African American parents' and college students' perceptions of their role as decision makers in the special education process

Abstract

For this narrative study, ten participants shared their experiences about special education and the special education K-12 decision-making process through one-to-one semi-structured interviews. An initial set of open-ended questions was developed based on current literature relating to the experiences and perceptions of African American families in general. The purpose of this study was to examine and describe how parents of African American students who received K-12 special education services and college students who received special education services in K-12 schooling understand their own level of preparedness to participate fully in the special education decision-making process. For more than forty years, African American students have been disproportionately placed into special education in certain disability categories. This study adds to the currently sparse body of literature from the perspective of parents and students in relation to decisions about referral, identification, assessment and placement of African American students into special education.

Five dominant emergent themes came from analysis of participant stories: supporting our own, fair treatment, independence, advocacy on behalf of self and others, barriers, and "othering." For African American families, the implications relate to purposeful self-advocacy, finding support within the home or community, and negotiating barriers to fair treatment. The schools, which may include administrators, teachers, counselors, and support personnel involved in the special education decision-making process, have the burden in recognizing and eliminating systemic barriers and increasing meaningful partnerships among schools, families and communities.