THE INFLUENCE INCLUSIVE LITERATURE CIRCLES WITH MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE HAS ON THE SELF-EFFICACIES OF 4TH GRADE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

This study seeks to determine what happens to fourth grade students with disabilities reading self-efficacies when they participate in inclusive literature circles with multicultural literature. The purpose of this teacher research was to investigate strategies to improve reading self-efficacies of students with disabilities, investigating what would happen if students with disabilities were placed heterogeneously with their peers while reading books with characters with disabilities and how that influenced their reading self-efficacies. Four students with a disability were integrated with their general education peers in their inclusive classroom to participate in literature circles for four weeks. The multicultural books were books that contained characters with disabilities. Baseline data from the Reader Self-Perception Scale (RSPS) was used to assess students\u27 self-perceptions in reading. When analyzing the data, the three major themes within the study are: (1) Students\u27 perceptions of disabilities and how they changed throughout the literature meetings; (2) Students made connections to the text through representation of their experiences; and (3) Students had an increased engagement and belief in their ability. The results suggest that over time, inclusive literature circles with multicultural texts can slightly improve the reading self-efficacies of students with disabilities