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This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF SIMULATION IN CHANGING REGULAR CLASSROOM
TEACHERS' ATTITUDES TOWARD THE INTEGRATION

OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN INTO THE REGULAR CLASSROOM

presented by

Vincent Palacino, Jr.

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph. D. Education

degree in

 

 

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Major professor

Date ‘€//(/:3

0-7639

 

 

 

 

_—
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OF E.

In recent ]
exceptional chi:
has been aimed a
ically, and acac
9f the teacher j
regular classroc

It Was the
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of regular flags
into the rEgular
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for mOdifying the
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The grOUp S (

TEdUCHtiOI-l 0f EXC

ABSTRACT

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF SIMULATION IN CHANGING REGULAR CLASSROOM
TEACHERS' ATTITUDES TOWARD THE INTEGRATION

OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN INTO THE REGULAR CLASSROOM

By

Vincent Palacino, Jr.

In recent years, much attention has been given to the problems of
exceptional children in regular class situations. ‘Most of the attention
has been aimed at the specific problems the child has socially, psycholog-
ically, and academically but, little attention has been given to the role
of the teacher in the successful integration of exceptional into the
regular classroom.

It was the purpose of this study to consider the teacher as a variable
in the integration process. The study attempted to change the attitudes
of regular classroom teachers toward the integration of exceptional children
into the regular classroom. This was done by developing a simulation of
one exceptionality, hearing loss, and using the simulation as the vehicle
for modifying the attitudes. The simulation was developed as a part of
a course in the ”Education of Exceptional Children."

The groups consisted of regular classroom teachers enrolled in
"Education of Exceptional Children" during the Summer 1971 term of 1971
at Michigan State University. The subjects were pretested utilizing the
Classroom Integration Inventory (as a measure of attitude) and the General

Information Inventory (as a measure of cognitive information). The data

1|

([{I l II‘ I

 

Vincent Palacino, Jr.
Page 2.

from the General Information Inventory was used to match the subjects in
the two groups on the basis of cognitive information. Two subgroups were
formed within each of the larger groups ... a high cognitive information
group and a low cognitive information group. Both groups were post tested
with the Classroom Integration Inventory only and scored to obtain a

realism score and an acceptance score as indicators of attitude shift.

 

The Treatment group experienced a simulation of hearing impairment
as a part of a three day presentation on the acoustically impaired child.
The Control group received the same information as the Treatment group
but did not experience the simulation.

The simulation consisted of a classroom presentation given by a
"teacher” on a topic unfamiliar to the population. The presentation
was videotaped and the audio track was filtered through a General Radio
Multi-Filter to simulate three different types and degrees of hearing
loss. The tape then permitted this investigation to impose upon the
subjects a situation similar to that experienced by the hearing impaired
child in the regular classroom.

The gain scores from the Classroom Integration Inventory were used
in the analysis. The Classroom Integration Inventory yields two sets
of scores, one on ability to realistically place an exceptional child in
the proper educational setting (as compared to the judgements of ”experts")
and the other was acceptance of the exceptional child. An analysis of
covariance was used to determine significance for the four hypotheses.
Two of the hypotheses dealt with the realism score and the other two with

the acceptance score. The comparisons were made between the Control and

 

 

Treatment grout

group .

The analys
acceptance of E

hypotheses deal

Vincent Palacino, Jr.
Page 3.

Treatment groups and the high and low cognitive groups within the Treatment
group.

The analysis show significant shifts for both hypotheses dealing with
acceptance of exceptional children but no significant difference for the

hypotheses dealing with realistic placement.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF SIMULATION IN CHANGING REGULAR CLASSROOM
TEACHERS' ATTITUDES TOWARD THE INTEGRATION
OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN INTO THE REGULAR CLASSROOM

BY

Vincent Palacino, Jr.

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

DOCTOR.OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum

1973

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘I

The realization of a long-time dream requires the efforts of a mul-
titude of peOple who believe in the dream and believe in you as an in-
dividual. The completion of this dissertation puts me one step closer
to the realization of that dream,

The list of people who have contributed to this effort is almost
endless and I will not burden the reader by listing even the majority
of them. I must, though, thank that central group, my doctoral commit-
tee, whose guidance helped me through my program and this dissertation;
Dr. Charles F. Schuller, committee chairman and major advisor; Dr.
Charles V. Mange, dissertation director; and Dr. Herbert Oyer, cognate
advisor. I would like to add a special thanks to Dr. Mange fer the
initial idea for this study, for allowing me to use his classes as my
population, and for his unselfish giving of self in reading, editing,
and generally directing this dissertation.

Among others I would like to thank are Dr. Joseph Rosenstein and
Mr.David Knight of the Office of Research and Evaluation of the Model
Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington, D.C. whose assistance was
invaluable in the design of the study and the analysis of the data and
the interpretation of the results.

Finally, I would like to apologize to the many people who helped me

whom I have not mentioned. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks

 

to thos , n

ment he pe

iii

to those many, many people whose assistance, understanding, and encourage-

nent helped me reaCh my goal.

 

 

'—

 

~i_ A

RKJGIOWII
List of
List of"
(IIAPTTHZ

Puxj
lVatT
Phil
Defi

CHAPTER I

Forri
Atti‘
AttiT

Simul
Simul
Simul.

GDPTER TH}

Pqula
Stimul
Instm
Ration;

The C1;
Scoring
is f
Rfiis fi
9 Gene
Scoring

Major Re.
alYSis

(“PIER FOUR -

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

List of Tables

List of Figures
CHAPTER.ONE - INTRODUCTION

Purpose of the Study
Nature of the Problem
Phi1050phy of Integration
Definition of Terms

CHAPTER TWO - REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Formation of Attitudes

Attitudes of Teachers Toward the Handicapped

.Attitudes of Teachers Toward the Integration
of Exceptional Children into the
Regular Classroom

Simulations - Introduction

Simulation - Uses in Teacher Training

Simulation of Handicaps

CHAPTER THREE - DESIGN OF THE STUDY

Population and Sample

Stimulus Material and Treatment

Instrumentation

Rationale for Selection of the Measuring
Instruments

The Classroom Integration Inventory

Scoring the Classroom Integration Inventory

Basis for Determining the Realism Score

Basis for Determining the Acceptance Score

The General Information Inventory

Scoring the General Information Inventory:
Determining the Knowledge Score

Major Researdh Hypotheses

Experimental Design and Procedures

Analysis of the Data

CHAPTER FOUR - ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

Testing of the Hypotheses
Discussion

ii

vii

HTDNH T—I

 

CHAPTER FIVE - SUMIARY AND CDNCLUSIONS
Summary
Conclusions
Implications for Future Research

Bibliography
Appendecies

81
81
86
89
91

98

EA

 

Table

5.)

10

Table

10

LIST OF TABLES

Approximate Intensity Levels At Which

Frequencies Were Passed During Filtering.

Analysis of Covariance for "Acceptance"
for the Treatment and Comparison Groups.

Comparison of the Gain Score Mean, Range
and Standard Deviation for the Treatment
and Comparison Groups.

An Analysis of Covariance fer "Realistic
Placement (Realism)” for the Treatment
and Comparison Groups.

Analysis of Covariance for "Acceptance"
for the High and Low Cognitive Level
Groups.

Comparison of the Gain Score Mean, Range
and Standard Deviation for the High
Cognitive and Low Cognitive Subgroups
within the Treatment Group.

Analysis of Covariance for "Realistic
Placement (Realism)" for the High and
Low Cognitive Level Subgroups.

Summation of Results of Analysis of
Covariance for all Research Hypotheses.

Supportive Data for the Rejection of
Null Hypotheses l and 3 and the Support
of Directional Alternate Hypotheses

IA and 3A.

Pertinent Data Relating to Null
Hypotheses 2 and 4.

Page

48

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 Approximate audiometric configuration

of the three segments of the simulation

tape. 47
2 Frequency analysis of Segment One of

the simulation (Flat Hearing Loss). 49
3 Frequency analysis of Segment Two of

the simulation (Gradual High

Frequency Hearing Loss). 50
4 Frequency analysis of Segment Three

of the simulation (Precipitous High

Frequency Hearing Loss). 51
5 Frequency analysis of ambient noise

in the room in which the simulation

was presented. 54
6 Experimental Design of the Study 66

7 Two-by-Two Data Analysis Design 70

 

 

 

m
_~4.——~

Pumose o

The j
greater 5]
classroom
children :
about hear
mat. A tr
ferent lev
Compared w
ditional l:

The $1

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

Purpose of the Study

 

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a
greater shift, in a positive direction, in the attitudes of regular
classroom teachers toward the integration of acoustically impaired
children into the regular classroom as a result of simulation training
about hearing loss rather than the traditional lecture-discussion for-
mat. A treatment group who experienced the simulation of three dif-
ferent levels of hearing loss, interms of frequency and intensity, was
compared with a second group that received the information in the tra-
ditional lecture-discussion manner.

The study specifically tested the following hypotheses:

l. A simulation experience will result in
greater acceptance of acoustically impaired
children by regular classroom teaChers than
will a corresponding lecture-discussion pre-
sentation.

2. A simulation experience will result in
a greater attitudinal shift relative to
realistic placement of acoustically im-
paired children by regular classroom teachers
than will a corresponding lecture-discus-
sion presentation.

The above hypotheses were tested on two separate groups of regular

classroom teachers who had enrolled in Education 424, "Education of

Exceptional Children," during the Summer quarter of 1971 at Michigan

State University.

Nature of the Problem

 

”The most commonly stated goal of special education programs is
to meet the needs of exceptional Children Whose needs cannot be ade-
quately met in the regular classroom” (Christoplos and Renz, 1969,

p. 371).

Over the years, special educators have taken a certain amount
of pride and satisfaction in the rapid expansion of special education
programs CMaCkie,§t,al,, 1963; NBA, 1967). Their pride has recently
been shaken by a ground swell of criticism of such programs emanating
from several educators within special education. It seems that the
split was brought into the open by Dunn (1968) who, in the opening
comments of an article, said that special educators should ”stop
being pressured into continuing and expanding a special education pro-
gram that we know to be undesirable fOr many of the children we are
dedicated to serve." (Dunn, 1968).

Dunn's comments were specifically aimed at the special education
classes that serve the educable and mildly mentally retarded Child
but, they can also be directed at all special classes for mildly and
moderately handicapped children.

Despite some very basic philosophical questions that have, as yet

gone unanswered, Special education programs have continued to pro-
liferate to the point where it is estimated that one in every fOur
school age children in the United States is being served to some
degree by a special education program (Kirk, 1972).

