Article

Readability of Special Education Procedural Safeguards

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Abstract

This study focused on literacy-related barriers to understanding the rights of students with disabilities and their parents within the special education system. SMOG readability scores were determined for procedural safeguards documents issued by all state departments of education. The average reading grade level was 16; 6% scored in the high school range, 55% scored in the college range, and 39% scored in the graduate or professional range. Comparisons of national literacy data and national data on the educational attainment of parents of students with disabilities suggest that there is a disproportionate burden of limited literacy among these parents compared to the general population. The significance of results is discussed with respect to relevant regulatory requirements, case law, and evidence from the legal and health literacy fields.

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... Data collected from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (2003) and the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (2006) report a large divide between intended and actual levels of engagement in educational decision making. Readability, the degree to which an individual can read and understand information, has been offered up as a mitigating factor to parent engagement in the special education system (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). ...
... Previous Study of IDEA Part B Procedural Safeguards Mandic et al. (2012) conducted a readability analysis of IDEA Part B procedural safeguards distributed by all 50 states. It was reported that the average reading grade level for these documents was 16, suggesting that the document is suitable for a reader with a bachelor's degree. ...
... SMOG was selected because it is the only formula used in the readability study conducted by Mandic et al. (2012). Therefore, it is the only readability formula that allows for comparison of their findings to those of the current study. ...
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Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze the readability of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B procedural safeguard documents, as distributed by each of the 50 U.S. states. Results were compared to the 5th- to 6th-grade readability guideline for documents recommended by experts in health literacy and health communication. Method A commercially available readability software, Readability Studio (Oleander Software, 2009), was used to assess document readability. Text-based files of each IDEA Part B procedural safeguard document were analyzed using four readability formulas: Flesch-Kincaid (Flesch, 1965), Gunning fog index (Gunning, 1952), Flesch Reading Ease (Flesch, 1948), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (McLaughlin, 1969). Results No procedural safeguard document scored below an 11th-grade reading level. Seventy-four percent of these documents were found to be written at a graduate reading level—meaning these documents are written for a reader who is currently enrolled in a master's degree or higher education program. Conclusion In an effort to decrease barriers to parent participation in the Individualized Education Planning process, those who administer IDEA Part B procedural safeguards should be sensitive to the potential mismatch between the literacy skills of the parent/guardian and the literacy skills needed to comprehend these documents. Developers of IDEA Part B procedural safeguards should account for estimated literacy skills of the general public as ongoing revisions to these safeguards are made.
... The literature in the field of a special education finds that legal and educational jargon and limited knowledge of rights or procedural safeguards are barriers that greatly hinder the act of parental advocacy ( Burke et al., 2016 ;Fish, 1994;Mandic et al., 2010). Additionally, the procedural safeguards are composed at a grade level beyond high school, which may make it a challenge for many families to decipher ( Mandic et al. 2010). ...
... The literature in the field of a special education finds that legal and educational jargon and limited knowledge of rights or procedural safeguards are barriers that greatly hinder the act of parental advocacy ( Burke et al., 2016 ;Fish, 1994;Mandic et al., 2010). Additionally, the procedural safeguards are composed at a grade level beyond high school, which may make it a challenge for many families to decipher ( Mandic et al. 2010). Lack of comprehension of rights may leave parents in an abyss when attempting to fight for their child's education. ...
... Lack of comprehension of rights may leave parents in an abyss when attempting to fight for their child's education. Furthermore, this may leave parents feeling that learning their rights in special education is farfetched and unattainable (Fitzgerald & Watkins, 2006;Imber & Radcliffe, 2003;Mandic et al., 2010). In reference to due process and litigation, hearings tend to take extensive amount of time, which may include delays past 45 days and high court costs . ...
Article
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IDEA 2004 requires that the student has something to contribute to the IEP process and goal-setting for the future. Research indicates that students with disabilities require specific instruction of strategies to improve and inspire self-determination, advocacy and mindfulness for authentic participation to occur. In addition, explaining the special education process is the key to making the student feel comfortable and confident that adults on the team are working together. Using the ten teacher actions as a guide (Hart & Brehm, 2013), I have designed a program where resource time is used to inspire self-advocacy for IEP accommodations and prepare my elementary school students to participate in the special education process. Keywords: special education, IEP, self-determination, student participation
... This study provided an exploration of research that examined documents used to notify parents of their rights and responsibilities in the special education system. Findings indicated that notice documents have long been found to be incongruent with parents' abilities and needs (Fitzgerald & Watkins, 2006;Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012;Roit & Pfohl, 1984). This study sought to talk directly with parents of children with disabilities to explore whether a redesigned notice of procedural safeguards document is warranted and could support parents' engagement in their child's special education. ...
... Their findings included documents from 49 states as well as the District of Columbia and showed that fewer than 10% were written at the recommended level. Most recently, Mandic et al. (2012) used the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) formula to review notice documents from all 50 states as well as D.C. The SMOG formula (McLaughlin, 1969) is unique in its assessment of the reading level required for 100% comprehension of the text. ...
... This mechanism, already in place, ensures that schools continually inform parents of the procedural safeguards in place to protect their rights and those of their children. Unfortunately, the documents schools distribute are ineffective (Brantlinger, 1987;Fitzgerald & Watkins, 2006;Mandic et al., 2012;Roit & Pfohl, 1984). At best, these documents are complicated to read; at worst they can perpetuate a system in which children whose parents act as advocates receive one caliber of services, whereas children whose parents lack proficient skills for advocacy obtain another. ...
Article
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Procedural safeguards have been in place for years with the intention of protecting the rights of parents and their children with disabilities. Despite the promises of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, parents have not mastered the tools they need to be active participants in their child’s special education. Educators must inform parents of children with disabilities of their rights and responsibilities in documents that clearly communicate the expectation that parents can and will advocate for their children. Review of the documents currently used to inform parents of their rights, as well as relevant literature on the topic, indicated that parents are not empowered to give informed consent. This study sought to talk directly with parents of children with disabilities to explore whether a redesigned notice of procedural safeguards document is warranted and could support parents’ engagement in their child’s special education. Interview data collected demonstrated that parents of children with disabilities see a need for revised documents and need functional information from the schools. The implementation of rights notices that authentically inform parents could bring about a shift in the culture of special education and include all parents as active participants in their child’s special education.
... Families of students in inclusive schools whose children have disabilities work with a wide range of service providers, and these families need to understand the overall alignment of the services and supports in order to navigate them (Kervick, 2017). Although partnership between families and professionals helps ensure that each child receives a free and appropriate education to facilitate positive student outcomes (Newman, 2005), these partnerships are often not realized (Blackwell & Rosetti, 2014;Haines, Summers, Turnbull, & Turnbull, 2015;Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). In this article, we discuss the benefits of family-professional partnership, education policy aimed at fostering such partnership, barriers to the formation of strong family-professional partnership, and contemporary frameworks attempting to address these barriers. ...
... Second, determining that a child needs an evaluation or is eligible for special education services may be emotionally challenging for families (Jackson, Traub, & Turnbull, 2008;Lytel, Lopez-Garcia, & Stacey, 2008;; understanding new rights and responsibilities can compound this challenge. Third, during this potentially emotional process, the formal and legal roles for families increase, and families are often not fully aware of or ready for this shift (Mandic et al., 2012), despite a national infrastructure of state Parent Training and Information Centers, supplemented by Community Parent Resource Centers in underserved communities, designed to provide information to families whose children have disabilities about their legal rights and responsibilities (Mandic et al., 2012). In addition, this abrupt start to a different system can occur before family-professional partnership grows, and families therefore may not receive the emotional support inherent in having a trusting partnership during the transition into the special education system (Wanat, 2010). ...
... Second, determining that a child needs an evaluation or is eligible for special education services may be emotionally challenging for families (Jackson, Traub, & Turnbull, 2008;Lytel, Lopez-Garcia, & Stacey, 2008;; understanding new rights and responsibilities can compound this challenge. Third, during this potentially emotional process, the formal and legal roles for families increase, and families are often not fully aware of or ready for this shift (Mandic et al., 2012), despite a national infrastructure of state Parent Training and Information Centers, supplemented by Community Parent Resource Centers in underserved communities, designed to provide information to families whose children have disabilities about their legal rights and responsibilities (Mandic et al., 2012). In addition, this abrupt start to a different system can occur before family-professional partnership grows, and families therefore may not receive the emotional support inherent in having a trusting partnership during the transition into the special education system (Wanat, 2010). ...
Article
Despite the documented link between the presence of family-professional partnership and successful inclusion in schools, these trusting relationships are more of an exception than a reality. We demonstrate the need for a framework to organize research, policy, and practice on family-professional partnership; describe a contemporary framework, the Sunshine Model, that relies on a tiered and multidimensional approach to ensure family-professional partnership with all families; and illustrate how this framework can guide research, policy, and practice in family-professional partnership in inclusive schools.
... The procedural safeguards were categorized into groups including general safeguards, the appointment of surrogate parents, and dispute resolutions (IDEA, 2004;Turnbull et al., 2007;Yell, 2012). General safeguards for parents and students are in regard to the notice and consent requirement (Mandic et al., 2012;Yell, 2012). Parental consent must be obtained before a special education placement or replacement occur (IDEA, 2004;Mandic et al., 2012;Yell, 2012). ...
