The individualized education program (IEP) is often referred to as the most important plan designed to provide students with disabilities a free and appropriate public education that requires families and professionals to collaborate for student success. Using qualitative methodology, we examined four focus groups of 43 parents of students with…

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted school-based delivery of special educational supports and therapeutic services. This study describes student receipt of school-based supports/services and parent satisfaction by instruction modalities during the 2020-2021 academic year in the United States. Data were collected through the COVID Experiences Survey…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates parents' participation as a necessary component of providing an appropriate education to students with disabilities. Despite these guidelines, parents report challenges with joining and contributing to the individualized education program (IEP) team as equal and valuable educational…

Policy and professional standards shape the way that special education teachers partner with parents. Such partnership is key to engaging parents in the process of special education and can serve as the foundation for collaboration and information sharing. Although the literature describes recommendations for how teachers can provide information…

To date, there has been little research into the school's practices that influence caregiver involvement in the education of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) that gives voice to both families and teachers, and little research has used a mixed-methods approach. In contrast to those studies that mainly concentrate on qualitative inquiry…

Homeschooling is controversial for a variety of reasons. One concern is whether families are sufficiently equipped to serve students with disabilities. We investigate this issue by assessing parental satisfaction with the special education services that their child is receiving in various educational sectors (e.g., homeschool, traditional public,…

Procedural safeguards have been in place for years with the intention of protecting the rights of parents and their children with disabilities. Despite the promises of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, parents have not been given the tools they need to be active participants in their child's special education. Parents of children…

This study examined two areas. First, the authors looked at whether secondary individualized education program (IEP) teams who used the "Transition Planning Inventory" (TPI) in conjunction with a structured IEP meeting that based discussions and decisions on TPI data as a planning intervention generated significantly more…

Parents play important roles as advocates for their child with a disability. Advocacy is the process of striving to improve the quality of life for someone else. The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires parents and professionals to work together to design a service delivery plan for children with disabilities. An…

The purpose of the present chapter is to provide an overview of issues facing families of children and youths with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). We argue that although much is written about families of individuals with disabilities, comparatively little is known about families with children in this category. We suggest that the…

Introduction: The results of a 2009-2010 program evaluation study that examined parents, teachers of students with visual impairments, administrators, and students regarding overall satisfaction with and effectiveness of the short-term programs at a residential school for students who are blind and visually impaired are described. The findings are…

This article describes a literature search process employed to identify research in Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) and special education, organizes some initial search results, briefly summarizes them, and raises important questions for the purpose of generating a future research agenda. The authors hope that this examination of literature…

Background: The evidence is persuasive and consistent that families play a critical role in nurturing their children's educational growth. Family support for learning is important for all students, but it may be particularly important for children with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, amended in 2004, (IDEA) has a…

Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) partner, the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) has been systematically gathering dispute resolution information from State Education Agencies (SEAs) to analyze formative (process) and summative (outcome) information on the use and…

The overall purpose of this Report is to present the findings of the "National Dispute Resolution Use and Effectiveness Study" conducted by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), under subcontract with Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE), regarding the use and…