ResearCh has shown us that there exists little or no difference
in academic performance between those exceptional children.placed in
special classes and those placed, on a full-time or part-time basis,
in regular classes (Pertsch, 1936; Blatt, 1956; Mackie, 1965). The
question that would logically fellow after having reviewed.the findings
of these and other studies would be, why have we allowed this dual sys-
tem of education to continue?

Too often this second.system or "track" ends up as an inescapable
dead end fer the student (Warren, 1954). In a recent decision, the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia struck down
the District of Columbia's "track system" of education fer the very
reason that it was inescapable (NCSEA, 1968). Students were placed in
one of the many "tracks" of this system and remained in that track
throughout their entire school career, with no chance of moving laterally
from one track to another.

This same approach tends to characterize the special education
”track" in most of our public schools. Children with mild, moderate,
and severe handicaps, and all areas in between, have been placed in
special education classes and, as a result, tend to be stigmatized in
the eyes of their peers and teadhers. In addition, groups who are seg-

regated into such a "track" seem to show increased feelings of frus-

 

 

tration wit
1970) .
Compor

among some

The ine
"special tra
an inherent '
this fatalis
on the studer
(COMY, 197

Educaton
am”? PI‘Otectj
tentionall)’ Or
that has made ‘
OUtside 0f educ

These tem

and certain degr

term as "SPGCi aj

have evolved to

tration with regard to both academic and social growth (Jansen, gt, al,,
1970).
Compounding this ”tracking” in special education is the feeling

among some special educators that:

Special education programs were not initiated
in response to the needs of exceptional Child-
ren, but rather as an expedient measure to re-
sist a perceived threat to existing goals fer
"normal" children who were being more or less

adequately served.by regular sChool programs.

(Christoplos and Renz, 1969, p. 373).

The inability of special education pupils to move from.their own
"special track" into the normal flow in the average school is seen as
an inherent weakness in existing Special education programs. "It is
this fatalistic approach of many educators, an attitude that rubs off
on the students, and their parents, that is Objectionable...."
(Cormany, 1970. p. 642).

Educators have, for years, used nebulous terms and phrases as an
armor protecting themselves from the outside world and, whether in-
tentionally or accidentally, have created a dissonance within the field
that has made communication between areas, both within education and
outside of education, difficult.

These terms and phrases carry with them a multiplicity of meanings
and certain degrees of social and educational stigma. Such catch-all
terms as "special education,” "slow learner," "mental retardation"

have evolved to where they are allowed to "serve as a convenient

rationale for assigning students to the proverbial scrap heap of ob-

scurity" (Wasser, 1971).

We, as teachers, frequently use our language
concepts to blend us into a world of nonsense
or no-sense....Our concepts, such as ”bright,"
"average," "needs," and a myriad of others,
blind us not only to our problems but to any
real hope of coming up with truly important
and potentially lasting solutions to our con-
cerns. under these conditions, students cease
becoming individuals and easily become de-
humanized entities, bodies to affix to our
widely employed empty labels and concepts.
(Wasser, 1971, p.2)

Typical of this categorization is the placement of children in
special classes for a wide range of reasons relating to some sort of
teacher-perceived behavioral or learning problem (Lilly, 1970).

A number of new developments in the areas of individualizing in-
struction, curriculum design and development, and research on learning
in addition to the recent debate over the need fer and the effectiveness
of special classes for the mildly and moderately handicapped, have re-
sulted in an increase in classroom integration of exceptional child-
ren, either on a full-time or a part-time basis. Educators have re-
ceived the impetus needed to increase the numbers of exceptional child-
ren that are being placed in regular classrooms. A number of inter-

dependent developments have contributed to make integration more viable:

ii (.‘I‘I‘l‘ A .l“. illll‘

 

l. the refinement of diagnostic instru-
ments and procedures,

2. the advancements in prosthetic de-
vices for handicapped children,

a. the increased training of special-
ists and itinerant personnel,

4. the increased number of pre-school
training programs for handicapped
children,

5. the increased awareness on the part
of educators of the educational,
social, and emotional needs of ex-
ceptional children. (Haring, 1956).

It is with the fifth development noted by Haring (1956) that this
study is to be concerned. ”There are more people with physical dis-
abilities in the world than ever before" (Abyerson, 1963). Hicks (1970)
has pointed out that the total deaf population is increasing at an

alarming rate. In its Rubella Surveillance Report (1969), the Nation-

 

al Communicable Diseases Center reported that the rubella epidemic of
1964-1965 produced 20,000 children with congenital rubella syndrome,
more than 8,000 of whom are deaf. These children have now reached
school age and special placement is required for those who are so se-
verely handicapped that they cannot perform in or profit from placement
in the regular classroom. Supportive services also are required for
those who can be integrated into the regular classroom and can perform
in and profit from this placement.

As a result of this increasing population of what would be clas-
sified as exceptional children. there have been increasing numbers of
Children entering the regular classroom, on a full-time or part-time

basis, and an increasing diversity in the organization of special ed-

ucation programs.

The array of patterns now includes full-
time attendance in a special class, part-
time attendance in a special class, in-
struction part-time by an itinerant or
resource room teaCher, instruction in
the pupil's home, and instruction in a
hospital sanitorium, or convalescent
home.... To the extent that these are
available within any one school system
(or geographically convenient area) this
represents opportunity for flexible place-
ment of children according to their
special educational needs. The large
number of exceptional children spending
part of their school day with a special
teacher and part with a regular teacher
implies, among other things, the need
for careful coordination of the child's
educational program and orientation of
the regular classroom teacher in edu-
cation of exceptional children.

(Mackie, etfal., 1963).

The wide diversity of programs cited by Mackie, gt; a}: (1963)
indicates that there has been some movement toward the placement of
exceptional children in the regular classroom and that these children
are receiving supportive services from numerous forms of special ed-
ucation programs and facilities.

One of the most pressing problems relating to the integration of
exceptional children into the regular classroom has been the attitude
of the classroom teacher toward the exceptional child. Siegel (1969)
points out that ”the truly neglected group of children....remains the

marginally_exceptional-~those who are neither significantly 'exceptional'

 

to warrant special placement nor sufficiently 'normal' to benefit from

regular classroom placement withoutgproper orientation on the part of

 

the teacher and other school personnel." He continues "...mildly handi-
capped children in the regular classroom--particularly those with
learning and/or behavior impairments--all need supportive and accepting
teacher attitudes"(Siegel, 1969).

Kough and DeHaan (1957) believe that "if the teachers' attitude
toward the youngsters is positive, if [teachers] accept the handicap
as a limitation that can be overcome, [they] will communicate...

[their] feelings to the youngster and help generate a spirit of confi~
dence...."

It is this acceptance that must be dealt with in both in-service
and pre-service teacher training programs. Teacher training programs
tend, at least superficially, to present the idea that "acceptance"
and "understanding” are essential characteristics of a successful
teacher, but there seems to be an almost total lack of consideration
of the problems of the exceptional child outside of existing special
education programs.

Theory suggests that attitudes are affected by at least two major
variables - knowledge and/or experience (Remmers, 1950). While there
is a great deal of content and experience in the average teaCher
training program dealing with the "normal” Child, little, if anything,

is said about the exceptional child.

Philosophy of Integration

 

The need for the inclusion of some form of program to acquaint
regular classroom teaChers with the needs of the exceptional Child and
to prevent or correct misconceptions about exceptional children has been
expressed by a.number of noted educators, both from within special edu-
cation and from outside the field. Haring (1956) states, ”the suc-
cess of any plan of integration depends largely upon how the teaCher
feels toward the exceptional child.” Cruickshank and Johnson (1967)
lend support to Haring's assumption when they recommend ”well devel-
oped orientation programs" designed to help teachers "approach more
positively all types of exceptional children."

Several noted special educators have expressed the thought that,
in many cases, the exceptional child can best benefit in the regular
classroom. Cruickshank and Johnson (1967) expressed the thought "not
all exceptional [Children] need special education. Some may simply
require modifications in their regular classroom or program." Wooden
(1953) feels that "not all exceptional children need special education
-- and many who need it for a time do not need it indefinitely....an
exceptional Child may make, under favorable conditions, a reasonably
good adjustment in the regular classroom.” Kirk (1950) has said that

the needs of the exceptional child may best be met ”...through the

10

medium of a special class or special school; but, in many cases, they may
be provided for individual pupils in a regular class...."

The feeling has been expressed by some that the crucial factor
separating the special class teacher from.the regular Class teacher
is the training received by the special class teacher. ”Special ed—
ucation...is provision for those individual differences among Child-
ren for which regular teachers are not trained and fer which they do
not possess competence...." (Wooden, 1953). "An assumption under-
lying the placement of educable mentally retarded children in special
classes and in special preparation of the teachers is that the special
teachers require instructional skills not normally required of teachers
of the regular grades” (Blackman and Sparks, 1965).

There is a need for special training, or at least the inclusion
of coursework in a training program, for regular classroom teachers
so that they can adequately deal with exceptional children who have
been integrated into their Classes.

It is the above concern which lead to the development of the pre-
sent study for it grew out of the assessment of the need for a course
in the education of exceptional children which might be included in the

curriculum for regular classroom teachers at Michigan State University.

11

Definition of Terms

 

The following are considered by this investigator to be the opera-

tional definitions of the critical terms related to this study.

1. Simulation - ”Simulations...compose a more or less accurate repre-

 

sentation or model of some external reality with which the players
[participants] interact in much the same way they would interact with

the actual reality” (Zuckerman and Horn, 1970, p. 14).

2. Exceptional Children - ”...the exceptional child is defined as the

 

child who deviates from the...normal child (1) in mental characteristics,
(2) in sensory abilities, (3) in neuromuscular or physical character-
istics, (4) in social or emotional behavior, (5) in communication
abilities, or (6) in multiple handicaps to such an extent that he re-
quires a modification of school practices, or special educational ser-

vices, in order to develop to his maximum capacity” (Kirk, 1972, p. 4).

3. Special Education - "consists of the modifications of, or additions

 

to, school practices...that are unique, uncommon, of unusual quality,
and in particular are in addition to the organization and instructional

procedures used with the majority of children” (Kirk, 1972, p. 34).

12

4. Attitude - ”Attitudes have generally been regarded as either men-
tal readiness or implicit prediSOpsitions which exert some general and
consistent influence on a fairly large class of evaluative responses.
These reSponses are usually directed toward some Object, person, or
group. In addition, attitudes are seen as enduring predispositions,
but ones which are learned rather than innate” (Zimbardo and Ebbesen,

1970, p. 4).

5. Integration - ”...educating the exceptional Child.with his normal

 

peers to whatever extent is compatible with his fu11est potential de-

velopment" (Frampton and Gall, 1955, p. 127).

