| dc.description.abstract |
The leadership of the school principal is important to the success of any program;this holds true for inclusion of special education students in regular classrooms. Thepurpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of inclusion held by Missourimiddle/junior high school principals. Also investigated were the principals’ perceptionsof collaboration between special education and general education teachers and therelationship between principals’ perceptions of collaboration and perceptions ofinclusion.The study was quantitative in nature, utilizing a survey to gather data. The surveywas adapted, with permission, from Seigler’s Georgia Middle School Principals’Perceptions of Inclusion survey. The survey was uploaded to Survey Monkey anddelivered electronically to 315 Missouri middle level principals. The return rate for theresponses was 94 or 30%. Independent samples t tests, one-sample t tests, and ANOVAswere used for hypothesis testing.Most Missouri middle level principals tend to have a positive view of inclusion.Also revealed in the study was that principals have a positive view of the collaborationbetween special education and general education teachers. The findings suggest thatprincipals who have a positive view of collaboration also have a positive view ofinclusion. The findings also suggest that certain experiences and demographic factorsmay influence the principals’ perceptions of inclusion. Among these are the specificdisability of the student, the socio-economic status of the school, and the location (urban,suburban, or rural) of the school. |
en_US |