Factors Influencing Attitudes About Family-School Communication for Parents of Children With Mild Learning Problems: Preliminary Findings

Parents' attitudes toward communication with schools were explored using a family systems model (Seligman & Darling, 1989). Factors that influence these attitudes were regressed against a measure of parental attitudes. The results of a survey of 369 parents of 5- to 21-year-old children with mild handicaps indicated that having knowledge about special education and being provided with information about special education were negatively related to parents' attitudes toward communication with the schools. In contrast, the frequency of interactive activity between the school and family was shown to be positively related to these attitudes. Implications for both practice and research are explored, particularly those concerning parent-school collaboration.