Mexican Parental Involvement in Education - Term Paper Example

Mexican parental involvement in education. According to Largas (2003), “In 2005, Hispanics will become the largest minority group in the United s, representing 13 percent of the population. The largest Hispanic subgroup in the United States is of Mexican origin, and in 1997, they comprised two-thirds (66 percent) of the Hispanic population”. This has changed over the years as Salas et al (2005) report a 59 percent in 2005. The Mexican American population is a very young group and over ninety percent live in metropolitan areas throughout the United States. They are urbanized from an originally farming people. There are many challenges facing this population stemming from high unemployment and health problems. One of the ways that these problems manifest themselves is in low academic achievement. There is some concern that though the population of Hispanics and other cultural diversity groups is growing in the schools, the diversity of the teachers is not widening accordingly. Therefore there are challenges growing with Anglo- American teachers having to teach and deal with multicultural learners. Tam and Heng (2005) believe that the needs of parents and their exceptional children have not been given enough consideration by educators over the years. They suggest that parents have been treated more as clients than as partners with a common goal in the learning journey. Parents have too often been seen as adversaries or antagonistic in the parent-professional partnership. It is important to value parents especially in the intervention process. The National PTA defines parent involvement as “the participation of parents in every facet of the education and development of their children from birth to adulthood”. This is however a broad and general definition. A more specific and working definition is needed to build effective parent and school partnerships for multicultural and multilingual families and for families with special needs children. Parents as partners includes “ teaching and learning, recognition of parents as legitimate participants in school governance, fostering the sense of community and supporting the development of parenting skills”. (Salas et al, (2005). These authors focused on Mexican American families in their study of how special education teachers can create parent partnerships. They believe that Mexican American parents have been underrepresented in school-related decision-making and other traditional school activities. Part of the reason for this, they suggest, is that special education teachers do not have a deep understanding of the values and traditions of the Hispanic families. They state that “historically, the fact that thee parents may not share mainstream values, traditions, and customs has often been perceived by special education teachers as part of the problem and not as valuable new sources of information”. Numerous studies show the benefits of parental involvement in their child’s school and education such as better school attendance, improved homework completion rates, decreased violence and substance abuse, and higher graduation rates. Tam and Heng (2005) emphasise the importance of a healthy school- home partnership which “provides the professionals with more opportunities to reinforce children’s behavior at school and home and feedback from parents helps improve instructional programs”. They go on to point out how parents can get a better understanding of their child’s needs and teachers’ objectives. There are also benefits to the parents, especially culturally and linguistically diverse parents, according to Salas et al (2005), including promoting more confidence in the parents, fostering more positive feelings about their role as parents, increasing parents’ willingness to participate in school related activities and volunteering their time and increasing parents’ interaction with their children’s teachers and principals. Joyce Epstein of Johns Hopkins University has developed a framework for defining six different types of parent involvement. This framework assists educators in developing school and family partnership programs. Epsteins framework defines the six types of involvement and lists sample practices or activities to describe the involvement more fully. Her work also describes the challenges inherent in fostering each type of parent involvement as well as the expected results of implementing them for students, parents, and teachers. The six types of involvement include-: parenting (assisting families with parenting and child-rearing skills; communicating (improving communication between home and school); volunteering (including parents as volunteers in school programs); learning at home (involving families with homework and other learning activities at home); decision making (including families in the governance of the school); and collaborating with the community (coordinate resources of community for the families). This framework embodies the aspects of parental involvement necessary for parents of children with special needs. Therefore, regardless of the economic, ethnic, or cultural background of the family, parent involvement in a child’s education is a major factor in determining the child’s success in school. Parental involvement with children with special needs is more than recommended; it is vital. Legislation. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a US law that came into existence to ensure services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. The IDEA was originally enacted by Congress in 1975 to make sure that children with disabilities had the opportunity to receive a free appropriate public education, just like other children. The law has been revised many times over the years. The most recent amendments were passed by Congress in December 2004, with final regulations published in August 2006. In the 1999–2000 school year, 13 percent of children 3 to 21 years old received services under IDEA. Hispanics made up eleven percent of this. (Largas, 2003) IDEA has two primary purposes: The first purpose is to provide an education that meets a child’s unique needs and prepares the child for further education, employment, and independent living. The second purpose is to protect the rights of children with disabilities and their parents. The Individualized Education Program, or IEP, is the key document developed by the parents, teachers and related services personnel that lays out how the child receives a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. The IEP lays out the child’s academic achievement and functional