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Abstract:
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A 50-item survey was given to 86 regular classroom teachers to examine seven areas of special education. Three areas addressed their perceptions of special education regarding inclusion, teacher preparation, and legal issues. This section contained 30 questions to be answered on a four-point Likert scale. The second section included four areas on regular classroom teachers' actual knowledge of special education: referral, eligibility, parental rights, and laws pertaining to special education. The second section included 20 true/false questions.
The results of this study suggest that regular education teachers have skewed perceptions of inclusion. Most teachers agree with inclusion, but then want to place restrictions on who can be included. A majority of the teachers reported that they did not have sufficient preparation or materials to educate students with special needs. Teachers did not perceive that they understood IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) or the lEP (Individualized Education Plan). There were slightly higher percentages reported for actual knowledge of special education. Teachers responded most correctly to questions regarding referral, followed by actual legal knowledge of special education, eligibility, and parental rights. |