High School General Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Students with Significant Disabilities in Inclusive Settings
Main Article Content
Abstract
Thanks to legislation that supports inclusion of students with significant disabilities in general education, general education teachers need to have appropriate knowledge, training, and self-efficacy in order to work successfully with these students in their classrooms. In this study, a survey of high school general education teachers investigated their perceived knowledge and capabilities specifically related to teaching students with significant disabilities. A range of subject areas, years of experience, and educational/training attained were surveyed. The findings support existing, recent research in highlighting the challenges of securing a high-quality inclusive learning experience for students with significant disabilities. Implications include the need for training and experience in special education topics for general education teachers to support their ability to teach students with significant disabilities in inclusive settings.
Downloads
Article Details
Following is the journal's Publishing Agreement. The submitting author will be asked to sign an agreement form once the submission has been accepted for publication.
A. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
I (Author) hereby warrant that:
- The article I have submitted to the Journal for review is original, has been written by the stated authors and has not been published elsewhere.
- The article is not currently being considered for publication by any other journal and will not be submitted for such review while under review by this Journal.
- The article contains no libelous or other unlawful statements and does not contain any materials that violate any personal or proprietary rights of any other person or entity.
- I have obtained written permission from copyright owners for any excerpts from copyrighted works that are included and have credited the sources in my article.
- If I am using any personal details or images of a third person, I have obtained written permission or consent from this person.
- If the article was prepared jointly with other authors, I have informed the co-author(s) of the terms of this publishing agreement and that I am signing on their behalf as their agent, and I am authorized to do so.
- The Author assigns to the Journal the right to publish, republish, transmit, sell, distribute and otherwise use the Contribution in whole or in part in electronic and print editions of the Journal throughout the world, in all languages and in all media of expression now known or later developed.
- The Author agrees that the Journal may, without changing the content, translate the Contribution to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation.
- The Author agrees that the Journal may keep more than one copy of this Contribution for purposes of security, back-up and preservation.
- Reproduction, posting, transmission or other distribution or use of the final Contribution in whole or in part in any medium by the Author as permitted by this Agreement requires a proper citation to the Journal suitable in APA form. Additionally, the following copyright statement must be included: “Copyright YEAR by the Division for Physical, Health and Multiple Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children. Reproduced with permission from Physical Disabilities: Education and Related Services.”
C. PERMITTED USES BY AUTHOR
As Author, the Journal licenses you to certain uses of the Contribution. These rights are retained and permitted without the need to obtain specific permission from the Journal. These include:
- the right to make copies (print or electronic) of the journal article for your own personal use, including for your own teaching use;
- the right to make copies and distribute copies (including via e-mail) of the journal article to research colleagues, for personal use by such colleagues;
- the right to present the content of the journal article at a meeting or conference;
- patent and trademark rights and rights to any process or procedure described in the journal article;
- the right to use the journal article or any part thereof in a printed compilation of works of the author, such as collected writings or lecture notes (subsequent to publication of the article in the journal); and
- the right to prepare other derivative works, to extend the journal article into book-length form, or to otherwise re-use portions or excerpts in other works, with full acknowledgement of its original publication in the Journal.
References
Agran, M., Alper, S., & Wehmeyer, M. (2002). Access to the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities: What it means to teachers. Education and training in mental retardation and developmental disabilities, 37(2). 123-133. www.jstor.org/stable/23879820
Blackwell, W. H. and Rossetti, Z. (2014). The development of individualized education programs: Where have we been and where should we go now? Sage Open, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014530411
Britton, N. S., Collins, B. C., Ault, M. J., & Bausch, M. E. (2017). Using a constant time delay procedure to teach support personnel to use a simultaneous prompting procedure. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 32(2), 102-113. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088357615587505
Browder, D. M., Trela, K., & Jimenez, B. (2007). Training teachers to follow a task analysis to engage middle school students with moderate and severe developmental disabilities in grade-appropriate literature. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 22(4), 206–219. https://doi.org/10.1177/10883576070220040301
Brown, F., McDonnell, J., & Snell, M. E. (Eds.). (2020). Instruction of students with severe disabilities (9th ed.). Pearson.
