Many middle school students with learning disabilities obtain their education in general education classrooms. These classroom settings are referred to as inclusion classrooms. We must not only consider that the student population is becoming increasingly more diverse, but we must also consider that the educators who teach in these type of classrooms are diverse as well. Teacher qualifications, training, and education that educators receive before and after entering a classroom can be quite varied and really important when considering the work that needs to be done to ensure successful inclusion classrooms. Within an inclusion classroom, success requires a collaborative instructional effort between special educators, general educators, and para-educators. The purpose of this research is to highlight teacher diversity in qualifications and training and identify factors that make teachers feel more or less confident in inclusion classrooms. This research explains key components of teaching - classroom management, instructional strategies, and student engagement - and the similarities and differences found between teachers in inclusion classrooms. This research is very important to all involved in the teaching and learning in inclusion classrooms, to include aspiring teachers, new teachers, experienced teachers, paraprofessionals, educational specialists, professional development and training staff, instructors for teachers, administrators, and policy makers. KEY SEARCH TERMS: administration, alternative teaching, attitudes, attrition, behaviors, bias, Bonferroni's Post Hoc Test, burnout, classroom management, co-teaching models, collaboration, confounding variable, content review, curriculum, disabilities, educational goals, educators, efficacy, Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), general education, Gibson and Dembo Teacher Efficacy Scale, inclusion classroom models, Individual with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), instructional content, instructional management, instructional model, instructional models, instructional practices, instructional strategies, lack of motivation, lead/support model, learning disabilities, Levene's Test of Equality of Error, models, motivation, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), para-educator, para-professionals, parallel teaching, pre-service, professional development & training, retention, role models, self-efficacy, socialization, special education services, station teaching, stress, student behaviors, student engagement, teacher experience, teacher qualifications, teacher self-efficacy, teacher training, Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), team teaching model, vicarious experiences, years of experience

In this book the editors have been able to provide a snapshot of current research being undertaken in the Asia-Pacific region in regards to teacher self-efficacy beliefs. This includes specific focuses on inclusive teaching, professionalism, subject domains, collective efficacy as well as specific contexts of early childhood education and care, primary schools education, special needs schools and teacher education. This allows the reader to begin to develop an understanding about the complexity of teacher self-efficacy as well as the development and relationship between self-efficacy and other theoretical constructs and concepts. The book begins with an overall summary of research in the Asia-Pacific region before moving to a specific focus on research in different countries. All of the chapters also provide hope to the reader about the possibilities of understanding and supporting teachers and schools beliefs to enhance teacher behaviour. Through the implementation of teacher self-efficacy beliefs into educational contexts, teacher education programmes and professional development programmes, there is strong hope that the outcomes of education systems in supporting all students in their learning can be achieved. By allowing teachers to develop their own sources of efficacy and supporting these through all stages of career development, all children can be supported in their own learning.

Over the last two decades, the implementation of inclusive schooling has increased significantly in European countries and worldwide. According to empirical evidence, one of the most important success factors in implementing inclusive schooling are the attitudes of the actors involved. Previous studies have shown that positive attitudes towards inclusive schooling are not only a condition for success regarding the implementation, but also an important outcome variable of inclusive education. The present study provides empirical insights into the attitudes towards students with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders. A study called ATIS-STEP (Attitudes Towards Inclusive Schooling - Students', TEachers' and Parents' Attitudes) was conducted in the school year 2016/17 in 48 inclusive classrooms in Austria. It is the first study to provide longitudinal data that examines the attitudes of the three different stakeholder groups: students, teachers and parents. Furthermore, the interdependency of the attitudes of the three groups, as well as the influence of previous contact experience on the attitudes are analyzed and discussed. Dr. Susanne Schwab: Professorin für Methodik und Didaktik in den Förderschwerpunkten Lernen sowie emotionale und soziale Entwicklung, School of Education am Institut für Bildungsforschung an der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal, Deutschland, und Extraordinary Professor in der Research Focus Area Optentia an der North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa. Vorsitzende der Sektion Empirische pädagogische Forschung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Forschung und Entwicklung im Bildungswesen (ÖFEB). Arbeitsschwerpunkte: Inklusionspädagogik, Lehrerprofessionalisierung, Soziale Partizipation.

"Based on Albert Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory, this survey study was conducted to examine general education teachers' self-efficacy in inclusive teaching and the factors that influenced their self-efficacy. The survey results from 42 elementary and middle school teachers revealed that they were generally confident in teaching special education students although they were uncertain about their abilities to perform specific inclusive teaching tasks. Contrary to the investigator's hypothesis, the elementary school teachers in this study had higher self-efficacy in inclusive teaching than the middle school teachers. A positive correlation was found between the teacher's self-efficacy level and prior training in inclusion, supporting the idea that prior training helps improve teachers' self-efficacy. Perceived administrative support was also found to be a variable that influenced teachers' self-efficacy."--Abstract, p. 1.

A practical guide to working with primary and secondary students who need extra attention. It outlines the principles behind diversity and inclusive policies, and discusses the range of needs teachers can expect to encounter in an inclusive classroom.

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative research study was to examine if a predictive relationship existed between general educators' perceived self-efficacy, attitudes toward inclusion, and the reading achievement of special needs students in an urban school district in the Midwestern United States. A convenience sample of 65 middle school reading teachers participated in the study. The theory of planned behavior, self-efficacy theory, and social cognitive theory provided a theoretical understanding of how inclusion affects the attitude and behaviors of teachers. Attitudes and beliefs affect behavior by determining what a middle school teacher does and does not do, thereby affecting what the student with a disability receives in the classroom. A simple linear regression was used to test the hypotheses according to scores generated from the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) short form and the Scale of Teachers' Attitude Toward Inclusive Classrooms (STATIC). The results of both simple linear regression analyses determined that neither the TSES nor the STATIC were found to be significant predictors of the change in Ohio Academic Achievement (OAA) reading test scores during the 2012-2013 school years. The results of this study added to the knowledge base of the field by examining the predictive relationship between teacher perceptions of their self-efficacy, attitudes, and regarding inclusion and the reading achievement of special education students that have been included in a general education classroom for reading instruction.

Devoted to understanding and enhancing the education of adolescent students, this title covers areas including: the social structure of the American high school; social relationships and school adjustment; motivation in adolescence; race and gender influences on teen parenting; and school violence.