How Ready Are Preservice Teachers to Work Toward Equitable and Inclusive Education?

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Preparing Special and Inclusive Educators to Promote Equity and Access

Abstract

This is a quantitative research study with the purpose to explore preservice teachers' (PSTs) self-efficacy (SE) and outcome expectancy (OE) to assess and teach diverse English Learners (ELs) with learning disabilities and to examine relationships between PSTs’ SE and OE, and demographic and experiential variables.
This study is significant because culturally and linguistically diverse students, including ELs, tend to be under- and over-represented in special education programs in K-12 schools. Teachers often feel insufficiently prepared to identify, assess, and intervene, whether issues are related to second language acquisition, learning disabilities, or both. Statistical tests provided significant results to consider for teacher education and future research.

Author

• Mariana A. Ricklefs, Northern Illinois University