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M8 Assignment: Running Project Part 2
Katherine Hewett
Department of Special Education, University of Kansas
SPED 856
Dr. Stacie Dojonivic
March 3, 2023
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M8 Assignment: Running Project Part 2
Literature Review Table
Study (APA Citation) Purpose(s) of Study Key Findings Implications for
Practice
Kim, K.-H., & To explore the CLD families have Many diverse
Morningstar, M. E. current status of overall negative families are
(2005). Transition parent experiences in hesitant to be
Planning Involving involvement in transition planning involved in school-
Culturally and transition planning and are overall related activities
Linguistically for families from more passive about for a number of
Diverse Families. diverse school-based reasons; educators
Career Development backgrounds planning and need to be mindful
for Exceptional To examine the decision-making of this and
Individuals, 28(2), barriers placed on CLD parents tend sensitive to the
92–103. parents to be less involved family’s needs.
https://doi.org/10.117 To recommend in school activities Culturally
7/0885728805028002 strategies to as a whole responsive
0601 enhance CLDs may rely strategies need to
partnerships more on the be utilized often
between parents informal supports with families in
and school of their ethnic order to empower
programs during community over them towards more
the transition the formal involvement.
period supports of the
larger community
Fantuzzo, J., To examine Home-Based Parent and family
McWayne, C., Perry, relations between family involvement and
M. A., & Childs, S. multiple involvement presence at home
(2004). Multiple dimensions of emerged as the significantly
dimensions of family family strongest predictor increases positive
involvement and their involvement and of child outcomes school outcomes in
relations to early childhood Home-Based children. School-
behavioral and education and family based practices
learning classroom involvement help, but they do
competencies for outcomes associated not impact
urban, low-income To investigate significantly with students as much
children. School relations between student motivation, compared to
Psychology Review, family attention, family
33(4), 467–480. involvement persistence, involvement at
https://doi.org/10.108 dimensions and academic skills, home. It is
0/02796015.2004.120 end-of-year and appropriate important that
86262 outcomes behavior educators and
Low conduct school personnel
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problems in the share this
classroom were information with
significantly families, especially
related to the those that are
combination of diverse.
School-Based
Involvement and
Home-Based
Involvement
Cobb, C. (2014). To review CLD perspectives Interactions with
Critical literature on and involvement is school personnel
entanglement: culturally and heavily affected heavily impact the
Research on linguistically and impacted by level of
culturally and diverse parental how they are involvement from
linguistically diverse involvement in treated by school CLD families.
parental involvement special education personnel, Educators must be
in special education in the United especially when consciously aware
2000-2010. States and Canada viewpoints, of how they
Exceptionality To consider the beliefs, and approach these
Education research opinions differ interactions, doing
International, 23(1). surrounding what Barriers such as their best to be as
https://doi.org/10.520 influences the heavy use of culturally
6/eei.v23i1.7703 culturally and special education responsive as
linguistically terminology and possible.
diverse parent differing styles of
involvement communication
To examine the can significantly
prevalent themes decrease
of perceptions, interactions
people, and between school
systems in the personnel and
reviewed literature CLD families
CLD families are
negatively
impacted at a
systematic level
due to problematic
past interactions
they have had with
school personnel
Website Abstracts
PACER Center: Working with culturally diverse families
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PACER Center, Inc. (2023). Working with culturally diverse families. PACER Center -
Champions for Children with Disabilities. Retrieved February 23, 2023, from
https://www.pacer.org/cultural-diversity/
The PACER Center is based in Minnesota, USA, and is Minnesota’s premier parent
training and information center. However, because the center is funded by the U.S. Department
of Education, the resources found on this website can be used by families across the country.
This page on the website focuses specifically on engaging diverse families in the educational
processes of their children with disabilities. There is a featured video series on the webpage
where real parents of students with disabilities share their personal experiences being involved in
their child’s education. The links following the video cover a variety of resources for parents to
learn more about special education processes, research on parent involvement, and additional
organizations to learn from.
Parent to Parent USA
Parent to Parent USA. (2023, January 3). Home. Support for Parents of Children with
Disabilities. Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.p2pusa.org/
Parent to Parent USA is a national organization that partners families together whose
children have similar experiences regarding their educational and medical needs related to their
disabilities. Parent to Parent USA works to empower and support families to become more
involved in their child’s education and medical care. Parent to Parent has partnered with 38
organizations in 37 states to provide connections and resources to these families. Other pages on
the website include research from a study conducted on the benefits of the Parent to Parent
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connections, information on diversity and inclusion, and more information on how to get
involved with their community network.
