Equity, parental/caregiver ‘Power,’ and disability policy in the U.S. Context

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to compel educators to think critically about how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a prominent school-based legislation in the United States, and caregiver/parental participation relate to each other and to equity in special education outcomes. I use two illustrative case studies to show how educator’s decisions about students, their use of disability policy, and their subsequent interactions with caregivers/parents result in vastly different outcomes for two young boys with a disability, one white and one Black. I outline how the racialized local context of the suburban, primarily white, and wealthy school district of study shaped understandings of difference that influenced how educators related to caregivers/parents, how they determined what was a viable caregiver/parental request for educational services, and how they subsequently leveraged educational resources to meet student needs based on these assumptions. In doing so, I engage with the following overarching question: How do contextual influences affect educators’ understandings of what is a viable caregiver/parental request when providing services to students with disabilities? I end with a critical discussion about the presumed benevolence of special educators and special education systems.