Influences on Teachers' Attitudes of the Parents' Role as Collaborator

A descriptive study was conducted to identify factors that influence special education teachers' attitudes about parents as educational collaborators. The study found that teachers view parents as more capable and are more open to parent input if they interact more frequently. Student age was found to influence openness, independent of interaction frequency. None of the factors analyzed were found to be related to perceptions of incapability. The results are interpreted as consistent with other collaboration studies that indicate greater amounts of interactions increase positive attitudes about others' roles in collaboration.