Parents Satisfaction with Services Provided by Shadow Aides in an Inclusive Classroom

摘要

Parents' perspectives regarding their child's education is important to be investigated. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to examine parents' satisfaction with the services provided by shadow aides to support their children in inclusive settings and to explore the strategies on how to improve the services of these shadow aides. Specifically, parents' satisfaction of the aides' personal value, self-initiative, job execution, communication, report preparation and ability to follow school rules was measured. A mixed-method research approach based on questionnaires and semi-structured interviews was employed. Eighteen parents whose children with autism attending inclusive program with shadow aides participated in this study. Data were analyzed via SPSS and NVivo. Data revealed that most parents were satisfied with the services provided by the shadow aides. They also felt that the quality of shadow aides' skills could be improved by having more practical training.