A group of 109 regular elementary educators and 35 special educators completed the Teachers of the Mildly Handicapped Skill Survey. One-half of each group of teachers reacted to the survey in terms of their own abilities, while the other half was instructed to respond in terms of their perceptions of the skill level of the other group of teachers.
The results indicate that, while there is consonance between the self-perceived skills and knowledge of special educators and how regular educators view them, there is an apparent dissonance between how regular educators view themselves and special educators' perceptions of regular elementary teachers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alberto, P., Castricone, N., Cohen, S.Mainstreaming: Implications for training regular class teachers. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 1978, 13, 90-102.
2.
Aragon, J.A.The notion of mainstreaming in general and probable effects on the culturally different. In J.B. Jordan (Ed.), Teacher, please don't close the door. Reston, Va.: Council for Exceptional Children, 1976.
Hull, C.H., & Nie, N.H.SPSS Update. New York: McGraw-Hill , 1979.
12.
MacMillan, D., Jones, R., & Meyers, C.Mainstreaming the mentally retarded: Some questions, cautions and guidelines . Mental Retardation, 1976, 14(1), 3-11.
13.
Mann, R., & McClung, R.A learning problems approach to teacher education. In E. Deno (Ed.), Instructional alternatives for exceptional children . Reston, Va.: Council for Exceptional Children, 1972.
14.
Matell, M., & Jacoby, J. Is there an optimal number of alternatives for Likert scale items? Study I: Reliability and validity. Exceptional and Psychological Measurement, 1971, 31, 657-674.
15.
McKenzie, H.S.Higher education's role in mainstreaming: An example. In J.B. Jordan (Ed.), Teacher, please don't close the door. Reston, Va.: Council for Exceptional Children, 1976.
16.
Pecheone, R.Investigating the meaning of needs assessment data: The relationship between the in-service training needs of classroom teachers and teachers demographic characteristics, attitudes toward and knowledge of mainstreamed children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1978.
17.
Popham, W.J., & Sirotnik, K.A.Educational statistics: Use and interpretation . New York: Harper and Row, 1973.
18.
Reynolds, M.C.Reflections on a set of innovations. In E. Deno (Ed.), Instructional alternatives for exceptional children . Reston, Va.: Council for Exceptional Children, 1972.
Semmel, M., Gottlieb, J., & Robinson, N.Mainstreaming: Perspectives on educating handicapped children in the public school. In D. Berliner (Ed.), Review of research in education (Vol. 10). Washington, D.C.: American Educational Research Association , 1979.
21.
Strauch, J.S., AuCoin, P., & Coutinho, M.Special education teachers' inservice training needs assessment study: A report to the Connecticut State Education Department. June 1978.
22.
Watkins, M.W., & Brown, R.D.Competency and interpersonal ratings of teacher specialties: What teachers think of each other. Psychology in the Schools, 1980, 17, 102-105.
