Question-Asking and Advocacy by African American Parents at Individualized Education Program Meetings: A Social and Cultural Capital Perspective

Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates parental involvement during Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Several factors including previous IEP experiences, level of ongoing communication between parents and education professionals, or existence of social and cultural capital resources can impact involvement. African American parents with low educational attainment or from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds can be at risk for lower levels of involvement. With in-depth, semistructured interviews, this exploratory study examines two critical communicative dialoguing skills that parents at risk for lower levels of involvement often lack: question asking and advocacy. Eight African American parents (across socioeconomic and educational backgrounds) recalled questions asked and advocacy statements made at previous IEP meetings. Using grounded theory analysis, Strauss and Corbin (1998) showed that collaboration and communication occurred in areas mandated by law, but parents were largely unguided in asking their own questions or making statements. While many participants recalled high levels of involvement in the IEP process via question asking and advocacy, they drew on contacts and specifi c knowledge that at-risk parents do not typically have. Implications for parents with limited social or cultural capital are discussed, and a model approach to increase parental involvement based on innovations in patient‐provider research is explored. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (now known as IDEA, most recently authorized in 2004 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act) requires parents of children identifi ed with a need for special education services and education professionals to meet, share goals, and decide upon specially designed instruction and supplemental services necessary to address the educational impairment of children with disabilities of 3–21 years of age (21 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.). Education professionals must include parents within the decision-making process (Trainor, 2010b). The aforementioned aspects of special education accommodations and services are typically outlined and discussed at a student’s yearly Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting. The mandated promotion of parental involvement is further supported by research documenting the positive impact of parent–school collaboration, with studies fi nding that parents with high levels of involvement at IEP meetings tend to have more positive attitudes toward education professionals (Xu & Filler, 2008) and support their child’s learning activities, goals, and outcomes more thoroughly