Factors Associated With Parent IEP Satisfaction

Abstract

While the challenges experienced by parents during Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) meetings have been well documented, limited research has examined parent satisfaction with the IEP document itself and which factors are associated with greater satisfaction. Using 1,183 responses from a national survey, we addressed the following research questions: (a) How satisfied are parents with their child’s current IEP? and (b) What characteristics of the parent, child, family–professional partnership, and IEP meeting predict greater parent satisfaction with their child’s IEP? Approximately 40% of parents reported some degree of dissatisfaction with their child’s IEP. Several child characteristics were associated with the most extreme levels of satisfaction. Results of a regression analysis indicated that, for this sample, parent, child, family–professional partnership, and IEP meeting characteristics significantly predicted parent satisfaction, with characteristics of the IEP meeting among the strongest predictors. Implications are discussed, including the need to replicate these findings with a more representative sample.