Title: Urban African American Families' Perceptions of Cultural Sensitivity Within the
Special Education System , By: Zionts, Laura T., Zionts, Paul, Harrison, Sharonlyn,
Bellinger, Odis, Focus on Autism & Other Developmental Disabilities, 10883576,
Spring2003, Vol. 18, Issue 1
Database: Academic Search Premier
The families of 24 African American children having severe emotional or cognitive disabilities who were receiving special educational services in urban communities were interviewed about their perceptions of cultural sensitivity demonstrated by the school district. This information included their perceptions of the level of consideration of cultural beliefs and values within the services and supports provided by the district and by other community resources.
Semistructured interviews were conducted and analyzed for common themes across families. Six themes emerged: (a) respect for parents and children by school personnel, (b) perceived negativity toward child and/or parents by school, (c) need for information and assistance using community support services, (d) desire for greater cultural understanding and demonstrated acceptance of differences by school personnel, (e) issues of quality and training among teachers and other school personnel, and (f) improved teacher-parent and parent-parent partnerships. For nearly all of the respondents, the level of parental satisfaction was closely related to feeling that they were respected by the school personnel.
Parent involvement in special education is federally mandated and has gained increasing emphasis in recent reauthorizations of federal special education law. The Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) amendments of 1997 contain the strongest language yet emphasizing the role of parents in designing and implementing special education services
(USC, 1998). The topic of parent satisfaction with the special education system has been studied over the previous 2 decades to facilitate development of practices that engender the support and participation of parents and families (Filer & Mahoney, 1996; Freeman, Alkin, &
Kasari, 1999; McWilliam et al., 1995; Plunge & Krotchwill, 1995; Rynack, Downing, Morrison,
& Williams, 1996). Further, the results can be used to inform educational policy and to shape how services are designed and provided.
In previous research, an emphasis has been placed on recruiting parent participants based on the disability of the child receiving special education services (i.e., parents of children who have learning disabilities). Although most existing studies of parent satisfaction have not reported the ethnic composition of their sample, those that have reported this information have been conducted with primarily Caucasian participants.
Studies of parent satisfaction with the special education system should be designed to examine combinations of specific factors within the range of services, needs, and local implementation issues that exist across the nation. As parent studies advance in complexity and quality, researchers should target combinations of key variables such as the severity of the disability, the geographic region represented by the sample group, the ethnicity of participants, the majority ethnic group or culture of the school community, the gender of the child, and the resources and programs available in the district studied. Although specificity will reduce generalizability of findings, given the array of factor combinations that exist within the public school system, the risks of making recommendations of limited relevance are particularly high when "generic" parents and program characteristics are sought for study. It is arguable that no such "general case" can exist among such a diverse group of parents of children within a special education system that aspires to meet the needs of individuals.

Bailey, Skinner, Rodriguez, Gut, and Correa (1999) examined the influence of culture on the satisfaction of Hispanic parents of young children receiving early intervention services. In that study, the researchers found that the family characteristics (e.g., cultural beliefs, socioeconomic status) had little influence on the quantity or frequency of service use or satisfaction with services received. They concluded that programmatic factors had a stronger role in service use and satisfaction than did family variables. The researchers specifically targeted one group of parents--those with children in the special education system--and pursued a study that would shed light on the thoughts and needs of only that group. In order to state with any certainty that policies and programs are appropriate to all families, researchers must look carefully and in many ways at the groups of parents that are defined and selected.
Westling (1996) conducted a review of the literature consisting of 25 studies on the needs and satisfaction of parents whose children had moderate to severe disabilities. In general, he found that parents were satisfied with the education that their children received and with the quality of teachers and administrators. He noted that in studies that reported ethnicity data, parents of color were less satisfied than Caucasian parents. Within Westling's review, observations were made regarding services received outside of the school realm. According to the studies reviewed by Westling, parents were significantly less satisfied with communitybased services than school-based services. The lack of coordination among agencies, income requirements (at both ends of the spectrum), and quality of services were all cited by
Westling as obstacles to parent satisfaction.
A related study by Yanok and Derubertis (1989) compared the opinions of predominantly
African American parents of children with and without disabilities on teaching quality, satisfaction with the educational system, and select items that addressed educational equity.
From approximately 7-minute phone interviews, the researchers concluded that parents of children who were involved in special education were generally equally satisfied with the quality of instruction, the level of parent involvement in the schools, and the levels of equality of opportunity among ethnic groups of students. Within this random sample, however, only
10% of the parents had children in the special education system. Researchers conducting the study contacted and interviewed the subgroup of parents who had children with disabilities significantly more often (p > .01) than parents of children in general education in order to accommodate for the low number of participants with children in special education.
The children's disability types and severity were not identified by the researchers.
There have been few studies that have attempted to address the school's level of crosscultural sensitivity as perceived by parents. Lynch and Stein (1987) compared Caucasian,
African American, and Hispanic parents' general levels of satisfaction and involvement with the special education system, using written surveys containing open-ended and forcedchoice items. The researchers found Hispanic parents to be less involved than Caucasian and African American parents. However, all three groups were generally satisfied with the educational program their children were receiving.
There is a need to explore the perceived influence of cross-cultural sensitivity on the part of school/program personnel within groups of parents who share a common ethnicity to examine how cross-cultural sensitivity influences parental level of satisfaction with the special education system as a whole. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining satisfaction with the special education system and perceptions of cross-cultural sensitivity of African American parents of children who have moderate to severe disabilities.
The present study addresses the following questions:
1. To what extent are some African American parents in urban areas satisfied with the

