The aim of this study was to ascertain which dimensions of parents' experiences with schools are most strongly associated with parents' perceptions that schools are or are not facilitating parent involvement as mandated by the federal accountability system under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Participants were 92 parents of students with disabilities from 18 schools in 8 school districts in a large southeastern state. Parents completed the quantitative measure used by their state to report on schools' parent engagement efforts; they then described their experiences collaborating with their child's school. Data from the qualitative analysis of parents' comments were transformed into quantitative variables used to predict success, defined as meeting the state's standard on the quantitative measure of schools' facilitation of parent involvement. Results suggested that schools prioritize responsive communication with parents and careful monitoring of students' progress to improve collaborative relationships with parents of students with disabilities.

Despite a growing literature on the value of family involvement for students with disabilities, there are ongoing misunderstandings about the reasons why culturally and linguistically diverse families of students with disabilities might be less involved with their child at school than other families. This article describes a project conducted with Latino families and with school personnel at schools serving predominantly Latino children that addresses why Latino families may become less involved. The authors describe school-level factors that may affect the initiative of Latino families to become involved at school, and suggest strategies school personnel can use to increase the involvement of Latino families.

Individual and focus group interviews were conducted with 96 parents of students with disabilities in 18 schools to explore parents’ views of schools’ efforts to engage them in their child’s education. A mixed-methods approach was used to identify and evaluate the relative importance of eight themes related to schools’ efforts to facilitate parent involvement and parents’ involvement with their child at school. The results suggest important relationships among parents’ initiative to become involved, their perceptions of the quality of services provided to their child, and their views of schools’ efforts to facilitate their involvement. Implications for best practices and future research are discussed.