General Education Teachers' Perceptions of Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in the Regular Classroom Sharon Ruth Stidham-Smith, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Supervisor: James L. Schaller This exploratory descriptive study was conducted to examine the perceptions of general public school teachers regarding inclusion of students with disabilities in their classroom. Instruments used to measure the concepts studied include an Inclusion Inventory followed by additional open-ended questions. A sample of general education public school teachers, who have had a child with a disability in their classroom, was recruited from a Texas regional school district. The research questions asked about the teachers' educational teams, their grade level assignment, and the number of years taught; followed by open ended questions that included the participants' definition of inclusion, their experiences and challenges, training in inclusion, and the concept of the general education teacher having sole responsibility for all the students in the class. Inclusion teams were found to be an important aspect of this study. The participants reported the success (or lack of success) of their inclusive classroom often depended on their inclusion team. In particular, special education coordination with vii administration support in finding solutions for unacceptable classroom behavior, time management, and class size. Many respondents felt further preservice and inservice training on how this support can be accomplished that includes administration as well as general and special education teachers was one avenue that could help realize an inclusive classroom that was beneficial to all. What exactly would be emphasized in this inclusion training was not stated. The inclusive practices and strategies discussed in this study require further research in order to determine what could be called a 'best practice' in the inclusive classroom.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in middle school general education teachers' perception of the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classes. A survey was sent to general education teachers at 14 middle schools in the Northeast Georgia Pioneer Regional Education Services Agency (RESA). The answers to the survey were compiled and analyzed for the differences in teacher perceptions of inclusion. The two groups were comprised of general education teachers who have taught in inclusive middle school settings and general education teachers who have taught only in traditional middle school settings. The general question addressed in this study was: Are there statistically significant differences in the perceptions of general education teachers that teach in inclusive middle school settings and general education teachers that teach only in traditional middle school settings towards the inclusion of students with disabilities? The researcher used a t-test to determine the statistical significance between the two groups.

In today's society, many general education and special education teachers struggle with the concept of inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the general education classroom setting and perceive that inclusion of ID students impedes the learning of others. The purpose of this project was to establish if a 60-min training session on the benefits of inclusion would alter teachers' perceptions of inclusion of children with ID in the general education setting as measured by a pre- and post-training rating scale. Forty-eight general education and special education school teachers participated. Of the 48 participants, 47 had special education experience and 33 had students with ID in their classroom this calendar school year. I developed and delivered a 60-min training module describing benefits of inclusion for students and ways that teachers can actively involve students with ID in general education classrooms. Differences in pre- and post-test scores determined whether participants altered their perception of inclusion. The results from the data I collected on the pre- and post-tests showed that inclusion training did alter teacher's perceptions of inclusion. On average, 51.36% of the general educators' ratings of statements changed from pre-test to post-test, and 42.88% of the special educator's ratings of statements changed from the pre-test to the post-test. Of the 22 general education participants, 93% of the changed ratings to the statements from pre-test to post-test were favorable to inclusion, while 7% were unfavorable to inclusion. Of the 26 special education participants, 91% of the changed ratings to the statements from pre-test to post-test were favorable to inclusion, and 9% were unfavorable to inclusion. Implications of my findings show that a 60-min inclusion training for educators is effective and can alter teacher's previous perceptions of the benefits of inclusion for all students.

This causal-comparative, quantitative study compared the perceptions of inclusion of students with disabilities in the mainstream classroom that are held by high school general education teachers and high school special education teachers that teach in inclusive settings. The study determined there is a difference between the perceptions of inclusive education between teachers with different teaching assignments. Special education teachers were clearly more positive than general education teachers about the inclusion of students with disabilities, the influence of students with disabilities on the general education classroom and its students, and the management of behavior in the inclusive classroom. There was no difference in teacher self-efficacy between the two groups. The study involved teachers at six rural high schools located in Northeast Georgia. The Opinions Relative to the Integration of Students with Disabilities developed by Antonak and Larrivee (1995) was used to measure the perceptions of the participants. The results were analyzed with t-tests to identify differences in perceptions of the two groups.