Abstract-Perception of teacher has been supported by recent research which influences their behavior towards acceptance of students with special learning needs. This study examines the psychometric properties of a newly constructed measure on teacher perception towards inclusive education. The study comprised 355 teachers (mostly females; majority age group: 26 to 45) from three progressive teacher training courses (basic, advanced, and thematic), which cater to different educational needs. The participants were required to complete the questionnaire on their perception towards educational inclusion. Data were analyzed using both classic test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT). Three domains (attitude, concern, and commitment) of perception were identified and tested in the context of Hong Kong. The analysis showed these domains had strong construct validity (GFI=.986; CFI=.941; RMSEA=.0578), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=.529-.761), and good fit to the Rasch model among items (Infit/outfit=.80-1.27). The current findings support the view that administration of the recent scale provided better understanding of teachers' perception on inclusive setting, and improved guidance for better program development on teacher training.Index Terms-Teacher perception, inclusive education, PTIE, item calibration, scale validation.
I. INTRODUCTIONThe philosophy of educational values of equity and social justice makes the entitlement of all children to quality education, regardless of differences, an important notion for the implementation of inclusive education [1], [2]. However, several teachers have reservations for the inclusion of students with special educational needs in ordinary classrooms. The reservation could have been the result of the worries of teachers concerning their insufficient professional preparation to deal with students with special educational needs. Prior studies proved that involvement in strategic professional development helps teachers increase their understanding of learning barriers and changes their negative perspectives on students with special educational needs [3]. Professional development programs help teachers develop attitudes, strategies, and capacities to work with others, which in turn allow them to facilitate students regardless of their disabilities in the inclusion setting [4], [5]. According to Burrello and Wright (1993), targeted professional development activities focused around inclusion increases staff efficacy and attitudes in the areas of team collaboration, cooperative learning, joint ownership, student integration, effective teaching practices, and development of teaching skills in adapting and modifying the curriculum to meet the needs of all students [6]. However, limited studies have been conducted to prove the effectiveness of professional development programs on the influential function on the attitudes, concern, and commitment of teachers, especially in the Chinese schools. One of the major reasons for the lack of studies is the limited number of psycho...