All children in the United States have a right to effective education. While an optimal learning environment is important for all students, children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to barriers to accessing high-quality learning environments. Many parents of children receiving special education services want to be strong advocates for…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the experiences of caregivers who advocate for a child with social anxiety. Parents of a child diagnosed with social anxiety describe similar experiences and challenges. Often parents adopt the role of advocate in order to obtain the necessary school services for their child. This…

Children with disabilities are a marginalized group and current literature indicates that their parents are less likely to participate in their education. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the agency and advocacy experiences of parents of elementary school children with disabilities in a school district in a central Florida…

Although special education advocates have played an essential role in obtaining rights for individuals with disabilities, there is still much unknown about their motivations, challenges, roles, and the meaning they made from their experiences. Research into Saudi parent advocates of children with disabilities and their complex daily life issues…

This mixed methods study was designed to examine the factors that experienced special education teachers report as being influential in their decision to remain in the field of special education. The study collected data using surveys and interviews with experienced special education teachers to gather their perspectives and identify common themes…

Military life involves frequent movements requiring frequent and sometimes difficult life adaptations, especially for military families who have children with special needs. The problem addressed in this study is active-duty military families are not provided consistent family assistance or support for their children with special needs during…

This study aimed to shed light on the attributes of parents who advocate fiercely for inclusion and how these attributes impact education placement. Questions guiding this study were: What are the distinctive attributes of parents of children with multiple support needs that equip them to advocate for inclusive education settings? How do parents…

"The opportunity is there, this is what I think of when I think of role models, I think of my experience" (Anthony -- a participant in this study -- commenting on the effectiveness of advocating for his child). Black children encounter racism in American schools and parents need to advocate for them. The purpose of this qualitative study…

Using Kimberle Crenshaw's (1990) intersectionality theory as the theoretical framework, this intersectional narrative study focused on how a Black, female school leader in an Alabama Black Belt public school navigated structural constraints to foster Black female student agency (Berry & Cook, 2018; Crenshaw, 1990; Esposito & Evans-Winters,…

Students with special learning needs (SSLN) have many issues when attempting to access quality education that would prepare them for post-secondary pursuits. Upon investigation, two themes stand out (1) persistent devaluing of the potential of the SSLN, and (2) the absence of the caregiver's voice in their son or daughter's educational plan. To…

The disproportionality of African American male students diagnosed with disabilities and placed in special education services compared to their White counterparts raises questions about how students are identified for testing, assessed, and placed into special education in public schools. This study explores the special education placement…

The purpose of this study was to form a greater understanding of the experiences and challenges confronting K-8 public school teachers of gifted students. Education of the gifted and talented elementary student is the development of a scholar as an independent learner that is autonomous. Public school administrators, general education teachers,…

This qualitative study represents the perspective of a parent of a twice-exceptional (2e) child with autism and giftedness through the cultural lens of neurodiversity. Twice-exceptional children are those who are gifted and have a co-existing disability (Assouline, Foley-Nicpon, & Huber, 2006). This study used an autoethnography methodology,…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how elementary educators described their support of twice-exceptional students using character strengths-based practices in promoting the domains of well-being in inclusive classrooms across the state of Arizona. Seligman's (2011) PERMA model and Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi's…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of private practitioner and educational advocate opinions on school-based administrators' decision-making thought processes when making a recommendation for special education eligibility. Special education eligibility is a school-based team decision that involves multiple…