Participation of minority parents in the Special Education IEP process continues to be a concern for public school administrators. With the disproportionality of African American males placed in special education and the mandatory involvement requirement in the IEP process, administrators and schools would benefit by understanding the obstacles that prevent the meaningful participation of parents/guardians of African American high school males in the special education IEP process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the obstacles faced by parents/guardians of African American males, grades 9-12, in the special education Individual Education Plan (IEP) process. This study involved interviewing ten parents/guardians of African American males receiving special education services, attending high schools in Contra Costa and Alameda counties in California. The results found the following themes that prevented the parents/guardians from meaningful participation in the IEP process: (1) Communication between home and school, (2) Knowledge of special education, (3) Parental rights and involvement in the IEP process, and (4) Attitudes of teachers. The strategies there were recommended to increase parental involvement were: (1) Engagement in active listening to parents and guardians at IEP meetings, (2) Changing of IEP meetings to work with parents' work schedules. (3) Improve overall communication with parents and guardians, and (4) Provide special education training for parents and guardians to teach them special education terminology and jargon. Lastly, the study provided various recommendations for further study.
","abstract_html":"<p>Participation of minority parents in the Special Education IEP process continues to be a concern for public school administrators. With the disproportionality of African American males placed in special education and the mandatory involvement requirement in the IEP process, administrators and schools would benefit by understanding the obstacles that prevent the meaningful participation of parents/guardians of African American high school males in the special education IEP process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the obstacles faced by parents/guardians of African American males, grades 9-12, in the special education Individual Education Plan (IEP) process. This study involved interviewing ten parents/guardians of African American males receiving special education services, attending high schools in Contra Costa and Alameda counties in California. The results found the following themes that prevented the parents/guardians from meaningful participation in the IEP process: (1) Communication between home and school, (2) Knowledge of special education, (3) Parental rights and involvement in the IEP process, and (4) Attitudes of teachers. The strategies there were recommended to increase parental involvement were: (1) Engagement in active listening to parents and guardians at IEP meetings, (2) Changing of IEP meetings to work with parents' work schedules. (3) Improve overall communication with parents and guardians, and (4) Provide special education training for parents and guardians to teach them special education terminology and jargon. Lastly, the study provided various recommendations for further study.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hotchkiss, Angela M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)","degree_level":"Dissertation - Pacific Access Restricted","degree_discipline":"Educational Administration and Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Antonio Serna"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:35:52Z","subjects":["African American Studies","Black studies","Special education","Social sciences","Education","African-American","Boys","Guardians","Individual Education Plan (IEP)","Parent involvement","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Leadership"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781267734303"],"render_values":[{"text":"9781267734303","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/87","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Antonio Serna"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hotchkiss, Angela M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-06-29T08:53:29Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Administration and Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Pacific Access Restricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["African American Studies","Black studies","Special education","Social sciences","Education","African-American","Boys","Guardians","Individual Education Plan (IEP)","Parent involvement","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Leadership"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781267734303","https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/87"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Participation of minority parents in the Special Education IEP process continues to be a concern for public school administrators. With the disproportionality of African American males placed in special education and the mandatory involvement requirement in the IEP process, administrators and schools would benefit by understanding the obstacles that prevent the meaningful participation of parents/guardians of African American high school males in the special education IEP process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the obstacles faced by parents/guardians of African American males, grades 9-12, in the special education Individual Education Plan (IEP) process. This study involved interviewing ten parents/guardians of African American males receiving special education services, attending high schools in Contra Costa and Alameda counties in California. The results found the following themes that prevented the parents/guardians from meaningful participation in the IEP process: (1) Communication between home and school, (2) Knowledge of special education, (3) Parental rights and involvement in the IEP process, and (4) Attitudes of teachers. The strategies there were recommended to increase parental involvement were: (1) Engagement in active listening to parents and guardians at IEP meetings, (2) Changing of IEP meetings to work with parents' work schedules. (3) Improve overall communication with parents and guardians, and (4) Provide special education training for parents and guardians to teach them special education terminology and jargon. Lastly, the study provided various recommendations for further study.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["118"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An analysis of the obstacles that prevent the meaningful participation in the IEP process by parents/guardians of African American males in special education"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Antonio Serna"],"dc:creator":["Hotchkiss, Angela M."],"dc:date.available":["2018-06-29T08:53:29Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Participation of minority parents in the Special Education IEP process continues to be a concern for public school administrators. With the disproportionality of African American males placed in special education and the mandatory involvement requirement in the IEP process, administrators and schools would benefit by understanding the obstacles that prevent the meaningful participation of parents/guardians of African American high school males in the special education IEP process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the obstacles faced by parents/guardians of African American males, grades 9-12, in the special education Individual Education Plan (IEP) process. This study involved interviewing ten parents/guardians of African American males receiving special education services, attending high schools in Contra Costa and Alameda counties in California. The results found the following themes that prevented the parents/guardians from meaningful participation in the IEP process: (1) Communication between home and school, (2) Knowledge of special education, (3) Parental rights and involvement in the IEP process, and (4) Attitudes of teachers. The strategies there were recommended to increase parental involvement were: (1) Engagement in active listening to parents and guardians at IEP meetings, (2) Changing of IEP meetings to work with parents' work schedules. (3) Improve overall communication with parents and guardians, and (4) Provide special education training for parents and guardians to teach them special education terminology and jargon. Lastly, the study provided various recommendations for further study.
"],"dc:identifier":["9781267734303","https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/87"],"dc:rights":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:source":["118"],"dc:subject":["African American Studies","Black studies","Special education","Social sciences","Education","African-American","Boys","Guardians","Individual Education Plan (IEP)","Parent involvement","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Leadership"],"dc:title":["An analysis of the obstacles that prevent the meaningful participation in the IEP process by parents/guardians of African American males in special education"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Administration and Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Pacific Access Restricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:35:52Z"}