Experienced Teachers' Perceptions of Resources and Supports for Inclusion

Abstract

A mail survey of elementary teachers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was conducted to identify their perceptions of the supports that were available to them and were needed by them for inclusion and to determine whether differences existed in those perceptions based on the type of teacher (general and special education), grade level, and their self-ratings of the success of their inclusion experiences. The participants were teachers who had experience including children with disabilities in general education classrooms. Of the 175 mailed questionnaires, 158 (90.3%) were returned and coded. Several conclusions were apparent: (a) special and general educators reported similar levels of need for resources, but special educators reported greater availability of resources than general educators; (b) grade 2—3 teachers reported greater discrepancies between perceived needs and availability of resources than did teachers of other grade levels; (c) a high percentage of respondents reported a need for training and a low percentage reported having training; (d) minimal discrepancies occurred between the need and availability for support personnel-indicating these teachers perceived having access to the personnel they perceived needing; and (e) lower discrepancies between perceived needs and availability of resources occurred for teachers who self-rated their inclusion experiences as successful.