Psycho-Educational Perceptions of Elementary Educators on the Mainstreaming of Exceptional Emotionally Impaired and Learning Disabled Students.

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the perceptions of regular elementary educators and special education elementary educators on the appropriateness and /or favorableness of mainstreaming and /or integrating a hypothetical, behaviorally described, exceptional, emotionally impaired and /or learning disabled student into the regular classroom environment on three factors and /or scales of the Learning H and icapped Integration Inventory designed by Frank Hewett of the University of California, Los Angeles. Three factors or scales are: (1) the exceptional student, (2) the educator (self), and (3) other students in the classroom. Results revealed no significant differences in the perceptions of regular elementary educators and special education elementary educators when an emotionally impaired, male student was to be mainstreamed. The co-variants of sex and years of teaching experience were found not to be significant at the .05 level. However, as assessed by the adjusted group means for both control groups on the scales or factors of the Learning H and icapped Integration Inventory, a significant difference in the perceptions of the two control groups (with special education elementary educators being more favorable) was found when the effects of integrating a learning disabled, male student on (1) the educator (self), and (2) other children in the classroom were measured. The co-variant of sex was found not to be significant, but the co-variant of years of teaching experience was found to be so. The Pearson Product correlational results revealed that regular elementary educators' perceptions of mainstreaming and /or integrating an exceptional, learning disabled student became less favorable as their years of experience increased, whereas the special education elementary educators became more favorable as years of experience increased. Educator self-interest and levels of concern, as well as concern for the regular elementary children in the classroom, were offered as possible explanations for the significant perceptual differences that occurred between the two control groups, and recommendations for further studies were made.