Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Parents’ Perceptions of the IEP Process

Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 13(2), 2013, 4–18  Division for Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners of the Council for Exceptional Children

Multiple Voices, 13(2), Fall 20134

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Parents’ Perceptions of the IEP Process: A Review of Current Research

KATIE WOLFE University of South Carolina

LILLIAN K. DURÁN Utah State University

ABSTRACT Many parents of students with disabilities face barriers to meaningful participation in Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings; parents who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) encounter additional challenges. Given the changing demographics of the United States and the central role of the IEP in special education, it is important for educators to be aware of and responsive to the experiences of parents who are CLD. This literature review examines nine recent studies investigating CLD parents’ perceptions of their role in the IEP process. Common themes include language barriers, cultural barriers, and insuffi cient information. Recommendations for improving the experiences of parents who are CLD focus on increasing the availability of qualifi ed interpreters and supporting educators to engage in culturally and linguistically responsive practices.

A strong home-school partnership is critical to ev- ery child’s success in the public education system (Carter, 2002). Research has consistently demon- strated that parent involvement, such as checking homework and engaging in school-related discus- sions, is highly correlated with positive student out- comes (Lee & Bowen, 2006). Above and beyond these benefi ts of parent involvement, parent partici- pation is mandated for children with special needs being served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). The law requires collaboration between parents and professionals regarding all aspects of a student’s participation in special education services, includ- ing assessment and eligibility determination, goal identifi cation, behavior support plans, and transi- tion through the Individualized Education Program (IEP; Friend & Cook, 2003).

The IEP is the backbone of IDEA and is in- tended serve as a legal contract that specifi es the child’s present levels of performance, lists annual goals and related short-term objectives, details the provision of related services, and delineates the al- location of time between the general and special education environments. IDEA identifi es a num- ber of requirements regarding parents and the IEP process, including scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed upon time and place, providing adequate notice of the meeting in a language com- prehensible to the parent, explaining and provid- ing a written copy of procedural safeguards, and supplying an interpreter for parents with limited English profi ciency. In reality, these requirements do little more than support parent attendance at the IEP meeting. IDEA states that parents are to be considered “full and equal participants” (IDEA

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2004, 34 CFR 300.322) in the meeting, which sug- gests a more active, decision-making role. Parents, teachers, and administrators are left to navigate how to best establish meaningful, collaborative re- lationships; a plethora of strategies, models, and frameworks have been published in special educa- tion research to this end (Cheatham, Hart, Malian, & McDonald, 2012; Dabkowski, 2004; Lo, 2012; Staples & Diliberto, 2010). Despite the attention that strengthening the home-school partnership has received in the literature, the results of research on parent satisfaction with the IEP process are mixed. Fish (2006) and Stoner et al. (2005) found that middle-class participants were relatively dissatis- fi ed with the IEP process; neither study reported demographic characteristics of their participants. In a subsequent study, Fish (2008) noted high rates of satisfaction among primarily middle- to upper- class European American participants.

Researchers have identifi ed several barriers to parent participation in IEP meetings, including the professionals’ use of educational jargon, parents’ lack of familiarity with the school system, and logistical diffi culties, such as work schedules and obtaining child care (Smith, 2001). Parents who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) face additional barriers to meaningful participa- tion in the IEP. Individuals are considered cultur- ally and linguistically diverse in relation to the general population of the community or society in which they live. In the United States, cultural and linguistic diversity has been broadly defi ned as in- dividuals whose primary language is not English and/or who are not European American (Division for Early Childhood, 2010). In addition to the chal- lenges encountered by parents in general, parents who are CLD face other signifi cant barriers that include professionals’ lack of cultural responsive- ness, parents’ limited English profi ciency, dispa- rate conceptions of disability, and the potential for cross-cultural miscommunication (Zhang & Bennett, 2003; Lo, 2012). Aside from hindering basic compliance with IDEA, these barriers have important educational implications for parents of students with disabilities who are CLD. In general, these populations have often been marginalized and may not have historically experienced positive interactions or supports from public school sys- tems (Harry & Klingner, 2006). However, school

personnel should recognize that all parents have a unique perspective of their child’s needs and de- velopmental history that is invaluable to the de- velopment of appropriate educational goals and objectives (Lo, 2008). Given the additional barri- ers to meaningful participation for parents who are CLD, their perspectives on involvement and the value placed on their participation in the special education system are critical to developing cultur- ally responsive approaches that facilitate higher levels of engagement in the IEP process.