services their children presently receive from the public schools in terms of demonstrated cultural sensitivity in planning and service provision?
2. To what extent do some African American families in urban areas feel that cultural sensitivity is an important factor in planning and providing special education services for their child?
3. To what extent do some African American parents in urban areas state that their child's school personnel treat them as a "partner" in planning and service provision for their child?
4. What, if any, are the important cultural beliefs and values that some African
American parents in urban areas would like school service planning teams to consider?
5. What, if any, cross-cultural training would some African American parents from urban areas prefer school service planning teams to have prior to working directly with families who share their cultural beliefs and values?
The interview, as a qualitative method of inquiry, is used to obtain an understanding of the beliefs, values, and perceptions of others (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992; Taylor & Bogdan, 1984).
We used in-depth interviewing to more fully understand urban African American parents' perceptions of appropriate educational services and settings for students with moderate to severe cognitive or emotional disabilities. As pointed out by Rynack et al. (1996), the use of qualitative methods can occur within a variety of paradigms. The paradigm used by a researcher is evidenced by the questions asked, the way data are gathered, and the manner in which the results are conveyed. For the present study, we employed an interpretivist paradigm. We attempted to use the information gained during this series of interviews to provide evolving meaning or clearer understanding for a social complexity.
We recruited African American parents from two large metropolitan areas to participate in this study by asking for volunteers from local parent support and after-school care community organizations. Parents were recruited in this way in order to avoid the possibility of schools' and teachers' nominating satisfied parents with whom the school has already identified a positive rapport. Although this sample group was biased because all participants were members of parent support or after-school care groups, it was representative of the intended population--urban African American parents who are involved in their children's education.
To recruit parents, we distributed information about the study and the interview process and questions through e-mail to the distribution groups for the parent support organizations and through in-person presentations. Copies of the same information were distributed at local meetings of the organizations. Parents were asked to volunteer to participate. Participants received no compensation for their participation in this study. Parents of 24 children with moderate to severe cognitive and behavioral disabilities participated in the study.
A broad range of socioeconomic statuses were represented by participating parents from both cities. All parents were self-identified as African American, were living in urban communities, and had a child with a moderate to severe disability enrolled in the public school system. Table 1 reports children's descriptive data, including ages, genders, and disability labels.

