Comparison of Parental Involvement in Regular and Special Education

The importance of parental participation in the educational process has been recognized in both regular and special education. However, most of what is known about parent involvement in special education has been garnered through studies at the elementary age level and with families of students with mild disabilities. In this study, mothers of students with severe disabilities were compared with mothers of nondisabled students and students with mild to moderate disabilities regarding their perceptions of school involvement. A total of 117 mothers were interviewed. The results indicated that in comparison to the parents of students in regular education, parents of students with disabilities were offered more opportunities to be involved, were more satisfied with their involvement, and felt more able to influence their children's education. This was true over the school age span. No significant differences were related to the severity of the children's disability. Types of activities in which the mothers were involved suggest that some of the parental involvement mechanisms developed in special education might profitably be extended to regular education.