Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Jennifer R. Seymour

Abstract

Federal legislation mandates inclusion of students with special needs in general classrooms. Teachers in the Shelco school system implemented this mandate to teach in an inclusive classroom given limited professional development, and a desire for more. To determine their preparedness to teach with inclusion, 44 general education teachers participated in this correlational study. Two surveys were administered: Teachers' Self-Efficacy Survey and Stages of Concern Questionnaire. Scores were combined to identify and recommend groups of teachers for differentiated professional development. Social constructivism, which focuses on how learning is affected by social concepts such as self-efficacy and concerns, was the theoretical framework. The research questions examined the relationship between teachers' self-efficacy (SE) and stages of concerns (SoC) about teaching with inclusion. Data were collected on teachers' education, inclusion self-efficacy, and stages of concern about teaching with inclusion. Correlations between means for profile scores, grade level, and building were used to define grade-level training needs. Spearman's correlations indicated a significant correlation between teacher SE and SoC (r = .36). Results for the first school sample indicated no significant correlation between teacher SE and SoC (r =.-18), while results for the second school sample indicated a significant correlation between teacher SE and SoC (r = .47). This study has the potential to contribute to positive social change by encouraging administrators and school leaders to design inclusion PD sessions that are differentiated according to general educators' specific SE and SoC scores.

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