performance, describes how the child will be included in the general education curriculum, establishes annual goals for the child and describes how those goals will be measured, states what special education and related services are needed by the child, describes how the child will be appropriately assessed including through the use of alternate assessments, and determines what accommodations may be appropriate for the child’s instruction and assessments. IDEA regulations state that the parent must be part of the IEP. It is also important that parents are informed of meetings and every effort made for them to attend. In addition there are several rights that the parent has under the new IDEA law. The National Center for Learning Disabilities (2006) explains the rights of parents. Parents have the right to have a child evaluated by professionals outside the school district if they are not satisfied with the evaluation done by the school district. Parents must receive prior written notice of any action to be taken concerning the child. The child’s educational records must be accessible to the parents, and the parents must agree to all the information contained in those records. According to the law there is a due process by which parents can make legitimate complaints. Despite the obvious benefits, the laws that support parental involvement and the availability and wide use of structures for parental involvement, culturally diverse families seem not to be as actively involved in their child’s schooling as white, American families. Matuszny et al (2007) sum up the barriers to parental involvement of culturally diverse families as,” inability to speak English, an unfamiliar or intimidating educational system, perceptions that their opinions are not valued by schools/professionals, and direct or indirect discouragement from teachers or administrators, lack of trust that some parents hold for professionals who do not provide sufficient information about community services and rights, and lack of cultural sensitivity “. Tam and Heng (2005) have also examined the difficulties faced by culturally and linguistically diverse parents in the pre-intervention process. They list limited English skills, poverty, long working hours and isolation from mainstream culture as challenges and intimidations that prevent parents from becoming actively involved in school partnerships. They believe that work is a major obstacle; parents do not have the autonomy and flexibility in their work schedules to be involved in the children’s school activities. Ramirez (2003) conducted a study to determine the concerns of immigrant Latino parents regarding their children’s schools in a California community which was 90 percent Latino. He interviewed twenty-nine mothers and fourteen fathers. Two of the major areas they identified as difficult for them were communication and expectations placed on them. The biggest problem in communication was that on too many occasions there were no translators present for them at school board meetings or open house days, even though many of the teachers do not speak Spanish. Many of the parents also felt that the teachers had lower expectations of their students than for students who are from schools with higher socioeconomic levels. There were also lower expectations of the parents. Parents reported that they were afraid to speak up regarding issues because they were afraid the school would retaliate or they feared deportation. In general, “parents felt they were unaware of the traditions of the school life. Many of the parents felt it was not their place to attend or go to schools for they felt the teachers were better suited to teach and educate their children”. Stigma and discrimination have been suggested as factors in culturally diverse parents’ unwillingness to be involved in social situations such as school. McHalton and Correa (2005) did a study with twenty five Mexican and twenty five Puerto Rican mothers with children with disabilities. Although the research was not done exclusively in the school environment it offers explanations that are helpful in understanding the challenges that these parents face. The research found clear evidence of discrimination as a result of culture, disability and a combination of both. In the study mothers reported discrimination in the work place, public places and social services departments. The discrimination sometimes took the form of inappropriate and hurtful comments made by strangers about the child with the disability. As a result of this discrimination the mothers were not able to be assertive and isolated themselves physically and verbally and so preferred to avoid social situations. This of course decreased their attendance at school functions or meetings with teachers. Parental involvement in IEP development is therefore faced with all the challenges of simply getting the parents to come to the school, plus additional challenges of working with the groups. The difficulties faced by the cultural diversity are increased with disabilities. Dabkowski (2004) states that despite the mandate by IDEA’s amendment in 1997 that parents be included as members of the IEP team, parent participation in the decision-making process varies. According to her some parents limit their participation, but for others participation is blocked by barriers. There is an influence of culture, (the attitudes and beliefs that are valued by the particular team), in the process by which the IEP meetings take place. These “cultural differences can result in disparate beliefs about disability and the nature of the disability served through special education services”. According to Dubkowski, research has also identified issues which act as barriers in the IEP development, such as attitudes, cultural background, logistics and parental responsibilities. Lamorey (2002) also discusses the significance of cultural beliefs in dealing with disabilities. As she says, “parents and their families may have different belief systems relative to the meaning of disability than the typical teacher from middle-class Euro American backgrounds who provide educational and support services”. This difference in beliefs about the causes of the disability and therefore the treatment necessary can result in conflicts among the IEP team and difficulties in coming to agreements as to what is best for the child. Some parents may even hide their beliefs and cause additional mis-understandings. Appreciating the benefits of parental involvement, considering the legal requirements for parents of children with special needs and understanding these challenges, can all help