Perceptions of Middle School Teachers Regarding the Inclusion of Special Education Students in Regular Education Classes
Authors:   , Schriock Nellie 
Published: February 2023

The purpose of the researcher was to investigate the perceptions of middle school regular and special education teachers regarding the inclusion of special education students in regular education classes. The independent variables were: grade level taught, subject taught, years of teaching experience, college hours in special education, and amount of formal education. The dependent variables were scores of the following scales from the Survey Questions instrument: Confidence, Effect on Classroom, Time, Appropriate Placement, Total, and Other (expertise of staff, cooperation among peers, administrative and collegial support, placement benefits to students, public school responsibility, and level of concern regarding special education). The sample consisted of 54 subjects. Five composite null hypotheses were tested employing a three-way analysis of variance (general linear model). A total of 90 comparisons were made plus 96 recurring. Of the 90 comparisons, 30 were for main effects and 60 were for interactions. Of the 30 main effects, 12 were statistically significant at the .0500 level. Of the 60 interactions, 2 were statistically significant at the .0500 level. The results appeared to support the following generalizations: 1. teachers who taught special education courses had a statistically significant lower mean Confidence score (more positive attitude) than those who taught math/science, social studies and combined core classes; 2. teachers with 1-7 years of teaching experience had a statistically significant smaller mean Confidence score (more positive attitude) than those with B to 37 years teaching experience; 3. teachers who taught special education courses had a statistically significant lower mean Total score (more positive attitude) than those who taught social studies, electives, and combined core classes; 4. teachers with 1 - 7 years teaching experience had a statistically significant smaller mean Total score (more positive attitude) than those who had taught 8 to 37 years; 5. teachers who had taken 7 + 36 hours in special education had a statistically significant smaller mean Total score (more positive attitude) than those who had taken 1 + 6 hours or did not indicate hours taken in special education; 6. teachers who taught special education courses had a statistically significant smaller mean Other score (expertise of staff, cooperation among peers, administrative and collegial support, placement benefits to students, public school responsibility, and level of concern regarding special education) than teachers who taught all other subjects, teachers who taught social studies and electives had statistically the highest mean score (most negative attitude) of any subject taught, and those who taught math/science had a lower mean Other score (more positive attitude) than those who taught special education; 7. teachers with 1-6 college hours in special education had a statistically significant lower mean Other score (more positive attitude) than teachers who had taken either 7 to 36 hours in special education, and those who did not answer how many college hours were taken in special education; 8. teachers who attained a Bachelor's degree had a statistically significant smaller mean Confidence score (more positive attitude) than those with Masters and Specialist degrees; 9. teachers with 8 - 37 years teaching experience had a statistically significant lower mean Other score (more positive attitude) than those with less experience; 10. teachers with Masters and Specialist degrees had a statistically significant lower mean Other score (more positive attitude) than those with Bachelor’s degrees; 11. teachers with Bachelor's degrees had a statistically lower mean Total score (more positive attitude) than those with Masters and Specialist degrees; and, 12. teachers who taught grade levels 6-8 and grades 6 and 8 had a statistically significant lower mean Confidence score (more positive attitude) than those who taught 7th grade only.