Carter, E. W., & Hughes, C. (2006). Including high school students with severe disabilities in general education classes: Perspectives of general and special educators, paraprofessionals, and administrators. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 31(2), 174-185. https://doi.org/10.1177/154079690603100209
Coleman, M. B., Cherry, R. A., Moore, T. C., Park, Y., & Cihak, D. F. (2015). Teaching sight words to elementary students with intellectual disability and autism: A comparison of teacher-directed versus computer-assisted simultaneous prompting. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 53(3), 196–210. https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-53.3.196
Collins, B. C. (2012). Systematic instruction for students with moderate and severe disabilities. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.
Creech-Galloway, C., Collins, B. C., Knight, V., & Bausch, M. (2013). Using a simultaneous prompting procedure with an iPad to teach the Pythagorean Theorem to adolescents with moderate intellectual disability. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 38(4), 222–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/154079691303800402
de Boer, A., Pijl, S. J., Minnaert, A., & Post, W. (2014). Evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention program to influence attitudes of students towards peers with disabilities. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44, 572–583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1908-6
Gable, R. A., Tonelson, S. W., Sheth, M., Wilson, C., & Park, K. L. (2012). Importance, usage, and preparedness to implement evidence-based practices for students with emotional disabilities: A comparison of knowledge and skills of special education and general education teachers. Education and Treatment of Children 35(4), 499-519. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2012.0030
Gehrke, R. S., & Cocchiarella, M. (2013). Preservice special and general educators’ knowledge of inclusion. Teacher Education and Special Education, 36(3), 204-216. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406413495421
Hudson, M. E., Zambone, A., & Brickhouse, J. (2016). Teaching early numeracy skills using single switch voice-output devices to students with severe multiple disabilities. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 28(1), 153–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-015-9451-3
Illinois State Board of Education (2017). Illinois report card. Retrieved from https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/State.aspx?source=studentcharacteristics&source2=iep&Stateid=IL
Jameson, J. M., Thompson, V., Manuele, G., Smith, D., Egan, H., & Moore, T. (2012). Using an iTouch to teach core curriculum words and definitions: Efficacy and social validity. Journal of Special Education Technology, 27(3), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/016264341202700304
Kent, A. M. & Giles, R. M. (2016). Dual certification in general and special education: What is the role of field experience in preservice teacher preparation? The Professional Educator, 40(2). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1120324.pdf
Kleinert, H., Towles-Reeves, E., Quenemoen, R., Thurlow, M., Fluegge, L., Weseman, L., & Kerbel, A. (2015). Where students with the most significant cognitive disabilities are taught implications for general curriculum access. Exceptional Children, 81(3), 312–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402914563697
Knight, V. F., Wood, C. L., Spooner, F., Browder, D. M., & O’Brien, C. P. (2015). An exploratory study using science eTexts with students with autism spectrum disorder. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 30(2), 86–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088357614559214
Kroesch, A. M., Douglas, K. H., Jozwik, S., Uphold, N. M., & Chung, Y.C. (2020). Teaching American government content to students with developmental disabilities using technology and evidence-based interventions. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 32, 925-947. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-019-09726-9
Mason, R. A., Gunersel, A. B., Irvin, D. W., Wills, H. P., Gregori, E., An, Z. G., & Ingram, P. B. (2021). From the frontlines: Perceptions of paraprofessionals’ roles and responsibilities. Teacher Education and Special Education, 44(2), 97–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419896627
Root, J. R., & Browder, D. M. (2019). Algebraic problem solving for middle school students with autism and intellectual disability. Exceptionality, 27(2), 118-132. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362835.2017.1394304
Rotter, K. (2014). IEP use by general and special education teachers. Sage Open, 4(2), https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014530410
Smith, B. R., Spooner, F., Jimenez, B. A., & Browder, D. (2013). Using an early science curriculum to teach science vocabulary and concepts to students with severe developmental disabilities. Education and Treatment of Children, 36(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2013.0002
Spooner, F., Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., Kemp-Inman, A., & Wood, L. A. (2014). Using an iPad2® with systematic instruction to teach shared stories for elementary-aged students with autism. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 39(1), 30–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1540796914534631
Walker, V. L., Douglas, S. N., Douglas, K. H., & D'Agostino, S. R. (2020). Paraprofessional-implemented systematic instruction for students with disabilities: A systematic literature review. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 55(3), 303-317
Yakubova, G., & Bouck, E. C. (2014). Not all created equally: Exploring calculator use by students with mild intellectual disability. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 49(1), 111–126. www.jstor.org/stable/23880659