Supports and Resources Associated with Inclusive Schooling: Perceptions of Elementary School Teachers about Need and Availability

Abstract

A mail survey of elementary education teachers was conducted to identify their perceptions of the necessity and availability of various resources and supports for including students with disabilities in their classrooms. Of the 2,100 questionnaires mailed to kindergarten through Grade 6 teachers, 1,430 (68.1%) were returned in usable form with at least 64% from each grade level and at least 65% returned from each geographic region of the United States. Based on the respondents' ratings, they were divided into three groups: teachers with no students who had disabilities, teachers with students whom they rated as lower in areas of disability, and teachers with students whom they rated as higher in areas of disability.The results indicated that (a) the three groups of teachers did not differ in the level of reported availability of resources/supports, (b) both groups of teachers with children who had disabilities reported greater need for than availability of most resources and supports, (c) larger percentages of teachers with students rated as high in disability areas reported needing the resources/ supports than the teachers with students who were rated as lower in disability areas, and (d) greater discrepancies between the levels of need and availability occurred for the teachers with high-and low-rated students. The implications of these findings for inclusive schooling are discussed. The site or classroom in which students with disabilities receive their special education and related services has been the subject of research and debate that pre-dates the Education for All Handicapped ChildrenAct of 1975 (P.L. 94-142) (e.g., Dunn, 1968) and continues in the current literature (e.g., D. Fuchs & L. S. Fuchs, 1994). Contextually, at least three facts about the issue are clear. First, proponents of various perspectives on the issue have used philosophic rationales, research of differing levels of methodological adequacy, and experience with various programs to argue and to advocate, often strongly, for their respective positions. Second, the issue has been couched in a variety of themes and terms with subtle differences in meaning, such as normalization, integration, mainstreaming, Address: Mark Wolery, Child and Family Studies, Allegheny-Singer Research Institute, 320E. North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15212.

The perceived needs of support of parents and classroom teachers a comparison of needs in two microsystems

“…Werts et al (1996b) compared the availability of and need for varying supports and resources as reported by teachers in inclusive school settings. Their study revealed that the teachers of pupils with overall higher impairment ratings expressed greater discrepancies between the present and ideal situation in regard to training, material resources, additional personal support and time for contact with others and participating in meetings.…”

“…Research has examined the perceived needs of parents (Bailey and Simeonsson, 1988;Bailey et al, 1992;Granlund et al, 1994), family adaptations (Gallimore et al, 1996); teachers' perceptions of their needs (Werts et al, 1996a(Werts et al, , 1996bRollPettersson, 2001), and teacher self-ef cacy (Soodak and Podell, 1993). Relatively little research, however, has compared the perceived needs of different environments containing the same child.…”

The differential impact of inclusion and inclusive practices on high, average, and low achieving general education students

“…Another concern is that including large numbers of children with disabilities will make it too difficult for teachers to meet the needs of individual students because of the demands on their time. Although in theory increases in resources would mitigate these effects, typical school districts do not greatly increase the resources provided when restructuring for inclusion (Werts, Wolery, Snyder, Caldwell, & Salisbury, 1996).…”

Teachers’ Use of Inclusive Practices in Spain

“…Finally, research literature also supports the idea that a teachers' acceptance of instructional adaptations is related to the level of support he or she receives from the administration and the school (Scott, Vitale, & Masten, 1998). Werts, Woley, Zinder, Caldwell, and Salisbury (1996) highlighted the existence of a positive relationship between the quantity and quality of support and resources, and the use of instructional adaptations. Teachers keep requesting more time, personal support, and material resources to address students' special educational needs (Hughes & Martínez Valle-Riestra, 2007;Schumm et al, 1995).…”