Keywords

inclusion, students with disabilities, elementary school teachers, commitment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the commitment of elementary school teachers to inclusive education for students with disabilities (SWD), and whether the commitment to inclusive education between general and special education teachers was equal. Measurements were based on Richard Clarke's Commitmemt and Necessary Effort (CANE) theory, severity of disability, and demographic factors including teaching assignment, number of students in class, number of years teaching and number of years working in an inclusive setting. A four-point Likert-type survey(Appendix A) adapted from a combination of Spencer Salend's (2008) "Teacher's Inclusion Survey and Interview Question to examine the Experience of Educators Working in Inclusive Classrooms" was used to collect the data. The data indicated that 57% of the respondents were committed to inclusive education, with special education teachers displaying a greater committment than their general education counterparts. In addition some of the earlier roadblocks to inclusive education such as needed support from administrators and ancillary personnel dealing with SWD, lack of resources, time for collaboration and consulation, along with a need for more training, still appear to be pervasive problems in implementing a fully inclusive program for all students nearly two decades later in contemporary schools.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2009

Advisor

Martin, Suzanne

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education

Department

Educational Studies

Degree Program

Education

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0002858

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002858

Language

English

Release Date

February 2010

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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