Teachers' knowledge of special education procedure and its impact on teaching self-efficacy.

摘要

Teachers play an important and crucial role in the education of students with disabilities and their participation in the special education process, from initial identification and referral to IEP development and annual review, is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Despite the important role teachers play in the education of students with disabilities and the legal ramifications for failing to follow the IDEA, very few studies have examined teachers' actual knowledge of special education procedure and law. The purpose of the present study is to compare general and special education teachers' knowledge of special education procedures and law and to examine the relationship between that knowledge and teaching self-efficacy, as well as the effect of the number of years teaching, teachers' level of education and current teaching assignment on the relationship. A sample of 207 general and special education teachers in an urban public school district in the Northeast completed the survey. Overall, the findings revealed that special education teachers demonstrated more accurate knowledge than general education teachers. More accurate knowledge did not predict higher overall Teaching Self-Efficacy, but did predict higher Personal Teaching Efficacy, regardless of group membership. Teachers with more advanced degrees (i.e., Specialist) demonstrated more accurate knowledge than teachers with Bachelor's and Master's degrees. Elementary school teachers demonstrated more accurate knowledge than middle and high school teachers. Discussion of these findings, limitations, clinical implications, and future research directions are presented.