Lesson 5

Parental Involvement in Special

Education
Objectives
 Identify the roles and rights of parents in the learning of the children in specialeducation
 Discuss the practices and approaches that encourages parentinvolvement
 Value the importance of parental involvement in the education of specialchildren
Introduction

This lesson discusses the importance of parental involvement in the education of children. Specifically, the
lesson includes; the roles and duties of parents in the learning of their children
basedfromthepoliciesandguidelinesofspecialeducation,theparents’rights,andtheapproaches of schools to
encourage parentalinvolvement.

Study the picture on the

right and analyze its
meaning. Answer the
questions in Analysis
part.
Analysis

 What did you understand in the pictureabove?

 In what ways, can parents be involved in their child’slearning?

 Why should parent’s care/support for the studies of theirchildren?

 How can schools encourage parentalinvolvement?

Absraction

The Power of Participation

When schools and families work together, student learning and outcomes improve. The
evidence is clear and consistent in:
children’s the likelihood that their social
attitudes toward they will take more skills and
school challenging classes behavior

Giventhepowerthatfamilyinvolvementhasinfluencehowourchildrenachieveinschool and in
life, it’s not surprising that the nation’s special education law, strongly supports parents’ right to
be involved in the special education their childreceives.
“Almost 30 years of research and experience has demonstrated that the education of
childrenwithdisabilitiescanbemademoreeffectiveby…strengtheningtheroleandresponsibility of
parents and ensuring that families … have meaningful opportunities to participate in the
education of their children at school and athome.”
 Parent Education and Community Involvement
(Adopted from Article XII, Policies and Guidelines in Special Education)

Theconstitutionisclearontheimportanceofparentalinvolvementintheeducationoftheir
children. Parents of children with special needs are valuable members of the educational team in
theprogramofrehabilitationforindependentlivingoftheirchildren.Thebasicrequirementsunder the
policies and guidelines in special education are that parentsmust:
 Parenteducationshallbeanecessarycomponentofthespecialeducationprogram.Asearly as
possible, parents shall be made aware of their children handicaps and the intervention
strategies needed to help facilitate each child’s academic, social-emotional and
communicative development.

 Parents shall be provided with information, and a process of sharing experiences

continuously with other parents experiencing similarproblems.

 Parents of children with special needs shall be directly involved in the planning of
educational and special services for their children. They shall be helped to develop
confidence in their abilities to cope with, care for and teach their disabledchildren.

 The family of the child shall be involved in the process of habilitation and rehabilitation.
It shall be encouraged as the major rehabilitationunit.

 The training of trainers from among community volunteers, including parents and family
members of children with special needs, in basic special education techniques as part of
thecommunity-basedorhome-basedrehabilitationservicesshallbeconductedtopromote
programs on early identification and intervention and to enhance home-school
relationships.

Understanding Parents and Families of Children with Disabilities

 All parents and family members must adjust to the birth of child with disability orthe
discovery that a child hasdisability.
Note: This adjustment process is different for each parents’, and educators should not make
assumptions about an individual parent’s stage of adjustment
 There are nine roles and responsibilities that parents of children with disabilitiesmust
fulfill:
caregiver provider teacher

behavior parent of siblings

counselor management without
specialist disabiltiites

advocate for
information school and  A family member’s
marriage partner specialist community
services disability affects
parents andsiblings
without disabilities in different ways during the different life-cycle stages.

 Respite care – the temporary care of an individual with disabilities by nonfamily

members – is a critical support for families with children with severedisabilities.

 Parent to parent groups give parents of children with disabilities support from veteran
parents who are experiencing similar circumstances andchallenges.

 Parents can and should learn to help teacher their child withdisabilities.

Parental Rights
One of the constitution’s foundational principles is the right of parents to participate in
educational decisionmakingregardingtheirchildwithadisability.Thelawisveryspecificabout what
school systems must do to ensure that parents have the opportunity to participate, if they so
choose.
ParentsRights Which means that…

Parents’ have rights to obtain You have the right to have your child evaluated by
independent educational professionals from outside the school district if you
evaluations disagree with an evaluation that has been conducted
by the school district.

