Preservice General Education Teachers' Attitudes and Knowledge of Special Education.

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes and knowledge acquired by preservice general education teachers regarding students with disabilities. Participants included fifty-six general education preservice teaches in their student teaching semester at the University of North Dakota. A three part survey (i.e., attitudes, perceived knowledge, and application of knowledge of special education) was conducted. Participants’ responses indicated that 1) preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion of students with disabilities were highly favorable, 2) preservice teachers’ attitudes were least favorable in the area of managing behavior, 3) preservice teachers’ attitudes were marginal in managing time and overcoming negative attitudes of others, 4) preservice teachers’ perceptions of knowledge in the area of differentiation (e.g., assessment, instruction) were highly favorable, 5) preservice teachers’ perceptions of knowledge in the areas of law, procedures, and severe disabilities was marginal, and 6) preservice teachers’ application of knowledge in the area of characteristics of and accommodations for students with learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was extremely favorable. Preservice General Education Teachers’ Attitudes and Knowledge of Special Education The federal mandates set forth by the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.) have supported the practice of educating students with disabilities in regular education classrooms. In 2002-2003, approximately 6.4 million students had special education individualized education programs (IEPs) and received special education services. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2007) approximately half of all students with disabilities in 2004–2005 spent 80 percent or more of their day in a general education classroom. As more and more students with disabilities are educated in the general education classroom, it is imperative that general educators have a positive attitude toward the education of students with disabilities and the knowledge and skills to effectively meet the needs of all students. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals (JAASEP) JAASEP Page 24 of 149 Research suggests that the attitudes and beliefs of general educators and acquisition of knowledge and skills toward educating students with disabilities are concerns that must be addressed in teacher preparation programs (deBettencourt, 1999; Henning & Mitchell, 2002; Silverman, 2007). In a summary of 28 surveys of general educators’ perceptions on inclusive practices, Scruggs and Mastropieri (1996) found that two-thirds of general educators believed that inclusion is beneficial for students with disabilities. However, one-third of the 10,560 teachers reported that they did not have training or resources to actually implement inclusion successfully. Cook (2002) discovered that when pre-service teachers had positive feelings toward inclusion the implementation of inclusion practices was more evident. In a survey of 228 middle school mathematics teachers, it was concluded that many of the respondents lacked an understanding of instructional strategies to strengthen the mathematical learning of students who had learning disabilities (DeSimone & Parmar, 2006). In another survey study (n=59) that measured the use of instructional strategies within the general education classroom and attitudes about inclusion, findings indicated that general educators needed more attitude and awareness training concerning students with disabilities and the number of instructional strategies used by general educators increased with the number of special education courses taken and the number of hours spent with special educators (deBettencourt, 1999). Other issues that have been identified as challenges faced by teachers include having sufficient resources, having adequate planning time and receiving appropriate training (Idol, 2002). Research suggests that pre-service teacher preparation programs do not provide adequate training to meet the needs of students with disabilities in the inclusive setting (DeSimone & Parmar, 2006; Rao & Lim, 1999; Smith & Smith, 2000). Preparing general education teachers to effectively teach in inclusive classrooms is an issue faced by numerous teacher education programs (Blanton, Griffin, Winn, & Pugach, 1996; Gerent, 2000; Peterson & Beloin, 1998; Smith, Palloway, Patton, & Dowdy, 2007; Villa, Thousand, & Chapple, 1996). Historically, separate general and special education teacher preparation programs have not provided preservice teachers with training and experience to develop the knowledge and skills needed for inclusion of students with disabilities (Villa, Thousand, & Chapple, 1996). However, some teacher training programs have developed innovative training models that have merged general and special education curricula and fieldbased experiences but few have assessed the effectiveness of the initiative or learning outcomes of their students. One program, called Project ACCEPT (Achieving Creative and Collaborative Educational Preservice Teams), attempted to determine the effectiveness of student learning (Laarhoven, Munk, Lynch, Wylan, Dorsch, Zurita, Bosma, & Rouse, 2006). The primary goals of the project were to prepare pre-service educators for inclusive education and to encourage collaboration across disciplines through participation in a course entitled “Collaborative Teaching in Inclusive Settings. ” Eighty-four elementary, secondary and special education pre-service teachers participated in the project. The project was evaluated by comparing the performance of participants (i.e., the experimental group) with that of students enrolled in a section of the traditional course (i.e., control group). Surveys were used to assess student dispositions toward inclusive education and curricular probes were used to assess pre and post-test competencies in implementing strategies. Results of the survey indicated that students participating in the project made more positive ratings than the students in the control group, and the most beneficial aspect of their experience was collaboration with students from other disciplines. Probe scores increased Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals (JAASEP) JAASEP Page 25 of 149 from pre to post test for all groups, with significantly more growth for students enrolled in the project. The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of pre-service teachers about their attitudes and knowledge regarding students with disabilities, and to find out to what extent the same pre-service teachers could apply their knowledge of students with disabilities. The study was confined to one university teacher education program where a curriculum integration project between general education and special education faculty was about to be implemented. The purpose of the curriculum integration was to prepare pre-service general education teachers in regards to working with students with disabilities in their future classrooms. The results of the current study provided a baseline against which the responses of future pre-service teachers completing the same program.