Home⇛Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal⇛vol. 20 no. 3 (2024)

Optimizing Inclusive Learning Environments: Insights from Public School Educators

Lorenza Gigante

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

Inclusive education is vital for creating a nurturing learning environment for students with disabilities, but disparities in attitudes and practices among school administrators can hinder its effective implementation. This study explores the attitudes of school administrators and teachers toward inclusion across three dimensions: resources, training, and general attitudes. Emphasizing the need for alignment, the study proposes a targeted training program to guide educators in optimizing teaching for students with special needs. The study assesses the acceptability of this training initiative, aiming for a unified approach to inclusive education. In a quantitative, non-experimental study, 343 public school administrators and 5040 teachers were surveyed using a carefully tailored instrument with high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93). Data analysis employing an average weighted mean and a t-test reveals a significant difference in attitudes between teachers and administrators. A proposed training program aligning with the Minnesota Department of Education's mission is informed by these findings. Table 6 confirms high acceptability among participants, substantiating the program's feasibility and potential positive impact on inclusive education practices in public schools. Collectively, Tables 3, 4, 5, and 6 provide a comprehensive snapshot of attitudes, perceptions, and responses toward inclusive education. Public school teachers exhibit a generally positive inclination toward inclusion, while administrators strongly support inclusive education principles. However, Table 5 signals a significant difference between teacher and administrator attitudes, necessitating alignment. Table 6 underscores the proposed training program's high acceptability, emphasizing the importance of addressing attitude discrepancies and implementing targeted training for a unified and effective approach to inclusive education in schools



References:

