6 Ways to Increase Family Engagement in Special Education

Strong parent partnerships are essential to effective special education, as collaboration between families and educators provides students with disabilities with academic, social and emotional, and behavioral support. While laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act mandate involvement, genuine collaboration requires ongoing, intentional effort. Building trust can be challenging when families have felt unheard or excluded. Because of this, it’s crucial that educators adopt proactive, empathetic, and inclusive practices. The following six strategies offer evidence-based ways to strengthen trust and foster meaningful family partnerships.

1. Start with Empathy, Not Expertise

One of the most impactful ways to initiate a strong relationship with families is to lead with empathy. Parents of children with disabilities often carry years (sometimes decades) of advocacy fatigue and emotional stress. They may have navigated complex systems, fought for evaluations or services, or felt blamed for their child’s needs. When educators begin relationships by deeply listening—not by presenting data or outlining expertise—they can create a foundation of trust.

Research supports the importance of empathetic listening in education contexts. Validating parent experiences and actively listening to their concerns leads to families feeling significantly more valued and successful in their meetings.

Create a welcome survey. When a new student joins your school, send home a short, strengths-based form.

For example:

• “What brings your child joy?”
• “What’s something they’re great at?”
• “What is one thing that has helped them succeed in the past?”

Reflect on those insights during the individualized education program (IEP) process to demonstrate that their voice is shaping the school experience, and be sure to share this information with support staff and teachers.

2. Communicate Proactively and Personally

Too often, schools only reach out to families when there is a problem surrounding an issue with behavior, missed assignments, or concerns about progress. This creates a negative communication cycle that positions the school as the bearer of bad news and the parent as a recipient of criticism.

Instead, schools should emphasize regular, two-way, personalized strengths-based communication. Personalized updates that highlight small successes build goodwill and reinforce the message that educators truly see and value their child. This supports parents’ deeper engagement with the team when problem-solving is needed.

Implement a positivity routine. Set a weekly goal to send home positive, individualized messages about students.

Here are two examples:

• “I noticed that Beckett helped a classmate organize his materials today!”
• “Tallulah used her coping strategy before asking for a break. We were so proud!”

Keep a checklist to ensure that every family receives this contact, and try to involve students by letting them reflect on a weekly success to share in their own words.

3. Make IEP Meetings Collaborative, Not Compliance-Driven

The IEP meeting is one of the most visible points of contact between schools and families. Unfortunately, the process is often experienced as procedural, rushed, or predetermined. For parents, this can feel disempowering if they sense that their input has minimal influence.

To shift this dynamic, educators can intentionally structure IEP meetings as collaborative planning sessions rather than compliance checkboxes. This involves creating space for family voice during the meeting and well before it begins. For those new to the IEP world, sending information on what to expect during meetings can help demystify the process and lower stress.

Notably, the importance of a family-centered practice, shared decision-making, clear communication, and attention to relational dynamics create a truly collaborative environment. Involving families in shaping goals and priorities results in more meaningful plans and more motivated implementation.

Use an input template before meetings. Create a simple form that gets sent home before the IEP meeting.

Include questions like these:

• “What goals are most important to you right now?”
• “What concerns or questions do you have/what’s working well?”

During the meeting, utilize the parents’ input.

4. Recognize Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

Family engagement is not one-size-fits-all, as cultural backgrounds, language preferences, and past experiences all influence the process. When educators fail to acknowledge these dynamics, they risk creating unintentional barriers to participation.

Culturally responsive practices go beyond translation service and include putting an effort toward understanding family values, addressing power imbalances, and actively affirming each family’s unique knowledge and identity.

Create a culturally responsive communication plan. During the first month of school or IEP services, ask families about the following:

• Their preferred language for written and verbal communication
• Their preferred method and time of day for contact
• Any cultural values or norms they’d like the school to be aware of

Document this in your student records, and refer back to it regularly. During school events or meetings, offer interpretation in advance rather than on request. Similarly, look to celebrate cultural identity in the classroom by inviting families to share.

5. Position Parents as Experts and Partners

Families are experts on their child. They’ve known them the longest and have often developed effective strategies of support through years of lived experience. Recognizing this isn’t just respectful, it’s strategic.

When schools authentically treat families as equal partners, students experience stronger academic growth, greater self-determination, and better social and emotional outcomes. This means including families in every part of the planning process and not just informing them of decisions, but rather shaping decisions alongside them.

Find out what works at home. During IEP development or check-ins, ask families about the strategies, routines, or supports that have helped their child succeed at home. Strategies that benefit the classroom can include the following:

• Effective calming practices
• Motivation or reinforcement systems
• Communication preferences

Review these practices during team meetings or behavior plan discussions to align support across home and school. Let families know when their strategies have been successful at school.

6. Build Trust in Everyday Moments

Trust grows through consistent, everyday actions and not just during IEP meetings. A teacher trying a new strategy, a counselor checking in, or a team member offering support outside of formal settings all show families that their child is genuinely cared for. Regular collaboration between specialists and classroom teachers reinforces this trust, creating a unified, supportive environment that parents will notice and value over time.

Empower students to share their own reflections with families. This act builds trust by showing families that their child is active and valued in their learning journey.

Student prompts can include the following:

• “This week, I’m proud of…”
• “Something that was hard for me was…”
• “One thing I want to work on next week is…”

Invite families to send a response back to the student, too. Share it with the student as a way to further deepen the school-home connection, motivate student learning, and support a positive student mindset.