v.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT
Another component of an inclusive and special education is parent involvement. It has long
been established that parent involvement in education, planning, and management of children with
disabilities and additional needs is essential as they are the primary caregivers and have direct influence
on their children. This is anchored on Bronfenbrenner's Human Ecological Theory, which states that
there are five environmental systems that comprise a child's social context. For the purposes of this
book, focus is given on the microsystem, where the Child and his/her family belong, along with peers,
school, and the immediate community (i.e., neighborhood). Within these microsystem, a child has direct
interactions with parents, teachers, and others; while the mesosystem refers to the linkages or
relationships between microsystems such as the connections between family experiences and school
experiences and between family and peers (Santrock 2011).

The Division of Early Childhood of the Council of Exceptional Children (DEC) espoused the use of
family-centered practices in the assessment and instruction of young children. Turnbull and Turnbull
(2002 cited in Kirk et al. 2015) provided the principles of a family-centered model: (1) honors the family
choice by changing the power relationship between professional and families, (2) abandons a pathology
orientation and adopts a strengths orientation, and (3) where the entire family becomes the unit of
support and not just the child with a disability and the child's mother (p. 19). In this way, the whole
family is provided support, capitalizing on the child and family members' strengths and resources, not
on their deficits and needs. Teachers and administrators may also be guided by these principles when
communicating and collaborating with parents and families of students with disabilities.

Parent involvement has been found to be directly related to academic achievement and
improvements in the school performance of children. Educational support and collaboration with
teachers have been found to promote child success in school (Reschly & Christenson 2009). Moreover,
programs for children with disabilities become more effective and successful when children and families
are invoIved (Newman 2004 cited in Heward 2013).

A. Home-School Communication

Having established the critical role of parents in a student's developmental and 'academic
progress and achievement, it is essential that there is a close home and school collaboration and
communication. To establish partnerships, problem-solving, two-way communication, and shared
decision making are some of the practices needed. Communicating with parents may be done in several
ways.

1. Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-teacher conferences are face-to-face meetings held between parents and teachers.
Conducting such meetings is necessary so parents of students with disabilities and additional needs will
be able to share about their child's background, strengths and abilities, history of difficulties, and
practices they have been implementing at home as well as interventions done with other specialists.
Together with teachers, they can coordinate their efforts and services to support their child both in
school and at home.

Schools differ when it comes to the frequency of parent teacher conferences. One best practice
is to hold a meeting with parents at the beginning of a school year as part of goal setting for the student
with a disability. In this way, both parents and teachers can set expectations for the year and agree on
goals and objectives for the child. This is also a good opportunity for teachers to establish rapport with
parents. Conferences are also held after every grading period (e.g., every quarter, trimester, and
semester) so that progress, changes, and results can be communicated and discussed with parents and
agree on necessary action plans.

2. Written Communication

Home-school communication may also be conducted through written messages, such as the use
of a home-school communication notebook, where teachers and parents write homework assignments,
the student's behavior in the classroom, as well as progress on program goals. A written communication
may be time consuming, but some parents prefer this form of collaboration as the messages are
documented and they can provide a copy to a developmental specialist when needed.

3. Digital communication

With the influx of mobile devices, many parents and families are more able to communicate
through electronic and digital means such as email, text messages, and social network messaging
systems. A study found that parents and teachers technology as an effective tool to promote parent
involvement and thus value its use for communication (Olmstead 2013). Because it is instant and real-
time, parents and teachers are immediately able to receive messages and updates about the student.
However, drawbacks can also occur such as when both parties are not mindful of parameters in
communication; hence, it is necessary that parties agree on certain boundaries in order to be respectful
of everyone's time and personal space.

4. Home-School Contracts

A home-school contract contains an agreement between teachers and parents regarding

behavioral and/or academic goals for a student with disability. Just like any formal contract, this is a
written agreement teachers, parents, and students (when appropriate) on specific objectives and
corresponding reinforcements or rewards when they are met.

One example or a home-school contract is a Daily Report Card, an individualized intervention

used in schools that is anchored on the behavioral principles of operant conditioning. The card indicates
specific behaviors targeted for a child with disability that are framed as positive statements and targets
for improvements.

The use or a daily report card has been found to be beneficial in helping a child with Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in school and in promoting daily collaboration between teachers and
parents (Moore et al. 2016; Mautone et al. 2012). This will be further discussed in Chapter 6.

B. Other Ways to Involve Parents

Parents also have strengths, abilities, intuitive knowledge, and the commitment to help their
own child. They become advocates of their own children. To maximize their involvement, schools
provide other opportunities such as parent education training, workshops, and parent support groups.

a. Parent education may take the form of providing seminars and workshops to parents
to equip them with a better understanding of their child's disability and accompanying
strengths, uniqueness, as well as specific techniques and strategies that they can
practice at home. Such training sessions can be for a few hours done on a quarterly
basis or for a regular such as every Saturday, depending on the needs of the parents and
the training capacity of the school. In this way, parents become educated in evidence-
based approaches so that there will be continuity in the practices implemented between
the home and school.

b. parent support groups are also helpful as parents are able to ask other parents about
tips and techniques to work with their children. Parents should be empowered so that
they can participate in planning and organizing parent support groups, through such
groups, parents can draw support from one another during meetings as they share
techniques and strategies. Even frustrations and successes about their children.

In summary, this chapter has presented the different components of inclusive and special
education, which include the following: pre-referral, assessment, placement, accommodations,
curricular modifications, and parent involvement. Across these components, a team approach is highly
recommended where each member—the child, parents, general education teacher. Special education
teacher, therapists, and other specialists—coordinate and collaborate in planning and making decisions
for the child with disabilities.