It was hard for me to accept that my son had a problem,” said one father. “I wanted to have a perfect kid, my first son. I wanted him to play ball. . . . But no, he can't play basketball because he doesn't know how to follow directions. So the other kids beat him up, push him out of the way. . . . It's hard to see my son suffer like that” (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 12).
Many parents interviewed in Public Agenda's recent study on special-needs students and public schools expressed similar feelings of protectiveness and loyalty. At a time when many school leaders believe that special education needs reform and U.S. Congress is considering changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the study explored the degree to which parents of students in special education believe that current services are effective. To gather our information, we conducted a national, random-sample telephone survey of 510 parents of special-needs students in public schools; led three focus groups; and conducted 17 in-depth interviews with experts in the field and parents of special-needs children.
Our findings suggest that special education may be an issue that invites polarization. Parents of children with special needs want as much help as they can possibly get, but many school leaders believe that such programs take up too much time and money. Strong majorities of superintendents and principals claim that special education uses a disproportionate amount of money and resources (Johnson, Farkas, & Duffett, 2001). As one principal put it, No one wants to lock people away and not educate them, but when 20 cents of every dollar is spent on special ed, it is too much. (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 7)
Time for an Information Campaign?
Are parents of special-needs children unalterably committed to the status quo? To begin with, Public Agenda's research strongly suggests that parents of children with special needs are not well informed about the policy issues and federal mandates that challenge local educators. Only 29 percent of special education parents in our study understood that “much of what happens in special education takes place because of the federal government” (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 27), and 63 percent readily admitted that they were not too familiar with IDEA.
Although money is often the paramount worry for local school administrators, few parents in our study were aware of the costs of special education or of the disputes between the federal government and local districts over how much expense local schools should bear. In focus groups, few mentioned money or resources as a particular problem, nor did they propose spending more money on special education to improve it. When a mother in one of the focus groups candidly admitted that she had “never given the money a thought, actually,” she was immediately echoed by another parent, who added, “I haven't either” (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 27).
A natural response might be to mount an information campaign to provide parents of special-needs students with details on the costs of special education and on the new IDEA legislation. Our study indicates that more information may be useful, but it also suggests that an arsenal of statistics is unlikely to change the central point: Parents of special-needs students approach the issue from an entirely different angle than policymakers and administrators do.
That their perspective is different may seem obvious, but it warrants emphasis. In all likelihood, few parents—whether or not their children receive special education services—have spent time poring over a school budget. They are not wrestling with ways to stretch resources among the dozens of challenges that schools face. They are not grappling with paperwork and complex federal rules. Most are almost exclusively focused on what their own children need.
Many parents of children in special education have suffered the anguish and disappointment that comes with learning that a beloved child has a disability. Most are attempting to be their child's advocate and protector. To make changes in special education that both ease the burden for educators and provide the services that families value, education leaders need to absorb the parents' point of view.
Parents' Perspectives
For school leaders willing to look at parents' perspectives, the research provides some good news, some guidance, and some caveats. Our research yielded five key findings that school leaders need to consider.
From the point of view of most special-needs parents, special education is not a failed government program. Special education may be a source of irritation and frustration for many school administrators, but from the parents' vantage point, the services that their children receive are beneficial and necessary. Strong majorities of special education parents express a great deal of confidence in their children's services. Sixty-seven percent of parents surveyed said that their child's school does a good or excellent job of giving their child the help that he or she needs. Eighty-four percent of parents said that their child's special education teachers really care about their child “as a person.” Most parents also seem to have positive experiences working with local special education staff: 77 percent said that they felt treated as “part of the team,” and 69 percent said that the special education teachers know a lot about their child's disability and how to work with it (see fig. 1).
Figure 1. Good Ratings for Special Ed Staff?
As another sign that special education works reasonably well—at least from the parents' perspective—most parents also reported that their child's disability was identified relatively early. Six in 10 parents said that it was diagnosed by 1st grade.
Parents' biggest complaints about special education concern the difficulty of getting information in the early stages—not the services that their children receive now. Although most parents gave their children's schools and special education teachers positive reviews, many also told us that schools were not initially forthcoming about what services were available. More than half said that “parents have to find out on their own what help is available to their children—the school is not going to volunteer the information” (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 12). Seven in 10 also believe that too many children with special needs lose out because their parents don't know what they are entitled to. A mother in one of our focus groups described her exchange with a school psychologist: “You know what he told me? He said, ‘If you weren't so persistent, I wouldn't give you these services’” (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 11). Another mother complained, There is so much out there that the school never tells you about. . . . If you know about it, you can get the service, but they'll never offer it to you. (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 11)
Most special education parents do not believe that schools and teachers push students into special education, although minority parents have more concerns. Although critics of special education charge that schools and teachers are sometimes too eager to label students as having special needs, the vast majority of the parents we surveyed said that this is simply not the case in their own experience. Only 11 percent told us that the school was in a rush to find a problem with their child. Fifty-five percent said that the school took the right approach, and nearly 3 in 10 said that the school actually dragged its feet during the early stages of the evaluation process.
