Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

5-2014

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Eric Glover

Committee Members

Cecil Blankenship, Virginia Foley, Donald Good

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate general education teachers’ perceptions of being prepared to work with students identified with autism, grade level assignments, time concerns, and the presence of an ancillary attendant in their classrooms. Participants in this study were located in one city school system in North East Tennessee. All data were collected through an online survey distributed to 230 teachers, of whom 79 responded. Four research questions were analyzed, 3 with single sample t tests and 1 with a one-way ANOVA. Results indicated no statistical significance regarding grade level assignments and general education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion of students identified with autism. General education teachers who participated in this research indicated significant negative perceptions of feeling prepared to manage social issues, communication issues, and aggressive behaviors associated with autism as well as having adequate time to work with students identified with autism. Significant positive perceptions were indicated for the presence of an ancillary attendant in their classroom to assist with students identified with autism.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

Included in

Education Commons

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