Government and International Relations Honors Papers

Elementary School Teachers’ Attitudes toward Classroom Accommodations: The Effects of Disability and School Type

Sarah Holland, Connecticut College

Document Type Honors Paper

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of elementary school teachers toward the inclusion of a student with either a moderate intellectual, physical, or behavioral disability. Participants were from eight different elementary schools; two magnet schools, one charter school, and five public schools from one school district. Participants were provided with a vignette describing one of three disability types and then rated 25 accommodations made for that student. Teachers’ attitudes toward these accommodations were measured by the three adapted subscales of the Adaptation Evaluation Instrument (AEI; Schumm & Vaughn, 1991), which addressed how desirable teachers believe each accommodation to be for the student with a disability, how feasible it is to make each accommodation, and how beneficial each accommodation is for students without disabilities in the classroom. Results indicated that disability type did not affect teachers’ attitudes toward accommodations; however access to additional
resources and general attitudes toward inclusion had moderate effects on teachers’
attitudes toward accommodations. Findings also revealed that teachers employed at the magnet or charter schools saw accommodations as significantly more beneficial for
students without disabilities than did teachers employed at the traditional public schools.

 

The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.