A Study of Latina Mothers and Teachers’ Experiences with Home-School Partnerships in Special Education

Teacher-parent relationships and active family engagement are essential components to positive outcomes for students with disabilities. Latinx students are an increasingly growing student population; however, there are limited studies about the experiences unique to Latinx parents concerning family engagement and home-school partnerships in public schools, and no studies about Catholic schools. To address this gap, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with five Latina mothers of children with disabilities and five teachers in a Catholic school. The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) identify barriers and facilitators to successful home-school partnerships between Latina mothers with children with disabilities and their teachers in a Catholic setting and 2) examine the role of family engagement in the formation of the home-school partnerships. Constant comparative analysis was used to analyze the data. There were two main findings. First, parents actively engaged in school events and home-school partnerships when opportunities for reciprocal relationships were present. Second, mothers and teachers participated in reciprocal and equitable home-school partnerships fostered through frequent, two-way communication, home-school updates, shared strategies and supports, and mutual respect for one another’s expertise. Implications for research and practice are discussed.