Family-professional partnerships during the development of individualized education plans: perspectives of special education teachers and parents in Saudi Arabia

The development of individualized education programs (IEPs) requires family involvement before, during, and after the formulation of the IEP. Therefore, family-professional partnership is essential in the IEP development process. This study investigated the experiences and collaboration between educators and parents during the IEP development process in Saudi Arabia. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 parents and teachers. The Sunshine Model was used to organize the findings. The results revealed that each element of the Sunshine Model was mentioned by both teachers and parents as present or absent in the partnership. The findings underscore the necessity for a robust accountability mechanism to ensure that parents can actively participate as full and equal team members before, during, and after the development of the IEP.