Semistructured interviews were used to address the topics of interest to the researchers because they also made it possible for parents to discuss any aspect of the topics they felt were important. Prior to the interviews, open-ended questions were constructed that would invite parents to discuss (a) their perceptions of the impact of their ethnicity on special education services (including planning and delivery), (b) their overall satisfaction with the special education system and with community-based services, and (c) the extent to which they believed the first two factors were related. Figure 1 provides a list of the questions and probes used by interviewers. Probes were designed to elucidate the participant's intended meanings or provide clarification to responses.
Two African American graduate students conducted all the interviews. Both interviewers had previous experience and training in interview techniques and in special education. Interviews were scheduled at the parent's convenience and audiotaped for later transcription. The interviewers took handwritten notes during the interview as well. Interviews were designed to take approximately 1 hour to complete. However, the average length of the interview was approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, with times ranging from 45 minutes to 2 1 /2 hours, depending on the extent of the parent's comments.
The graduate student who conducted the interview also transcribed the audiotapes. Written notes were used to support transcription accuracy. The resulting transcripts were then reviewed for overall accuracy by reading the transcript and listening to the audiotape to make edits and changes as necessary. In some cases, the parent was contacted again after the interview to clarify meaning or to obtain missing demographic information. We reviewed the completed and verified transcripts and examined them for themes. To interpret these responses, we read and reread each of the transcripts for common themes, as recommended for analysis of qualitative data (Bogdan & Biklin, 1992; Merriam, 1988;
Patton, 1987).
Each transcript was then reread and coded for the themes by one member of the research team. When a passage was attributed to more than one of the themes, it was assigned multiple codes. We then exchanged the transcripts and independently coded them using the same procedures. The two individuals responsible for a particular transcript then discussed any discrepancies and determined which code the passage should receive. Finally, all of the coded transcripts were grouped by theme and read to identify common topics among parents within the theme.
Children and youth who have moderate to severe disabilities most likely need services both in the school and in the community because of the nature and pervasiveness of their needs.
Parents who participated in this study were willing to share their thoughts and perspectives on school and community services with interviewers. The following results have been organized by six themes that emerged from their responses:
1. respect for parents and children by school personnel,
2. perceived negativity toward children and/or parents by school,
3. need for information and assistance using community support services,
4. desire for greater cultural understanding and demonstrated acceptance of differences by school personnel,
5. issues of quality and training among teachers and other school personnel, and
6. improved teacher-parent and parent-parent partnerships.

The theme of respect emerged in response to multiple questions from the interview. More than half of the parents who participated in this study (64%) did not feel respected by teachers and other school staff members. Parents also discussed feeling that neither their child nor their family and religious beliefs were respected by teachers or other school representatives.
In response to the question, "To what extent is your level of satisfaction with the school related to how well the school respects your cultural beliefs and values?" one parent stated,
"My level of satisfaction is directly related to the respect I receive from the school." Another parent stated, "The school does not respect at all what . . . parents have to say." Still another responded, "My level of satisfaction with the school directly relates to the level of respect that is shown to my son." Parents were sensitive to the specific comments made to their child and to parents, as well as to the behaviors and attitudes exhibited by school personnel, from the teacher to the principal to the counselor and others.
This theme was also reflected in response to the question, "What would you like the school to know about your child?" A parent reflected on this question by stating, "I would like them
[school personnel] to respect that my child is emotionally disturbed." Some parents were particularly powerful in the choice of words used to respond to this question. For example, one parent replied, "My child is a person, not an object." Another responded, "My child is a gift from Allah despite his disability." These sentiments seem to reflect a personal and intense commitment to the child's dignity, as well as a response to negative treatment by school personnel.
Two thirds of the participants, who did feel like they functioned as partners, were asked what their school did to engender this perception. The school behaviors indicated by parents included many of the aspects of federal legislation that mandate parent partnership (i.e., regular progress reports, attendance at the IEP team meetings). For example, one parent said, "My school treats me as a partner. I attend IEP meetings, and I have a chance to accept or decline any goals they want to make for my child." It is encouraging that the parents interviewed in this study seemed to recognize and view positively the efforts made by Congress to include them in their child's educational program.
Legally mandated parental involvement components were accompanied by a few additional strategies in some schools (i.e., parent-teacher conferences, willingness on the parts of the teacher and principal to listen to and to act on parents' input). The following are quotes from parents that illustrate well the additional strategies that positively affected parents:
"The teachers listen to parents' input on activities for the children"
"Our school treats us as partners because of the involvement that the parents have in school matters. And the principal is willing to listen to ideas of the parents"
"Yes, my school treats me as a partner. They ask me all of the time for what my child likes or dislikes, what is happening at home that might be good/bad for my child."
Parental perceptions about existing respect could also be detected through the question,
"Does your school treat you as a partner?" More than one third of the parents who were interviewed for this study did not feel that the school treated them as a partner. Parents expressed opinions such as, "No, I do not feel like a partner. I constantly try to get information from my school on outside resources and constantly get no answers." Among

