Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Education and International Services

Program

Education, Curriculum and Instruction, MA

First Advisor

Name of advisor not identified

Abstract

According to some studies, there is a trend in inclusion of students with disabilities in general classroom. And the key element to deal with this special education issue is the general education teacher. The present research surveyed the variables that would predict teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of students with disabilities in inclusive settings. The variables include years of service, teachers' attendance to special education courses in their program preparation, differentiated instruction, and previous experience with inclusion. Eighty general education teachers from public schools in a very diverse area of Southwest Michigan, answered a survey with 31 questions involving the Scale of Teachers' Attitudes Toward Inclusive Classrooms – STATIC – (Cochran, 1997) and the four factors that underline the general concept of teachers' attitudes towards inclusion.

The outcome of this research pointed out that when testing all the independent variables, only one demonstrated to be a significant predictor of teachers' attitudes towards instruction of students with disabilities, and that is taking any special education course during the graduate program. As for the overall observation of the results from the survey in general, teachers indicated their approval of inclusion as an effective model for students with disabilities, but they also demonstrated that special education training is needed, even though they believe in their own abilities to teach exceptional students.

Subject Area

Teachers--Attitudes; Students with disabilities; Inclusive education; Special education

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