dc.contributor.author	Opuda, Michael John	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Gillespie, Diane Newkirk	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Alexander, M. David	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Cernosia, Art	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Fortune, Jimmie C.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Salmon, Richard G.	en
dc.contributor.department	Educational Leadership and Policy Studies	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-14T20:09:55Z	en
dc.date.adate	1999-04-27	en
dc.date.available	2014-03-14T20:09:55Z	en
dc.date.issued	1997-11-17	en
dc.date.rdate	2000-04-27	en
dc.date.sdate	1999-04-17	en
dc.description.abstract	Parents have the authority to challenge school decisions regarding the identification, evaluation, placement and provision of a free appropriate public education to their child with a disability through either the hearing process or the complaint investigation process under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. This study explored the differences between parents who had initiated hearings and complaints and their perceptions of the processes. A document review, structured telephone interview and focus group meetings were used to gather data. The subjects were twenty-nine parents who had initiated complaints and thirty-one parents who had initiated hearings. The subjects were randomly selected from the population of all parents who had initiated hearings or complaints with the Maine Department of Education during 1996. Quantitative data were analyzed using chi-square tests, t-tests, and descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed through a sorting process to aggregate data and identify consistent themes. Findings of the study reveal that families with higher annual household income tend to use the hearing process, to withdraw or mediate their disputes and to be represented by counsel. No differences were found on parent satisfaction, marital status, or the ability of parents to participate in school activities. Parents reported a high level of anger, frustration and confusion regarding both processes. Parent and school relationships, poor communication and compliance issues were identified as causes for the initiation of a complaint or hearing. The hearing group cited expense, the legalistic nature of hearings, and stress as major problems while the complaint group cited lack of accountability and enforcement as major problems. Both groups recommended increased parent training and support and improved monitoring and enforcement by the Maine Department of Education. The results of this study support the conclusion that the hearing process is primarily available to those families with higher incomes and that both the hearing and the complaint processes tend to be associated with poor parent and school relationships. Additional research is needed to identify methods to improve parent and school relationships after the initiation of due process and to ensure that all parents have access to alternatives for the resolution of parent and school conflict.	en
dc.description.degree	Ph. D.	en
dc.identifier.other	etd-041799-201806	en
dc.identifier.sourceurl	http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-041799-201806/	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26952	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.relation.haspart	Chap4.PDF	en
dc.relation.haspart	front.PDF	en
dc.relation.haspart	Chap2.PDF	en
dc.relation.haspart	Chap3.PDF	en
dc.relation.haspart	references.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	endstuff.PDF	en
dc.relation.haspart	Chap5.PDF	en
dc.relation.haspart	Chap1.PDF	en
dc.relation.haspart	vita.PDF	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	special education	en
dc.subject	complaint	en
dc.subject	parent and school conflict	en
dc.subject	due process hearing	en
dc.title	A Comparison of Parents Who Initiated Due Process Hearings and Complaints in Maine	en
dc.type	Dissertation	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Educational Leadership and Policy Studies	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	doctoral	en
thesis.degree.name	Ph. D.	en

A Comparison of Parents Who Initiated Due Process Hearings and Complaints in Maine

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