parents who did not feel that they were treated as partners, however, there was a sense of resiliency. One parent said, "Our school does not treat the parents as partners. We are in the process of trying to change this." It was encouraging to see that some parents would prefer to work for change within the system than to withdraw from a situation they perceived to be problematic.
One half of the parents interviewed made a comment that was categorized within this theme.
There were many variations on this theme, including the feeling that the school blamed the parents or the child for the child's learning and behavioral problems. Parents whose children were behaviorally disordered were most likely to express this concern. One parent made a particularly heartfelt statement: "Teachers and principals should not do things to hurt my child's self-esteem or to make parents feel worthless." Those words, although genuinely felt and perceived from the parent's experiences with the special education system, seem impossible to relate to a profession built on the notion of helping children who have disabilities reach their potential as equal citizens in our society.
Responses to the question, "What are the major things that one should not say or do to parents from your cultural/ ethnic community who have a child with a disability such as your son or daughter?" indicated that many parents felt that the school unfairly blamed them (as parents) for their child's disability. Comments included, "Teachers should not say that all the child needs is discipline, especially when they have never been to our home and seen how we live and act with each other." One parent responded, "Do not make inferences about how the child became disabled or make comments such as 'I just don't see how you can put up with a child like that.' " Equally expressive was one father's comment: "Teachers should not make comments to belittle you about what you have done wrong to make the child this way."
An additional topic pertaining to the theme of respect was that of schools' blaming the child for or "harassing" the child about his or her disability. This topic was expressed by parents who relayed salient and uncomplicated desires regarding respectful treatment of their children. These comments were troubling because they were based on the actual experiences of urban African American parents who participated in this study. Parents made the following comments:
"They [teachers] should not call kids names and should not blame parents for the child's disability."
"Teachers should not talk bad about my kid in front of all the other kids. That really hurts [my child] and creates more fights on the bus and playground."
"Once the teachers don't like your kid, lots of the kids don't either. And they [teachers] don't care who overhears them gossiping about me and my kid."
"Teachers should not make so many negative comments. They need to be more positive."
"The principal at my child's school once stood over the secretary's desk in the front office and told me that my child was lazy, disrespectful, and dumb! And she did it right there in front of all the others who were walking around in the front office and in front of my kid. I can't believe that she is called a 'professional' . . . a professional what ?"
"Teachers should treat all children fairly."

These comments indicate a level of disrespect that appears commonplace, at least for the families with whom we spoke. It seems unlikely that teachers or schools would "blame" families (parents or children/youth) for the disability or for the failure of suggested interventions. This seems especially unlikely when the disabling condition occurs at a moderate to severe level. However, as keenly observed by Skrtic (1991),
Standardization of services and equality of treatment, however, produce a routinized system in which inevitable client variability means that the needs of some students cannot be accommodated. This creates the need for various organizational responses which, in the interest of protecting the legitimacy . . . of the system, distort the problem of system failure by deflecting it onto society, parents, or the students themselves. (p. 105)
Parents felt that they or others in their community would benefit if schools would take on the role of providing assistance to parents in learning about and accessing community-based programs for their child who has a moderate to severe disability. Results of this study also indicated that the majority of parents interviewed (58%) were very knowledgeable about community-based services and used more than one additional agency outside of school programs. This is possibly due to the fact that many children with moderate and severe disabilities are identified and served by special services early in their schooling. Some of the respondents reported that they have grown accustomed to the services schools can provide and that they feel less aware of the options or additional services that are locally available that might help their child. This group of parents indicated that they were not currently involved with any outside organizations (4 of the 24 interviewed).
The urban African American parents who participated in this study ranged in socioeconomic status from very low ($15,000/yr.) to upper middle class (more than $75,000/yr.), with a mode of $45,000/yr. Parents at lower levels of income reported their income as a barrier to accessing services in their communities. For example, when asked to identify barriers to getting children's (disability-related) needs met within their community, parents gave the following responses:
"Being in a low income neighborhood."
"The most significant barrier is that the cost of caring for a child with a disability can be so high that many African American parents cannot carry that large financial burden."
"Transportation is very difficult. He could use the public bus system if hours and schedules were more conducive."
"Our children do not have enough resources and proper health care."
"Lack of resources, a lot of people are not technologically advanced enough to find resources by the Internet."
"No resources are there. There is too much red tape in trying to receive resources."
These responses are neither new nor surprising given the preponderance of data that suggest a link between disability and economics in the United States. Still, parent responses on this theme remain frustrating and perplexing. They indicate that there is a need for continued emphasis on interagency, interdisciplinary planning and collaboration to best meet the needs of children and youth who have disabilities and their families.