... General safeguards for parents and students are in regard to the notice and consent requirement (Mandic et al., 2012;Yell, 2012). Parental consent must be obtained before a special education placement or replacement occur (IDEA, 2004;Mandic et al., 2012;Yell, 2012). The school must inform the parent before any initiation or change of student identification, evaluation, and placement (IDEA, 2004;Yell, 2012). ...
Article
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National policies, federal laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004, and federal regulations have played an important role in the improvement of special education in the United States (US). Especially, the IDEA (2004) policies have been crucial to achieving the federal government’s national disability goals. However, political decision making is not easy and when a law and its policies were intended to meet a goal, they may create a trade-off with another goal. This trade-off may cause conflict or harm for the people who are intended to get benefit from the policy. Therefore, it is important to consider possible trade-offs when making a policy decision. This study first described the goals that individual government policies were designed to meet through the IDEA. Then, emphasized the specific role of the procedural safeguards provisions of the IDEA in meeting government’s intended policy goals. Finally, this study discussed equity and welfare, which are particularly intended through procedural safeguards provisions of IDEA, and their trade-offs liberty and security respectively.
... Notably, researchers have analyzed and found special education procedural safeguards to be written at a high readability level (college and graduate level) that is laden with confusing jargon; thereby rendering this resource as confusing and unhelpful to families (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acedevo-Garcia, 2012), with even greater challenges for families that are culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (Cho & Gannotti, 2005;Kalyanpur, Harry, & Skrtic, 2000). Despite both ESSA (2015) and IDEA (2004) mandates regarding family-professional interactions, educational planning is documented as one of the weakest areas of IDEA compliance, specifically noting a lack of collaborative partnership between families and professionals (Blue-Banning, Summer, Frankland, Nelson, & Beegle, 2004;Haines et al., 2017). ...
... Meanwhile, other partnership obstacles are specific to addressing student needs, including disagreement over student services and discrepant views of the student (Lake & Billingsley, 2000;Mueller et al., 2008). Procedural obstacles also impact the family-professional partnership by way of confusing and poorly written procedural safeguards (Fitzgerald & Watkins, 2006;Mandic et al., 2012), excessive paperwork (Zeitlin & Curcic, 2014), and jargon-laden educational procedures (Mueller & Buckley, 2014). ...
Article
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Over the past 30 years, through multiple reauthorizations, both the Every Student Succeeds Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, lawmakers and researchers have consistently acknowledged the importance of fostering family-professional partnerships in schools. Yet research continues to document a number of challenges and obstacles experienced by families and professionals with actualizing this intended partnership through both special meetings (i.e., Individualized Education Programs) and ongoing consultation interactions, as originally envisioned by lawmakers. Much of this divergence between policy, research, and practice is attributed to the historical challenges experienced between professionals and families with forming and maintaining trust. In celebration of the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation’s 30th anniversary, this paper provides discussion of the legal implications of the family-professional partnership, historical documented challenges that lead to a lack of trust in these partnerships, the importance of developing and maintaining a trusting family-professional partnership in special education consultation, and recommendations for future family/parent consultation practice, research, and policy.
... Given the U.S. South's racialized history, it is also possible that underidentification is especially likely to occur. Our findings are consistent with public health research findings indicating that people of color disproportionately lack access to trained medical or health care professionals (Guerrero, Slusser, Barreto, Rosales, & Kuo, 2011) or to appropriate legal and scientific informational resources (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012;Lajonchere et al., 2016). ...
... Due-process information given to parents that describe the legal protections available through IDEA should be widely accessible. This is not currently occurring (Mandic et al., 2012), which may be resulting in less-well-educated families failing to be properly informed about their rights under IDEA. Minority families currently lack access to scientifically based information about disability conditions and report valuing greater access to such information (Lajonchere et al., 2016). ...
Article
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Whether students of color are more or less likely to be identified as having disabilities than similarly situated students who are White in U.S. states with histories of de jure and de facto racial segregation is currently unknown. Unadjusted analyses of large samples of students attending elementary and middle schools in the U.S. South yielded little evidence of minority overrepresentation in special education. In analyses adjusted for strong confounds (e.g., family income, student-level achievement), students of color were less likely than White students to be identified as having disabilities. Underidentification was evident (a) for the U.S. South in aggregate, (b) across 11 Southern states that we separately examined, (c) in cross-sectional samples assessed in 2003 and 2015, and (d) for specific disability conditions. Black and Hispanic students attending schools in the U.S. South have been and continue to be less likely to be identified as having disabilities than otherwise similar White students.
... Given the U.S. South's racialized history, it is also possible that under-identification is especially likely to occur. Our findings are consistent with public health research findings indicating that people of color disproportionately lack access to trained medical or healthcare professionals (Guerrero, Slusser, Barreto, Rosales, & Kuo, 2011) or to appropriate legal and scientific informational resources (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012;Lajonchere et al., 2016). ...
... Due process information given to parents that describe the legal protections available through IDEA should be widely accessible. This is not currently occurring (Mandic et al., 2012), which may be resulting in less well-educated families failing to be properly informed about their rights under IDEA. Minority families currently lack access to scientifically-based information about disability conditions and report valuing greater access to such information (Lajonchere et al., 2016). ...
... Despite policies and research clearly underscoring the importance of family-professional partnerships, research suggests that the realities of partnerships in the U.S. generally fall short (Blackwell & Rossetti, 2014;Haines et al., 2015a;LaRocque, Kleiman, & Darling, 2011;Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). The shortcoming in practice is due largely to differing conceptualizations of family-professional partnerships (Lawson, 2003), a lack of trust between families and professionals (LaRocque et al., 2011;Mapp & Hong, 2010), negative assumptions about the other party involved in partnerships (Haines & Reyes, 2018;Lea, 2006), and competing demands on educator time (Haines et al., 2015a,b). ...
... But as a complicated legal process has now been set in motion, parents find that the IEP meetings are often adversarial, with less knowledgeable, more emotionally invested parents outnumbered by more experienced school personnel. Parents who attempt to learn their rights must drudge through state Special Education procedural safeguards that are written at an average of a 16th grade leveldabove the reading abilities of many parents (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). ...
Chapter
Research demonstrates the positive impact of family-professional partnerships on student and family outcomes. Despite the importance of family-professional partnerships, however, research on such partnerships with refugee families of children with disabilities has been largely absent from the research literature. The aim of this article is to review existing research regarding building and maintaining partnerships between refugee families and school professionals for refugees who have been resettled to host countries, or countries that grant refugees legal status as permanent residents. We discuss implications for U.S. educational systems and offer recommendations for future research.
... Despite policies and research clearly underscoring the importance of family-professional partnerships, research suggests that the realities of partnerships in the U.S. generally fall short (Blackwell & Rossetti, 2014;Haines et al., 2015a;LaRocque, Kleiman, & Darling, 2011;Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). The shortcoming in practice is due largely to differing conceptualizations of family-professional partnerships (Lawson, 2003), a lack of trust between families and professionals (LaRocque et al., 2011;Mapp & Hong, 2010), negative assumptions about the other party involved in partnerships (Haines & Reyes, 2018;Lea, 2006), and competing demands on educator time (Haines et al., 2015a,b). ...
... But as a complicated legal process has now been set in motion, parents find that the IEP meetings are often adversarial, with less knowledgeable, more emotionally invested parents outnumbered by more experienced school personnel. Parents who attempt to learn their rights must drudge through state Special Education procedural safeguards that are written at an average of a 16th grade leveldabove the reading abilities of many parents (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). ...
Chapter
Given the important roles of family caregivers and the likelihood that individuals with IDD will live in their family homes into adulthood, it is crucial to examine adult service delivery systems within the context of families of individuals with IDD. In this manuscript, we aim to describe the adult service delivery system, specifically with respect to HCBS Medicaid waiver in the United States, and its relation to the contexts and implications of family caregivers for adults with IDD. We begin by providing a history of adult services; then, we shift our focus to community-based support. Next, we discuss the theoretical framework, Family Systems Theory. Then, we describe the contexts and implications of family caregivers. We conclude with directions for future research, practice, and policy. Because this manuscript highlights the complicated nature of adult services, we provide a description and list of the relevant acronyms in Table 1.
... For example, at Individualised Education Program (IEP, the special education document that is revised annually by the school and the parents) meetings, the school is required to offer parents procedural safeguards detailing their rights. However, the safeguards are, on average, written at the 16th grade reading level (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, et al., 2012). In Tennessee and Illinois, the two states included in this study, such safeguards are written at 11.2 and 16.4 grade levels, respectively (Fitzgerald and Watkins, 2006). ...
... For example, future research could examine whether similar barriers exist among economically poor, rural White families of children with disabilities or whether similar barriers exist more broadly among non-CLD families. Regarding the latter, for example, it seems that CLD and non-CLD families may struggle to understand their special education rights given that such rights are written at, on average, a 16 th grade reading level (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, et al., 2012). ...
Article
As the field of special education advocacy grows and the population of students with disabilities in the United States becomes more diverse, it is crucial to understand how advocates work with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) families of individuals with disabilities. In this pilot study, we conducted interviews with twelve CLD advocates who worked primarily with CLD families. We found that CLD advocates faced barriers and supports in connecting with families as well as in working with families and schools. Advocates reported meeting families through informal networks. When working with families, advocates reported supports (e.g., shared cultural, parenting and family experiences) and barriers (e.g., disempowerment and limited access to education and resources). When working within the school, advocates reported two barriers: language and a deficit-based perspective. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
... These formulae are determined through regression analyses and empirical correlations, using data from real-world texts (Greenfield 2004;Crossley et al. 2007;Heilman et al. 2008;Mandic et al. 2012;Lissón 2017). Regression analyses are useful for examining the relationship between text features and the resulting readability scores. ...
