Placement Dilemmas for Preservice Special and Regular Class Teachers

Preservice special and regular class teachers read a descriptive vignette of a hypothetical placement meeting. Subjects were asked to assume that the student being discussed was handicapped and, therefore, eligible for placement in a special program, but that all such programs were filled with the legal limit of students. Subjects then completed a short questionnaire assessing their placement recommendations and the impact of a recommendation to place the student in a special class. Results revealed that preservice special educators were more willing to recommend special class placement than were preservice regular teachers. Over 20% of the special teacher trainees and over 27% of the preservice regular class teachers felt they would be verbally reprimanded formaking a supportive placement recommendation under these special circumstances. Few subjects from either group feared loss of their jobs should a supportive recommendation be made. Implications for teacher training and additional study are drawn.