Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Jennifer Sabin

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine middle school administrator and teacher attitudes towards inclusion in one local education agency (LEA) in North Carolina. Administrators and teachers from three middle schools were surveyed to determine factors that impact their attitude of inclusion with regard to years of experience, gender, extent working with students with disabilities, role in education, age, highest degree obtained, number of special education courses taken in college, and expected length in education. The Attitude Towards Teaching All Students Instrument (ATTAS-mm) was used for the quantitative portion of this study. The ATTAS-mm is organized into three components of attitude: cognitive, behavioral, and affective. A significant correlation was found between “wanting to be an administrator” and “most or all separate classrooms that exclusively serve students with mild to moderate disabilities should be eliminated and students with mild to moderate disabilities should be taught in regular classes with nondisabled students because they will not require too much of the teacher’s time.” In addition, moderate correlations were found in the areas of “age” and “extent working with students with disabilities.” Principal interviews and teacher focus groups were used for the qualitative portion of this study. Questions taken from the ATTAS-mm and themes from survey responses were used to created interview questions. Findings from the interviews and focus groups suggested there are many schools utilizing the inclusion model without adequate preparation or training.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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