High School Teachers' Perceptions of Inclusion

Author(s)

Carmen WigginsFollow

Date

10-2012

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Carol Mowen

Primary Subject Area

Education, Curriculum and Instruction; Education, General; Education, Secondary; Education, Teacher Training; Education, Special

Keywords

co-teachers, inclusion, special education, students with disabilities

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Disability and Equity in Education | Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Methods | Special Education and Teaching

Recommended Citation

Wiggins, Carmen, "High School Teachers' Perceptions of Inclusion" (2012). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 608.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/608

Abstract

With the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, school systems must ensure students with disabilities receive instruction in general education classrooms. Implementing the inclusion model has been challenging for many school systems as the systems try to find ways to meet the needs of their diverse student populations. The purpose of this quantitative casual-comparative and correlational study is to identify high school teachers' perceptions of inclusion. One hundred seventy-three high school teachers from six school districts located in a southeastern metropolitan area completed a survey to allow the researcher to examine if a relationship existed between teachers' perceptions of inclusion in regards to certification field, degree level, years of experience, and classroom setting. The survey contained of four demographic/background and 27 Likert-type questions. Anova and Pearson-product moment tests were used to analyze data. The researcher found no statistically significant relationships between teachers' perceptions of inclusion in regards to certification field, degree level, and years of experience. However, the study did find a statistically significant relationship between teachers' perceptions of inclusion and classroom setting. The researcher concludes that teachers with experience teaching in inclusion classrooms hold more favorable attitudes toward inclusion than those teachers who do not teach in inclusion classrooms.