Research demonstrates that parental involvement can have a positive impact on students' academic, emotional, and social success; however, there are few studies of how to improve parent advocacy and home-school collaboration in special education. The focus of this qualitative case study was to understand perceptions of the special educators and the parents of children with special needs and to explore how to empower them in building home-school partnerships in the local school district. Using social capital theory, the purpose of the study was to understand the impact of social capital, social networking, and resources in special education on advocacy for children with special needs and their parents. The research questions concerned understanding how parents and educators view their roles in parent-educator collaborations, what kinds of barriers exist for parent-professional collaboration, and what types of resources parents of children with special needs and special educators perceive necessary to advocate for their children and students. Interviews and a focus group provided in-depth data and led to a rich description of common themes. Data were analyzed using an interpretive qualitative approach. The results indicated that functional isolation between home and school was a critical obstacle, and a systemic approach is necessary to develop successful home-school partnerships in special education. The results of this study can benefit parents and educators by closing the gap in local knowledge and practice needed on the topic of home-school partnerships in K-12 special education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]