Researchers began to investigate the perspec- tives and experiences of parents from diverse back- grounds in the 1980s (Lynch & Stein, 1982, 1987). Lynch and Stein (1987) interviewed Hispanic parents about their perceptions of the IEP process and compared the results to a previous study that evaluated the perceptions of African American and European American parents. The frequency and type of IEP participation were signifi cantly differ- ent across the three groups of parents. Compared to European American parents, Hispanic and Af- rican American parents reported that they offered fewer suggestions during IEP meetings and felt as though they knew less about what services their child was receiving. “General communication con- cerns” (p. 109) were a common barrier for both Hispanic parents and African American parents, and more than half of the Hispanic parents also felt that additional education regarding parents’ rights and responsibilities with regard to special educa- tion was needed. In the 1990s, researchers contin- ued to evaluate the perspectives of parents who are CLD on special education (Harry, 1992a;b; Harry, Allen, & McLaughlin, 1995; Sontag & Schacht, 1994), reporting results similar to those found by Lynch and Stein (1987). Across these studies, parents from CLD backgrounds reported consider- able communication barriers, lack of information about their child’s disability and special educa- tion law, and low levels of participation during IEP meetings, despite interest in becoming more involved.

There has been no systematic review of litera- ture investigating the experiences of parents who are CLD with regard to the IEP process in the last decade. The purpose of this article is to examine current research investigating CLD parents’ per- spectives on the IEP process, limited to research

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from the last 10 years. It is important to review recent research on the experiences of parents who are CLD with the IEP process for several key rea- sons. First, the demographics of the United States are changing rapidly, with projections estimating that by 2050, non-whites will make up the major- ity of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). Second, children from CLD backgrounds are rep- resented disproportionately in special education (Donovan & Cross, 2002), while teachers are pre- dominantly European American (Elhoweris, Mutua, Alsheikh, & Holloway, 2005). Recent statistics indicate that CLD students are approximately 47% of the school-age special education population (U. S. Department of Education, 2010). Third, in recent years, there has been an increasing trend to incorporate diversity standards into state standards for teacher licensure (Akiba, Cockrell, Simmons, Han, & Agarwal, 2010). Akiba et al. (2010) reported that 42 states and the District of Columbia required some level of diversity training for teacher licen- sure as of 2010. It is possible that these standards have facilitated a change in the way teachers and administrators interact with parents who are CLD in the IEP meeting. Given the increasing diversity of the population in the United States, the large proportion of students who are CLD in special education, and the relatively recent attention to di- versity in state licensure requirements, current par- ent perceptions may differ from those reported in the 1990s. Additionally, fi ndings may clarify how teachers and administrators can encourage the sub- stantive participation of parents who are CLD in the IEP process. Results from the studies identi- fi ed will be synthesized to answer the following research questions:

• How do parents who are CLD perceive their participation in IEP meetings?

• What factors do parents who are CLD believe infl uence their participation in IEP meetings?

METHOD A literature search was conducted using ERIC via EBSCOhost and PsycInfo via EBSCOhost. Search terms included various combinations of the following keywords: parent, culture, perception,

IEP, special education, participation, and involve- ment. Abstracts for studies located via this search method were then screened for fi nal inclusion in the review. To get a representation of current par- ent perceptions of the IEP process, only studies published between 2001-2011 were eligible for inclusion. Articles had to directly examine the per- spectives and experiences of parents via interviews, questionnaires, surveys, or observation. The prima- ry focus of the review was on parental experiences with IEP meetings; however, studies that investigat- ed parent perceptions of special education services in general were included if data were presented re- garding perspectives on the IEP meeting specifi cal- ly. Studies conducted outside the United States and those that examined parent perspectives on Individ- ualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) development were excluded. Studies had to include parents from a CLD background, with one or more children re- ceiving special education services. Studies in which CLD parents were a subset of the participant pop- ulation were eligible for inclusion as long as data were analyzed according to participants’ racial (e.g., American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacif- ic Islander, White) and/or ethnic background (e.g., Hispanic or Latino).

RESULTS Nine studies were identifi ed that met the search criteria. Three studies focused only on the IEP process; the remaining six investigated experi- ences with special education services in general but reported perceptions of the IEP process sepa- rately. Four examined the perceptions of Latino parents (Hardin, Mereoiu, Hung, & Roach-Scott, 2009; Hughes, Valle-Riestra, & Arguelles, 2002; Lian & Fontanez-Phelan, 2001; Salas, 2004); some authors identifi ed the specifi c country of parents’ birth (e.g., Hughes et al., 2002; see Table 1), and others generally described participants as Latino. Three studies investigated the experiences of Korean American parents (Cho & Gannotti, 2005; Park & Turnbull, 2001; Park, Turnbull, & Park, 2001). One study focused on the perspec- tives of Chinese American parents (Lo, 2008). One study reported on the experiences of all par- ents within a large, urban district, including African