, 3 Jan. 2019, www.parentcenterhub.org/qa2/.

Thatcher, Steven Brown. "Increasing Parental Involvement of Special Education Students: The Creation of Smartphone-Friendly, Web-Based Legal and Procedural Resources" (2012). All Graduate Plan B and Other Reports. 147. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/147

Wright, Amy Conley, and Sarah Taylor. "Advocacy by Parents of Young Children with Special Needs: Activities, Processes, and Perceived Effectiveness." Journal of Social Service Research 40.5 (2014): 591–605.