  1. Anderson, M.J. (2010) Students with Disabilities in General Education Settings:GeneralEducation Teacher Preparation. (Doctoral Dissertation).Retrieved on March16, 2017 from K-State Electronic Theses, Dissertations, and Reportsh ttp://hdl.handle.net/2097/4619 
  2. Avramidis, E., & Norwich, B. (2002) Teachers’ attitudes towards integration /inclusion:A review of the literature, European Journal of Special NeedsEducation, 17(2), 129–147.
  3. Bernstein, B. (1962). Case law in Plessy V. Ferguson. The Journal of NegroHistory, 47(3), 192-198.
  4. Bishop, D. (1977). Plessy V. Ferguson: A reinterpretation. The Journal of NegroHistory, 62(2), 125-133.
  5. Bochenek, H. (2008) Approving or disapproving: Parent perceptions ofinclusion at theelementary level. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved fromProquest. (3320683).
  6. Chandler, T. (2015) School Principal Attitudes toward the Inclusion of Students withDisabilities. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved on March 16, 2017 from63
  7. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1176&context=dissertations
  8. Coats, K. (1985). The Education of All Handicapped Children Act since 1975.MarquetteLaw Review, 69.
  9. Cook, L. & Friend, M. (1995). Coteaching: Guidelines for creating effective practices.Focus on Exceptional Children, 28, 1-16.
  10. Cook, B.G., Semmel, M.I., & Gerber, M.M. (1999). Attitudes of principals andspecial education teachers toward the inclusion of students with milddisabilities: Criticaldifferences of opinion, Remedial and SpecialEducation, 20(4), 199–207.
  11. Darrow, A. (2008) Barriers to effective inclusion and strategies to overcome them,General Music Today, 22(3), pp. 29–31.
  12. DeMatthews, D.E. (2015) Clearing a path for inclusion: Distributing leadershipin a highperforming elementary school, Journal of School Leadership,25, 1000–103864
  13. DeMatthews, D.E. & Mawhinney, H. (2013). Addressing the inclusionimperative: An urban school district’s responses’, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 21(61), 1–27.
  14. Dugnan Bruster, D. (2014) Comparing the Perceptions of Inclusion betweenGeneral Education and Special Education Teachers. (DoctoralDissertation) Retrieved onMarch 17, 2017 fromDigital Commons @Liberty University http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/814/
  15. Elhoweris, H., & Alsheikh, N. (2004). Teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion.InternationalJournal of Special Education, 21(1), 115-118.
  16. Elliott, M. (2001). Race, color blindness, and the Democratic public:Albion W. Tourgée’s radical principles in Plessy v. Ferguson. TheJournal of SouthernHistory, 67(2), 287-330.Every Student Succeeds Act, Pub. L. No. 114-95, 129 Stat. 1802 (2015).
  17. Fatig, M., & Taylor, M. (2008). CoTeaching in the differentiated classroom:Successful collaboration, lesson design, and classroom management. SanFrancisco: Jossey-Bass.
  18. Fedrico, M.A., Herrold, B., & Venn, J. (2000). Inclusion reaches beyond the classroom.Kappa Delta Pi Record, 36(4), 178-180.65
  19. Ferri, B.A., & Connor, D.J. (2005). In the shadow of brown: Special educationand Overrepresentation of students of color, Remedial and SpecialEducation, 26(2),93–100.
  20. Foy, J. (2008). Plessy v. Ferguson. In Wilson, C. (Author) & Ely, J. &Bond, B. (Eds.), The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture:Volume 10: Law andPolitics (pp. 115-116). University of NorthCarolina Press.
  21. Gasman, M., & Hilton, A. (2012) Mixed motivations, mixed results: A history oflaw, legislation, historically black colleges, and universities, and interestconvergence,Teachers College Record, 114, 1–34.
  22. Gloeckler, L., & Daggett, W. (2004). NCLB: A crossroads for special education.
  23. Groves, H. (1951). Separate but equal—The doctrine of Plessy v.Ferguson, Phylon(1940-1956), 12(1), 66-72.
  24. Harris, J.D. (2009) Elementary School Assistant Principals’ Attitudes Towards Inclusionof Special Needs Students in the General Education Setting.(Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from Proquest (33399046).66
  25. Hallahan, D.P, Kauffman, J.M., & Pullen, P.C. (2009). ExceptionalLearners. AnIntroduction to Special Education. Boston, MA:Pearson.
  26. Howard, P. (2004). The least restrictive environment: How to tell? Journal ofLaw andEducation, 32(2), 167–180.Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq. (2004).
  27. Jenkins, J. (2012) Secondary School Administrators’ Perceptions of Leadingand Implementing No Child Left Behind Mandates for AlabamaStudents with Disabilities. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved on March16th, 2017 from UABDigital Commons o http://contentdm.mhsl.uab.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/etd/id/1458/rec/45
  28. Jimenez, T., Graf, V., & Rose, E. (2007) Gaining access to general education:The promise of universal design for learning’, Issues in Teacher Education, 16(2), 41–54.
  29. Kaufman, A.K., & Blewett, E. (2012). When good is no longer good enough:How the high stakes nature of No Child Left Behind Act supplanted the
  30. Rowley definitionof a free appropriate public education. Journal of Law& Education, 41, 5-23.67
  31. Kavale, K.A., & Forness, S.R. (2000) History, rhetoric, and reality:Analysis of theinclusion debate, Remedial and Special Education,21(5), 279–296.
  32. Keogh, B. (2007) Celebrating PL 94-142, Issues in Teacher Education,16(2), 65–69.Kloos, A., & Zigmond, N. (2008). Coteaching revisited:Redrawing the blueprint.Preventing School Failure, 52(2), 12-20.
  33. Kuyini, A.B., & Desai, I. (2007) Principals? And teachers? Attitudes and knowledge of inclusive education as predictors of effective teachingpractices in Ghana, Journalof Research in Special Educational Needs,7(2), 104–113.
  34. Lorio, K. (2011) Louisiana High School Principals’ Attitudes towardsInclusion.(Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from Proquest (536024).
  35. M.L., Y. (1995). The least-restrictive-environment mandate and the courts:
  36. Judicial activism or judicial restraint? Exceptional Children: Journal ofthe InternationalCouncil for Exceptional Children, 61, 578–581.
  37. Martin, E.W., Martin, R., & Terman, D.L. (1996). The legislative and litigationhistory ofspecial education, The Future of Children, 6(1), 25.68
  38. McNeal, L.R. (2009). The re-segregation of public education now and afterthe end ofBrown v. Board of Education, Education and Urban Society, 41(5), 562–574
  39. Murray, M. (2012). Leadership to Promote Inclusion: Perceptions of ElementaryPrincipals on Inclusion, Co-teaching, and Differentiated Instruction.(Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved on March 17th, 2017 from D-Scholarship @ Pitt http://d- scholarship.pitt.edu/17037/
