Date of Award

Fall 12-2016

Degree Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

First Advisor

Audra I. Classen

Advisor Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Abstract

The aim of this undergraduate thesis is to identify the perceived barriers to Inclusive Instructional Delivery Approaches (IIDA) through the perspective of general education teachers. For decades, students identified as having special educational needs have not been adequately served in the classroom. This study reveals the best practices used to include students with disabilities in the general education classroom and why they are not being employed as often as they should be. Through use of survey, the researcher allowed for the opportunity to answer (a) Which IIDAs are used most often? (b) How much time per week do teachers spend engaged implementing IIDA? (c) What do teachers perceive as barriers to implementing IIDAs? and (d) What correlations exist between the IIDA employed and professional development experiences, pre-service training, years of teaching experience of general education inclusion teachers, content taught, and the severity of disabilities? Results show that insufficient staffing and class size were the most identified barriers to inclusion and collaborative consultation is the most employed strategy, although it is commonly misinterpreted as an inclusive approach. Therefore, professional development and pre-service teacher education programs geared towards the most effective inclusive practices break down the barriers.

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