to develop effective ways to increase involvement of Mexican parents in their children’s schooling generally, but especially in their special needs child’s education. Schools that do well in involving parents from diverse backgrounds seem to be good at building trust and respecting the families’ cultural differences. Different researchers have put forward suggestions and recommendations for improving parental involvement. Matuszny et al (2007) state that an effective plan to develop collaborative relationships should- “ include parents in the collaborative relationship from beginning to end; help teachers better understand the needs of families from culturally diverse backgrounds; and include activities designed to strengthen the trust that culturally diverse parents hold for educations professionals in the IEP process”. They present a progressive plan of four phases which they hope will diminish or remove the barriers that deter culturally diverse families from becoming involved in the IEP process. The plan is flexible and incorporates annual revision, allowing teachers to improve, support, and maintain the familys involvement and collaborative partnership in the IEP process. It starts with bringing the parents and teachers together in a celebratory and festive environment. Trust is then built by sharing information with the parents, giving them choices and opportunities to share in the decision-making process. Teachers must then maintain communication with the parents respecting the cultural norms of relationships. A reflection phase ends the first cycle. It is hoped that such a plan will improve the parents’ willingness to be involved in their child’s IEP. Salas et al (2005) state strongly that for best practices in developing effective parent partnerships between Mexican- American families and special education teachers to take place some things are necessary and must be taken into consideration. The first is not stereotyping or assuming anything, remembering that families differ in linguistic ability, socioeconomic levels, educational level and acculturation levels. Establishing trustworthiness and creditability are important to these families. Teachers should find out the literacy proficiency of the families. Sometimes the jargon of special education can be daunting to these families. It is helpful to find out which language the family is fluent in and feels more comfortable using. Sending home notes and homework in a language that the parent is not comfortable working in can make the parents feel devalued. The parents are unable to respond to these notes. Otherwise there is the risk that the family may not understand what is being asked of them. Having bad experiences with language at IEP meetings can cause the families to retreat into silence. Special educators must understand the acculturation level of the families. The length of time that the families have been in the US affects their views on education and the role that they must play. Families born in Mexico may adhere to traditional values that dictate that the child’s education must be left to the school and there involvement is therefore minimal. Some may even think that their child’s failure or academic problems is the parent’s fault and may not see it fit to question the practices of the school or the teachers. Administrative support, in particular the support of the school principal is cited as one of the key factors in building school- home relationships. (Tam and Heng, 2005). Other necessary requirements are that there be trust between school staff and parents, whereby the parents are treated as equal partners and key players in the interventions process. Having bilingual personnel who are familiar with and sensitive to parents’ and child’s language and cultural needs is also mentioned by these authors as key to involving parents actively in the process. Hispanics can thus be considered a special group and Mexicans a special sub-group in the education system. They face the challenges common to any minority group in an institution such as school. These challenges are compounded when the child in the system has a special need. Linguistic differences also add to the complexity of the situation faced by Mexican families in trying to navigate the education system. Even with laws in place to protect and support people with disabilities, parents still find it difficult to maneuver the system in order that the child gets the best opportunities possible. Special educators must make a big effort to empower parents and make them true partners in the process. For them to do this they must first learn about and understand the cultural influences in these families’ lives. Building trusting relationships with the parents is crucial. References Dabkowski, Diane M. (2004).Encouraging active parent participation in IEP team meetings. Teaching exceptional children. 36, (3), 34-39. Lamorey, S (2002).The effects of culture on special education services. Teaching exceptional children. 34, 67-71. Largas, C. (2003). Status and trends in the education of Hispanics. Retrieved February 27, 2008, from National Center for Education and Statistics. United States Department of Education Web site: www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo. McHalton, P.A., & Correa, V (2005). Stigma and discrimination: Perspectives from Mexican and Puerto Rican mothers of children with special needs. Topics in early childhood special education. 25, (3), 131-142. Matuszeny, R.M., Banda, D.R., & Coleman, T.J. (2007) A progressive plan for building collaborative relationships with parents form diverse backgrounds. Teaching exceptional children, 39, (4), 24-32. National center for learning disabilities (2006) IDEA parent guide. A comprehensive guide to your rights and responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004). Retrieved February 27, 2008, from National Council on Learning Disabilities Web site: http://www.ncld.org/content/view/900/456084/ PTA Position: Parent Involvement. Retrieved February 29, 2008, from PTA Web site: http://www.pta.org/ia_pta_positions_1116959239593.html Ramirez, F.A.Y. (2003).Dismay and disappointment: Parental involvement of Latino immigrant parents. The Urban Review. 35, (2), 93-110. Salas, L., Lopez, E. J., Chinn, K, & Menchaca-Lopez, E (2005). Can special education teachers create parent partnerships with Mexican American families? Si se pueda!. Multicultural education, 13, (2), 52-55. Tam, Kai Yung (Brian), & Heng, M.A. (2005). A case involving culturally and linguistically diverse parents in prereferral intervention. Intervention in school and clinic. 40, (4), 222-230. Read More