Teachers' Perceptions of the Supports Critical to the Success of Inclusion Programs

Abstract

Two mail surveys, one with a follow-up, were conducted to determine if consensus existed among general and special education teachers on (a) the conditions and supports that are critical to including children with substantial disabilities in general education classrooms and (b) problems faced in implementing inclusive education. The data were collected in three stages. The first stage was a questionnaire sent to teachers in Pennsylvania who had experience including children with moderate to severe disabilities in general education classrooms. Through two open-ended questions, they were asked to identify critical supports for inclusion and major problems they faced when including children with disabilities. For the second stage, the same respondents were asked to rate the importance of the categories of supports and to rate the significance of the problems they faced. The results indicated that training, support from a team of professionals, and having help in the classroom were mentioned by a large portion of the respondents. The third stage involved a national sample of elementary, general education teachers responding to the open-ended questions. The respondents in the national sample (teachers who may or may not have been involved in a supported program of inclusion) identified the same three supports more often than other supports.