... To the authors' knowledge, only two studies tested the readability formulas specifically on information about rights. They focused on information about students with disabilities and their parents and found the formulas to be less suitable for this kind of information [88,89]. As explained, information about benefits and rights has unique characteristics. ...
Article
Full-text available
This study examines the readability of government information about social benefits and rights concerning citizens’ engagement. Such information is often obscured and hard to find and, therefore, sometimes less accessible to those who mostly need it. How will readability characteristics affect engagement measures as attesting to information comprehension? This article addresses this question by analyzing year-long usage data records of an Israeli national rights website. We tested readability components to determine how they perform, and whether they affect engagement measures as evidence of comprehension. Analysis using the classic Flesch-Kincaid readability formula shows that most texts on the website are suitable for the college level. Furthermore, as the information was less readable, people spent more time on the page, and there was less bounce rate. Conversely, we found a positive correlation between exit percentage and readability measures. The results raise questions about the Flesch-Kincaid formula and the engagement measures’ relevance to information about benefits and rights, and highlight the need for a Hebrew-adapted readability formula. Further research directions are suggested.
... Specifically, parents face systemic barriers when advocating for services for their children. Such barriers include: power differential between the parent and the school (Leiter & Wyngaarden Krauss, 2004), and procedural safeguards are written, on average, at a 16th grade reading level (Mandic et al., 2012). CLD (versus white) families of children with disabilities are more predisposed to facing systemic obstacles in advocacy. ...
... process (Rios et al., 2020;Mueller et al., 2009;Vora, 2016). They also encounter difficulties with accessible safeguards and logistical support, such as transportation to IEP meetings (Leiter & Krauss, 2004;Mandic et al., 2012). ...
... In addition, parents often face systemic barriers when accessing services for their own children with disabilities. Such barriers include inaccessible procedural safeguards (Mandic et al., 2012) and logistical challenges (e.g., lack of transportation and childcare to attend IEP meetings; Leiter & Wyngaarden Krauss, 2004). ...
Article
Early intervention (EI) provides requisite support to address the developmental needs of infants and toddlers and assists families in understanding how to meet their child’s needs. However, at age 3, those services are no longer offered and families are required to transition to school services. To date, there are limited studies about families’ perceptions of their child transitioning from EI to school services. To address this gap in the literature, a qualitative study, with semi-structured interviews, was conducted with 14 parents. The study examined the transition process from EI to school services. The findings suggest that parents had positive experiences in EI, particularly with the EI team. Notably, participants expressed feeling elevated levels of stress during the transition from EI services to school services and relied on EI and school professionals to secure services with minimal input in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
... Nevertheless, learning about special education laws and procedures can be an overwhelming task for parents. Even if schools dutifully offer parents written information about procedural safeguards and parental rights within the special education process, this information is typically written at a post-college level, which is not suitable for most parents (Mandic et al., 2012). Furthermore, Latino and non-Latino parents of children with disabilities have reported that professionals often tell them about what they need to know and then leave them to find the information on their own (Casillas et al., 2017). ...
Article
This study examined the experiences of first-generation immigrant Latino parents of children with disabilities while navigating the special education system and how those experiences influenced their participation in the special education process. A researcher-created survey was used to collect data. Quantitative data were examined using descriptive and inferential statistics. Additional comments provided by participants were analyzed for patterns and themes. Although half of the participants had emerging English language skills, they communicated and often collaborated with school personnel. Most participants trusted professionals, had a positive perception of school personnel, and disagreed with statements suggesting that teachers knew best about their children’s needs. Participation in the special education process was influenced by the children’s disability and the parents’ knowledge of the American education system, among other factors.
... For example, despite the inclusion of procedural safeguards in IDEA which are meant to protect one's educational rights, Fitzgerald and Watkins (2006) found that an overwhelmingly high percentage (92-96%) of safeguards are written at a ninth-tenth grade reading level, in small font and laden with educational jargon. Similarly, Mandic et al. (2012), reported that 94% of the procedural safeguards required a college or professional reading level. Research about parent advocacy programs designed to increase individual advocacy (i.e., advocacy on behalf of one's own child with a disability) has found that such programs increase special education knowledge (Burke et al., 2016). ...
Article
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With the looming reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it is important for parent input to inform legislative changes. Unfortunately, parent input has been limited in past IDEA reauthorizations. Thus, it is critical to develop and test interventions to improve parent legislative advocacy. With 37 parents of children with disabilities, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine the efficacy and impact of an advocacy program. Results indicate significant increases in special education knowledge and special education legislative advocacy activities for the intervention (versus waitlist-control) group. However, there were no significant changes in civic engagement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
... Some of the obstacles they face are similar to what many families are confronted with regardless of their backgrounds. For example, many families encounter difficulty understanding the procedural safeguards because they are written at a post-secondary, college reading level (Mandic et al., 2010). Parents have also shared how power differentials influence their levels of confidence when sharing and expressing disagreement with school professionals (Kalyanpur et al., 2000;Leiter & Huff, 2004). ...
Article
Around the world, we are seeing the highest number of displaced people to date, with an increasing trend since 2012. With the U.S. historically being leaders as a receiving country for refugee resettlement, research needs to focus on supporting refugee families with children with disabilities and the teachers who serve them. Literature in special education has begun to highlight the experiences of numerous immigrant and native-born families from diverse backgrounds, but literature regarding the experiences of refugee families continue to be sparse. This paper provides the historical context, systems, policies, and procedures that impact refugee families’ presence in their children’s educational planning and access to services. It begins with an overview of refugee resettlement in the U.S., including policies influencing resettlement and a description of the resettlement process. We then highlight systemic barriers that restrict refugee families’ full access to special education services and to being fully informed participants in their children’s education.
... Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) embeds many rights for parents of children with disabilities, parents often face systemic barriers when accessing school services. Such barriers include inaccessible procedural safeguards (Mandic et al. 2012) and logistical challenges (e.g., lack of childcare and transportation to attend Individualized Education Program [IEP] meetings; Mueller 2015). In part, because of these systemic barriers, parents of children with disabilities participate infrequently in IEP meetings (Shapiro et al. 2004). ...
Article
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Family-professional partnership is an essential component of the special education process for children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Latinx families face systemic barriers when participating in educational decision-making for their children with IDD. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of advocacy trainings among Latinx families of children with IDD, including ASD. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of the Familias Incluidas en Recibiendo Mejor Educación Especial (FIRME), an advocacy program for Latinx families of children with IDD, with respect to increasing special education knowledge, advocacy, empowerment, and receipt of services; and decreasing stress. After completing the FIRME program, participants demonstrated significantly increased: special education knowledge; advocacy; and empowerment.
... However, parents often struggle to meaningfully participate in educational decisions. Barriers to parent participation include: power differential between the parent and the school (Leiter & Krauss, 2004), and procedural safeguards are written, on average, at a 16 th grade reading level (Mandic et al., 2012). Specifically, Latino (versus White) families of children with disabilities are more predisposed to facing systemic barriers in educational decision-making. ...
Article
Family-professional partnership is an essential component of the special education process for children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). However, many families face barriers to participation in the special education process. Latino families especially face systemic barriers when participating in educational decision-making for their children with IDD. Notably, parent programs have been developed to facilitate parent participation in educational decision-making. However, it is unclear whether such programs are culturally responsive to Latino families. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to explore the literature about interventions to support families of children with IDD in improving: special knowledge, advocacy, empowerment, or access to services. Altogether, 21 studies were identified. Of the 21 studies, there were 12 unique interventions. Findings revealed that parent program interventions may yield positive effects on knowledge, advocacy, and empowerment but little is known about access to services. In addi`tion, most of the interventions used a train-the-trainer model and relied on a cohort program. Notably, interventions did not proportionately include Latino individuals nor did they make basic efforts to include Latino individuals. This review has implications for research and practice.
... The model form provided by the U.S. Department of Education (U. S. Department of Education, 2009) is 46 pages long. In addition to the large amount of information, these documents are typically written at college or graduate reading levels, making the already dense content even less accessible for most parents who are not "disability experts" (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2010;Trainor, 2010). ...
Chapter
Advocacy has long been important in the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In special education, parents are expected to advocate on behalf of their child and hold the schools accountable for providing appropriate services and supports. However, not all parents desire to or are able to meet this advocacy expectation. As a result, the field of special education advocacy has emerged, and is growing. To situate a review of the literature on special education advocacy, I first provide a brief overview of special education law, parent rights, and barriers to parent advocacy. Next, I compare the components and evidence-base of several existing special education advocacy trainings, highlighting the need for additional, rigorous efficacy studies. Through a synthesis of the limited body of research on the special education advocacy process and resulting outcomes for students with IDD and their families, I then present a proposed theory of change, and implications for future research and practice. While the need for special education advocacy is unlikely to decrease in the near future, more work is needed to ensure that training organizations, advocates, schools, and families work collaboratively so special education advocates can support families to maximize the outcomes of students with IDD.
