The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, to identify factors that mediate parents' expectations about future outcomes of children with mental retardation and parents' beliefs about education of children with mental retardation in Kenya. Second, to determine the importance of parents' expectations, beliefs, child's gender, severity of mental retardation, ethnicity, and parents' level of education in the prediction of educational participation of children with mental retardation in Kenya. The initial set of predictors included four demographic variables (child's gender, severity of mental retardation, ethnicity, and parents' level of education) and eight factors of parents' expectations about future outcomes of the child with mental retardation and their beliefs about education of children with mental retardation. Six predictors of educational participation of children with mental retardation emerged: (a) parents' beliefs about the educational appropriateness of the child with mental retardation, (b) parents' beliefs about the social acceptance of the child with mental retardation, (c) parents' level of education, (d) importance of school characteristics, (e) parents' beliefs about segregated school option, and (f) parents' beliefs about worthlessness of education of children with mental retardation.
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