6. Regular Class - Refers to the classroom which deals, primarily,

 

with the ”normal" school population. (i.e. - that population that
would not normally require the supportive services needed by the ex-

ceptional child).

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The need for definition and identification of specific affec-
tive attributes of regular classroom teachers toward the integration
of exceptional Children into the regular classroom was discussed in
the previous Chapter. This chapter will be concerned.with (1) re-
lated researCh and previous studies on the fOrmation of and factors
related to attitudes, (2) the attitudes of teachers toward exceptional
children, (3) attitudes of teachers toward the integration of excep-
tional children into the regular classroom, (4) simulation, (5) sim-
ulation uses in teacher education and (6) the effectiveness of sim-

ulations of handicaps .

Formation of Attitudes

 

The term attitude carries with it numerous meanings, varying as
widely as there are Specific divisions of the behavioral sciences.
Green (1954) noted that while there are differences in meaning, two
common factors run through all definitions of the concept of attitude:
(1) consistency or predictability of responses and (2) the idea that
attitudes are learned (Green, 1954). Sherif and Cantril (1945) noted

that attitudes are learned as a result of contact with the environment.

14

Allport (1935) discussed four (4) common conditions for attitude

formation:

1. Integration of numerous specific re-
sponses of a similar type. An infant is
totally specific and fragmentary in his
responses. In childhood, his attitudes
become gradually pieced together.

2. Individuation, differentiation or
segregation. An infant has two primordal
non-specific attitudes, namely approaching
and avoiding. From this matrix he must
segregate action patterns and conceptual
systems which will supply him with ade-
quate attitudes for direction of his
adaptive conduct.

3. Dramatic experience and trauma. It
is well known that permanent attitudes
may be fermed as the result of compulsive
organization in the mental field following
a single tense emotional experience--
(fears, desires, prejudices, predilecta-
tions).

4. Through the imitation of parents,
teaChers or playmates they are sometimes
adopted, ready-made. Even before he has
a background of appropriate experience,

a child may form many intense and lasting
attitudes toward races and professions,
toward religion and marriage, toward
foreigners and servants, toward morality
and sin (Allport, 1935).

The fourth of these conditions is of particular interest to the
present study. One might consider the research which points to the
problems in social development and adjustment of exceptional children
in the regular classroom. A large number of studies point to the fact

that exceptional children, both in special classes and in the regular

classes, are considered less desirable by "normal" children than their

15

”normal” peers (Baldwin, 1958; Blatt, 1956; Lapp, 1957; and Jehnson,
1962).

Allport (1935) points out that a non—exceptional child may develop
such non-accepting attitudes as a result of long term development,
through imitation, or a single tense emotional experience. He also
states that a Child.may adopt his attitudes "ready-made," and that the
source of negative, "ready-made" attitudes toward exceptionality may
be the classroom teacher.

Moffitt (1932), Manske (1936), and Manson (1942) all found that
there was a positive relationship between teacher attitudes toward
a particular group and student attitudes toward that same group.

.Attitudes can exist in two fbrmats: (1) they may be expressed by
overt behavior, or (2) they "may exist emotionally without being evi-
denced through overt behavior" (Boyd, 1943).

An attitude...is the way an individual is
disposed to act toward something as a re-
sult of previous experience. It is dynamic
in quality and...may vary in intensity
(Choate, 1958).

It may, therefore, be said that attitudes are developed as a result
of interaction with the total environment. Values, positive or negative,
and the resultant attitudes, which an individual attaches to an object,
person, or statement would be the result of this interaction. An impor-
tant ingredient in this interaction and in the resultant development of

social attitudes is "the values and norms of the individual's reference

16

groups” (Sherif, 1960). Pressure from the group and the desire to be
accepted by or belong to the group tends to be a most crucial part of
attitude formation.

In summary, it can be said that attitudes have been found to have
develOped as a result of some form of interaction with the environment.
The interaction may be a single-tense emotional experience where the at-
titudes may be ”adepted, ready-made” (Adlport, 1935) or may be the re-
sult of a long term interaction and are the result of an extensive
learning experience (Sherif and Cantril, 1945). In addition, it has
been found that the responses which result from these attitudes are ex—

hibited in a consistent or predictable manner (Green, 1954).

Attitudes of Teachers Toward the Handicapped

 

Until recently, there have been few published research studies
dealing with attitudes of teachers toward exceptional children and
even fewer dealing with attitudes of teachers toward the integration
of these children into the regular classroom.

The question of integration was, in part, brought into the open
in 1968 by Dunn. After the publication of his article, more and more
papers have been published in journals and magazines about the merits
and dangers of integration of exceptional children into the regular

classroom.

17

Unfortunately, most of these papers were either opinion or posi-
tion papers or were of the ”show and tell" variety (Jansen, EExél; 1970;
Porter, 1971; Nelson and Schmidt, 1971). That is, these, and many
others, merely related one man's opinion or described a program or
a single instance where a sChool, or a system, or just a single class
had tried integrating an exceptional child or children into regular
classroom situations, either full-time or part-time.

So as not to demean this kind of reporting, it must be noted that
articles of this type can be used in the identification of existing
programs but are of limited value in the design of research to study
the effects of integration on both the exceptional child and.his
”normal” peers.

PUblic attitudes toward the exceptional (or handicapped) have
been shown to be much like those toward other minorities such as
Blacks and Jews. Roeher (1961) reported that societal attitudes
toward the physically handicapped are similar to those toward other
minorities. Societal attitudes such as, social distance, segregation
(particularly in schools) and vocational disadvantage were the primary
ones noted. Cowen, et, a1, (1958) found "significant correlations be-
tween negative attitudes toward blindness and anti-minority, anti-Negro,
and pro-authoritarian attitudes....”

One of the arguments that has been raised against special classes
for exceptional children, particularly mentally retarded children, is
that these children are stigmatized because of their segregated place-

ment .

18

There is some evidence that shows that, despite integration into
regular classrooms, exceptional children have little guarantee of
receiving greater acceptance from their ”normal” peers. Johnson (1950)
was concerned with the social position of the mentally handicapped
child in the regular classroom. Using a sociometric technique for
gathering his data, he found that the mentally handicapped children
were rejected by their classmates significantly more frequently than
their "normal" peers (Johnson, 1950).

How much influence teachers' attitudes toward the handicapped
child had on the attitudes of the other children in the classes is
not known. There have not been any studies dealing with the influence
a teacher's attitude toward the exceptional Child has on the child's
normal peers.

There have been some studies that have looked at various aspects
of the teaCher's attitudes and self-image and how these influence the
children in their classes. Notably, Cummins (1960) reported a signi-
ficant relationship between teacher acceptance of self and others and
their students' acceptance of self and others' attitudes. Flanders
(1965) reports that the 1956-1957 Minnesota and New Zealand studies
indicate that "teacher's behavior exerts more effect on pupils' at-
titudes than pupil behavior exerts on teacher influence.”

While there is little, if any, direct evidence that a teacher's
attitudes toward exceptional children, as a class of persons, can sig-
nificantly influence the attitudes of the students in her class, the

above discussion tends to lend some support to the idea that teachers

19

can, indeed, influence their pupils' attitude toward Specific classes

of persons.

Attitudes of Teachers Toward The Integration

 

of Exceptional Children Into the Regular Classroom

 

The literature relating to the adjustment of exceptional children
in the regular classroom is somewhat weighted against integration.
Johnson and Kirk (1950) found that, while mentally retarded children
are physically present in a school, they may be segregated, psychologi-
cally, as compared to their "normal" peers. Johnson (1950) and Thurstone
(1959) have shown that mentally retarded children have a higher proba-
bility of rejection and isolation because of the attitudes exhibited by
teachers and their "normal" pupils in regular classes.

While these tend to support the need for special classes and re-
fute the call for integration, some more recent studies seem to show
favorable results from integration.

\ Bennett and Pertsch (1970) found that retarded children in special
classes did poorly in physical, personality, and academic areas as com-
pared with retarded children in regular classes. Their findings were
substantiated by Flynn and Flynn (1970), Cormany (1970) and Grosenick
(1970) who found that exceptional children's performance in regular

classes, whether full-time (as in the case of the Cormany (1970) and

20

GroseniCk (1970) studies) or part-time (as in the case of the Flynn and §(
Flynn (1970) study), tended to be equal to or better than the perfor-
mance of their exceptional peers in the special classes.

All of the studies that have been mentioned thus far and a num-
ber of others (Doll, 1967; Tolor, gt, E13: 1967; Fine, 1967; Mutimer
and Rosemier, 1967; McGee, 1970) tend to indicate that a good part of
the exceptional Child's adjustment and success, or lack of them, in the
regular classroom, as well as in the special classroom, may be dependent
upon the teacher's attitude toward the child and her ability to instill
this same attitude in the other students.

Haring (1956) found teachers to be less accepting of exceptional
children than they were of non-exceptional Children. He, also, found
that knowledge and experience are closely related to the acceptance-
rejection attitude of the teacher toward teaching certain groups of
exceptional Children, as expressed by the teachers themselves. Tolor
gt, a}, (1967) asked teachers to rate certain behaviors as normal or
abnormal and found that experience and knowledge were significant
factors in the teaChers' ability to judge these behaviors successfully.

An interesting point was brought out by Fine (1967) in a study of
the attitudes of regular and special class teachers toward the educable
mentally retarded Child. He feund that Special class teachers tended
to be less demanding in the area of academic performance than did regu"
lar classroom teachers. In addition, though special class teachers
seemed to be more interested.in personal and social adjustment factors,
the difference between them and regular class teachers was not Signifi-

cant. This seems to support the findings of MByerowitz (1962) that a

21

group of educable mentally retarded children might increase feelings of’7(
self-derogation after a one-year placement in special classes.

Dickstein and Dripps (1958) attempted to ascertain whether dif-
ferent childhood worker groups vary in attitude toward exceptional
Children and to determine whether certain categories of exceptionality
tended to be more accepted or rejected than others. Their conclusions
showed that all workers tended to prefer to teach those categories about
which they felt they knew the most.

The findings of Dickstein and Dripps (1958) seem to bear out the
conclusions made in the attitude research discussed earlier. That is, \
that there is a definite relationship between knowledge of and attitude ‘K
toward a Specific Object class.

In their total analysis, Dickstein and Dripps (1958) found that the'\;
gifted appeared to be most generally accepted and preferred.by regular /
classroom teaChers while the delinquent, visually handicapped and audi-
torially handicapped tended to be the least accepted and preferred.

While studies in the area of teacher attitudes toward the integra-
tion of exceptional children into the regular classroom are few and
sketchy, it appears that one basic conclusion that can be drawn from
them is that there is a need for more and better teacher education con-'fikfi

cerning the problems of the exceptional child (Wrightstone, 1957). This

conclusion is, perhaps, the most important in relation to the present
\ ,

\ .
9‘
\

study which grew out of the assessment of need for a course in the edu-
cation of the exceptional Child for regular classroom teachers.

