Your Voice and Rights as a Parent

Navigating special education services can be confusing for parents and guardians, especially as there are so many terms and acronyms used. Remember, it's okay to ask school professionals to explain a term they are using if you don't understand it. Some states, districts, or even schools also might use slightly different terms, but the ones listed below highlight the most frequently used terms throughout the United States.

Having a caring and involved parent is a strong protective factor in the life of a child. As your child's parent, you understand their personality, likes/dislikes, favorite activities and what makes them smile. You are your child's greatest advocate, who can speak up on their behalf when working with school personnel to provide the best services possible to enable your child to succeed.

As a parent, it is essential that you provide examples to school personnel of areas where you see your child is struggling in school, and where you see them having success. Additionally, it is important that you talk with your child at home about how school is going in order to learn about areas where things are going well and areas that might need improvement. Communicating concerns and successes from your child to the school is vitally important to their progress.

Parental rights play a crucial role in ensuring that children with disabilities receive the appropriate education they need. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), parents have specific rights to participate in their child's special education process.

Some key rights for a parent of a child receiving special education services:

Participation in Meetings: Parents have the right to participate in meetings related to their child’s identification, evaluation, and placement.

Request an Education Evaluation: Parents can request an evaluation of their child’s educational needs that is conducted through their child’s school district at no cost to the parent.

Independent Educational Evaluation: Parents can request an independent educational evaluation of their child that occurs outside of their school with a third-party professional if they disagree with the school’s evaluations. An approved third-party list will be provided by the district.

Prior Written Notice: Parents must receive “prior written notice” regarding matters related to their child’s identification, evaluation, or placement. This lets parents know in advance of changes to their child’s plan and gives them an opportunity to discuss these changes with school personnel if desired.

Consent: Parents have the right to give or deny consent before the school conducts certain actions such as evaluations, changes services, and other educational decisions.

Dispute Resolution: IDEA provides processes for resolving disputes between parents and schools. Parents can appeal decisions made by the school and there is a formal process of dispute resolution.

Progress: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that parents with students with disabilities receive IEP progress reports at least as often as students without IEPs receive report cards.

These are not the only procedural safeguards available to families of students receiving special education services, but they often are the most relevant. We have some important resources below to help you learn about parental rights that must be honored when a child is receiving special education services.

A key thing to remember is that your voice as a parent is important. Speak up if you have a question or concerns. Share your child's accomplishments and struggles. Ask for services that you think might benefit your child and request explanations for anything that is unclear to you.

In the Additional Resources section below, we list an essential resource for parents -- the local parent groups of children receiving special education services. Connect with your local parent group to learn more about special education in your state from other parents of children with disabilities.

Each state has a Parent Training and Information (PTI) Center. The local PTIs are run by parents like you. Connecting with your local PTI is a wonderful way to learn more about local services available to your child while also learning from peers about ways to help advocate for your child to help them succeed.