Parents in this study indicated a desire for greater understanding of the intersections and boundaries of "culture" and "disability." Specifically, a few parents requested that teachers receive careful training to understand more fully the characteristics of their child's disability type. They requested this so that teachers could distinguish between behaviors or learning problems that resulted from the child's disability and culture-based behaviors that simply varied from the teacher's idea of "normal." One parent stated, "Teachers need to be aware of symptoms so they can tell if it is the disability causing him [the child] to do what he is doing." Another stated, "A lot of the time the teacher is unaware of the culture and thinks it is a matter of discipline when in reality the child is practicing his culture." A father who has clearly experienced frustration in dealing with cultural conflicts with the school stated,
Sometimes my kid gets into trouble simply because . . . the teacher does something some different way from the kids. You better believe that the teacher is gonna be . . . called
"normal" and not the kid. Teachers [think] they [are] the only ones who [know] the right way.
Among parents who participated in this study, 41% were unaware of teacher-training initiatives to increase cross-cultural understanding and sensitivity, such as required multicultural coursework at the preservice and graduate levels, inservice trainings, and campus and district committees. Among parents who were aware of the movement, the majority (57%) mentioned that they had not observed outward evidence of cross-cultural sensitivity within their child's school interactions ("I would like them to know that there is not a correlation between my child's disability and his race").
Several parents acknowledged that including a poster of Martin Luther King or other Black
American icons in the display case in the school library or foyer and announcing Black
History Month were steps in the right direction but felt these efforts were still removed from everyday personal interactions and system considerations of intercultural differences ("Yes, but it [respect for Black culture] is not being shown in the classroom").
A common concern of parents was that teachers and administrators were demonstrating their biases and stereotypes in schools by the many reasons and avenues that were employed in order to label kids as "emotionally disturbed" or "mentally retarded." One parent stated, "I don't like folks who have no clue [acting] on their opinions and prejudices. I hate assumptions [being] made because of my kid's size, age, or race." A similar perspective was shared by a parent who said, "[Teachers] should not [lump] my child [with] other children with the same race or the same kind of problem." This concern has been documented also in the national figures of disproportionate representation of Black youth in special education programs designed to educate children and youth who have emotional disturbance and mental retardation. Several parents believed that their children would not have been judged as severely or held to the same expectations if they had been Caucasian.
As a group, African American parents were frustrated by the lack of cultural understanding of their children's typically Caucasian teachers ("I would like Caucasian teachers to understand
Black American boys"). Many parents expressed frustration with the lack of experience that the school system's predominantly White teachers seemed to have regarding the social, cultural, and often economic differences between themselves (teachers) and the students and families.
It is important to emphasize that many parents did not openly express their frustrations with bitterness or disdain. Many were able to verbalize the problems they perceived while maintaining an overall positive perspective and believing that the situation held potential, as complicated and distant as it seemed for some parents. One parent framed her thoughts in a

