Each student receiving special education services in the public school system, roughly 6.4 million students, has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). IDEA dictates that a team of people familiar with the student, including the parents, should create the IEP. Unfortunately, research indicates that many parents believe their participation is not welcome. While only a small percentage of parents may actually be dissatisfied with the IEP process, the cost of dissatisfaction is high, further stretching already limited resources that could be better used in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate parents’ and school personnel’s beliefs about and experiences with collaborative activities that took place prior to the annual IEP or 504 plan meeting. Participant perceptions and suggestions about improving the special education process were also explored. In-depth interviews were conducted with an assistant principal, a self-contained ESE teacher, a resource ESE teacher, a regular education inclusion teacher, and three parents whose children were receiving special education services. All participants were involved in the special education process at the elementary school level. The study’s findings indicated that while school personnel perceive that they are providing opportunities for parents to be involved in a collaborative manner, parents do not perceive that a fully open and transparent collaboration exists. The school made an effort to generate a comfortable environment inviting collaboration during formal meetings; however, parents expressed frustration with the more informal aspects of the special education process including initiation of services. Teachers and parents identified similar concerns and frustrations with the IEP process and suggested similar ideas for improvement. Both school personnel and parents identified scarcity of resources within the school, which seemed to create a barrier to open communication and collaboration. Suggestions for improvement included access to outside support and advocacy groups to increase parent understanding of the special education process and facilitate its process. It is concluded that, ultimately, policy makers should become more involved at the classroom level in order to understand the implications of policy change.

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Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka stödinsatsen i form av elevassistent och hur insatsen kopplas till elevens behov av särskilt stöd. Studien bygger på tidigare forskning kring elevassistentens roll och funktion i arbetet med elever i behov av särskilt stöd och har en kvalitativ ansats där åtgärdsprogram har samlats in och bearbetats med hjälp av dokumentanalys som metod. Även djupintervjuer av semi-strukturerad karaktär genomfördes med en rektor, en speciallärare och tre elevassistenter. Resultatet från dokumentanalysen analyserades och sammanställdes i en tabell och de inspelade intervjuerna transkriberades och sammanställdes utifrån teman. Resultatet analyserades, sammanfattades och sattes sedan i relation till tidigare forskning samt studiens teoretiska ramverk. Sammanfattningsvis påvisar resultatet att stödbehov kopplat till elevassistent som insats ofta är av social karaktär. Elevassistentens roll handlar med andra ord främst om att fungera som en stödstruktur, speciellt i sociala sammanhang. I elevassistentens roll ingår också ofta någon form av undervisning, antingen enskilt eller i mindre grupper. Elevassisternas behov av stöd hamnar inom områden som planeringstid, handledning och kompetensutveckling. I vilket omfattning detta stöd ges beror utifrån detta resultat lite på vilken enhet samt inom vilka årskullar elevassistenten är verksam. För att säkerställa att insatsen resulterar i en akademisk progression hos eleven, påvisar resultatet att detta sker genom dialoger mellan lärare och elevassistent samt genom olika typer av test. / The purpose of this study was to investigate what kind of support being conducted by the profession student assistant, and how their role is linked to students with special educational needs. The study is based on previous research how the role student assistant is functioning in relation to students with special educational needs. The study has a qualitative approach and the theoretical framework is based on the ecological system theory. Individualized educational plans have been collected and processed using document analysis as a method. In-depth interviews of semi-structured nature was also conducted with a principal, a special teacher and three student assistants. The results of the document analysis were analyzed and complied in a table and the recorded interviews were transcribed and complied based on themes. The result of the document analysis was analyzed, summarized and then compared in relation to previous research as well as the theoretical framework of the study. The results in terms of what is required from the student assistant are pointing towards needs of social character. In other words, the role of the student assistant is primarily to function as a support structure, especially in social contexts. A part within the role also includes teaching, either individually or in smaller groups. The student’s assistants need for support can be categorized into planning time, supervision and adequate education. Whether, and in what extent various support is given, varies from the result. The result demonstrates that the pupil’s academic progression is being ensured via dialogues between teachers and student assistants as well as various types of tests.

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