A Case Study of Black Parent’s Experiences With the Special Education Process

Family involvement has been documented to be beneficial in various student outcomes including academic achievement, academic engagement, academic motivation, social adjustment, emotional adjustment, delinquency, and academic attainment. In addition to the benefits of family involvement on student outcomes, family involvement also mandated under IDEA throughout the special education process. Despite the documented disproportionality of Black children in special education, there has not been many studies examining family involvement of Black caregivers specifically. As such, the purpose of this case study is to understand the approaches in which Black caregivers participate in special education process for their children. Themes emerged from the data included caregivers as advocates, participation through collaboration with the schools and school choice, and systemic and personal experiences of bias. Based on findings, implications included the need for culturally competent school personnel, diverse school personnel, understanding and supporting families regarding barriers, and overcoming deficit views of Black children and caregivers.