Perceptions regarding students with disabilities, testing and classroom accommodations for students with disabilities, and knowledge of recent laws concerning college students with disabilities on Tennessee State University\u27s campus

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the attitudes of faculty, student affairs staff members, students with disabilities and non-disabled students toward students with disabilities in the postsecondary setting. Data for this study were collected from the two questionnaires. The first questionnaire provided measures of attitudes toward testing and classroom accommodations and overall attitudes toward students with disabilities in the postsecondary setting. The second survey measured participants knowledge of Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines for accommodating students with disabilities in the postsecondary setting. The data for this study were analyzed using the chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and the Mann-Whitney U test. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that in some situations there would be no significant relationship between a given variable and attitudes toward students with disabilities and, conversely, other situations of the same variable(s) were used where the relationship did reach statistical significance. Even though each set of relationships has been summarized, the researcher believed that it would be necessary to draw some tentative conclusions based on the data reported. The first conclusion is that there were a number of situations which yielded contradictory results about the relationship between attitudes toward students with disabilities and given variables. However, in reviewing the data it was clear that a substantial number of the results supported a relationship in a particular direction. For example, faculty who were willing to provide classroom accommodations were also willing to provide testing accommodations. Faculty ages 31–37, who were employed for 11–15 years, and who were in the area of public health were all willing to provide classroom and testing accommodations for students with disabilities in the postsecondary setting. Another example of a pattern based on the way the non-disabled participants responded follows: senior students who were majoring in management, were between the ages of 51–57 and had socialized with students with disabilities while on campus had a more positive attitude than others in the group, and agreed more with testing and classroom accommodations than any other participants in this group. A pattern that was found in the group of participants who were students with disabilities follows: students who identified their ethnicity as other; who were visually impaired; and who were majoring in humanities and fine arts were all more accepting of testing and classroom accommodations than others in this group. There was generally insufficient data to draw conclusions between the relationships of attitudes toward students with disabilities and student affairs staff members. (Abstract shortened by UMI.