  40. Obiakor, F. (2011). Maximizing access, equity, and inclusion in general, andspecial education’, The Journal of International Association of SpecialEducation, 12(1),10–16.
  41. Olinger, B. (2013). Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives of Inclusion in the Regular Education Classroom. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved on March 16th, 2017from Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University http://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2359&context=etd
  42. Perry A., Z. (2005). Does Brown v. Board of Education play a prominent role in specialeducation law, Journal of Law and Education, 34(2), 255–271.69
  43. Pickren, W.E. (2004). Fifty years on: Brown v. Board of education and American psychology, 1954-2004 an introduction, American Psychologist, 59(6), 493–494. Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Pub. L. No. 93-112, § 504, 87 Stat. 394 (1973).
  44. Rivera- Tubbs, T. (2012) Perspectives of Administrators, Teachers, andParents Regarding Inclusion of Special Needs Students in a FaithBased School: A Qualitative Study. (Doctoral Dissertation) Retrievedfrom Proquest (3544962).
  45. Ross-Hill, R. (2009). Teacher attitude towards inclusion practices and special needsstudents, Journal of Research in Special EducationalNeeds, 9(3), 188–198.
  46. Rubin, S.G. (2016). Brown v. Board of Education: A fight for simple justice The HornMagazine (November), 132–133.
  47. Russo, C.J., Osborne, A.G., & Rus.., C.J. (2008) Essential concepts andschool-basedcases in special education law. Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin Press.
  48. Rusthoven, P.J. (2014) High Court opted for common sense, IndianapolisBusinessJournal, 9.70
  49. Ryan, J. (2010). Establishing inclusion in a new school: The role of principalleadership’,Exceptionality Education International, 20(2), 6–24.
  50. Sailor, W., & Roger, B. (2005). Rethinking inclusion: School wideapplications. PhiDelta Kappan, 503-509.
  51. Savich, C. (2008). Unfunded Mandates? : An Analysis of Pontiac SchoolBoard v. Spellings, The Legal Challenge to the No Child LeftBehind Act. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from ERIC (501713).
  52. Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (1996). Teacher perceptions ofmainstreaming inclusion, 1958-1995: A research synthesis.Exceptional Children, 63, 59-74.
  53. Scruggs, T., Mastropieri, M. & McDuffie, K. (2007, Summer 2007).Coteaching in theinclusive classroom: A metasynthesis of qualitative research. Exceptional Children, 73(4), 392-416.
  54. Shealey, M.W., Lue, M.S., Brooks, M., & Mccray, E. (2005a) Examining the legacy ofBrown: The impact on special education and teacher practice,71
  55. Remedial and Special Education, 26(2), 113–121. doi:10.1177/07419325050260020601.
  56. Skiba, R.J., Simmons, A.B., Ritter, S., Gibbs, A.C., Kargen Rausch, M.,Cuadrado, J., &Chung, .G. (2008) Achieving Equity in SpecialEducation: History, Status, and Current Challenges.
  57. Smith, T.E.C., Polloway, E.A., Patton, J.R., & Dowdy, C.A. (2003a) Teachingstudents with special needs in inclusive settings. 4th edn. Boston, MA:Pearson, Allyn andBacon.
  58. Spalding, L.S., & Pratt, S.M. (2005). A review and analysis of the history ofspecial education and disability advocacy in the United States,American EducationalHistory Journal, 42(1), 99–109.
  59. Strayhorn, T.L., & Johnson, R.M. (2014).Why are all the white students sitting together in college? Impact of Brown v. Board of education on cross-racial interactions among blacks and whites’, The Journal of NegroEducation, 83(3), 385–399. doi:10.7709/jnegroeducation.83.3.0385
  60. Subban, P., & Sharma, U. (2005) Understanding educator attitudes towardthe implementation of inclusive education, Disability StudiesQuarterly, 25(2).72
  61. Supreme Court of the United States. Plessy v. Ferguson. May 18, 1896. (1896).The Virginia Law Register, 2(5), 327-347. Swann-Wright, Dianne. “Plessy v. Ferguson.” Footsteps, Mar.-Apr. 2003, p. 10
  62. Taylor, K.R. (2011). ‘Inclusion and the Law, The Education Digest (May), pp. 48–51.
  63. Thomason, M. (2009.) Discipline of Special Education Students: Legal Implications forPolicy and Procedure. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from Proquest(3360773).
  64. Tilson, L.K. (2011). A Quantitative Analysis of General Education Teachers’ Perceptionsof Their Knowledge of Special Education Law, Processes, and Procedures. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved on March 16, 2017 from Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University http://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1344/  U.S. Department of Education. (2007). Individualized education programs (IEPs). Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html
  65. Vasillopulos, C. (1994). Prevailing upon the American dream: Thurgood Marshall and brown v. Board of education, The Journal of Negro Education, 63(3), 289. doi:10.2307/2967181.
  66. Volonino, V., & Zigmond, N. (2007). Promoting research-based practices 73throughinclusion? Theory Into Practice, 46(4), 291-300.
  67. Wang, M.C., & Reynolds, M.C. (1996). Progressive inclusion: Meeting newchallengesin special education, Theory Into Practice, 35(1), 20–25.
  68. Warren, C. J. E. (1954). Brown v. board of education. United States Reports,347(1954),483
  69. Washington, N. (2010). School Administrators’ Attitudes towards theInclusion of Disabled Students in the General Education Setting.(Doctoral Dissertation).Retrieved from Proquest (3412492).
  70. Webb, L. D. (2006). The history of American education: A great American experiment.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
  71. Weber, M.C. (2009). Special education law: Challenges old and new, Phi Delta
  72. Kappan,90(10), 728–732. doi: 10.1177/003172170909001009.
  73. Weintraub, F. (2005). The evolution of LD policy and future challenges,LearningDisability Quarterly, 28(2), 97–99.
  74. Williams, J. (2015). Attitudes and Perceptions of Public School Principals in IllinoisToward Inclusion Of Students with Disabilities in the74
  75. General Education Classroom. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrievedfrom Proquest (3700733).
  76. Yell, M.L., Rogers, D., & Rogers, E.L. (1998). The legal history of specialeducation: What a long, strange trip it’s been! Remedial and SpecialEducation, 19(4), 219–228.
  77. Zigmond, N., & Magiera, K. (2001). A focus on coteaching: Use caution.Currentpractice alerts from the Division for Learning Disabilitiesand Division forResearch of the Council for Exceptional Children,6.
  78. Zirkel, P.A. (2015) Special education law: Illustrative basics and nuances of keyIDEA components, Teacher Education and Special Education: TheJournal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 38(4), 263–275.

Tools


Copyright © 2025  KITE Digital Educational Solutions |  Exclusively distributed by CE-Logic