There have been two major studies which have dealt directly with the

22

the attitudes of teaChers toward exceptional children and their in-
tegration into the regular classroom.and which are of particular in-
terest and consequence to this study.

Haring (1956) dealt with his population through a series of fif-
teen workshop meetings concerned with exceptional children. The gen-

eral purposes of his study were:

...to determine the extent to whiCh the
attitudes of classroom.teachers can be \\§
modified toward greater and more realistic
acceptance of exceptional Children and to
utilize a workshop fer the purpose of
modifying attitudes in the direction of
greater amount of knowledge and under-
standing of exceptional children. The
study has two specific purposes: (a) to
ascertain the initial status of attitudes
toward, and the amount of knowledge about
exceptional children, and (b) to re-test
after a thirty-week workshop period, to
determine the effect of the workshop in
modifying attitudes and understanding

of exceptional children. (Haring, 1956).

Utilizing lecture-discussion groups, Haring (1956) attempted to
change attitudes of the participants through greater knowledge of the \,
sUbject area (exceptionality) and through actual experience. The

lecture-discussion groups covered eight areas of exceptionality:

Children with intellectual retardation,
Children with orthopedic or neurological
impairments,

3. Children with impaired hearing and/or
speech,

Children with academic retardation,

Children with visual impairment,

Children with superior talent and/or
intelligence,

7. Children with emotional disturbances,

NH

O‘U‘I-D-

23

8. Counseling for parents of exceptional
children.

To determine knowledge and attitude, Haring (1956) used four
measuring devices which were administered as pretests and posttests.
The four were the General Information Inventory, the Classroom In-
tegration Inventory, The Activities Index, and The Picture Judge-
ment Test.

The first two instruments were designed by Haring (1956), with
the aid of Dr. George G. Stern. The General Information Inventory (611)
was designed to measure the amount of infbrmation and understanding
teaChers had about exceptional children. It was a measure of cognitive
infermation about exceptionality. The Classroom Integration Inventory
was designed to measure a teacher's acceptance of and realistic place-
ment of exceptional children.

The workshop proved highly effective in increasing the amount of
knowledge (cognitive information) and understanding that the teachers
had about children with exceptionalities. The increases were signifi-
cant at the .01 level for one group and at the .001 level for the re-
maining three groups.

The analysis of the Classroom Integration Inventory scores re-
vealed a wide disparity in modification of attitudes toward greater
acceptance of exceptional children. Two of the groups Showed signifi-
cant increases in several areas of exceptionality, notably: (1) hearing
handicaps, (2) visual handicaps, (3) Speech handicaps, (4) seizures,

and (5) orthOpedic and cardiac disorders.

24

An interesting point made by Haring (1956) is that the two groups
that showed the greatest gain in acceptance, had relatively large num-
bers of handicapped children enrolled; while the other two groups had
only a few children enrolled who could be classified as exceptional.

It was felt that this helped support the conclusion that "teachers need
actual experiences with exceptional children in order to be able to ex-
press increased acceptance toward these children” (Haring, 1956).

While there were significant changes in acceptance of exceptional
children by the teachers in the feur groups, there were no overall
changes in the teachers' abilities to realistically place children with
exceptionalities into appropriate learning Situations (as compared to
the judgements made by a panel of "experts” in the field of exceptional—
ity). This task of realistic placement is the second dimension of the
Classroom.Integration Inventory.

In fact, it was concluded by Haring (1956) that ”whether or not
teaChers had experiences with exceptional Children in their classrooms
seemed to make little difference in their ability to be more accurate
in their judgement concerning the placement of these children.” This
same conclusion has been substantiated in a study done by Proctor (1967).
This study will be discussed later in this chapter.

The implications of the Haring (1956) study indicate that inte-
gration can be more effectively achieved when accompanied by sup-
porting experience such as a workshop. He recommends that workshop

experience should coincide with a program of integration.

25

Haring (1956) expressed some doubts as to whether broad orienta-
tion courses during college training would be effective in increasing
attitudes of acceptance without actual teaching experience with excep-
tional Children. It is, in part, this contention at which the present
study iS aimed.

Proctor (1967) utilized the same instruments as Haring (1956) in
her Study to determine what relationship existed.between knowledge of,
kind and amount of experience with, and attitudes toward the integra-
tion of exceptional children into the regular classroom.

She used, as her sUbjectS, a sample Similar to that used by Haring
(1956). Her sample consisted of 147 teachers, 6 Student teachers, and
10 ancillary personnel. The ancillary personnel consisted of Six Speech
therapists, one school diagnostician, and one special education coordi-
nator.

While Haring (1956) subjected his population to a series of fif-
teen workshops and.pretested and posttested them to collect his data,
Proctor (1967) mailed the test instruments to her population, along with
a Personal Data Questionnaire, and requested that each member of her
population complete both test instruments (The Classroom Integration
Inventory and The General Information Inventory) and the questionnaire
and return them when completed. Her response was more than adequate to
allow her to draw statistically sound conclusions from the resultant
data (a total of 154 responses out of 163 or 94.5% return).

Her population was drawn from ten c00perating schools in the Jackson,

26

Nfichigan area and divided into two groups: five schools with special ed-
ucation programs and five schools with no established special education
programs.

The scoring keys for the General Infermation Inventory and the Class-
room Integration Inventory had to be reestablished by Proctor (1967) since
the original keys that had been developed by Haring (1956) were no
longer avai lab le .

The keys were reestablished in a manner similar to that used by
Haring (1956) when the original keys were developed. A group of five
specialists in the area of exceptional children were given items, which
were appropriate to their Speciality, from both instruments. In the case
of the General Infermation Inventory, the judges merely determined which
foil of each of the four-foil multiple-choice items was the correct one
for that item.

For the Classroom Integration Inventory, they judged each item with
reference to the most realistic placement of the case described in the
item. The judges worked independently in their task and reached 65 per-
cent agreement on the 20 severe items, 59 percent agreement on the 20
moderate items and 65 percent agreement on the 20 slightly severe items.
The judges then met as a group and came to agreement on all of the re-
maining items except one. Item seventeen, in the area of emotional dis-
turbances, was omitted because it "lacked inter-judge reliability"
(Proctor, 1967). (The scoring of the two tests will be discussed in
greater detail in Chapter III).

The completed Inventories, as returned by Proctor's (1967) p0pu1a-

tion, were scored and eaCh subject was assigned a score for each Inventory.

27

Prior to scoring, the subjects were categorized in terms of (1) type of
teaChing experience; (2) amount of teaching experience; (3) amount of
academic credit pertaining to exceptionalities; and (4) consultation ex—
perience (both in terms of having given consultation and having received
consultation). The relation of the two dependent variables (knowledge
and acceptance) to the afbrementioned independent variables was analyzed
by using a one-way analysis of variance supplemented by a multiple range
test modified for unequal replications.

For the most part, Proctor's (1967) findings parallel those of

Haring (1956). Her findings can be summarized as follows:

(1) Teachers with full-time responsibil-
ity for the educational program of one
or more exceptional children were not
found to be Significantly more realistic
in their attitudes toward the educational
placement of these children than teachers
with part-time responsibilities of a
similar nature.

(2) Teachers with one or more years ex-
perience in a teaching program for one

or more exceptional children (full-time
or part-time) were not found to have sig-
nificantly more realistic attitudes to-
ward educational placement of these child-
ren than the no experience group.

(3) Teachers with one or more years of
academic credit pertaining to exceptional
children were found to have significantly
more realistic attitudes toward education—
al placement than teachers with less than
one year of credit but, not significantly
more realistic in their attitudes than the
group with no academic credit pertaining
to exceptional children.

28

(4) TeaChers who reported experience
giving consultation about one or more

of the exceptionalities covered by the
Classroom Integration Inventory (CII)
were not found to have significantly
more realistic attitudes toward educa-
tional placement than teachers who re-
ceived consultation or teachers who re-
ceived.no consultation. (Proctor, 1967).

"The finding that 'amount of experience' with exceptional child-
ren did.not increase the teaCher's ability to make more realistic de-
cisions concerning the educational placement fer them.is in agreement
with the reported findings...." (Proctor, 1967) of Haring (1956).

An interesting conclusion could.be drawn from Item (3) above.
While teachers with one or more years of academic credit pertaining
to exceptional children were found to have more realistic attitudes
toward educational placement than teachers with less than one year
experience, it Should'be noted that the difference with the "no
credit" group was not significant. In fact, "...an unexpected finding
was that the Classroom Integration Inventory (CII) mean score ranking
of the no credit group was higher than the Classroom Integration In-
ventory (CII) mean score ranking of the some credit group. Had this
been a Significant difference, one might assume some degree of truth
contained in the old adage 'a little learning is a dangerous thing'”
(Proctor, 1967).

Another significant conclusion drawn by Proctor (1967) relates

to the relationship of attitude toward classroom integration of ex- ag/

ceptional children and knowledge and understanding of exceptional

29

children. It was found that teachers who earned Significantly higher
scores on the General Infbrmation Inventory (GII) than other teachers
also earned Significantly higher scores on the Classroom Integration
Inventory (CII). This positive correlation, Proctor (1967) reports,
"...1ends additional support to the findings in Hypothesis 4a in which
teachers with extensive academic credit in courses pertaining to
exceptionalities were found to have a Significantly greater amount of
realistic judgement (higher CII scores) toward the educational place-
ment of exceptional children than teachers who reported lesser amounts
of academic credit.”

The present study is primarily concerned with in-service educa- c;
tion of regular classroom teachers. The implications of the Proctor I
(1967) study on in-service education "suggest that academic courses
pertaining to exceptional Children are effective in increasing the
amount of accurate information teaChers have about exceptional Child-
ren." The deve10pment of realistic attitudes toward the exceptional
child appears to depend less upon the amount of teaching experience
than upon the type of experience.

Proctor (1967) concludes that a preservice teacher who anticipates _\/
teaChing an exceptional child must have sufficient background, including \\\
coursework. This coursework would be most effective if it were supple-
mented by actual teaching experience with exceptional Children.

Likewise, for in-service programs, coursework pertaining to excep-
tional children in conjunction with actual teaching experience with

these children might be the most effective approaCh to the successful

30

integration of exceptional children into the regular classroom.

The Proctor (1967) conclusions on teacher preservice and in-service
educational programs parallel and support the findings and conclusions
of Haring (1956).

Finally, in her discussions for further research, Proctor (1967) .
suggests that ”academic coursework which deals with exceptionalities \7A;
is the most significant variable affecting attitudes toward class-
room placement." It is an existing course dealing with exception-

alities at which the present study is aimed.