very general perspective:
I am aware [that teachers are learning about cultural sensitivity] and I totally agree because there are a lot of teachers [of] different backgrounds [from] the students. They need to learn how to relate to them so they can better understand who they are teaching.
As with many who are invested in issues of diversity in our schools, several parents echoed one mother who sighed and said, "I wish more could be done to involve other ethnicities and racial minorities--I do not know how, though."
Parents who were unaware that teachers were now expected to participate in cultural diversity training thought that the initiative held a degree of validity ("I would like the school to be aware of different kinds of cultures"). The prospect of improving the quality of the relationship between kids and teachers seemed to be the most frequent reason parents provided for supporting efforts to increase cultural sensitivity in the schools. One parent stated, "No, I was not aware of that, but it is important to develop a better relationship between teacher and student." Another stated, "No, I was not aware. I do think it is important. Teachers will get a better understanding of the student's behavior."
Of course, there were parents who felt alienated from the school, perhaps through the experiences they had encountered over time. One parent rolled his eyes when asked about whether he believed that increased sensitivity from the school would benefit his child. He responded, "I don't waste my time thinking about what I want from the school any more."
Another parent matter-of-factly stated, "This [cultural sensitivity] is nonexistent in our school.
We could not imagine the teachers being asked to be sensitive to the student's needs. It is not evident in their teaching methodologies. We wish this was the case." A skeptical parent made the comment, "I think they already know it in their heads. What I wish is that they would show it in how they act and in the decisions they make."
African American families who practiced non-Christian religions (e.g., Islam) or were members of nondominant Christian denominations (e.g., Seventh-Day Adventist Church) were as concerned about discrimination based on their religion as that based on their race.
One parent commented, "They [teachers] should not be allowed to comment on their likes/dislikes of any student religion." Another said, "Yes, I feel teachers should be sensitive to culture and religion, and individuality too, because an emotionally disturbed child needs to trust the teacher." One parent pointed out that although schools were willing (because of the legal requirements) to honor a student's absences because of religious holidays, they often did not support the child's growing spiritual identity. Schools would allow makeup work and
"excused absences" for a student's holy days, but children encountered problems from teachers who would not explain or teach them the content missed during religious holidays.
Three fourths of the parents believed that increased cultural sensitivity would make a positive difference in the education of their child. Their reasons were quite straightforward:
"The child needs to have a setting he is comfortable in."
"I believe that it would make learning in the environment much easier."
"I feel it would make a better bond between the teacher and the student."
"It would make teachers respond differently to students' behaviors."
"My child would be more understood and as a result may get better classroom instruction."

"Our child would receive more professional and courteous service."
Based on these statements, parents seem to value the potential influence that a teacherstudent relationship can have on a child's educational progress. Parents interviewed wanted to be closer to teachers in their child's school. These sentiments counter the comments often made by teachers and other school professionals about the difficulties they encounter when trying to solicit parent involvement and participation in the educational process. This discrepancy may be attributed to sampling bias (we solicited parents who were involved in parent organizations). Another possibility is that schools and parents have not yet found a language and a form of parent participation in which both feel comfortable. There is obviously a complicated nature to the social, political, emotional, and academic situations in which they are expected to collaborate. Fialka (1988), herself a parent, described the innate complexities of the relationship between parents and professionals who are made, as she puts it, "to share a dance" to which the professional was invited and chose to attend and in which the parent was forced to participate, whether ready or willing.
The theme of teacher quality and training was discussed in several interviews. Parents indicated a need for "more qualified teachers and more resources for the classrooms." This is yet another area on which some professionals and parents can find common ground. Over the past 5 years, increasing efforts have been generated by state and local education agencies, politicians, and institutions of higher education to increase the numbers of fully certified teachers in special education teaching positions.
In addition, parents requested that teachers who can be legitimately hired to teach at a wide range of grade levels be provided training experiences across all ages and stages of child/adolescent development. As an example, one parent suggested,
Allow them (teachers and administrators) to work with real people outright; so many have experiences with small children and not young adults. They must learn tolerance, because
[teens'] stubbornness and other idiosyncrasies can be very nerve-wracking.
The question, "What kinds of training should be provided to teachers, administrators, and other school staff members in order to prepare them to work with parents from your community who have disabilities like your child's?" elicited the following reactions:
"Patience and sensitivity . . . 'time out' should be provided for teachers who are unable to cope."
"That emotional issues do play a part in my child's education."
"Understanding [from others]."
"That my child is a loving and kind person and would not fight if the other children did not pick on him."
"That the school cannot help me with my own child."
Similarly, parents repeatedly requested that teachers receive training through "qualified" individuals, which in their definition included parents of children with disabilities. ("You should have someone who is qualified teach these trainings. Perhaps you could do tag team

