ERIC Number: ED308007
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1989-Apr
Pages: 19
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Teachers' Conceptions of Specific Learning Disabilities: Relationships to Expectations, Placement, and Programming.
Serafica, Felicisima C.; Learner, Kathy M.
This study investigated the development of teachers' conceptions of learning disabilities (LD) as a function of experience with pupils having LD. An expert group of 25 LD-certified special education teachers, a transition group of 24 regular classroom teachers of mainstreamed LD pupils, and a novice group of 20 undergraduate special education majors were found to differ significantly in their levels of understanding regarding the description, explanation, and treatment of LD, but not regarding prognosis. Stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that the treatment dimension of the LD concept significantly predicted expectations of the LD pupil's academic performance for LD teachers and special education undergraduates. It also predicted quality of individualized educational programming for regular classroom teachers and the total sample. The explanation dimension significantly predicted knowledge of educational placement for all groups. Implications for theory, research, and application are discussed. (RH)
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Concept Formation, Elementary Education, Elementary School Teachers, Expectation, Higher Education, Individualized Education Programs, Intervention, Learning Disabilities, Predictor Variables, Special Education, Special Education Teachers, Student Placement, Teacher Attitudes, Undergraduate Students
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (Kansas City, MO, April 27-30, 1989).