Simulations - Introduction

 

Simulations have been used in numerous fields of interest and in
a wide variety of applications for a number of years. They had their
generic beginning in the field of engineering where the term, Simula-
tion, was used to describe a physical model or mock-up. This model
or mock-up was then used to test the application of scientific prin-
ciples into design (such as a mock-up of an airplane wing to test the
aerodynamic qualities of it).

During the second world war, the armed services became interested
in the application of Simulations in training. The services have, also,
used their famous "war games" to analyze and evaluate the abilities of

their'nen.and maChines to coordinate their activities and to meet an

31

objective (Dawson, 1962).

Perhaps the most famous Simulator is the Air Force's Link Trainer.

 

This device simulates the controls in the cockpit of an aircraft and.is
still used in flight training programs (Tansey and thin, 1969). A.far
more sophistocated Simulator is being used by the major commercial air-
lines to train their pilots to fly the jet passenger aircraft of today.
The United Air Lines system, for example, is tied to a computer which
can "create," in the Simulator's cockpit, conditions ranging from rough
weather handling through loss of a wing (Crawfbrd, 1963).

The introduction of the Link Trainer into a human training sit-

 

uation brought about a shift in the thinking about simulations. The
history of what could be termed as simulations dates back to the de-
velopment of the game of chess, Which was designed originally as a

simulation of medieval military strategies (Tansey and Unwin, 1969).

Up to the development of the Link Trainer, the focus of simulations

 

had been on competition between men (it might be added at this point
that, prior to the second world war, there seemed to be no distinction

made between simulations and games). The Link Trainer brought a new

 

dimension into the picture. The participant was competing, as it were,
against himself and a given situation. The situation was analogous

to his "on the job" Situation and he made decisions based upon his
background and training. When decisions were made, he had no fear of
censure from others if he had made a mistake. The participant, there-
fore, was given a great deal of latitude in his decision-making and

could experiment to determine what he could and could.not do in a given

32

situation, without "suffering the consequences" that might result in
”real life."

In real life, of course, there is the interaction of not just hu-
man to maChine but human to human. To deal with these interactions
in a Simulated situation, the Systems Research Laboratory of the Rand
Corporation constructed a duplicate of an air defense direction cen-
ter. The entire environment of the center was Simulated in this dup-
licate--including physical layout, work assignments and tasks, and me-
chanical and electrical failures affecting the center's operation.

The effectiveness of this simulation has been reported by Chap-
man (1965). "The members of each crew became an integral unit...
learned to perform.more effectively” (Chapman, 1965).

Business and industry have, since World war II, been among the
leaders in the utilization of simulation in their product development
and training activities (Greenlaw,et,al,, 1962).

The American Management Association has been instrumental in the
deve10pment of management Simulations for training personnel on all
levels of industrial management. Its first simulation, probably the

first business Simulation, was the Top Management Decision Simulation,

 

developed in 1956. In it, the participants are allowed to act as ex-
ecutives, to make decisions, and to see the effects of those decisions
(Tansey and Unwin, 1969).

In business and industry, there tend to be four basic categories
of games: (1) general management games; (2) fUnctional games; (3) indus-

try games; and (4) bureaucracy games (Stewart, 1961). One notable

33

Characteristic of Simulations as used in business and industry is that
they tend to follow the ferm of games. That is, while they simulate
”real life" situations, there is the addition of competition and scoring,
in some form, in addition to the aspect of winning or losing. "Games
are the primary type of Simulation [used by business and.industry] and
generally are designed around deterministic models containing a few
chance elements" (Gustafson, 1969).

Another characteristic of the Simulations of business and indus-
try is the 1aCk of researCh aimed at empirical evaluation of the ef-
fectiveness of the simulation. The only evaluative infermation that
has been reported has been the subjective testimonials of instructors
and participants. Here, too, as with much of the "evaluation" that
takes place in education, the effectiveness of a particular educa-
tional package or lesson or methodology is evaluated.in terms of ”gut"
feelings. That is with such subjective phrases as "I feel that it's

working” or "I know it's working, I can feel it in my bones."

Simulation-Uses in Teacher Training

 

Educators have, until recently, been reluctant to try simulations

in ”standard courses of instruction." Greenlaw, gt, a1. (1962), for ex-

ample, suggest that simulations have been viewed by educators within the

34

context of "games” and, as suCh, felt that they were inappropriate for
the goals of education.

Little research has been done on the effect of simulation in the ed-
ucational process. There have been a few projects that have been carried
out that are worth noting.

The first published study of the application of simulation in ed-

ucation was the Jefferson School Township District Simulation. The pro-

 

ject, directed by Hemphill, Griffiths, and Frederiksen (1966), closely
paralelled the typical "in-basket/out-basket" type of business simula-
tion. Aimed at correlating administrative performance with personality
traits of the participants, the researchers did a job analysis of ele-
mentary school principals, and.then developed a hypothetical system
(all based on geographical and sociological studies of a real school
system), including information on class size, record procedures, rules,
and.policies.

Once participants were familiar with all of the background infor-
mation, which was deveIOped in a variety of media--film, Slide, tape,
and.print--they were put into the role of principal of the Simulated
school and were subsequently called upon to make decisions relevant to
that position. The assuming of the role of principal is a key to this
simulation for "a simulation cannot be effective if the participant is
detached from the activity and is coolly academic in his outlook. It
is the high degree of involvement that Simulation induces that makes it
an effective instructional tool" (Tansey and Unwin, 1969).

By analyzing each participant's responses to each stimulus in the

35

simulation, the researchers were able to gain normative data on the be-
havior of elementary school principals thus permitting "sUbsequent clin-
ical examination of 'on-the-job' behavior in Similar simulated situations,
and [permitting] the putting forth of a theory that simulation could.be
used...to replace unsatisfactory techniques of interview in appointment
to various positions...." (Hemphill, Griffiths, and Frederiksen, 1966).
In this way, it could be determined who possessed the Specific charac-
teristics for a specific job.

For many years, driver education has utilized driver training
Simulators to teach behind-the-wheel techniques. Having grown out

of the techniques used with the Link Trainer, behind-the-wheel Sim:

 

ulators generally use a motion picture of various driving situations
and the student, sitting behind the wheel in the simulator, reacts to
these situations as if he were on the road. His reactions, speed, and
accuracy, are recorded and used to evaluate his performance (Zaun and
Schroeder, 1962).

Three notable contributions on the use of simulation in teacher
training all deal with the same simulation model. Kersh (1963) devel-
oped a simulation of classroom Situations to observe the behavior of
teachers, in-service and pre-service, in these situations. Based upon
the observed responses, Kersh (1963) developed a series of Simulated
consequence situations which would give the teacher feedback on the con-
sequences of a response.

Kersh (1965), again, used the same model in a second study and de-

termined that, in this kind of situation, an actual physical response

36

along with a verbal response was more effective than Simply a verbal re-
sponse. The combined response mode enabled the student teacher to bet-
ter understand the consequences of his response in Specific classroom
situations.

Vlcek (1965) and Bond (1965) also utilized the Kersh simulation in
two separate experiments. Vlcek (1965) found that the group which had
been exposed to the Simulation did significantly better in coping with
the problem Situations with which he was confronted. Bond (1965) used
the Simulator to determine its effectiveness in changing the attitudes
of education majors toward professional objectives. He used a semantic
differential pretest-posttest and found no significant difference be-
tween the group which had been exposed to the Simulation and the group
that had not.

Gustafson (1969) used a simulation model developed by Kagan, et:
31. (1967) to Simulate anxiety situations in a classroom setting. Using
student teachers as his subjects, Gustafson (1969) presented a series of
31 short filmed situations portraying ”high school students acting out
various emotions directed toward the viewer” (Gustafson, 1969), that is,
the Student teaCher.

The subjects were videotaped while viewing these situations and the
tape played back at the end of eaCh situation. The subject, then, re-
acted to the tape (which was played back split-screened to include both
the subject's face and the stimulus material).

The subjects were then Observed via audio tape samplings, while

37

they were student teaching to determinine what carryover resulted after
exposure to the simulation. The recordings were analyzed using the
Flanders Interaction Scale. The results Showed no significant difference
between the experimental group and control group except for one area,
student talk in the classroom. Gustafson (1969) suggests that the results
were inconclusive for several reasons, some of which were weaknesses in
the design of the study.

One development that is of interest to teacher education, in gen-
eral, and special education, specifically, is a report by Johnson
(1967). Using a computer, variables were programmed into the memory
and, upon the setting of the desired parameters, an entire 4th grade
class could be generated by the computer. The system was able to gen-
erate classes with specific characteristics to simulate special clas-
ses, vocational classes, or other more typical classes.

MicroteaChing techniques are gaining fairly wide acceptance in
teacher training programs. In many cases, the fermat used is similar
to the model developed by Allen and Gross (1955) in which a lesson
is videotaped with the student teaching the lesson. It is immediately
played back and discussed by the Student and his supervisor. After the
discussion, the lesson was retaught incorporating any points which had
come up during the critiquing of the first taping. Other institutions
may use commercially prepared films which present Specific teaching Sit-
uations in an ”open-ended” format.

There have been a few other attempts at utilizing simulations in

38

education, but most have provided only subjective evaluation of their
effectiveness. Cruickshank (1966) and Cruickshank, gt, gt, (1967) report
that Simulations are valuable tools but, provide no supportive evidence
other than testimonial and other subjective support.

Sage (1967) developed a Simulation for administrators of special
education programs. The simulation, known as the Special Education
Administration Task Simulation (SEATS) Game, was pilot-tested on two
different occasions utilizing three different methods of evaluation:

1. A category system for scoring per-
formance in response to the simulated
task according to dimensions of inter-
personal relationships suggested by a
theoretical construct concerning the
role.

2. .A test, with alternate forms to be
used on a pre- and post-training basis,
designed to assess preference in choice
of the same dimensions when pursuing
the solution to problems.

3. An opinionnaire for obtaining from
participants a subjective appraisal of
various factors dealing with the use-
fulness of the materials (Sage, 1967).

The findings were not significant in several areas, notably in the
performance on the simulated activities and behavioral choice tests as
a function of demographic variables and no support was found for his

theoretical constructs, based upon the mean scores of the pretest and

posttest.

Though the results were not what Sage (1967) had expected, several

additional pilot tests were run, after revisions, and, as a result, the

39

SEATS game has gained fairly wide usage (Sage and Sontag, 1970). It
has been used.numerous times by its author as a part of "Special Study
Institutes,” sponsored by the New York State Education Department, Di-
vision of Handicapped Children. It has also been used in several uni-
versity and college programs, such as Syracuse university and Michigan
State University.