... Regarding the former, in the USA, parent involvement is an essential component of the special education process for children with IDD. Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, the federal special education law in the U.S.) embeds many rights for families of children with disabilities, parents often face systemic barriers when accessing services for children with IDD (e.g., inaccessible procedural safeguards, Mandic et al. 2012; logistical challenges, Leiter and Krauss 2004). Of the children with IDD in the US, nearly 14% are Latino; perhaps due to systemic barriers, the prevalence of Latino children with IDD (versus White and Black children) is significantly lower (de Brey et al. 2019). ...
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Families face systemic barriers when deciding on educational services for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Further, caregiver health and well-being is critical for supporting children with IDD. In addition, research has shown a negative correlation between the quality of special education experiences and caregiver health and well-being. However, the barriers and facilitators to positive special education experiences and health are unclear for Latino parents of children with IDD. By identifying barriers, interventions can be created to ameliorate such issues. By identifying facilitators, interventions can be developed to capitalize on the strengths of Latino families. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators to positive special education experiences and health among Latino families of children with IDD. Via two systematic literature reviews, 28 studies were identified. Barriers to positive special education experiences included: cultural divergence, limited access to resources, stigma, and lack of access to special education knowledge; facilitators included: understanding special education services, parent-school communication, and parent support. Barriers to health included: socioeconomic status and certain characteristics of the child with IDD; facilitators included: family support and parent support. This review has implications for research and practice to both improve the quality of special education experiences as well as to promote caregiver health.
... Ultimately, school professionals possess critical knowledge with which to make decisions whereas parents are disempowered (Blue-Banning, Summers, Frankland, Nelson, & Beegle, 2004). The readability levels of IEPs and procedural safeguard statements further lead to power and knowledge imbalance, with parents lacking access to important information about how to make decisions and navigate special education processes (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). The resulting unequal positions of power and knowledge is further exacerbated in IEP meetings, where school personnel typically outnumber parents (Wakelin, 2008). ...
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Parent input in individualized education program (IEP) development is the clear expectation in U.S. education law. Every IEP team must include parents, and their input must be equally considered when developing IEPs. The present study used content analysis of 88 IEPs of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to explore team membership, concerns parents raised during IEP meetings, and evidence that parent concerns and priorities are reflected in IEP goals and supplementary aids and services. Findings reveal that although parents express a range of concerns and priorities, these are translated into goals or services only two thirds of the time. We provide implications of these findings for research and practice.
... For example, parents of students with autism have expressed that they are not asked to provide enough input on their child's individualized education programs (IEPs), nor do school personnel communicate amply about their child's progress (White, 2014). Moreover, when parents cannot access IEPs and procedural safeguard packets because of document readability, then parents' opportunities to be informed team members are further compromised (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). In addition, parents have described how they are treated contrarily and not as equitable partners by school personnel because their home language is a language other than English (Salas, 2004). ...
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Family-school partnerships between family members and school personnel can be successful as well as unproductive for parents who have children and youth with developmental disabilities (DD). This qualitative study sought to capture parents’ identities as they negotiated family-school partnerships when making inclusive education decisions and discussing special education service-delivery options for their children and youth with DD. Seventeen participants shared their personal narratives in interviews and focus groups. Data were thematically analyzed after an initial round of open-coding generated broad themes. Findings revealed that the experiences parents have in partnering with schools span an identity spectrum, including (a) victim, (b) advocate, (c) perseverer, (d) educator, (e) broker and negotiator, and (f) surrenderer. Implications for policy, practice, and research focus on parent identity and family-school partnerships.
... Bailin and Grafstein (2016) describes readability indexes as mathematical formulas derived by regression analysis such that a model or equation is constructed that best predicts the reading grade level of readers who comprehend a given text. In the construction of readability indexes, scholars assess comprehension by a specific pass score on test questions based on the content of the text (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). Vocabulary difficulty and sentence length are considered the most important and hence most common elements used in analyzing the ease of text comprehension (Chavkin, 1997). ...
... The fact that we could only obtain evidence of an indirect effect of reappraisal on aggressive statements against FARC may relate to the characteristics of the texts that were presented to the participants-i.e., excerpts from the peace accord signed between FARC and Colombian government and aggressive statements from national newspapers. For instance, Correa et al. (2018) found that linguistic aspects of the Colombian government-FARC peace accord made its legibility very low, which adds to the more general finding that legal and political texts are not easily comprehended by lay persons (Charrow and Charrow, 1979;Jones et al., 2012;Mandic et al., 2012). Pilot testing of the different statements used in the present study was not possible due to the close date established for the referendum on the signed peace accord (less than 2 months), which may have resulted in the moderate levels of internal consistency observed for both sets of statements (α conciliatory = 0.65; α aggressive = 0.68). ...
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Control of negative emotions (e.g., anger and fear) by political cues perpetuate intractable conflict by mobilizing public support for aggressive actions. Halperin et al. (2013) found that reappraisal – an adaptive form of emotion regulation – decreased negative emotions triggered by anger-inducing information related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and increased support for conciliatory statements. We tested these effects in the context of the conflict between the Colombian government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP). Reappraisal training reduced negative emotions produced by a presentation that illustrated FARC’s violent actions, and increased support for conciliatory statements (with overall moderate effect magnitudes). We also found that negative emotions mediated the effects of reappraisal on the support for aggressive and conciliatory statements. These findings indicate a high degree of generality of the phenomena, especially considering the differences between the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Colombian conflict. Our findings also show promise for replicating these effects on other types of intergroup conflicts and guiding effective public policy.
... Also, there are multiple systemic barriers (i.e., barriers that impact nearly all families) to empowerment and parent advocacy. For example, there is a power differential between the parent and the school (Leiter & Krauss, 2004) and procedural safeguards, on average, are written at a 16th grade reading level (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). ...
Article
Although many parents report needing advocates to receive special education services for their children with disabilities, the advocacy process is largely unexplored especially in relation to school and child outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the special education advocacy process by conducting interviews with nine parent–advocate dyads. Findings indicate that advocates and parents agreed on the advocacy process. Participants reported that schools often responded positively to the advocate; however, some schools were confrontational and surprised. Regardless of the school’s response, advocates and parents perceived that advocacy positively influenced child and family outcomes. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.
... These barriers are exacerbated among Hispanic individuals with disabilities (Aceves, 2014;Gomez Mandac, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). For example, Hispanic students with disabilities experience a higher likelihood of exclusionary discipline practices, such as suspension (Vincent, Sprague, & Tobin, 2012) and microaggressions at school (e.g., low expectations, bullying, disregard; Dávila, 2015). ...
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The rate of competitive employment, or employment in community settings for minimum wage or higher, of working-age individuals with disabilities trails behind individuals without disabilities in the United States. These statistics are even more alarming among Hispanic individuals who have disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the negative and positive experiences of Hispanic caregivers from a Midwestern state as they support their family members with disabilities to achieve positive postschool outcomes, including competitive employment. We conducted semistructured interviews with 13 caregivers of family members with disabilities aged 14-25 years. Three key themes emerged from our analysis: (a) negative experiences with school educators, (b) negative experiences with community-based service providers, and (c) positive experiences and strategies for overcoming barriers. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
... Next, documents should be provided in simple and plain language that is easily understood by parents (Mandic et al., 2012) at an average reading level of sixth grade, rather than that of a ninth grade reading level. Additionally, the use of twelve point font, as opposed to seven to eight point font will make the documents easier to review (Fitzgerald, 2006). ...
... Interestingly, knowledge about special education can be inaccessible to many parents. For example, the procedural safeguards shared annually with parents are, on average, written at a sixteenth grade (i.e., college graduate) reading level (Mandic et al., 2012). Intended to inform parents about their rights and options for conflict resolution, these safeguards are largely inaccessible. ...
Article
Rapidly becoming the largest ethnic group of American students, compared to White students with disabilities, Latino students with disabilities receive less services and their parents are more likely to struggle to receive services. Yet, it is unclear how Latino families advocate for their children with disabilities including how cultural values facilitate their advocacy efforts. In this study, four focus groups were conducted with 46 Latino parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. Parents reported advocating by being assertive but not aggressive, being involved in school activities, communicating with the school and documenting the communication, and relying on knowledge and faith. Parents also reported facilitators (i.e., knowledge and resources, increased parent-school communication, and greater peer support) and barriers (i.e., poor school experiences, school related-stress, and stigma and discrimination) to advocacy. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.
... Each policy and related service delivery system is unique and difficult to navigate. To complicate matters further, policies are typically written at a reading level that make them inaccessible to those with disabilities, with some policies such as special education procedural safeguards (an explanation of special education rights and description of dispute resolution options) written at a 16th-grade reading level (Mandic et al., 2012). ...
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The transition from high school to adulthood is difficult for youth with autism spectrum disorder and their families. Recognizing these challenges, there is a small but emerging body of literature testing interventions to improve the transition process. But there are many challenges in performing intervention research that have yet to be fully addressed. We discuss issues that should be considered when conducting interventions with individuals with autism spectrum disorder to improve the transition to adulthood, drawing from our study of a parent training to facilitate access to adult services during the transition years. Issues covered include (1) timing (when is an intervention most effective?), (2) mode of delivery (what is the best way to present information?), (3) outcomes (how can intervention outcomes be accurately measured?), (4) target population (who is the intervention designed to help?), and (5) level of intervention (who should the intervention target?). Our answers, though preliminary, show the need to be flexible, to adopt a trial-and-error stance, and to listen to the needs—both explicit and implicit—of youth with autism spectrum disorder and their parents as they navigate the difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood.
