This video, made for special education teachers, gives advice on how to interact with parents.

Practitioner-oriented articles advise educators on how to effectively work with parents to provide high quality education for students with disabilities.

It has been demonstrated that the IEP process goes much more smoothly when parents are involved in the planning of their child’s special education. To begin, educators have a much easier time making decisions about educational priorities when they have more information about the child, and nobody knows more about a child than his or her parents. In addition, parental involvement tends to bring about better outcomes for their child’s education: “The likelihood that students will be appropriately placed in their least restrictive environment is increased when parents have a say in the decision-making process” (Collier, 2015, p. 131).

IDEA requires parents to be involved in their child’s special education, but many parents experience barriers that prevent them from being as involved as they would like to be. Teachers can facilitate parental-involvement in the process by working to break down these barriers (Stanley, 2015).

To begin with, many parents simply do not know where to begin or how to become involved because they lack both legal knowledge and professional expertise in the world of education. Teachers can help include parents by repeatedly reaching out to them and explaining the process and their rights as parents (Collier, 2015). As expected, a study illustrated that parents who had teachers reach out to them inviting them to participate in the IEP process were more likely to do so (Collier, 2015). Thus, the responsibility for parental involvement largely falls on educators, who have the expertise to be a resource for parents on their role in the process. Educators can also connect parents with each other: “This research also underscores educators’ and school administrators’ responsibilities to mothers who may not possess specific knowledge of special education or their children’s disabilities and rights or have access or social networks… that can help them navigate the world of special education law and procedures” (Stanley, 2015, p. 15). Connecting to a network of other parents is extremely useful for parental activism.

Teachers can also help to increase parental involvement by respecting parents and building a relationship of trust. When parents don’t feel valued during IEP meetings, they participate less (Stanley, 2015). Similarly, parents are more likely to be involved when they trust the educators responsible for their children; honesty is an essential value that parents look for in a teacher (Stanley, 2015).

Importantly, teachers should also be aware of their language and framework when discussing educational decisions with parents. Parents are less likely to be involved when they perceive that teachers have low expectations for their child or when teachers only emphasize a child’s weaknesses (Stanley, 2015). Teachers should frame these conversations in such a way that highlights a child’s strengths and discusses how to make the most of these strengths in an educational setting.

Teacher preparation programs that specifically train teachers on interacting with parents have had positive consequences on the parent-educator relationship (Collier, 2015). Unfortunately, not many such programs exist. Collier (2015) suggests that increasing teacher training on parent involvement will have positive consequences on both the parent-teacher relationship and the educational outcomes for the child. In the meantime, teachers can work to increase parental involvement by being open, positive, and active in their communication with parents.