Date of Award

6-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Selected Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities

Department

Education

School

School of Education and Human Services

Abstract

People with disabilities constitute the largest minority group in the United States. Yet, they face significant barriers that often lead to lowered academic outcomes. Federal and state K-12 educational policies emphasize family engagement as a core component of student success. The problem is that parents are not always fully informed of the special education process or their role on the Committee on Special Education (CSE), which in New York State is a team of educators, specialists, and parents that help determine appropriate special education services and placements. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to explore the knowledge that parents of students with disabilities possess and how that knowledge relates to their level of participation and advocacy within the CSE. The six participants were parents who participated in individual virtual interviews, group discussions, and questionnaires. The findings suggest that the complexity of mandated special education information creates an unnecessary barrier to equitable parent participation. As members on their child’s CSE, parents in the sample felt frustrated, lonely, confused, and unprepared due to delays in the identification process, communication issues, and lack of information that was shared during CSE meetings. To prepare for meetings and effectively advocate for their children, they sought out information from their social networks, websites, and social media. They learned that they had to initiate contact with the CSE to get needed services and advised other parents to ask questions and advocate. Parents also recommended that parents not fear the stigma of the special education label and reach out to other parents for advice. Implications of this research include fostering a more welcoming, transparent relationship between CSEs and families to empower parents as effective advocates and equal team members, ultimately leading to better educational outcomes for students with disabilities.

Related Pillar(s)

Study

Download

Included in

Education Commons

Share

COinS