Planning for mainstreamed special education students: Perceptions of general classroom teachers

TLDR

The survey examined general education teachers’ perceptions, feelings, and planning practices for mainstreamed students and how these vary by grade level. Using a model of preplanning, interactive planning, and postplanning influenced by teacher, environment, and student factors, the study surveyed 775 teachers from 39 schools in a Southeast metropolitan district. Teachers were willing to include mainstreamed students only when they had no emotional or behavioral problems, adapted during tasks but rarely engaged in pre‑ or post‑planning, viewed colleagues as supportive, and identified budget, accountability, equipment, environment, class size, teacher preparation, emotionally handicapped students, and limited instructional time as barriers, with elementary teachers more likely to adapt across all planning stages than middle or high school teachers.

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this survey was to examine general education teachers' perceptions and feelings about planning for mainstreamed students as well as their planning practices. The investigation was guided by a model that included three types of planning (preplanning, interactive planning, and postplanning) and three factors that influence planning (teacher, environment, and student). A second purpose was to examine how teachers' responses pertaining to planning for mainstreamed students differed across grade groupings (e.g., elementary, grades 1 to 5; middle school, grades 6 to 8; and high school, grades 9 to 12). Subjects included 775 elementary, middle, and high school teachers representing 39 schools in a metropolitan school district in the Southeast. The findings from this study suggest that teachers are willing to have mainstreamed students in their classrooms as long as the students do not exhibit emotional or behavioral problems. They are willing to make adaptations while the student is taking tests or working on assignments (i.e., interactive planning), but are less likely to spend much time planning or making adaptations to the curriculum or test (preplanning) or constructing new objectives based on student performance (postplanning). Teachers view fellow professionals as those who abet the planning process. They identified budgetary factors, accountability factors, access to equipment and materials, and physical environment in the classroom and school as barriers to planning for mainstreamed students. They frequently cited class size, lack of teacher preparation, problems with emotionally handicapped students, and limited instructional time as factors that inhibit planning for mainstreamed students. Grade‐grouping comparisons indicated that elementary teachers are more likely to make adaptations in preplanning, interactive planning, and post‐planning than middle school teachers and high school teachers.