Attitudes toward exceptional children

Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of elementary and special education juniors and teachers toward exceptional children. The reason for evaluating the attitudes of students and teachers was that the teacher or potential teacher has a significant influence on the children's adjustment and learning. The design of the study was divided into three distinct parts: population, construction of the measuring device, and statistical treatment of the data. The population consisted of four groups: elementary education teachers, elementary education students, special education teachers, and special education students. The construction of the scale followed Thurstone's equal-appearing-interval technique. The final scale was administered to the four groups and the following computations were computed: mean, standard deviation, correlation coefficients for split half and Spearmann-Brown techniques, and t-values. It was found that the following differences existed: Elementary Education Students were more positive than Elementary Education Teachers. Special Education Students were more positive than Special Education Teachers. Special Education Students were more positive than Elementary Education Students. Special Education Teachers were more positive than Elementary Education Teachers. Thus it was observed that the attitude scale constructed seemed to be an effective device in distinguishing differences in attitudes toward exceptional children between education groups.M.S. (Master of Science