training with parents who have already been through the system and a qualified instructor.")
They asked that administrators also receive training both in cultural differences and in disabilities. Currently, across the nation, few educational administration programs require coursework in either area.
Sensitivity training for teachers was suggested by these African American parents to meet many families' needs. Among those specifically recommended were the following:
1. sensitivity for working with children from low socioeconomic levels, including the need for teachers to spend time in the neighborhoods and in the homes of children to understand what their lives and challenges are outside of school;
2. sensitivity training to facilitate better communication, such as how to be empathetic to parents and to the child who has a disability ("Teachers and administrators should know how to speak to parents about their child's progress"); and
3. advocacy training for children who have disabilities ("[Teachers should] never say,
'Children like yours cannot do that, or cannot become something' ").
Important elements of training and indicators of teacher quality were explained by parents in the following ways:
"Truly listen to what they [parents] have to say with no interruptions."
"Acceptance--respect the child and his space. Understand the conditions and diagnosis of the child."
"Always kicking my child out [of schools and programs] never seems to [help the school] find out about my child. Try learning to work with him."
"Know that the situation sometimes dictates the communication style needed."
"Teach openness."
"Teach how to speak to parents in a respectable way about their children."
Parents spoke openly about areas in which they would welcome a collaborative, team approach to working with their child. They had several recommendations that showed both openness to collaboration with the schools and a desire for a more personal relationship with teachers ("Parents and teachers should be able to share trials and tribulations as well as sharing the joys with other parents as people who want the best for their special child; it helps you cope with the ups and downs that all families face"). Their comments included the following:
"Parents need assistance in determining what decisions the child should be allowed to make independently and what topics should require a family discussion."
"Help the family learn to be consistent. It is hard to show tough love and support is necessary. Include other family members if possible."
Both of these statements indicate a need for a stable element of trust between parents and teachers.

Parents also indicated that they would like the professionals to help them find assistance for their children and to recommend successful strategies. Again, in order for teachers to extend this level of support and engagement to parents, and vice versa, there would need to be an underlying trust, mutual respect, and investment in the child's long-term success. Some of the comments previously mentioned imply that these urban African American parents did not commonly experience such a relationship with the teachers or school where their child was receiving a special education program. Clearly, as indicated by the "push and pull" characterization of parent-school collaborations that emerged from our conversations with these 24 parents, how such relationships are established and maintained among schools and families is one area that needs further exploration.
Parents wished for additional parent-training components within schools--training specific to their child's disability ("Autism has come a long way since my son was first diagnosed. Help parents learn about the challenges that may come their way [as the child grows older] and coping techniques"). Parents also indicated a desire for training that more generally addresses special education laws, services within and apart from special education programs per se, and how to be an effective advocate for their child. One mother summarized the obstacles to parent involvement in school-and community-based programs in the following statement: "Lack of knowledge of where to go. Lack of knowledge of the law."
The expressions of this group of parents reflected interested, concerned, and willing partners in the special education process. A need that was stated in several ways was for improved parent-parent and parent-school relationships:
"Parents need to have a common bond. Parents who have experiences of a child with the same disability need to share strategies."
"Parents of children with disabilities need to come together and help each other out, have some sort of support group."
The special education system has many parties who are invested in the welfare of children in our schools who have moderate to severe disabilities. A question that remains for further inquiry, however, is how to better facilitate cooperative efforts to effect change within a legalbased system that so often turns partners into rivals.
As one parent stated,
If all of these components [culture, religion, childrearing, communication with students and parents, parent-professional collaboration, family decision making] were truly included in the education of teachers, administrators, and staff, our children would get the top-notch quality instruction that they need.
Parents of urban African American children who are in special education receiving services for moderate to severe disabilities share many common issues and struggles with other parents in the special education system. The relationship between cultural differences and satisfaction with the special education system seemed to these parents to be inextricably tied to issues of respect and levels of comfort (which could perhaps be understood as
"relationship quality") between parents, teachers, and children/ youth who have moderate to severe disabilities. As is the case for the qualitative, interpretivist paradigm, this article serves to shed light on a complex and marginally documented area of importance in the

federally mandated parent-as-team-member portion of IDEA. It is intended to serve not as a conclusion as much as an initial exploration of an underexplored social context, that is, the relationship between cultural issues, respect, and parent satisfaction with the special education program a child receives. As with all research, the relevance of this study lies more in the studies that it may inspire than in some concrete or absolute knowledge that it imparts.
Legend for Chart:
A - Child
B - Gender
C - Age at interview
D - Label by district
E - Family SES
A B C D
E
1 Boy 16 Emotional disturbance
more than $75,000/yr.
2 Boy 10 Emotional disturbance
$40,000/yr.
3 Boy 7 Emotional disturbance
$60,000/yr.
4 Girl 11 Mental retardation
$20,000/yr.
5 Man 23(a) Autism
more than $75,000/yr.
6 Boy 9 Emotional disturbance
$15,000/yr.
7 Girl 11 Emotional disturbance
$40,000/yr.
8 Boy 10 Emotional disturbance
$40,000/yr.
9 Boy 12 Mental retardation
$25,000/yr.
10 Boy 11 Mental retardation
more than $75,000/yr.
11 Boy 12 Mental retardation
$40,000/yr.
12 Woman 21(a) Emotional disturbance
more than $75,000/yr.

