Special Education: Educators' Attitudes Toward Inciusion and Its Effects on Collaboration

What does it take for the idea of inclusion to be successful in a special education ii program? The educators are key factors in the success of inclusion and special education. It is important for the principals, general educators and special educators to work in a collaborative manner. Collaboration is affected by the attitudes each participant holds toward special education. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes that the principal and general! special education teachers have towards inclusionlmainstreaming and how their attitudes affect collaboration in a special education program. A comprehensive literature review was conducted and conclusions and recommendations were reported. The review focused on the roles of the principals, general education teachers, and special education teachers and their attitudes toward inclusion of students with disabilities. It also included an examination of the literature on collaboration and its effect on successful inclusion. The Graduate School University of Wisconsin Stout Menomonie, WI Acknowledgments III Wow, if you would have asked me my junior year of college ifI were ever going to write a thesis paper, I would have told you, "No way"! Well, now, here I am doing the thing I never thought I would do. At this time, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my parents for their support throughout my life and bearing with me through these last few months as I wrote my paper. Another group of people I would like to thank are my friends; especially Jac1yn and Rachel for taking the time toread through my paper and give their honest feedback, as well as, Charlie for his effort in helping me work out a title! Last, but not least, I would like to thank my research advisor, Renee. Her support and positive attitude helped me through this whole process.