Burke and Sage (1970) used the Sage (1967) model, which was de—
signed for use in training personnel to assume leadership roles in Spe-
cial education, to sensitize ”general education administrators to sig-
nificant issues concerning the education of handicapped children”(Burke
and Sage, 1970). That is, to deal with the attitudes of regular educa-
tion personnel toward the integration of handicapped children into the
regular classroom.

Burke and Sage (1970) found significant change in only three of
the ten concepts with which they dealt. They found a significant changes
in attitudes relating to: (l) placement of gtt_handicapped children in
special classes; (2) placement of moderately handicapped children in
regular classes; and (3) Special educators having sole responsibility
fer the handicapped (Burke and Sage, 1970).

While the results were not as conclusive as they had hoped, Burke
and Sage (1970) felt that the results and participant reactions (sub-
jective evaluation) indicate, that the SEATS game can be an effective
tool, given some slight modifications.

To summarize, while the results from those studies that have uti-

lized simulations have been inconclusive, there is still some evidence

40

that simulation can be an effective tool in modifying teachers' atti-

tudes about, among other things, the integration of exceptional child-

ren into regular classrooms.

Simulation of Handicaps

 

There have been innumerable incidents, in undergraduate and grad-
uate courses on exceptionality and abnormal behavior, where students
have been asked to live fer one day, or a shorter or longer period of
time, with a blindfold over the eyes or where the phonograph record
"How We Hear," which was developed by Dr. Earl Harford (1964) at North-
western University, has been played to give the students some sense of
what a hearing loss might sound like to an individual with a loss.

To date, though, there has been very little research reported on
the effectiveness of simulating handicaps in changing attitudes toward
the handicapped.

In the four studies relating to attitudes toward the handicapped
and experience of various types and degrees with the handicaps, there
have been conflicting results reported.

.All fOur studies used the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons (ATDP)
Scale to measure attitudes, as developed by Yuker, Block, and Campbell
(1960). They feund a positive correlation between vicarious experience

with a disability and Shifts in the ATDP scores. Bell (1962), however,

41

found no relationship between years of professional experience in reha-
bilitating the disabled and the ATDP scores.

Similarly, Siller and Chapman (1964) feund no relationship between
experience with disabilities and ATDP scores. Wilson and Alcorn (1969)
also found no relationship between the ATDP scores and.experiences with
disabilities. The principle difference between the other studies and
the Wilson and Alcorn (1969) study is that, in the latter, the subjects
experienced the disability through a simulation of the disability.

The effectiveness of simulation of disabilities to change attitudes
about the disability is somewhat uncertain, based on the very small
amount of research that has been done to date. ‘Wilson and Alcorn (1969)
and Siller and Chapman (1964) conclude that, based on their findings,
the ATDP may be too insensitive to the quick changes which might have
resulted from.the experiences and to the multidimensional and complex
factors underlying attitudes.

It would therefore seem.safe to conclude that there is some dis-
agreement on the effectiveness of disability Simulation in Changing at-

titudes toward the disabled.

CHAPTER TI {REE

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of
a simulated handicap, in this case, hearing impairment, on the attitudes
of regular classroom teachers toward the placement of exceptional child-
ren in the regular classroom.

This chapter will present pertinent data relating to (l) the pop-
ulation and sample used in the study; (2) the nature of the stimulus
material (the simulation); (3) the rationile for selection and scoring
of the instruments used to determine changes in attitude toward and
knowledge of exceptional children (acoustically impaired children);
and (4) reliability and validity data on these instruments. This will
be fellowed by a statement of the research hypotheses and a discussion
of the experimental design used for this study, the method by which the

collected data.were analyzed.

Population and Sample

 

Since the original impetus for this study grew out of an investi-
gation of the need for a course on the education of exceptional Child~
ren fer regular classroom teachers, the population which was selected
consisted of those members of two sections of Education 424, "Education

of The Exceptional Child,” which was taught during the Summer Term of

43

1971 at Michigan State University.

The two sections were composed of both regular education majors
and Special education majors, both pre-service and in-service teachers.
One student in the experimental group was an Audiology and Speech Sciences
major and, because of this, was classified as a special education major.
He was the only person in either group who was not an education major.

Each student was asked to complete a personal data questionnaire
which gave what was felt to be key information about the student's
present status and past teaching experience as well as an indication
of what past contact he had had with exceptional or handicapped.per-
sons. .A copy of the questionnaire may be feund in Appendix A.

The class rosters placed the enrollments of the two sections at
48 and 23 students. The first day of the treatment fOund only one
absentee. Over the entire three days of treatment, a total of four
students were eliminated. These four students were eliminated for
two reasons, other than the initial absence, they either did not re-
turn the posttest or were absent on the last day of the treatment and
did not receive the posttest to complete. Additional data were col-
lected from.the personal data questionnaire about the subjects (age,
sex, years of teaching, etc.). While all of these data are not crucial
to the analysis of the researCh data or the hypotheses of this study,
it did give some interesting information about the make-up of the
groups.

Since the present study is concerned with changing regular class-

room teachers' attitudes toward the integration of exceptional children

44

into the regular classroom, the treatment and comparison samples were
drawn from the regular education majors in both of the above mentioned
sections. Since the comparison group consisted of only 14 regular ed-
ucation majors, the decision was made to match those 14 regular educa-
tion majors with 14 regular education majors in the treatment group.
The matching also helped overcome the variable of non-random assign-
nent. Since the groups from Which the samples were drawn were not
randomized (the two class sections were filled through normal regi-
stration procedures) it was felt that the matching procedure would
help provide two more equal groupings.

The relationship between knowledge and attitude has already been
discussed in Chapter 11. Further discussion is not needed here but,
to summarize briefly, it was shown that there was a positive relation-
ship between attitude and knowledge. That is, the more one knew about
an attitude object class, the more accepting one was toward that object
class.

The criterion for matching was the pretest score on the General
Information Inventory. In addition, the groups were matched in terms
of teaching experience; every member of each group had had at least
one year of classroom teaching experience. Also, while not intentional
on the part of this investigator, the groups each contained 2 males
and 12 females.

Once the two groups were determined, each was divided into two sub-
groups of seven each. The criteria for this division was, again, the

611. The range of scores in the groups was 3-9 for the comparison group

4S

and 4-9 for the treatment group. The subjects were divided into high
cognitive knowledge and low cognitive knowledge subgroups with the score
of six being the upper limit for the low cognitive group. Therefore,
the high cognitive group had a score range of 7-9 and the low cognitive
group a score of 3—6 for the comparison group and 4-6 for the treatment
group.

Briefly, the sample for the present study consisted of 28 subjects;
all were regular education majors with at least one year of teaching
experience. The sample was made up of two groups, a treatment group
and a comparison group. Each group was sub-divided into two sUb-
groups, a high cognitive knowledge and a low cognitive sub-group.

The groups and sub-groups were matched on the basis of the General In-

formation Inventory pretest scores.

Stimulus Material and Treatment

 

The simulation was a videotaped presentation of a lesson on the
Swislocki Acoustic Bridge, for measuring the acoustic impedance of the
tympanic membrane and the middle ear reflex. This topic was chosen be-
cause it was felt, by the present investigator, that the topic for the
simulation should be totally unfamiliar to the subjects and it was be-
lieved to be highly unlikely that the subjects would be familiar with

the Zwislocki Acoustic Bridge.

46

The reason for selecting an unfamiliar topic grew from discussions
with several members of the Special Education faculty of MiChigan State
University. It was felt that such a choice would be best so as not to
permit the teachers in the group to guess what was being said in the
presentation. The feeling was that a totally unfamiliar topic would
come closest to simulating how an acoustically impaired child feels at
that crucial time in a lesson when the teacher is presenting new ma-
terial with a new vocabulary.

After the lesson was videotaped, the master tape was duplicated and
the audio track was filtered to simulate three different configurations
of hearing loss. With the assistance of Mr. Donald Riggs of the Mighigan
State University Audiology and Speech Clinic, the audio track was fil-
tered utilizing a General Radio Multi-Filter Medel 1925. The General
Radio Medel 1925 is a one-third octave filter with a rejection rate of
50 dB per octave. This provided a fairly reasonable simulation of a
hearing loss on the videotape sound track.

Three different audiometric configurations were attempted. The
approximate representation of these configurations are Shown in Figure
l. The three configurations approximate (l) a flat hearing loss with
a three frequency average of about 20 dB hearing level; (The three fre-
quency average is a standard procedure of reporting the loss for the
frequencies that are crucial to speech intelligibility - 500 hz, 1000 hz,
and 2000 hz.); (2) A gradual high frequency hearing loss with a three

frequency average of about 40 dB hearing level; and (3) a precipitous

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

90 \

'3: T»

I25 250 500 I000 2000 4000 8000
3000 6000

FREQUENCY (HZ)

 

 

HEARING THRESHOLD, LEVEL in dB
03
O
zI"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x —’< SEGMENT I

e----e SEGMENT2
0- -o SEGMENT 3

FIGURE I: APPROXNAATE AUOIOMETRIO CONFIGURATION OF THE
THREE SEGMENTS OF THE SIMULATION TAPE..

48

high frequency loss with a three frequency average of about 63 dB
hearing level. Table 1 gives the approximate intensities at which

each of the frequencies was passed.

TABLE 1. APPROXIMATE INTENSITY LEVELS AT WHICH FREQUENCIES WERE PASSED
DURING FILTERING. (FREQUENCIES GIVEN ARE THE DENTER FREQUENCY OF EACH
OF THE FILTER BANDS. INTENSITIES GIVEN ARE RE: AUDIOMETRIC ZERO, ISO).

 

 

SECMENT SEGMENT SEGMENT
FREQUENCY 1 2 3
250 hz 0 10 20
500 hz 10 20 40
1000 hz 20 40 70
2000 hz 30 60 80
4000 hz 20 60 100
8000 hz 20 70 --

 

Frequency analyses of each of the segments are shown in Figures
2, 3, and 4. These analyses Show that the first segment, Figure 2,
which approximates a flat loss of about 20 dB hearing level, has a fre-
quency spread from about 100 hz to about 10,000 hz. This is a ”normal”
spread for the human voice, including overtones, and this segment is
merely a loss in intensity. The analysis of the second segment, Figure
3, the gradual high frequency loss, shows that all frequencies above
2000 hz are effectively eliminated. This is now a loss of both inten-

sity and frequency. The analysis of the third segment, Figure 4, the

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52

precipitous high frequency loss, shows that all frequencies above 850
hz are effectively eliminated. With this loss, many of the key speech
frequencies are also eliminated.

The format for the treatment was a simulation of hearing loss in-
tegrated into the existing structure of the curriculum for Education
424 as a part of the unit on the acoustically impaired child.

