Family, School, and Community Partnerships for Students with Disabilities (eBook)

Dr. Lusa Lo is an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is also Director of the Special Education Program, which prepares graduate students to be special educators. Her research focuses on family-school-community partnerships and educational planning and practices for language minority students with disabilities, which has resulted in over 70 peer-reviewed publications, as well as over 100 national and international conferences. At the state level, Dr. Lo works closely with schools and communities to develop parent education programs, which enable them to actively engage with and support the families of children with disabilities and diverse backgrounds. All the training programs focus on educating parents regarding the special education process, how they can work with their children with disabilities at home, and how they can best collaborate with school professionals. 

Dr. Yaoying Xu is a Professor at the Department of Counseling and Special Education, Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research interests and expertise focus on social aspects of children with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as the impact of family empowerment through school-community partnerships on children's developmental and educational outcomes. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on early intervention, family-school collaborations, and community-based practices, as well as over 100 conference presentations. Dr. Xu has also been a principal investigator for several federally funded projects.

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This book presents a collection of research-based, effective, and culturally responsive practices that are used in schools and communities to support and empower families of students with disabilities to be equal partners for schools. As the demographics of the U.S. population become increasingly diverse, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that, by 2044, more than half of the U.S. population will belong to a minority group. Currently, students from diverse backgrounds comprise over 53% of the special education student population. While their parents are the key decision makers and advocates who ensure that they receive services and support that address their individual needs, research consistently indicates that families from diverse backgrounds face many challenges that prevent them from taking on these active roles.Along with the improvements in the U.S. since the enactment of its first special education law in 1975, other parts of the world are also making changes to their special education systems in terms of responding to the diverse needs of children and students with disabilities and their families. This book also shares research-based and effective practices from other countries. The studies presented employ both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate family-school-community partnerships.