Date

9-2021

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Carolyn McCreight

Keywords

inclusion, perceptions, special education, middle school, high school, administrator

Disciplines

Special Education and Teaching

Abstract

This study examined the attitudes of general education teachers and special education teacher of the inclusion classroom in the middle and high school levels. Using casual- comparative and survey methodology, the level of agreement or disagreement of these teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusive procedures was assessed in four areas: Planning, Classroom/School Environment, Collaboration/Team Partners, and Resources/Supports/Professional Development. The survey measured general education teachers and special education teachers in the middle and high school levels using a 19- item, five-point Likert scale. To address the research questions, an ANOVA was initially proposed. However, due to the low sample size of administrators and large sample size of participants having multiple positions, an independent sample t-test was proposed as an alternative. The independent sample t-test was then used to test for differences in attitude toward inclusion scores between general educators and special educators. The findings of the independent sample t-test were not statistically significant, t(58) = -0.05, p = .958, d = 0.02, indicating that there were not significant differences in attitude toward inclusion scores between general educators and special educators. General educators and special educators both had a mean score of 3.93 for attitude toward inclusion. The findings of the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test were also not statistically significant, Z = -0.30, p = .765, further providing evidence of non-significant differences in attitude toward inclusion scores between general educators and special educators.

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