The simulation was presented to the experimental group on the third
day of a three day unit on the acoustically impaired child. The first
two days of the unit were presented by Dr. Charles V. Mange, Professor
of Special Education at Michigan State University and the regular in-
structor for Education 424.

During the first two days, both groups were given identical infor-
mation (in a lecture-discussion format) about the nature of hearing
loss and some of the educational implications of hearing loss. On the
third day, this investigator took charge of the two groups. Since the
simulation was to be presented on television, it was felt that some
form of television presentation was necessary fer the comparison group
in an attempt to equalize both groups as much as possible. The com—
parison group was Shown a videotaped interview with an elementary
school student who has a hearing loss, and wears a hearing aid, and
attends a regular class program, in Ingham County, Michigan. This was
used as a basis for discussion for the class.

The experimental group was presented the simulation in its normal
classroom setting. Television monitors were set-up in the room and an

initial audio level for the tape was set, using a BrUel and Kjaer Model

S3

2203 Sound Level Meter, fitted with a Random Incidence Corrector. This
level had been previously determined as the referent level fer the in-
tensity of the audio track throughout the entire tape. To assist in
determining the level needed, ambient noise levels were taken in the
room and it was found that the average levels in the room were at about
66 dBC. The ambient noise was recorded and analyzed using the BrUel
and Kjaer 2107 Frequency Analyzer and the 2305 Power Level Recorder.
The resultant analysis is shown in Figure 5.

The subjects were told that there was some very important informa-
tion on the tape, made by a noted guest lecturer, and that they were
to pay attention to what was being said, attending both auditorally
and visually to the message. The tape was played in its entirety.
After the tape was shown, a Short ten item multiple choice quiz om the
infermation contained in the tape was given to the subjects.

This test was given merely to add some more realism to the simu-
lation by asking the members of the group to fUnction on a test as a
hearing impaired child might under similar circumstances.

After the presentation of the videotaped simulation, the group was
asked to reSpond to two questions which had been designed to elicit dis-
cussion. The questions were: (1) now that you have been through a sim-
ulation of this problem (hearing loss), what demands would you, as the
child in this situation, make upon the educational setting of this class-
room to assist you in operating more efficiently and effectively; and
(2) if you were the teacher in this classroom and.were told that you

were to have an acoustically impaired child in your classroom, what

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55

changes would you make in your classroom behavior, classroom setting,
and classroom management to accomodate this child? The discussion of

these two questions took up the remainder of the one hour session.

Instrumentation

 

Rationale for Selection of the Measuring Instruments

 

The research hypotheses mentioned previously (in Chapter 1 and to
be restated later in this chapter) served as guidelines for the selec-
tion of the instruments which would measure the effect of the simula-
tion on the two dependent variables: attitudes of regular classroom
teachers toward the integration of exceptional children into the reg-
ular classroom (as measured by the Classroom Integration Inventory)
and the amount of accurate information known about the cognitive Objects
(exceptional children) chosen as the attitude stimulus (as measured by

the General Information Inventory).

rt—‘d—I‘A n—‘utq'

56

The Classroom Integration Inventoty_

The Classroom Integration Inventory, developed by Haring (1956),
was selected for the present study as the most appropriate instrument
fer measuring the attitudes of teachers toward the integration of ex—
ceptional children in regular classrooms. The Classroom Integration
Inventory, as discussed in Chapter Two, contains six items in each of
ten categories of exceptionality. The ten areas are: (1) behavior dis-
orders; (2) emotional disturbances; (3) impaired hearing; (4) impaired
speech; (5) retarded or superior intelligence; (6) orthopedic and car-
diac disorders; (7) physical attractiveness; (8) seizures; (9) bowel
and bladder incontinence; and (10) visual handicaps.

The Classroom Integration Inventory consists of a series of brief
descriptions of behavior of school children and the subjects are asked
to react to each of these items in terms of the following types of ed—
ucational placement:

1. If you feel you could handle such
a student in your regular classroom
without any fUndamental change in your
present procedures.

2. If you feel you could handle such
a Student in your regular classroom
provided that advice from a specialist
or consultant were occasionally made'
available to you whenever you felt a

need for such aid in dealing with some
particular problem.

57

3. If you feel you could handle such
a student in your regular classroom
provided that a full—time specialist
were available at your school who could
provide supplementary training for the
student and frequent consultation with
you.

4. If you feel that such a student
would benefit most by being assigned
to a Special class or school.

5. If you feel that suCh a child can-
not be handled profitably within the

context of regular or special public
education (Haring, 1956).

For the present study, the six items on impaired hearing were the
key items. In a personal correspondence, Dr. Norris Haring indicated
that he saw ”no reason why...any portion of the test [could not be used
independently] to evaluate the effect of [the] teaching unit with reg-
ular classroom teachers." Since there was still some doubt about ad-
ministering only those items dealing with impaired.hearing, a decision
was made to administer the entire test and evaluate the results for

the six items on impaired hearing only.

Scoring the Classroom Integration Inventory

The general scoring procedures for the Classroom.Integration In-

ventory Scale are described by Vinacke (1952) who described the Likert

 

58

(1932) system as easy to use and reliable. Haring (1956) described
the Classroom Integration Inventory Scale as a ”highly cognitive and
self-validating" Likert-type acceptance scale adapted to measure at-
titudes toward integration.

The Classroom Integration Inventory can be scored in two different
ways to yield two different types of scores: (1) the Realism Score

which indicates the persons attitude based upon the ability of the in-

rurv__w-*1

dividual to educationally place an exceptional Child and (2) the Accep-
tance Score which indicates the individual's attitude based upon his

acceptance of the child in the regular classroom.

Basis for Determining the Realism Score

 

Each item of the Classroom Integration Inventory has five possible
answers from which to choose (see above). By assigning numerical weights
to eaCh of the answers (alternatives), varying from 5 for the most de-
sirable placement to l for the least desirable placement, a score can

be computed that represents the individual's realism score relative to

 

the placement of exceptional children in educational settings.

The scoring key used for the present study was the same key that
was used by Proctor (1967). Proctor (1967) had re-established the key
for the Classroom Integration Inventory since the original key, de-

veloped by Haring (1956) for the original study, was not available.

59

Proctor (1967) re-established the scoring key fer the realism
score in a manner similar to that used by Haring (1956) in the original
study. A panel of five specialists in special education "...judged each

item with reference to the most desirable placement of the case de-

 

scribed in the item, The judges working independently, rated each item
on 'most desirable placement'" (Proctor, 1967). A typical item which
the judges had to rate would be: "Fred can feel the vibrations of loud
music from a radio or phonograph, knows when a door has been Slammed,
but does not hear speech unless it is shouted." The entire Classroom
Integration Inventory can be found in Appendix B.

The realism score for eaCh subject was Obtained by assigning a

 

value of five if the subject's choice of placement was the same as the
judge's first Choice for that item. .A value of four, if the subject's
choice was the same as the judge's second choice; a value of three if
the choice was the same as the judge's third choice; a value of two, if
the choice was the same as the judge's fourth choice; and a value of
one, if the choice was the same as the judge's last choice, that is,
the least desirable placement.

The totals were computed and the range of scores for the entire
Classroom Integration Inventory could be from 59 to 295. It should be
reiterated at this point that Proctor (1967), based on the result of
her re-establishment of the scoring key, eliminated Item 17 ”because
it lacked inter—judge reliability" (Proctor, 1967). For the six items
on impaired hearing, the scores could range from 6 to 30.

Using a Likert-type (Likert, 1932) weighting procedure, the subjects'

V “V. ’2‘“)an

60

responses were scored to get an indication of their attitude toward in-
tegration by getting a measure of their ability to place exceptional
children into appropriate learning environments.

The subjects' responses on the Classroom Integration Inventory
range from regular classroomIplacement without Special assistance to
complete exclusion from school. The most appropriate placement is de-
pendent upon two conditions, the type and severity of the handicap.

The validity and reliability of the Classroom Integration Inven-
tory were reestablished by Proctor (1967):

The judges' choice fer placement among
the three levels of severity ranged from
53 percent inter-judge agreement in the
behavior category to 73 percent agree-
ment among the judges' choices for edu-
cational placement fer exceptional
children in the impaired speech cate-
gory.
It would seem reasonable to assume that a full-time special class

teacher's realism score would show a greater degree of homogeneity than

 

a regular classroom teaCher. It also seems reasonable to assume that
the attitude realism score of special class teachers would approximate
more closely the judges' choices of placement than the attitude realism
gggtgg of regular classroom teachers.

The above assumptions were borne out in both the Haring (1956) and
Proctor (1967) studies and are accepted as indicators of the validity

of the Classroom Integration Inventory.

 

61

Basis for Determining the Acceptance Score

 

The acceptance score is a means of gauging the individual's accept-
ance of exceptional children. In determining the acceptance score, the

selection of number one type of educational placement (if you feel you

n: - -‘.-.A41-a~-
'I fl

could handle suCh a Student in your regular classroom without any funda—
mental change in your present procedures), was considered the most ac-

cepting response irrespective of the nature of the handicap, and number
five (if you feel that such a child cannot be handled profitable within
the context of regular or special public education), was considered the
least accepting. The acceptance score was calculated by weighting num-
ber one as 5, number two as 3, number three as 2, number four as t, and

number five as 0, which gave a possible range in scores from 24_to g.

The General Information Inventory

 

The General Information Inventory was developed by Haring (1956)
as a test of knowledge about exceptional children. The original test
contained 100 multiple-choice items, ten in each of the categories of
exceptionality covered by the test: (1) behavior disorders; (2) emo-

tional disturbances; (3) impaired hearing; (4) impaired speech;

62

(5) impaired vision; (6) orthopedic disorders; (7) miscellaneous (medi-
cal, attitudes, and responsibility); (8) seizures; (9) retarded; (10)
superior intelligence. These categories are similar to those in the
Classroom Integration Inventory.

In the case of the General Information Inventory, only those ten
items relating to impaired hearing were administered as part of the pre-
test. It was felt that there was far too much extraneous material in
the entire test, in relation to the specific material covered in the
treatments used in this study. It was felt that there would be no loss
in reliability and validity of the test by using only those ten items

which dealt with impaired hearing.

Scoring the General Information Inventopy:

Determining the Knowledge Score

 

As with the Classroom Integration Inventory, Proctor (1967) had to
re-establish the scoring key for the General Information Inventory since
the original key, as developed by Haring (1956), was not available. The
scoring key was re-established in a manner Similar to that used for the
Classroom Integration Inventory. The items were Smeitted to a panel
of experts who made judgements as to which of the four foils for each

of the items was the correct choice.

