Special education and general education teacher attitudes toward inclusion

Abstract

Research has revealed that there are various reasons for positive and negative teacher attitudes toward inclusion. This variation often depends on how the specific school functions and practices inclusion. The purpose of this study was to examine middle school special education and general education teacher attitudes on inclusion in a rural school district. The survey used was developed by the researcher specifically for this study. The survey consisted of 19 Likert scale questions and one comment question. The surveys were distributed to all special education and general education teachers in one rural middle school in the Midwest during spring of 2003. Results were tabulated with frequencies and percentages for each response reported. Cross tabulations were also completed to compare differences between the special education and general education teacher’s responses. The results of this study showed attitudes reported by special education teachers and general education teachers on inclusion. The results indicated some significant differences in attitudes reported by special education and general education teachers. The study further looked at differences in attitudes reported by educators depending on the student’s specific disability (EB/D, CD, LD). The results of the study also identified possible factors behind the positive and negative attitudes. Recommendations were made for further studies and to the participants after considering the results and conclusions of the study. The following recommendations were made: 1) Complete future studies with larger sample/larger school district; 2) The administration to increase support to teachers and other staff in the way of time and training in order to increase competencies of staff and meet the needs of students with disabilities; 3) The general education teachers and support staff increase their own competencies by seeking out available trainings 4) Special education and general education teachers continue to collaborate to meet the needs of students with disabilities in and outside both of their classrooms. 5) In order to determine factors behind the positive and negative attitudes held by teachers towards inclusion, this researcher recommends adding perception questions to the survey.