Classroom Teachers' Views Of Intervention Strategies For Learning And Behavior Problems: Which Are Reasonable And How Frequently Are They Used?

Abstract

This study investigated intervention strategies that general educators use and believe are reasonable for implementation when dealing with children with mild learning and behavior problems. Two sources of data were used. Teachers from Wisconsin and Illinois (n = 232) rated how often they used 57 intervention strategies and how reasonable these strategies were for implementation in the classroom as a means of accommodating the needs of students with mild learning and behavior problems. Teacher ratings of use and reasonability were factor-analyzed, and five factors were generated for each. The two factor structures were interrelated and had similar factors. Factors generated for use were principal involvement, teacher intervention, special education, teacher consultation, and parent involvement. Factors generated for reasonability were teacher intervention, principal/teacher consultation, student alternatives, special education, and data collection. Eighty-seven of these teachers then were interviewed to determine specific issues they consider when determining whether an intervention strategy can be implemented reasonably in their classrooms. These data provide a clear profile of interventions teachers use and find reasonable, as well as an indication of factors that inhibit teachers from selecting intervention strategies to address the mild learning and behavior problems of their students.