Parents play a critical role in the planning of educational programs for their children. In efforts to increase parental involvement, instructions were added to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that mandated active parental participation during the preparation of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). According to Lo (2008), when IDEA was reauthorized in 2004, additional parental rights were added that required the attendance of parents and every member of an IEP Team, unless both the parent and school agree to an absence and document that agreement in writing. That mandate emphasizes the importance of parental participation in educational programming for their children.
Current research indicates that legislation, alone, is not enough to encourage parents to participate in educational programming activities for their children. Simpson states, “Parental roles have not increased in IEP meetings and positive relationships between parents and educators have not been ensured despite the conceptualization and intent of P.L. 94-142” (1996).
Purpose Statement
Parents often fail to communicate their thoughts about the source of problems that challenge their children, or to recommend solutions during Individualized Education Program meetings because most do not feel empowered to participate in the IEP process.
Research Questions
1: Why do many parents fail to express their opinions during the Individualized Education Program process?
2: What is the potential for increased involvement if parents undergo training that educates them about the various aspects of the Individual Education Program process?
3: What is the potential effect of active parent participation in the Individual Education ...
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...rceptions of Special Education Services. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 18(4), 229-236.
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This is simply not the case. Students who have not had the benefit of previous instruction often feel a debilitating inability to contribute (Martin, VanDycke, Greene, Gardner, Christensen, Woods, & Lovett, 2006). Without specific IEP instruction, students have no idea how to participate in IEP meetings, nor do they fully understand the purpose of their IEPs (Martin, Van Dycke, Christensen, Greene, Gardner, Woods, and Lovett, 2006). Lack of instruction, however should not be the hindrance that prevent students from participating and leading the IEP process. Students with disabilities must be taught how to direct their IEPs.
The IEP team may include the student, their parents, a regular teacher, a special education provider and other representatives, such as a social worker or relative child care provider. These meets are required to be held within 30 days of the student’s acceptance into the special education program. Every IEP has the two main goals of setting reasonable learning goals and establishing academic services that the school will provide. The IEP should state which state and district-wide assessments that the student will or will not participate in and why.
I observed an IEP meeting for one of my students who has a TBI, traumatic brain injury. She just moved to this school district last year, so this was a follow-up IEP meeting to see how she was doing on her short-term objectives and overall goal. They also talked about transitioning her into high school, because she is in 8th grade now. The People who attended the meeting were the DAPE teacher, the mom, the student, the three special education teachers, the para-professional, and case manger.
families, they become more interested in participating to see those efforts succeed (Ferlazzo & Hammond, 2009).
One of the primary causes of a failing education system is the insufficient amount of support from parents to improve education. For instance, majority of parents who send their children to impoverished schools are not playing an active role in their children’s education. Consequently, there are many factors that keep parents away from supporting their children’s educational needs. Parents may be working more than one job to maintain a roof...
Most parents know, or at least have a general understanding of the environment or atmosphere that their student needs be in to succeed. The district encourages that parental input be given to the IEP team during a multi-disciplinary meetings, and always tries to take that input into consideration. However, sometimes what the parent wants is not always in line with the student’s ability level, and the IEP team will try to find a compromise, or even offer trial periods to evaluate progress and behavior (S. Cummings, personal communication, November 12th, 2015).
District personnel must ensure that the IEP is implemented; they must coordinate the agreed-upon placement and services that are listed in the IEP; and they must obtain parental consent before providing special education services. If parents refuse to consent, the district is not obligated to provide the student with a FAPE or to convene future IEP meetings. Additionally, the district cannot challenge parental refusal through due process. In other words, parents have the right to insist that their child is not provided special education and related services even after an evaluation has confirmed that the student is in need of these
Snell, M. E. (2003). Autism, Education of Individuals with. In J. W. Guthrie (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Education (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 161-162). New York: Macmillan Reference USA.
... It is a challenge to get people involved because people always want to know what is in it for them. Children need to be read to, sung to, and played with all the time. Parents should be their child’s first teacher and provider. The earlier this starts, the closer that child is to receiving a diploma.
Parents have the right to be included in placement decisions, IEP developments, and evaluations. Schools should collaborate and communicate consistently with family members due to the fact they know their child better than anyone else and can be a powerful resource, as well as an advocate, for their development and education (American Foundation for the Blind, 2015). Furthermore, information regarding a student’s disability is highly confidential. IDEA clarifies that such information may be shared with only individuals who are working directly with the student (Friend, 2014).
Because of a need to save time, IEP teams sometimes preplan a meeting and present a strategy to the parents (Weishaar, 2008). This may result in an IEP that is not written from a strengths-based lens. As a result, parents are placed in position of reacting to the school’s recommended plan and are not part of its development. Without input from a parent, an IEP team may be less positive about what a student is able to do. Parents may not consider themselves as partners in the decisions being made for their child (Pattoni, 2012). If parents are involved in the IEP development, it is more likely they will be more active in its implementation. It’s well known that parent involvement in a child’s education is a win-win proposition. Family engagement results in greater success for the
These parents experience difficult situations facing their community, friends, and extended family. They note that there is a lot of ignorance among many of the general public in regards to the challenges of raising a child with ASD. The lack of acceptance comes as a result of a stigma about autism. For this reason, parents who are looking for acceptance from the public might face rejection and condescending attitudes towards them (Altiere & Kluge, 2009). Parents in the study also reported that sharing their story is liberating.
Public Law 94-142: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, now called Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), requires states to provide free, appropriate public education (FAPE) for every child regardless of disability. This federal law was the first to clearly define the rights of disabled children to receive special education services if their disability affects their educational performance. A parent of a special education student also has basic rights under IDEA including the right to have their child evaluated by the school district and to be included when the school district meets about the child or makes decisions about his or her education. If a child is identified as in need of special education services, the school district must devise a written individual education program (IEP) for the child, which includes related services. An IEP is a statement of a student’s special education and related services including speech services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, counseling and assistive technology and transportation. In addition, this legally binding, individualized plan outlines reasonable educational goals for the student and is reviewed and updated yearly.
Parental involvement promotes the social growth of a child. Children whose parents are involved in their education have many advantages. They have better grades, test scores, long-term academic achievement, attitudes and behavior than those with disinterested mothers and fathers (Gestwicki, 2001). Parents becoming involved in their child's schooling creates extra sources of social constraint to influence the child's behavior (McNeal, 2001). For example, parents talking to their children and becoming involved in the school conveys a message to the child of education being important. Parents should be talking with your children's teacher and letting her know about your family. The more she knows about your child, the better she will be able to connect with your child.
To conclude, my research shows a clear link between parental involvement and children performing better in school. Children who's parents are involved in their education are showing better performance and are achieving higher grades. They also show better behaviour, more enthusiasm, ambition and higher levels of engagement. compared with children who's parent are not involved in their education. My research also shows that parental involvement has great benefits for both children and parents in many ways, so much so that the most effective schools are those who encouraged parents to be involved.