Program
Education Doctorate
Year Approved
2022
First Advisor
Melanie Keillor
Second Reader
Kristen Nichols-Besel
Third Reader
Tracy Reimer
Abstract
Early childhood is a crucial time in a child's development and is often the entry point for a child experiencing developmental delays in the special education process. Parents play an essential role in the special education process as the child's primary caregivers. This study examined the decision-making process of economically disadvantaged Black and Hispanic/Latinx parents as they provide input on classroom setting decisions during preschool IEP creation. Through in-depth interviews, parents shared their lived experiences as they navigated the special education process and made decisions on classroom settings as part of the IEP team. Document analysis provided additional context in which parents made their decisions. The study found that parents had limited understanding of resources, lacked opportunities for collaboration, did not have knowledge about exclusionary settings, and built their own knowledge about exclusionary settings through personal experience. Based on these findings, policy and practice recommendations were made to support economically disadvantaged Black and Hispanic/Latinx parents to achieve active, informed participation in the IEP decision-making process. Active and informed parents may play a crucial role in disrupting the status quo of disproportionality in preschool special education. Educator training, diverse assessments, parents' access to advocates, and case studies were all areas in need of future research.
Degree Name
Education Doctorate
Document Type
Doctoral dissertation
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Nordtvedt, K. K. (2022). Parent Experience in Preschool Special Education Classroom Setting Decisions [Doctoral dissertation, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/854