Date of Award
6-2009
Document Type
Union College Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Linda Stanhope
Language
English
Keywords
disabilities, inclusion, students, participants, number
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the opinions of potential parents towards the full inclusion of children with special needs in the general education classroom. One of four questionnaires, each containing a different inclusion scenario varying the number of students with disabilities and the severity of disabilities, were distributed to 108 college students with an average age of 22.8. It was hypothesized that participants would be less likely to support inclusion if the disabilities of the included child or children were more severe in nature, and that they would be less likely to support inclusion if the number of students with disabilities was high. An interaction between severity of disability and number of students with disabilities was also predicted. Results revealed that participants were more in favor of inclusion when there were fewer students with disabilities in the classroom, but there were no significant differences in the participants’ attitudes based on the severity of the disabilities of the students included. No interactions were found. In addition, future teachers were more in favor of inclusion in general than participants entering other professions.
Recommended Citation
Scheck, Amy Lynn, "Including children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms : opinions of future parents" (2009). Honors Theses. 1391.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1391