13 Boy 16 Emotional disturbance
more than $75,000/yr.
14 Boy 10 Emotional disturbance
$40,000/yr.
15 Boy 7 Emotional disturbance
$60,000/yr.
16 Girl 16 Mental retardation
$25,000/yr.
17 Boy 8 Autism
more than $75,000/yr.
18 Boy 9 Autism
$15,000/yr.
19 Girl 11 Emotional disturbance
$40,000/yr.
20 Boy 10 Autism
$60,000/yr.
21 Girl 7 Autism
$40,000/yr.
22 Girl 9 Mental retardation
$60,000/yr.
23 Girl 15 Mental retardation
$50,000/yr.
24 Boy 9 Mental retardation
$30,000/yr.
(a) Participants were located in the state of Michigan, where special education services are provided through age 25.
Questions:
1. With what racial, ethnic, or religious group(s) do you (and your child) identify?
2. Do you think that your cultural beliefs and values have been considered in service planning and provision for your child's educational program?
3. How satisfied are you with the services and supports you receive from your child's school?
4. How satisfied are you with the services and supports you receive from other organizations you use for services and supports? Will you please specify what organizations you work with?
5. To what extent does your degree of satisfaction have to do with how well the school or organizations respect your beliefs and values?
6. What would you like the school or other organization to know about your child's

disability as it relates to your cultural beliefs and values?
7. There is a special education law that is designed to view parents as partners in the education of their children. Does your school treat you as a "partner"?
8. Are you aware that teachers are being asked to learn to be sensitive to the cultures of students and their families? Do you think this is important? Do you have any personal experiences that support your opinion from when you went to school?
9. Do you think it would make a difference in your child's educational program or services if teachers were more sensitive to your family's culture?
10. What are the major things that one should not do or say to parents from your
(cultural, ethnic, or racial) community who have children with a disability like your son's or daughter's?
11. What are some of the significant barriers that individuals from your community face in getting their child's needs met?
12. What kinds of training should be provided to teachers, administrators, and other staff members to prepare them to work with parents from your community who have children with disabilities like your son's or daughter's?
13. What are the important components of cross-cultural training that should be included regarding: a. communication styles b. family decision-making structures c. child-rearing and discipline practices d. help-seeking behaviors e. parent-professional partnerships
Probes:
Why or why not?
Can you tell me more about that?
Can you think of an example of when that has happened?
You mentioned ( ). Could you be more specific?
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Children, 65 (3), 367-381.
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20, 143-151.
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Hispanic, Black, and Anglo families. Exceptional Children, 54 (2), 105-111.
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Satisfaction and struggles: Family perceptions of early intervention services. Journal of Early
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Sage.
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Remedial and Special Education, 17, 106-118.
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~~~~~~~~
By Laura T. Zionts; Paul Zionts; Sharonlyn Harrison and Odis Bellinger
Laura T. Zionts, PhD, is an associate professor of special education in Kent State
University's special education program. Dr. Zionts is presently the principal investigator for a grant from the National Institutes for Mental Health, studying how student-peer and studentteacher relationship quality may affect the disproportionate representation of children of color in special education programs.
Paul Zionts, PhD, serves as the Department Chairperson for Kent State University's
Educational Foundations and Special Services programs. In addition, Dr. Zionts holds an appointment as professor of special education. He is currently president of the International
Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, a subdivision of the International Council for

Exceptional Children.
Sharonlyn Harrison, PhD, has been the associate director of research, evaluation, and information dissemination for the Developmental Disabilities Institute of Wayne State
University, Center for Excellence in Disabilities, and a special education teacher and teacher consultant. Recently, Dr. Harrison established a private research and evaluation firm (Public
Research and Evaluation Services) that provides research, evaluation, training, and grantwriting services to public and private agencies.
Odis Bellinger, MS, is a postmaster's student in the College of Education at Wayne State
University in Detroit, Michigan. Address: Laura T. Zionts, College and Graduate School of
Education, Kent State University, 405 White Hall, Kent, OH 44242.
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