... Ensuring that minority children with disabilities are being appropriately recognized and helped may necessitate improving the cultural competence of school professionals (Delpit, 1995;Villegas & Lucas, 2002) as well as removing language barriers (Hibel & Jasper, 2012;Morgan et al., 2012Morgan et al., , 2013 by providing interpreters fluent in a parent's primary language and translated written materials (Brotanek, Seeley, & Flores, 2008). Although written and spoken information about disability eligibility procedures should be widely accessible, this information often is presented in ways that are difficult to access, particularly by parents with lower educational backgrounds (Fitzgerald & Watkins, 2006;Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012). School-to-community outreach programs may also help address cultural and language barriers (Flores, 2009;Madsen, Thompson, Adkins, & Crawford, 2013). ...
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We conducted a best-evidence synthesis of 22 studies to examine whether systemic bias explained minority disproportionate overrepresentation in special education. Of the total regression model estimates, only 7/168 (4.2%), 14/208 (6.7%), 2/37 (5.4%), and 6/91 (6.6%) indicated statistically significant overrepresentation for Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and English language learner (ELL) or language-minority children, respectively. Among studies with the strongest internal and external validity, none of the 90 estimates (i.e., 0%) indicated overrepresentation attributable to racial or ethnic bias. Of the 18 estimates for language-minority and ELL children combined, only 3 (16.7%) indicated overrepresentation attributable to language use. Two of the 4 ELL-specific estimates (50%) indicated that children receiving English-as-a-second-language services may be overrepresented in special education. Overall, and replicating findings from a prior best-evidence synthesis, this synthesis indicated that children are underidentified as having disabilities based on their race or ethnicity and language use.
... For example, the legalistic procedures that direct individualized education plans (IEP) development can lead to a systematic focus on procedural fidelity and efficiency rather than parent voice (Bray & Russell, 2016). At the individual level, access to special education information can vary significantly based on parents' literacy levels (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012) and social supports (Fish, 2008). ...
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Families should be an active part of educational decision making for their children, and they can be particularly influential in advocating for inclusion for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Yet, significant research has shown that parents do not feel schools effectively collaborate with them. We interviewed 19 parents of children with disabilities to investigate the ways they were included and excluded from educational decision making and how they decided on their children's placement and services. Five themes emerged: parents' exclusion from decision making, parents' independent efforts to shape their children's educational services, parents' decisions as a result of school and district factors, parents' role changes to direct their children's education, and discrepancies between beliefs and experiences of inclusion. Parents' responses indicate that specific school structures and institutionalized procedures may regularly exclude parents from decision making. Results have implications for parent-professional partnership during decision making for students with disabilities and personnel preparation.
... Minority children's disability underidentification is not explained by differences in individual-level academic achievement, family-level economic disadvantage, or differential access to school-level resources. Examples of potential barriers include the failure to employ assessments that may help distinguish learning disabilities from lack of English proficiency (Peña, Gutierrez-Clellen, Iglesias, Goldstein, & Bedore, 2014), a lack of access to interpreters as well as accessible information about the special education system's eligibility procedures (Brotanek, Rocha, & Flores, 2008;Fitzgerald & Watkins, 2006;Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2012), local political and administrative pressures not to identify minority children as having disabilities to avoid reporting overrepresentation, as well as the view within minority communities that school-based disability evaluation is largely motivated by racial prejudice (Yeh, Forness, et al., 2004). School-to-community partnerships may also be helpful. ...
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Federal legislation and policy increasingly seek to address minority overrepresentation in special education due to concerns that U.S. schools are misidentifying children as disabled based on their race or ethnicity. Yet whether and to what extent this is occurring is currently in dispute. We estimated racial disparities in disability identification using very large (e.g., Ns = 183,570, 165,540, and 48,560) student-level, nationally representative data sets and multivariate logistic regression including school fixed effects models along with tabulations of percentage with a disability among racial or ethnic groups across academic achievement deciles. Among children who were otherwise similar in their academic achievement, poverty exposure, gender, and English language learner status, racial or ethnic minority children were consistently less likely than White children to be identified as having disabilities. Minority children’s disability underidentification was evident (a) in elementary, middle, and high school; (b) across racially diverse groups and specific disability conditions; and (c) throughout the achievement distribution. Contrary to federal regulatory and policy efforts, minority children have been less likely than otherwise similarly achieving White children to receive special education services in the United States since at least 2003.
... Furthermore, many parents have difficulty communicating with school personnel due to language differences (Chu & Garcia, 2014;Torres-Burgo et al., 2010;Trainor, 2010;Zhang & Bennett, 2003). Language differences can impact the readability of education documents and school correspondence, which can be challenging for CLD parents, especially those with limited English proficiency, placing a burden on parents that has implications for due process (Geenen et al., 2001;Mandic et al., 2012). In one study, Torres-Burgo, Reyes-Watson, and Brusca-Vega (2010) report how Hispanic parents had difficulty understanding the IEP and its procedures, which resulted in Hispanic parents communicating with the special education teacher less often than the non-Hispanic parents in the study and, consequently, being offered less advice about how to help their child. ...
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In the United States parental involvement is an important part of a child’s education, and teachers often rely on parents to boost student achievement. This qualitative analysis employs a two-step process, first examining the data with regards to parental involvement and then using critical theories in education to examine the intersections between parental involvement findings and subtractive schooling practices in order to highlight how educational praxis, teacher perspectives, and school climate impact both parental involvement and school achievement for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students.
... Another similar barrier was the request for more information. Because interpreters may not accurately communicate the dialogue at IEP meetings (Hughes, Valle-Riestra, & Arguelles, 2002) and special education procedural safeguards are written, on average, at a sixth-grade reading level (Mandic, Rudd, Hehir, & Acevedo-Garcia, 2010), Latino families may struggle to understand their rights. It seems that, regardless of residence, Latino families face barriers in accessing information (Mercadente, Evans-Lacko, & Paula, 2009). ...
Article
Latino students and their families are the fastest growing minority group in the country, yet it is unclear whether rural (vs. urban) Latino families of students with disabilities have different needs. In this pilot study, 65 Latino family members of students with disabilities (15 rural; 50 urban) responded to a questionnaire about empowerment, family–school partnerships, and advocacy. Although there were no differences in empowerment, rural (vs. urban) participants reported stronger family–school partnerships. Rural participants reported contextual barriers to advocacy (i.e., discrimination, and racism); urban participants reported disability-related barriers (i.e., lack of parent training).
Article
A family-centered early intervention (EI) approach mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C, means involving parents fully in EI and ensuring they know their legal rights and responsibilities for participating. However, many parents report difficulty accessing information and decision-making in EI. IDEA mandates all jurisdictions provide parents with a procedural safeguard notice (PSN) outlining parents’ rights and advocacy processes. Yet, it is unclear to what extent PSNs are accessible, particularly to parents with marginalized identities. This study analyzed PSNs from 56 Part C jurisdictions for the components required by law, understandability to the general public, and availability in multiple languages. The PSNs generally did not include all required information, necessitated grade-levels above high school, minimally attended to plain language, and were infrequently available in non-English languages, suggesting that many parents are prevented from information about EI. PSNs, therefore, are a source of bias in Part C.
Article
Existing research suggests that immigrant families navigating the special education process are rarely positioned as powerful partners working alongside educators. This is a manifestation of the racism and ableism endemic to the United States schooling system that leads to educators viewing immigrant families from a deficit-based lens. Do these perceptions, however, match the ways that immigrant families view themselves? This qualitative participant-observation study addresses this question by exploring educators’ and families’ perceptions and positionings of immigrant families who are navigating special education. I unpack discrepant views among educators and families of 16 children labeled “English Learner” with or suspected of having disabilities. The findings indicate that the immigrant families see themselves as possessing tremendous community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005), which counters the deficit-oriented view the educators have of them. I argue for a reframing of the common narratives surrounding immigrant families in special education away from deficit-based conceptions towards ones that honor the strengths, knowledge, and assets of the families.
Article
High-quality family-professional partnerships promote the personal, social, and academic growth of students with disabilities. However, due to systemic barriers, such partnerships can be difficult, especially for families from low-resourced communities. Using the Sunshine Model, the purpose of this systematic literature review was to characterize the literature about family-professional partnerships among families of children with disabilities from low-resourced communities. Altogether, 10 studies were identified. In most studies, participants reported poor family-professional partnerships. Facilitators of strong partnerships included professionals who: attempted to form relationships with families, provided families with training opportunities and resources, cared for students, and encouraged families to ask questions. Barriers to partnerships included: unfamiliarity with the school or special education system, limited familial support, the differing views between families and professionals, unique barriers due to being low-resourced, and cultural and linguistic barriers. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
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The purpose of this chapter is to explore the experiences of immigrant families accessing special education in the United States while highlighting the critical role of culture in special education. The authors discuss legal underpinnings protecting families' access to special education processes, the diverse composition of the United States, and cultural beliefs and lenses that may influence how families engage in special education processes. The authors highlight the importance of directly supporting special education professionals in developing and practicing cultural humility, especially when engaging with from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The chapter closes with recommendations for practice and implications for future research.
