Quality of parent-teacher communication for students with and without identified special needs

The quality of parent-teacher communication was analyzed across 153 parents of students receiving special education support, parents of students receiving targeted Response to Intervention (RTI) support, and parents of students receiving no additional in-school support. Using Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler's Model of the Parental Involvement Process as a theoretical base, relationships between student learning profile, parental role construction, parental self-efficacy, specific school invitations for involvement, and parental stress were studied via paper survey. Results of multivariate analysis of variance indicated that parent-initiated communication and specific invitations for involvement from teachers were significantly different for parents of students not receiving extra support and students receiving RTI and special education. Results of multiple regression analysis indicated that parental self-efficacy and invitations for involvement from teachers significantly predicted parents' sense of joining, or feelings of collaboration, trust, and respect for their children's teachers. Student learning profile did not predict parents' sense of joining. By contrast, learning profile explained 5% of the variance for parent-initiated communication. When role construction, specific teacher invitations, and stress were included in the model, it continued to be significant. Specifically, role construction and specific teacher invitations predicted parent-initiated communication when controlling for learning profile.