Parents’ have rights toreceive The school is required to notify you beforehand if
prior written notice any time they wish to:
the school district plans to
evaluate the student,  Evaluate yourchild
schedules a meeting where  Determine whether your child is eligible for
decisions will be madeabout special educationservices
 the student’s eligibility or  Change your child’s evaluation or
educational placement or educational placement orplan.
refuses to evaluate or change
the student’s plan or
placement.

Parents’ have rights to The school must obtain your written, informed
consent to evaluations and to consent before they can evaluate your child orbegin
the school providing special to provide special education services to your child
education services (following initial evaluation andeligibility).

Parents’ have rights to have You have the right to see your child’s educational
access to their child’s records, to have copies and to have the records
educational records explained to you by school officials.

Parents’ have rights to present Procedures for resolving parents’ complaints against
and resolve a complaint school districts include:
• Mediation
• Resolutionmeetings
• Due processhearings
• Appeals tocourts

Parents’ have rights in due Both you and the school district have the right to
process hearings requestadueprocesshearingtoresolveadispute.A due
process hearing is a formal legal procedure before
an impartial hearing officer oradministrative
lawjudge.

Supporting Parental Involvement

There is no defined procedure that can be held up as best practice in relation to parental
involvement. The key objective should be to maximize parental involvement and to make the
experience for parents as positive and supportive as possible. The following practices should be
adopted as the basic minimum to support parental involvement:
Adequate Advance Notification
When parents are invited to a planning meeting, it is helpful if this invitation is extended at least
oneweekinadvanceoftheproposeddate.Advanceplanningcanbeparticularlyimportantwhere parents
are working or where they need to make child carearrangements.
Encourage practical involvement of parents
Parents often ask ‘What can I do to help my child?’ and teachers and professionals should give
thisquestionsomepriorconsideration.Parentsmayvolunteertoundertakeatask,suchaslistening
to their child read every evening. Parents may also be involved in monitoring behavior, including
supporting interventions by giving rewards.
Information in writing
It may be helpful if parents are given written information about the processes so that they can
understand their role, rights and responsibilities and know what to expect from the process.
Parent-Teacher Communication
The use of different form of communication (in-service program, home-school notebook, parent-
teacher conferences). Continued communication with the family is critical to the success of the
program.

GOOD PRACTICE – PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

In some situations, it may be better if the parents’ views are sought before the
planning meeting, either by informal meeting, questionnaire or by telephone
interview. These mechanisms need not be overly time-consuming and allow
professionals to be aware of parental issues in advance of the meeting. This also
allows parents to have had a structured framework to work through in advance of
themeetingandmayhelpthemtoclarifytheirownthoughtsandhavesomesense of what
toexpect.

Application
Case Analysis
Instruction: Read and analyze the given case. Answer each of the questions comprehensively.

Pushy Parents

Jamal was a first-year teacher at Hull Elementary School. He had worked hard to learn all
the school procedures, set up his classroom for the success of all students, and was aware of all
students with special needs. He thought he was prepared for anything. The third week of school,
Amaya'sparentscalledtosetupameetingwithhim.Jamalthoughtthiswasstrangeashehadonly
seenAmayaacoupleoftimesandshehaddonewellinclass.HeknewAmayahaddifficultywith
transitions and was sometimes unable to participate in class because of mobility issues (Amaya
uses awheelchair).

When Jamal arrived at the meeting, he saw both of Amaya's parents, the Principal, and an
advocatewithadegreeinspecialeducationlaw.Theparentsandadvocatewereveryvocalintheir
oppositiontoAmayabeing"excluded"fromactivitiesbecauseofherdisabilityanddemandedthat she
receive a special music class each week and that her inclusion music class be made 100%
accessible to her.
 Jamaldidn'tsaymuchinthemeetingbecausehewascompletelyintim
idatedbytheparents and advocate. The Principal did not really seem to
be in his corner either. Jamal went home after the meeting to think
about how toproceed.

[Adopted from
https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195395419/casestudies/]

1. How were the parents involved in their child’seducation?

2. Should teachers and parents need a harmonious relationship

for an effective supportto the child’s education?Why?

3. Were the parents’ complaints against Teacher Jamal appropriate?Why?

4. How should teachers and schools deal with parents’ complaints like that
ofAmaya’s?