Fifty-five percent of parents also questioned critics' charge that some parents push children who don't have genuine disabilities into special education just to get extra services for them, although 32 percent believed that this is sometimes the case.
A related and troubling charge is that schools are too quick to label African American students as learning disabled. Overall, only 18 percent of parents surveyed said that they believed this to be the case, although a large percentage (41 percent) said that they didn't know. Minority parents are more likely to fear bias. Among African American and Hispanic parents, 44 percent said that schools are overeager to label African American students as learning disabled.
Parents of special-needs children do share some of the more general concerns that critics have raised about whether all special education placements are truly warranted. For example, 65 percent of parents surveyed said that students with behavior problems rather than actual disabilities sometimes wind up in special education. Another 69 percent noted that many students might have been able to avoid special education if they had gotten help earlier.
Parents complain that schools should expect more academically from special-needs students, but most also want accommodations in testing. Seventy-nine percent of parents surveyed said that schools should pay more attention to the academic progress of students with special needs. In focus groups, many parents recoiled at the notion that their children might slide along from grade to grade without learning all that they are capable of learning; two-thirds thought that it would be worse for a child who is struggling academically to be promoted to the next grade than to be held back.
But parents are also alert to the challenges that their children may face when it comes to standards and testing policies. Two-thirds said that they worry about pushing students to take tests that they cannot possibly pass. Asked whether their own child should have to pass an exit exam covering basic skills to receive a high school diploma, one-third of parents surveyed said that it should be the same test that other students take. Half wanted their child to take the same test but with accommodations, 11 percent wanted their child to take an easier test, and 4 percent wanted their child excused altogether. Some parents in the focus groups seemed to envision a daunting, emotionally punishing cycle of tests that are much too difficult, given their child's disabilities. One mother noted about her child, “He would never get out” (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 21).
There is a group of extremely frustrated and dissatisfied parents who fear that schools are failing their children. School leaders should take some satisfaction in the overall positive ratings that special education services receive. Whatever problems special education may be causing for administrators, schools appear to be delivering a service that generally fits the bill for most parents. But not in every circumstance.
More than 4 in 10 special education parents said that they have to “stay on top of the school and fight to get the services” that their child needs (Johnson & Duffett, 2002, p. 23). Thirty-five percent said that it has been frustrating to get services even after the school knew about their child's special problems. One-third said that their child's school is doing a fair or poor job at giving their child the services that he or she needs (see fig. 2). In fact, 16 percent of parents said that they have considered suing or have threatened to sue the district.
Figure 2. The Less Satisfied Constituency
Percent of parents who say:
A Public Agenda Survey / When It's Your Own Child - table
| Their child's special education program is failing or needs improvement when it comes to preparing them for life in the real world after high school. | 45% |
| Their child's special education program is failing or needs improvement when it comes to being a good source of information about learning problems and disabilities. | 39% |
| It was frustrating to get the special education services their child needed. | 35% |
| Their child's current school is doing a fair or poor job when it comes to giving their child the help they need. | 33% |
*Base: High school parents (n=143)
Source: Johnson, J., & Duffett, A. (2002). When it's your own child (p. 23). New York: Public Agenda.
Who are these parents, and where are problems most likely to occur? The chief dissatisfaction appears to be among parents of children with the most severe disabilities, including mental retardation and emotional disturbance. These embittered parents are almost two times more likely to say that they have considered lawsuits than are special education parents overall.
A lack of information—or inconsistent, conflicting information—seems to be a particularly sore point for parents in this group. In focus groups, these parents often depicted local schools as baffling, impenetrable bureaucracies where no one tells the same story and no one seems to be able to get anything done.
The survey also shows that although most African American and Hispanic parents indicate satisfaction with the special education services that their children receive, the numbers are not as strong as those of white parents. For example, 60 percent of the minority parents surveyed said that their child's school does an excellent or good job of giving their child the help that he or she needs, compared with 70 percent of white parents.
Where Do We Go from Here?
What guidance do the survey findings offer school leaders who want to open discussions about making changes in special education? One clear implication is that leaders are dealing with two different special education constituencies. Parents who believe that they and their children have been well served by special education may be quite willing to discuss how special education works and to consider whether schools could provide good services at more affordable costs. On the other hand, parents whose experiences with special education have produced mainly frustration and anger may see such overtures as one more attempt to keep them from getting the help that they believe their children need.
Another policy implication that emerges from the data is the extent to which the concerns of both critics and parents center on identification and diagnosis. There is a widespread sense among special education parents that not every diagnosis is valid and that special education is not the solution to every problem. School leaders should ask themselves whether they need to strengthen the process of identifying which children need special education services, and, further, whether parents whose children may have behavior problems rather than genuine learning disabilities have any other alternatives for getting help. How we determine which students need special education services—and which kind of services will help them—is an area that bears a second look.