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Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze the readability of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B procedural safeguard notices written in Spanish, as distributed by each of the 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia. Results were compared with the 6th–8th grade document readability guideline recommended by experts in health communication. Method A commercially available readability software program was used to assess document readability using three readability indices: the Gilliam–Peña–Mountain Graph, SOL, and the Fry Readability Adaptation for Spanish Evaluation. Results All procedural safeguard notices were written at a reading grade level greater than established guidelines. This finding agrees with research that has examined the readability of English-language versions of IDEA Part B procedural safeguard notices. Conclusions Literacy-related skills and demands may influence the ability of the parent to advocate on behalf of his or her child with a disability within the school setting. Educators and specialists should be sensitive to parent reading preferences and proficiency when reviewing IDEA procedural safeguards notices. Authors of procedural safeguard notices should account for the native language and culture of the intended reader as revisions to, and translations are made of, IDEA procedural safeguards notices.
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Research on disproportionality in special education has largely overlooked how students of color with disabilities are less likely to spend time in general education classrooms than White peers with disabilities. Although disparities in general education inclusion for students of color with disabilities raise larger concerns about educational inequality within schools, when these gaps begin to emerge and what factors may explain them remain less understood due to methodological challenges. In leveraging individual-level administrative data from a large school district over a 10-year period, this longitudinal study found general education inclusion declines for all students as they age. However, Black students with disabilities experienced the least inclusion, whereas Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students with disabilities were included in the general education classroom more than Latinx and White peers with disabilities; this disparity was largely associated with academic test score differences and disability type.
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Culturally and linguistically diverse families face substantial barriers in the special education system and seek support from cultural brokers to help them navigate it. We used a qualitative design to study cultural brokering experiences among Latinx families of children with extensive support needs and cultural brokers. Through individual interviews with 10 Latinx families of children with extensive support needs, and focus groups with 10 Latinx cultural brokers, this study shows how cultural brokers inform, encourage, assist, and provide emotional support for Latinx families, and revealed their motivations, qualities, and skill sets. The findings also include recommendations for teachers and schools who want to engage in cultural brokering to improve their partnership with Latinx families.
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With a rapidly increasing number of Latinx students in a special education system that requires parent advocacy, it is imperative to study the perspectives Latinx families have on how to improve family-school partnerships. In this research, semi-structured interviews with 10 Latinx mothers who have children with disabilities led to insights about stressors and barriers, how families can be empowered, and how trusting partnerships can be facilitated. Implications for the field of special education are discussed.
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Given the need to provide culturally competent children's services which support each child's right to full educational participation, the current systematic literature review aims to provide an up‐to‐date, international review of empirical studies that investigate the experience of minority ethnic heritage parents who have a child with special educational needs and disability (SEND). Studies were assessed using a qualitative assessment framework. Of the 17 studies that met the inclusion criteria, only 11 were classed as higher quality and included in the final synthesis. The findings highlight that for ethnic heritage families, parenting a child with a disability can be a highly stressful experience, involving a sense of loss and concerns for the child's future, compounded by familial and cultural factors as well as professional service factors, with religious beliefs and practices, on the whole, serving as a protective factor. Implications for educational psychology practice and future research are clearly identified.
Chapter
Faced with the difficulties that most everyone has in accessing needed social services, information and referral (I&R) services have arisen and gained prominence across the United States. This need for I&R services would seem even more pronounced when dealing with disability services, as disability service-systems are notoriously complex and hard to navigate, with families and individuals experiencing difficulties in learning about, becoming eligible for, applying for, and receiving disability services. In this review, we first describe the numerous disability-related services available in education, health, law, employment, adult services, and family support, before examining the nation's I&R movement and how I&R services operate. We then detail one disability-related I&R service, Tennessee Disability Pathfinder, before exploring the future promise and challenges facing such disability-related I&R services. Although woefully under-developed, disability-related I&R services would seem a critical, almost necessary service for parents, individuals, and agencies as they navigate our country's complex and changing disability service systems.
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Nearly half of all American adults—90 million people—have difficulty understanding and acting upon health information. The examples below were selected from the many pieces of complex consumer health information used in America. • From a research consent form: “A comparison of the effectiveness of educational media in combination with a counseling method on smoking habits is being examined.” (Doak et al., 1996) • From a consumer privacy notice: “Examples of such mandatory disclosures include notifying state or local health authorities regarding particular communicable diseases.” • From a patient information sheet: “Therefore, patients should be monitored for extraocular CMV infections and retinitis in the opposite eye, if only one infected eye is being treated.” Forty million Americans cannot read complex texts like these at all, and 90 million have difficulty understanding complex texts. Yet a great deal of health information, from insurance forms to advertising, contains complex text. Even people with strong literacy skills may have trouble obtaining, understanding, and using health information: a surgeon may have trouble helping a family member with Medicare forms, a science teacher may not understand information sent by a doctor about a brain function test, and an accountant may not know when to get a mammogram. This report defines health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” (Ratzan and Parker, 2000). However, health literacy goes beyond the individual obtaining information. Health literacy emerges when the expectations, preferences, and skills of individuals seeking health information and services meet the expectations, preferences, and skills of those providing information and services. Health literacy arises from a convergence of education, health services, and social and cultural factors. Although causal relationships between limited health literacy and health outcomes are not yet established, cumulative and consistent findings suggest such a causal connection. Approaches to health literacy bring together research and practice from diverse fields. This report examines the body of knowledge in this emerging field, and recommends actions to promote a health-literate society. Increasing knowledge, awareness, and responsiveness to health literacy among health services providers as well as in the community would reduce problems of limited health literacy. This report identifies key roles for the Department of Health and Human Services as well as other public and private sector organizations to foster research, guide policy development, and stimulate the development of health literacy knowledge, measures, and approaches. These organizations have a unique and critical opportunity to ensure that health literacy is recognized as an essential component of high-quality health services and health communication.
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Our review of research suggests that family poverty has selective effects on child development. Most important for policy are indications that deep or persistent poverty early in childhood affects adversely the ability and achievement of children. Although the 1996 welfare reforms have spurred many welfare-to-work transitions, their time limits and, especially, sanctions are likely to deepen poverty among some families. We suggest ways policies might be aimed at preventing either economic deprivation itself or its effects.
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Our review of research suggests that family poverty has selective effects on child development. Most important for policy are indications that deep or persistent poverty early in childhood affects adversely the ability and achievement of children. Although the 1996 welfare reforms have spurred many welfare-to-work transitions, their time limits and, especially, sanctions are likely to deepen poverty among some families. We suggest ways policies might be aimed at preventing either economic deprivation itself or its effects.
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To examine adults' literacy proficiencies in multiple health contexts. One hundred ninety-one (191) health-related items drawn from all large-scale adult literacy surveys before 2003 were scored as an independent health literacy scale. Latent class analyses provide portraits of adults with different health literacy skills. Adults without a high school diploma or GED, with health-related restrictions, with limited access to resources, who are members of minority population groups, and who are immigrants - have lower health literacy skills than do others. The distribution of health literacy is not independent of general literacy skills at population or subpopulation levels.
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A longitudinal, 3-year study investigated the participation of African-American parents of 24 preschoolers in special education programs in a large urban school district. Data were collected through ethnographic interviews with parents and professionals, observations of conferences, and examination of students’ documents. Despite current perceptions of low levels of participation by African-American parents, the data show consistent initial efforts by families to support their children's schooling, eventually giving way to disillusionment with the separations created by special education placements and the lack of avenues for parental influence. The article explores ways for professionals to move from preoccupation with compliance to true communication.
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An independent educational evaluation (IEE) provides parents with an opportunity to obtain alternative sources of information concerning the present levels of performance of their children. Although Congress guaranteed this procedural safeguard for parents in 1975 (P. L. No. 94-142), there have been several alterations of these regulations during the past 25 years. Primary areas of concern include: (a) What is an appropriate evaluation? (b) What are the circumstances in which a public agency must pay for an IEE? and (c) What is the timeline to which local educational agencies (LEAs) and parents must adhere? IDEA '97 included modifications of previous federal regulations on IEEs. This article explores these alterations through a review of administrative decisions, court cases, state regulations, and U.S. Department of Education policy and opinion letters.
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The price that any movement pays for even modest success is that critics emerge. Critics can be healthy for a movement. They can correct error, temper excesses, and prompt the kind of reflection that deepens understanding. So it's probably a sign of progress that there is debate about the movement for plain legal language. Still, some of the criticism has become stale and should at last be put to rest. The old criticism is, in essence, that we either should not or cannot write in plain language: should not, because it debases the language; and cannot, because of the overriding demands of precision. I have looked at these misconceptions elsewhere. 1 So have other writers. 2 But since the old misconceptions linger, I'll try to dispel them again here. Meanwhile, there's a new criticism that deserves a longer look. The new criticism is, in essence, that plain language doesn't matter: its approach to communication is too narrow, and there is no empirical evidence that it improves comprehension. These are serious criticisms, and to explain why they are mistaken will require some exploring.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate the involvement of Portuguese-speaking families in the education of their special-needs children. The qualitative methods of participant observation and ethnographic interviewing were used to explore the following research questions: How do these parents want to be involved in their children's education, and what are their feelings about parent involvement? Participants were parent(s) from each of nine families who were foreign born, Portuguese-speaking, and had at least one child in special education. Findings were analyzed within two major categories: (a) the special-needs children in their families, and (b) the families' experiences with their children's education.The focus in this article concerns findings that emerged from data discussed under the following thematic statements: We have to ask for what we want and fight for our children, and lacking proficiency in English makes it more difficult for us to procure the services to which our children are entitled.
