Responses to a questionnaire regarding stress and coping skills were collected from 185 regular educators and 225

special educators--teaching emotionally

disturbed (ED), learning disabled (LD), mentally retarded (MR) or other types of handicapped children. Results demonstrated little difference between the regular
and special educators' responses to both stress and coping. Both groups of teachers reported administrative variables, student behaviors, pressure, and
paperwork as producing the greatest amount of stress. More teachers of ED and LD children than teachers of MR or other handicapped children reported the
administration as their most common source of stress. ED teachers reported conflicts between themselves and other staff members, as well as no student
progress, to be more stressful than other special educators. MR teachers reported inappropriate student behaviors less frequently (15%) than either ED or LD
teachers as a source of stress; and only 2% of the other special educators saw inappropriate student behaviors as a source of stress. LD teachers and other
special educators reported internalizing stress as a coping mechanism more frequently than either MR or ED teachers. All groups of teachers reported
internalizing stress, talking to a safe person, and engaging in alternative activities as the most common methods of coping with stress. (DB

Stress and Coping: A Comparison of Regular and Special Educators.

Education resource info center www.eric.gov

School climate, sense of efficacy and Israeli teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion of students with special needs
Amatzia Weisel

Tel Aviv University

Orit Dror

Tel Aviv University

This article examines the effects of school organizational and educational climate, and a teacher’s sense of efficacy, on general education teachers’ attitudes
toward inclusion of students with special needs. The sample included 139 teachers from 17 elementary schools in the Northern District of Israel. The results of
Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses indicated that school climate and teachers’ sense of efficacy as well as participation in special education
training were positively associated with teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion. Self-efficacy was the single most important factor affecting attitudes. School climate
included six factors: supportive leadership; teachers’ autonomy; prestige of the teaching profession; renovations; teachers’ collaboration; and workload.
Examination of the intercorrelations among these factors and with attitudes revealed that those teachers who perceived their school as having supportive
leadership, encouraged renovations and collaboration but did not threaten teachers’ autonomy, tended to express more positive attitudes towards inclusion.

Attitudes of Principals and Special Education Teachers Toward the Inclusion of Students with Mild Disabilities

Critical Differences of Opinion

Bryan G. Cook

Department of Educational Foundations and Special Services at Kent State University, bcook@educ.kent.edu

Melvyn I. Semmel

University of California, Santa Barbara

Michael M. Gerber

University of California, Santa Barbara

Attitudes of 49 principals and 64 special education teachers regarding the inclusion of students with mild disabilities were investigated. Results of a discriminant
analysis indicated that principals and special educators were separated into groups with 76% accuracy according to their responses to items drawn from the
Regular Education Initiative Teacher Survey (Semmel, Abernathy, Butera, & Lesar, 1991). items measuring attitudes toward the efficacy of included placements
with consultative services, the academic outcomes associated with included placements, and the protection of resources devoted to students with mild disabilities
correlated most highly with the discriminant function. Findings are discussed in relation to their implications for the implementation of inclusion reforms and the
educational opportunities of students with mild disabilities.
 This Article

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What's this?
Scho
ol-to-
Work
and
Tech
nical
Prepa
ration
:
Teach
er
Attitu
des
and
Practi
ces
Regar
ding
the
Inclus
ion of
Stude
nts
with
Disab
ilities
Richard C.
Lombard

Universit
y of
Wisconsi
n-
Whitewat
er

Robert J.
Miller

Mankato
State
Universit
y

Michael N.
Hazelkorn

Wisconsi
n Dells
School
District,
Wisconsi
n Dells,
Wisconsi
n

This article
describes the
results of a
national
survey of
attitudes and
practices of
secondary
school-to-
work and tech
prep teachers
regarding the
inclusion of
students with
disabilities.
The purpose
of the study
was to
examine: (a)
teacher
attitudes
toward
inclusion; (b)
practices and
procedures
being utilized
to promote
inclusion; (c)
in-service
training
received by
teachers
regarding
inclusionary
practices; and
(d) post-
school
outcomes
perceived by
teachers to be
attainable for
students with
disabilities
who
participate in
school-to-
work and tech
prep
programs.
One hundred
and sixty-nine
educators
representing
45 states
participated in
this study. The
results of this
study indicate
that
secondary
school-to-
work and tech
prep teachers
do not feel
prepared to
meet the
needs of
students with
disabilities
who are
enrolled in
their courses.
These
teachers also
report
receiving little
to no in-
service
training
regarding
inclusive
practices, and
the vast
majority report
that they have
never
participated in
the
development
of Individual
Education
Plans (IEPs)
for students
with
disabilities.

Inclus
ive
Scho
oling-
Middl
e
Scho
ol
Teach
ers'
Perce
ption
s
Tali Heiman

The
Open
Universit
y of
Israel

According to
the Special
Education
Law passed in
1988,
inclusion is
the mandated
educational
policy in
Israeli
schools. This
article
presents an
overview of
Israeli middle
school
teachers'
perceptions
regarding
inclusive
schooling.
One hundred
and sixteen
middleschool
teachers in
central Israel
were asked to
define
inclusion and
to discuss the
major
difficulties
they
encountered
in inclusive
classes as
well as the
benefits of
effective
integration.
The great
majority of the
teachers
expressed the
need to
increase their
knowledge
about the
requirements
of students
with learning
disabilities
and evinced
their
readiness to
adjust their
teaching
methods. On
the other
hand, they
stressed the
need for
professional
guidance and
adequate
tools and
conditions.
Recommenda
tions for
obtaining the
training and
support
necessary for
successful
inclusion are
offered.

Occu
patio
nal
Stres
s,
Burn
out,
and
Healt
h in
Teach
ers: A
Meth
odolo
gical
and
Theor
etical
Analy
sis
R Sergio
Guglielmi
and Kristin
Tatrow

Lake
Forest
College

The health
effects of
teacher stress
and teacher
burnout are
reviewed
separately in
this article.
Although the
literature
generally
lends support
to the
hypothesis
that
occupational
stress and
burnout are
associated
with poor
health in
teachers,
confidence in
this
conclusion is
weakened by
the serious
methodologic
al and
conceptual
difficulties that
pervade this
area of
research. In
particular,
reliance on
cross-
sectional
retrospective
designs,
exclusive
dependence
on self-report
measures,
and failure to
adopt a
theoretical
framework as
a guide for
empirical
investigations
are identified
as major
threats to the
validity of the
findings
reported. It is
concluded
that this area
of research is
ready for a
shift to theory-
based
investigations
that test
causal models
of teacher
stress and
health with
more
sophisticated
research
designs and
measurement
strategies.