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network. (2023). SPAN Parent Advocacy Network. Retrieved February
23, 2023, from https://spanadvocacy.org/
The SPAN Parent Advocacy Network was founded in 1987 in New Jersey, USA, by
parents of children with disabilities. SPAN has since spread to support families and additional
organizations across the country. There is a parent learning portal that has various training videos
as well as workshops on topics such as involvement, surrogacy, and leadership development.
Parents can also search through the library of digital resources on a variety of disability,
education, and community topics. The goal of SPAN is to increase parent involvement by
increasing their overall knowledge and connecting them with the resources they need to be
involved.
Summary of Findings
Information gleaned from the articles was not so much new as much as it confirmed previous
knowledge regarding culturally and linguistically diverse families. The articles serve as evidence
for what is already known: interactions between families and school personnel can make or break
the relationship, and ultimately determine the level of family involvement. The extent of this
impact is more so the new information learned. The common finding between all three articles is
the impact family involvement has on student outcomes, and the level of involvement hinges on
previous interactions and relationships with school personnel; this is especially true for CLD
families. If families have negative interactions with educators, they are less likely to be involved,
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thus resulting in less-than-ideal school outcomes for the students. School-based measures are
only so effective compared to family involvement levels. The most effective way for students to
experience positive school outcomes is for parents to be involved, and the most effective way to
increase family involvement is for educators and school personnel to use culturally responsive
practices while interacting with families. This is true for all families, but is especially impactful
for diverse ones.
Overall, the websites listed and described above highly support parents and encourage family
involvement. Navigating the websites was fairly easy, and all were mostly user friendly. The
goal of the websites is to increase parent and family knowledge and awareness to then increase
involvement. A major barrier to family involvement is a lack of information regarding special
education, so these organizations attempt to eliminate this barrier-or reduce its impact-by
creating their websites. The SPAN Parent Advocacy Network website in particular has a parent
portal where families can watch videos and participate in workshops on certain topics related to
involvement; there is also a database of various resources where parents can learn more about
certain topics related to special education. Another major barrier to family involvement is the
lack of support, especially in diverse families. Both the PACER Center and Parent to Parent
USA aim to eliminate this barrier by connecting families together-parents tend to be more
involved when they feel they are not alone in their journey. The PACER and Parent to Parent
websites also have additional information for parents about special education, and these
resources are written in parent-friendly terms for ease of understanding. All three websites can
be translated into different languages, further increasing accessibility of information.
The findings from the articles as well as the websites have significant implications for my
current practice. The vast majority of the families I work with are culturally and linguistically
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diverse. Involvement in their students’ education is much more crucial due to the nature of the
demographic, meaning it is much more crucial that educators like myself use culturally
responsive approaches when interacting with these families. If I am honest, I can be guilty of
using too much educational jargon when speaking with students’ families, especially during IEP
meetings. Though I do my best to phrase my speaking points in family-friendly language, I still
often find myself working specific vocabulary into conversations. This can be very off-putting to
families and negatively impact those relationships. Moving forward, I want to be more conscious
of how I come across to families, specifically in conversations. I also need to be more sensitive
to what the family needs. More often than not, parents want to be involved in their child’s
education, but do not know how because they are lacking information about special education. I
plan to have a list of websites like those mentioned above to share with families at IEP meetings,
or even during conversations related to a specific topic. This way, families can learn more about
special education in cultural- and language-friendly ways. Though these strategies are not going
to completely resolve the struggle of family involvement, it is my hope that involvement can be
increased by improving school-family relationships in ways that are more sensitive to the
family’s needs.
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References
Cobb, C. (2014). Critical entanglement: Research on culturally and linguistically diverse parental
involvement in special education 2000-2010. Exceptionality Education International,
23(1). https://doi.org/10.5206/eei.v23i1.7703
Fantuzzo, J., McWayne, C., Perry, M. A., & Childs, S. (2004). Multiple dimensions of family
involvement and their relations to behavioral and learning competencies for urban, low-
income children. School Psychology Review, 33(4), 467–480.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2004.12086262
Kim, K.-H., & Morningstar, M. E. (2005). Transition planning involving culturally and
linguistically diverse families. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 28(2),
92–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/08857288050280020601
PACER Center, Inc. (2023). Working with culturally diverse families. PACER Center -
Champions for Children with Disabilities. Retrieved February 23, 2023, from
https://www.pacer.org/cultural-diversity/
Parent to Parent USA. (2023, January 3). Home. Support for Parents of Children with
Disabilities. Retrieved February 23, 2023, from https://www.p2pusa.org/
SPAN Parent Advocacy Network. (2023). SPAN Parent Advocacy Network. Retrieved February
23, 2023, from https://spanadvocacy.org/