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The purpose of this study was to develop and test a longitudinal early schooling process model of first- and second-year reading achievement, mathematics achievement, and socio-emotional maturity with 1539 low-income minority children. Data were collected from children and teachers over four time periods and included school readiness attributes, intervening kindergarten influences, and intervening first-year social-psychological influences. LISREL estimation of the model yielded an acceptable fit with the data. Major results indicated that cognitive readiness in kindergarten had pervasive indirect effects on first- and second-year outcomes, and that variables directly alterable by families and schools-prekindergarten experience, motivation, mobility, and parent involvement-significantly influenced either directly or indirectly early school outcomes. The influence of sex (in favor of girls), prior achievement, motivation, and school mobility increased over time. Despite some limitations, a major implication is that efforts to improve school success of children at risk are most likely to be successful if they are both timely and multifaceted and if mediating factors in kindergarten and first-grade are in place. Also, research on early schooling must take account of complex processes and effects and reconsider overlooked variables.
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Past research has not looked directly at how parental working conditions are affecting the lives of school-age children living in or near poverty. This study examines the effects that the working conditions faced by low-income parents have on the care their school-age children receive and on parental involvement in their children's education and development. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 74 families with school-age children, including 44 families living at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and 30 families living above 150% of poverty. Teachers at every public afterschool program in the city were interviewed. One out of two low-income working parents faced barriers to becoming involved in their children's education. Two out of five faced barriers to participating in school meetings, school trips, or school events. Many parents had difficulty finding any time to spend with their children, let alone time to assist them with their schoolwork. The difficulties they faced are described in detail. Implications for educational and labor policy are discussed.
Article
In the past 30 or 40 years there has been much discussion of objective formulas to measure the readability of texts. These formulas measure variables such as sentence length and familiarity of vocabulary, but do not define the actual features of texts which make them easy or hard to read. In this study, we compared two versions of four texts, the original versions intended mainly for adult readers, and the adapted versions intended for less skilled readers. We discuss the specific changes made to make the texts easier to read, with their apparent motivations. Some changes, such as splitting complex sentences into component clauses, changing vocabulary items, etc., may have been made to make the text conform to a certain level of readability defined by formulas. But these changes are not always the most successful, and some actually make the text harder to understand. Other changes could not have been made solely because of the effect they would have on readability measurement. They were influenced by factors such as definition of discourse topic, logical ordering of ideas, background knowledge assumed in the reader, and choices of syntactic structure which do not affect length. Adaptations were found to be most successful when the adaptor functioned as a conscientious writer rather than someone trying to make a text fit a level of readability defined by a formula. We argue strongly against the implicit use of readability formulas as guides to writing graded texts and urge experimental research to define the real factors constituting readability./// [Spanish] En los ultimos 30 a 40 años ha habido mucho diálogo sobre fórmulas objetivas para medir la lecturabilidad de textos. Estas fórmulas miden variables como la longitud de oraciones y el previo conocimiento de vocabulario, pero no definen las características presentes en los textos que permiten hacerlos más fáciles o más difíciles de leer. En este estudio comparamos dos versiones de 4 textos, la versión original preparada principalmente para lectores adultos, y la versión adaptada destinada para lectores de menos destreza. Discutimos los cambios concretos hechos para hacer los textos más fáciles de leer, con sus aprarentes factores de motivación. Algunos cambios, como la fragmentación de oraciones complejas en cláusulas de componentes, cambios de vocabulario, etc., es posible que se hayan hecho para conformar el texto a cierto nivel de lecturabilidad definida por fórmulas. Pero estos cambios no son siempre los más acertados, y algunos hasta hacen el texto más difícil de comprender. Otros cambios no se hubieran podido hacer por el efecto que habrían tenido sobre medidas de lecturabilidad. Factores que los influenciaron fueron definición del tema, orden lógico de ideas, previo asumido del lector, y selección de estructura sintáctica que no afecta longitud. Las mejores adaptaciones resultaron cuando el autor de la adaptación actuaba como un escritor responsable en vez de tratar de encajar un texto en un nivel de lecturabilidad requerido por una fórmula. Nos oponemos firmemente a la utilización absoluta de fórmulas de lecturabilidad como guía para escribir textos de diferentes niveles y urgimos investigacion experimental para definir los verdaderos factores que constituyen lecturabilidad./// [French] Au cours des 30 ou 40 dernières années, il y a eu de nombreuses discussions faites au sujet des formules objectives ayant pour but de mesurer la lisibilité des textes. Ces formules mesurent des variables telles que la longueur des phrases et la connaissance du vocabulaire, mais ne définissent pas les caractères réels des textes qui rendent ces textes faciles ou difficiles à la lecture. Dans cette étude, nous avons comparé deux versions de quatre textes, les versions originales désignées principalement aux lecteurs adultes, et les versions adaptées désignées aux lecteurs moins expérimentés. Nous discutons les changements spécifiques faits afin de rendre les textes plus faciles à la lecture, avec leurs motivations apparentes. Quelques changements, tels que la division de phrases complexes en membres de phrases constituantes en changeant les éléments de vocabulaire, etc..., peuvent avoir été faits afin de rendre le texte conforme à un certain niveau de lisibilité défini par les formules. Mais ces changements n'atteignent pas toujours le but recherché, et certains en fait rendent la compréhension du texte plus difficile. D'autres changements n'auraient pas pu être faits uniquement à cause de l'effet qu'ils auraient sur la mesure de lisibilité. Ils étaient influencés par des facteurs, tels que la définition de matière de discours, l'ordre logique des idées, la connaissance acquise supposée chez le lecteur, et les choix de structure syntactique qui n'affectent pas la longueur. On a trouvé que les adaptations atteignent leur but lorsque la personne qui adaptait, fonctionnait en tant que scripteur conscientieux plutôt que d'essayer de faire correspondre le texte au niveau de lisibilité defini par une formule. Nous réfutons fortement l'usage implicite de formules de lisibilité, comme guides de rédaction de textes remaniés, et nous encourageons la recherche expérimentale à définir les facteurs réels constituant la lisibilité.
Article
This article explores the complex relation between employment and family involvement in children’s elementary education for low-income women. Mixed-method analyses showed work as both an obstacle to and opportunity for involvement. Mothers who worked or attended school full time were less involved in their children’s schooling than other mothers, and mothers who worked or attended school part time were more involved than other mothers. Yet subtle and positive associations between maternal work and educational involvement also emerged. Working mothers described several strategies for educational involvement. The findings reframe current ecological conceptions of family involvement and call for policy and research consideration of the dilemma of work and family involvement.
Article
Non-weekday work schedules are on the rise in the USA. Among non-standard shifts, the evening shift is the most common. Low-income parents are more likely to be required to work non-standard schedules. However, little work has been done to examine the effect of parental evening work on school-age children. Data collected in the USA in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) was used to examine the effect of parental evening work on the home environment for 1133 school children, aged 5-10 years. The Home Observation Measurement of the Environment (HOME) score used in this study has been shown to predict children's school, developmental and health outcomes. Having at least one parent work in the evening had a significantly negative effect on the home environment both for families living in poverty and those who were not living in poverty. The effect size, an 11% decrease in HOME scores when mothers worked evenings and an 8% decrease in HOME scores when fathers worked evenings, was of the same order of magnitude as living in poverty. As the USA and other countries have increasingly functioned as 24-hour economies, the demand for evening work has increased. Without changes in public or industrial policies, many parents have no choice but to work evenings, whether or not quality substitute care is available for their children, and whether or not they believe that the benefits of evening work outweigh the costs. While policies that provide parents with a way to see their children after school are important for all families, they are particularly important for working parents living in poverty and their children. Parents living in poverty often have the least choice about working conditions and the least resources available for finding quality substitute care when their work keeps them away from their children in the evenings. Horarios no tradicionales están creciendo en los Estados Unidos. De los horarios no tradicionales, el turno de noche es el más común. Los padres de bajo ingreso tienen la probabilidad mas alta de trabajar turnos no tradicionales. Sin embargo, hay pocas investigaciones que analizan las consecuencias de trabajo nocturno para los hijos de edad escolar. Se usan datos recopilados en los Estados Unidos en el 'National Longitudinal Survey of Youth' (NLSY) para examinar el efecto de trabajo nocturno de los padres en el ambiente del hogar para 1133 niños de edades 5 años a 10 años. La medida de Observación del Ambiente del Hogar (HOME), que se usa en este estudio, ha sido efectivo en pronosticar el nivel de desarrollo de los niños en sus actividades escolares y en su salud. Tener un padre con el turno de noche tiene un efecto negativo y significativo en el ambiente del hogar para las familias que son pobres y para las familias que no son pobres. La magnitud del efecto, un descenso de 11% en la medida de HOME cuando la madre trabaja el turno de noche y un descenso de 8% en la medida de HOME cuando el padre trabaja el turno de noche, es igual a la magnitud de vivir en pobreza. Cambios en la estructura de las economias de los Estados Unidos y otros países han incrementado la demanda por trabajadores del turno de noche. Sin cambios correspondientes en la política puéblica o industrial, muchos padres han tenido que trabajar de noche por necesidad sin la posibilidad de buscar cuidado bueno para sus hijos. La habilidad de tener tiempo con sus hijos después del día escolar es importante para todos los padres, pero es aún más importante para empleados de bajos ingresos y sus niños. Por lo general, padres de ingresos bajos tienen la posibilidad minima de escoger sus condiciones del trabajo, y frecuentemente faltan los recursos necesarios para conseguir cuidado de buena calidad para sus niños durante la noche.
