Attitudes and Beliefs of School Administrators Toward Inclusion

The purpose of the researcher was to investigate the attitudes and beliefs pertaining to the concept of inclusion as reported by building level administrators and superintendents. The independent variables investigated were: number of college hours in special education, number of years as an administrator, severity of disabilities in a building, year administrative endorsement was received, and building grade level. The dependent variables were scores from the following subscales of the Inclusion Belief Survey: Definition, Regular Education Responsibility, Special Education Responsibility, Students with Severe Disabilities, Students with Mild, Moderate Disabilities, and Total. The sample consisted of 109 subjects. Five composite null hypotheses were tested employing three-way analysis of variance (general linear model). A total of 108 comparisons plus 102 recurring were made. Of the 108 comparisons, 30 were for main effects, and 78 were for interactions. Of the 30 main effects, 9 were statistically significant at the .05 level. Of the 78 interactions, 9 were statistically Significant at the .05 level. The results of the present study appeared to support the following generalizations: 1. building level administrators and superintendents who reported students with mild/moderate/severe disabilities in their buildings have a more positive attitude toward Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities and inclusion than those with mild disabilities in their buildings: 2. building level administrators and superintendents with 1-3 college hours in special education have more positive attitudes toward Special Education Responsibility and inclusion than those with 0 college hours in special education and greater than 6 hours: 3. building level administrators and superintendents who reported having mild/moderate disabilities in their buildings have a more positive attitude toward Students with Severe Disabilities and inclusion than administrators with mild disabilities in their buildings: 4. building level administrators and superintendents who received endorsement before 1987 have a more positive attitude toward Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities and inclusion than those who received endorsement earlier; and 5. building level administrators and superintendents have inclusion scores below the theoretical mean for the scales of the instrument. 6. nine statistically significant interactions.