Parent Participation by Ethnicity: A Comparison of Hispanic, Black, and Anglo Families

Abstract

This article describes the results of a study of Hispanic parents' satisfaction with and participation in their child's special education program and compares their responses to those of Black and Anglo families from earlier investigations. Sixty-three parents of children receiving special education services were interviewed in Spanish in their homes by trained interviewers who were also parents of handicapped students. Results of the study indicated that Hispanic parents were generally very satisfied with their child's special education program but often unaware of the services that were being provided. They were aware of the assessment and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) processes but tended not to be active participants in either, though nearly half had visited their child's classroom to observe instruction. Work schedules, “nothing,” lack of bilingual communication, and general communication problems were identified as the major barriers which caused them to be less active. To examine whether differences existed on five key variables, between Hispanic, Black, and Anglo families, data from two earlier studies were pooled, collapsed, and analyzed using chi squares. Significant differences were found on all key variables across ethnic groups.