Article
The purpose of this study was (a) to determine if and how the reported involvement and perceptions of Hispanic and non-Hispanic parents of children with learning disabilities differed with respect to the special education process in a large, culturally diverse, urban school district, and (b) to suggest ways in which the involvement of parents from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds might be advanced by local school personnel. Results indicated that while parents from both groups were often not adequately included in some of the most basic aspects of the special education process, Hispanic parents were at greater risk for poor treatment. This was especially true concerning knowledge of the IEP and communication with school personnel. The reluctance of principals to explore these issues was also revealed. Establishment of parent support groups in native language, collaboration between bilingual and special education staff, inclusion of bilingual parent advocates at staffings, and school-wide assessment of parent satisfaction and treatment are among the recommendations made.
Article
To make informed educational decisions, parents must be able to read and comprehend the information that is given to them by their school. The purpose of the current study was to examine the readability of Parents' Rights documents of all states. Results indicated that only 4% to 8% of Parents' Rights documents were written at the recommended reading level. To the contrary, 20% to 50% of the documents were written at a college reading level or higher, and other text characteristics may have added to their difficulty. These findings suggest that parents of students with special needs are likely to find Parents' Rights documents very difficult to read and understand. Parents'Rights documents should be rewritten to make them accessible to more parents.
Article
The primary motivation behind the advocated use of plain language in legal documents is to increase comprehension among non-experts. We report empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of three kinds of simplification of standard legal contracts for increasing comprehension among naïve readers. A set of legal contracts was redrafted in three stages to produce three modified versions. In the first stage we removed or replaced archaic and redundant terms; in the next stage simplified words and sentence structure were introduced; in the final stage legal terms were defined or replaced with simpler terms. Comprehension, as measured by paraphrasing and question-answering tasks, was reliably enhanced by the use of simplified words and sentence structure, but absolute levels of comprehension were still very low. An examination of erroneous responses suggested that, quite apart from the constraints of language, non-experts have difficulty understanding complex legal concepts that sometimes conflict with prior knowledge and beliefs.
Article
One of the problems in public education and mass communication is how to tell whether a particular piece of writing is likely to be readable to a particular group of readers. Two major solutions are possible: measuring and predicting readability. Measuring, by judgments or tests, involves using readers. Predicting by readability formulas, does not involve readers but instead uses counts of language elements in the piece of writing. This article reviews formulas and related predictive devices since 1960. Four categories are presented: 1) recalculations and revisions of existing formulas; 2) new formulas, for general purpose or special purpose use; 3) application aids, for both manual and machine use; and, 4) predictions of readability for foreign languages. It concludes with suggestions for choosing a formula, based upon the following considerations: 1) special versus general needs, 2) manual versus machine application, 3) simple versus complex formulas, 4) word length versus word list formulas; and, 5) sentence length versus sentence complexity. Finally, the article stresses that formulas provide good indices of difficulty, but do not indicate causes of difficulty or say how to write readably.
Article
Using the hypotheses-generating techniques of Glaser and Strauss (1967), interviews were conducted with 35 low-income parents in an attempt to ascertain their knowledge of and their feelings about the adequacy of schooling in general and special education services in particular. Thirty-six percent of the respondents had school-aged children who were receiving special education services. The majority of parents had positive feelings about special education, although parents of learning disabled students perceived their children and their children's educational needs differently from parents of mildly mentally retarded students. Parents had given permission for special education placement, but it was found that they lacked the information essential for making informed decisions.
Article
P.L. 94–142 requires that parents become involved in the educational decision-making of their handicapped child. For parents to become involved, they need to be familiar with the various complexities of the law so they can make informed decisions about their child's education. State and local education agencies inform parents primarily through printed materials. This study surveyed materials used by the 50 states and evaluated their comprehensibility. A computer program, using four common readability formulas, analyzed selected passages for their readability. Other factors also analyzed included print size, use of examples, comprehensibility, and page density. Results indicated a range of reading levels from grades five through eight. These results are interpreted in the context of reading literacy. Issues involved in development of materials for parents and future analysis of these materials are discussed.
Article
A comprehensible consent form is not, of course, a guarantee that physician and patient have communicated to either's satisfaction. It is, however, at least an indication of good faith and a reflection of the physician's sincere attempt not only to enable the patients to understand, but also to educate the patient. A physician who ask a patient to sign a consent form consisting of long sentences clogged with technical medical terminology and stuffy legalisms that the patient cannot understand is asking for obedience, not consent. The consent form is a record of the discussion that has taken place between physisican and patient. A well-written consent form (i.e. one that the patient can understand) protects medical personnel, the hospital, and the patient. It also reflects the patient's trust in the physician and the hospital. Thus, a consent form is s document which reflects a very basic and sensitive relationship. It should, therefore, be as simply and as sensitively written as possible. Finally, should litigation occur, a consent form which is unclear or confusing, signed by the patient in ignorance, may well be rejected by a court. One which is written to be readily comprehensible, however, demonstrated a sincere and thoughtful attempt by the physician and the hospital to communicate adequately with the patient.
Article
To understand the difficulties that patients with poor reading ability have interacting with the health care system and to identify the coping mechanisms they use to deal with these problems. Focus groups and individual interviews with patients who are illiterate and patients with low literacy. Two large, urban public hospitals. Sixty patients with marginal to poor reading abilities as measured by the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine were interviewed in focus groups or individual interviews. Patients with low literacy harbor a deep sense of shame, which is reinforced by hospital staff who become frustrated or angry when someone cannot complete a form or read instructions. Seeking medical care is intimidating for patients with low literacy because they cannot understand signs and registration forms. Many patients recounted serious medication errors resulting from their inability to read labels. To cope with these problems, the patients with low literacy rely heavily on oral explanations, visual clues, and demonstrations of tasks to learn new material. Most also use a friend or family member as a surrogate reader. Patients with poor reading ability have important problems accessing the health care system, understanding recommended treatments, and following the instructions of providers. Because of their shame, patients with low literacy may be unwilling to disclose their problem to health care providers, and screening tests of reading ability may be necessary to identify those who need special assistance. Patients' coping mechanisms give insight into possible interventions that may improve their interactions with the health care system.
Article
The SMOG formula is widely used to determine how easy written health education materials are to read and comprehend. This study was conducted to assess whether the SMOG formula, originally developed and tested in English, was also valid for texts written in Spanish and French. Readability scores from a sample of passages written in Spanish, English, and French were analyzed. Study results showed that the SMOG formula seemed to be consistent in measuring readability in the three languages. However, SMOG scores varied from language to language. Two hypotheses are being laid out to explain these results. First, the SMOG equation is systematically biased for texts in Spanish or French. Second, English is more readable than French, and French is more readable than Spanish. Under the assumption of a systematic bias in the SMOG formula, the so-called SOL formulas are presented here to convert SMOG scores between Spanish, English, and French. In addition, a new scale for grading reading difficulty is proposed based on SMOG scores obtained from classical literature. This is important to the extent that it will provide Spanish speaking and French speaking health communicators with a readability formula for preparing written materials appropriate to the level of comprehension of specific target audiences.
Article
This article reviews the provisions of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as they apply particularly to students with autism. It also refers to the antidiscrimination provisions of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments (Sec. 504) and to their relevance to students with autism. It attempts to answer specific questions posed by the National Academy of Science.
Article
Amid increased concerns about the adverse consequences of low health literacy, it remains unclear how health literacy affects health status and health service utilization. Moreover, studies have shown significant variation in individual adaptation to health literacy problems. This article proposes research hypotheses to address two questions: (1) What are the causal pathways or intermediate steps that link low health literacy to poor health status and high utilization of expensive services such as hospitalization and emergency care? (2) What impact does social support have on the relationships between health literacy and health service utilization? Empirical studies of health literacy are reviewed to indicate the limitations of current literature and to highlight the importance of the proposed research agenda. In particular, we note the individualistic premise of current literature in which individuals are treated as isolated and passive actors. Thus, low health literacy is considered simply as an individual trait independent of support and resources in an individual's social environment. To remedy this, research needs to take into account social support that people can draw on when problems arise due to their health literacy limitations. Examination of the proposed agenda will make two main contributions. First, we will gain a better understanding of the causal effects of health literacy and identify missing links in the delivery of care for patients with low health literacy. Second, if social support buffers the adverse effects of low health literacy, more effective interventions can be designed to address differences in individuals' social support system in addition to individual differences in reading and comprehension. More targeted and more cost-efficient efforts could also be taken to identify and reach those who not only have low health literacy but also lack the resources and support to bridge the unmet literacy demands of their health conditions.
Article
Limited health literacy has been associated with a range of adverse health outcomes including decreased use of preventive health services, poorer disease-specific outcomes for certain chronic conditions and increased risk of hospitalisation and mortality. Although the majority of research has been conducted in the adult population, there is a small and growing body of research on this subject in the paediatric literature. In this article, we will review the research on health literacy, consider the range of other communication skills associated with limited health literacy and explore strategies to improve patient-provider communication for clinicians who care for families with limited health-literacy skills.
The Individuals With Disabilities Act (IDEA): Procedural safeguards and due process
  • Arc
Teaching patients with low literacy skills
  • C Doak
  • L Doak
  • J Root