The Relationship between Teacher Effectiveness and Teacher Attitudes Toward Issues Related to inclusion

The inclusion of students with special needs in regular education classrooms has become a major focus of current educational reform, and regular education teacher's acceptance is a critical component in how this type of service delivery will play out. The purpose of this study is to reexamine the results of a study by Gersten, Walker and Darch (1988), which indicated that more effective teachers were less willing to include students with special needs in their classrooms. In their study, Gersten, Walker, and Darch (1998) used a process-product, academic-achievement-oriented definition of effective teacbing in their identification of more effective teachers. Using a different method for identifying effective teachers, the present study found results that were in direct contrast to the results of the Gersten et. al study. Implications for inclusive practices are discussed.