FL I". c ...-’1‘- ant-dross!

63

One point was assigned to each correct response on the General In-
formation Inventory. TherefOre, the scores on the knowledge test could
range from tg_to 0, Since it has already been shown that knowledge does
have a bearing on a person's attitude toward a person, object, or group,
the subject's amount of knowledge about hearing impairments could give

an indication of that subject's acceptance of such a child.

Major ResearCh Hypotheses

 

To evaluate the effectiveness of the simulation in changing the at-
titudes of teachers toward the integration of exceptional children the

following hypotheses were generated and tested:

H-l. A simulation experience for in-
service regular classroom teachers will
not result in an attitudinal shift,
toward the acceptance of acoustically
impaired children in the regular class-
room, as compared to a corresponding
lecture—discussion presentation.

H-lA. A simulation experience for in-
service regular classroom teachers will
result in an attitudinal shift, in a
positive direction, toward the accep-
tance of acoustically impaired children
as compared to a corresponding lecture-
discussion presentation.

64

H-2. A simulation experience for in-
service regular classroom teachers
will not result in an attitudinal
shift, toward the realistic place-
ment of acoustically impaired child-
ren, as compared to a corresponding
lecture-discussion presentation.

H-ZA. A simulation experience for in-
service regular classroom teachers
will result in an attitudinal Shift,
in a positive direction, toward the
realistic placement of acoustically
impaired children, as compared to a
corresponding lecture-discussion
presentation.

H-3. In-service regular classroom
teachers with high initial levels of
cognitive information about hearing
and hearing impairment will not have
a greater Shift in attitude, relative
to the acceptance of acoustically im-
paired children, as a result of a
simulation experience as compared to
regular classroom teachers with low
initial levels of cognitive infor-
mation about hearing and hearing im-
pairment.

H-3A. In-service regular classroom
teachers with high initial levels of
c0gnitive infermation about hearing
and hearing impairment will have a
greater Shift in attitude, in a posi-
tive direction, relative to the ac-
ceptance of acoustically impaired
children, as a result of a simulation
experience as compared to regular
classroom teachers with low initial
levels of cognitive information about
hearing and hearing impairment.

H-4. In-service regular classroom
teachers with high initial levels of
cognitive information about hearing

65

and hearing impairment will not have

a greater attitudinal shift, relative
to the realistic placement of acous-
tically impaired children, as a result
of a simulation experience as compared
to in-service regular classroom teachers
with low initial levels of cognitive
information.

H-4A. In-service regular classroom
teachers with high initial levels of
cognitive information about hearing
and hearing impairment will have a
greater attitudinal shift, in a posi-
tive direction, relative to the real-
istic placement of acoustically im-
paired children, as a result of a
simulation experience as compared to
in-service regular classroom teachers
with low initial levels of cognitive
information.

Experimental Design and Procedures

 

The specific experimental design for this study was the Campbell

and Stanley (1963) Design Number 10, The Nonequivalent Control Group

 

Dggtgp, Figure 6 illustrates the design of this study.

One day prior to the beginning of the unit on acoustically handi-
capped children, the pretest packet (consisting of the Classroom Inte-
gration inventory and the General Information Inventory) and the per-
sonal data questionnaire were given out to all of the subjects (the
test packet may be found in Appendix B and the questionnaire in Appendix
A).

After both groups had completed the three day unit, which included

the simulation on the last day fer the treatment group, the Classroom

F l'. . “*IL'

66

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POPULATION
NON-RANDOM' ASSIGNMENT
TREATMENT CONTROL
GROUP GROUP
PRETEST-AFFECTIVE PRETEST-AFFECTIVE
AND COGNITIVE AND COGNITIVE
REGULAR, IN-SERVICE REGULAR, IN-SERVICE
TEACHERS MATCHED ON TEACHERS MATCHED ON
BASIS OF COGNITIVE BASIS OF COGNITIVE
PRETEST. PRETEST.
SUB-GROUPS SUB-GROUPS
FORMED FORMED
SIMULATION NON-SIMULATION
PRESENTATION PRESENTATION
POSTI'EST-AFFECTIVE POSTTEST-AF FECT IVE
ONLY ONLY
I I
, 1
ANALYSIS
OF DATA

FIGURE 6.

 

 

 

Experimental Design of the Study.

 

 

 

 

 

 

67

Integration Inventory was handed out again and the subjects asked to re-
take the test. They were permitted to take the test home with them for
both the pretest and posttest. This was done for two reasons, it was
felt that the tests would require about an hour to an hour and a half

to complete and that class time should not be taken up for this task.

__1

Also, it was felt that, if the tests were administered during class

F124? .... “was"

time, there might be undo pressure on the subjects to complete the test

creating unwanted test anxieties and raising the possibility of erroneous

responses, particularly on the Classroom Integration Inventory.

The second group did not experience the simulation but, instead
was given further lecture-discussion presentation utilizing television
(keeping the modes of presentation fer the two groups as equal as pos—
sible). Because the second group was not left untreated, as with most
control groups, the second group is being referred to as a comparison
group.

Since the present investigator could not exert any control over
registration for the two sections of the course, it became necessary
to use a design for unmatched grOUps, or nonequivalency.

In an effort to overcome some of the nonequivalencies between the
groups, a matChing technique was used to construct the groups and sub-
groups. The matching was done on the basis of the test scores on the
ten items of the General Information Inventory relating to knowledge
about hearing impairment. Several studies (dickstein and Dripps, 1958;

Haring, 1956; and Proctor, 1967) have shown the existence of a positive

68

correlation between attitudes toward and knowledge about a particular
object class. For this reason, it was felt that cognitive infermation
was an appropriate matChing tool.

Since the Treatment Group had only 14 regular classroom teachers
with past teaChing experience, all 14 subjects were used and.were
matched.with 14 from the Comparison Group.

In addition to using cognitive information levels for matching,
the groups were matched as closely as possible by: (1) sex (12 females
and 2 males in eaCh group); (2) age (treatment group mean age was 27.0
and the comparison group mean age was 26.86); and (3) teaching experience
(all sUbjects had at least one year of actual teaching experience).

One additional factor which.nay have helped minimize intergroup
and intragroup differences is the fact that all of the subjects had
elected to take the course, voluntarily. There was, aparently, some
interest in the problems of exceptional children and possibly a positive
attitude toward integration had been developed prior to enrollment in

the course.

69

Analysis of the Data

 

The test of Significance of each of the research hypotheses is
based upon an analysis of covariance, as described by MCNemar (1962).
Because of the non-random groups used as the sample in the present
study, the analysis of covariance was selected in order to make allow-
ances for uncontrolled variables and for setting ferth the sampling er-
ror adjustment which is needed in testing the statistical significance
of the diference between "corrected" means (MtNemar, 1962).

The methods for scoring the Classroom Integration Inventory and com-

puting the realism score and the acceptance score have been discussed

 

 

previously in this chapter. The tests were scored by hand by this in-
vestigator and rechecked by two other persons. The scores were then
recorded to be prepared for analysis.

Since the General Information Inventory responses were on the same
machine-scorable answer Sheets, a key was punched and these responses
were also scored and checked by hand. The same check-recheck procedures
were used with these items as was used with the Classroom Integration
Inventory. The scores were computed and recorded to be prepared for
analysis.

The data gathered were analyzed in relation to the kind of treat-
nent given each group. That is, to determine whether the simulation

did cause a shift in teacher acceptance and realistic placement among

70

the subjects in the experimental group and if that shift was positive
and significant as compared to the comparison group. The data were
analyzed utilizing an analysis of covariance in a 2 X 2 factorial design

as illustrated in Figure 7.

"'1
i.

 

rh

(IDMPARISON TREATMENT
HIG-I (DGNITIVE HIG‘I (DGNITIVE

 

CDMPARISON TREATMENT
LOW (DG‘IITIVE DOW OJGINITIVE

 

 

 

 

Figure 7. Two-by-T‘wo Data Analysis Design.

For the purposes of this study and in consideration of the research
hypotheses of this study, acceptance of a hypothesis will be contingent

upon reaching an alpha level of at least .05.

CHAPTER FOUR

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

This chapter will deal with the testing of the hypotheses listed
in Chapter III and will include a brief discussion of the findings re-
lated to each of the hypotheses. While the findings will be discussed

in this chapter, conclusions and recommendations based on these findings

will be presented in Chapter V.

Testing of the_Hypotheses

 

In an effort to determine the effectiveness of Simulation in changing
teaChers' attitudes toward the integration of exceptional children into
the regular classroom, a simulation of hearing loss was developed and
its effectiveness was tested in terms of the hypotheses listed in Chap-

ter III.

The first hypothesis to be tested in the present study was:

H-l. A simulation experience for in-
service regular classroom teachers
will not result in an attitudinal
shift, toward the acceptance of
acoustically impaired children in
the regular classroom as compared
to a corresponding lecture-discus-
sion presentation.

Table 2 reports the sums of squares, adjusted sums of squares, and

72

degrees of freedom which are required for an analysis of covariance and
the F test for significance. The resultant F value of 7.82 is greater
than the critical F value of 7.77 which is needed for significance at
an alpha level of .01. Therefore, Null Hypothesis 1 may be rejected
and support fer Alternate Hypothesis 1A is implied. The Comparison
and.Treatment Group means, standard deviations, and ranges are reported
in Table 3.

Table 2. -- Analysis of Covariance for “Acceptance" for the Treatment
and Comparison Groups.

 

 

Total ‘Within Between F
Sum of Squares 182.0 160.28 21.72 --
Adjusted Sum of Squares 181.04 137.89 43.15 7.82
Degrees of Freedom -- 25 l ---

 

F= 7.77 at Alpha .01

The analysis of covariance and the F test value do not indicate the
direction of the shifts for the groups. Examination of the means of the
pretest-posttest gain scores indicates additional support fer Alternate
Hypothesis 1A. The pretest-posttest gain score for the Treatment Group
was + 1.50 and for the Comparison Group was - 1.00 (indicating a negative
Shift on the part of the Comparison Group). The shift fer the Treatment
Group was positive and away from the Comparison Group. This, then, adds
additional support fer the Directional Alternate Hypothesis 1A, which was

presented in Chapter III.

73

Table 3. -- Comparison of the Gain Score Mean, Range and Standard Devi-
ation fer the Treatment and Comparison Groups.

 

 

Acceptance Scores Realism Scores
Group Mean S.D. Range Mean S.D. Range
Treatment +1.50 2.98 -5 to +5 +1.43 2.41 -3 to +8
Comparison -l.00 3.37 -5 to +5 +.57 2.79 -4 to +5

 

The second hypothesis to be tested was:

H-2 —.A Simulation experience for in-
service regular classroom teachers
will not result in an attitudinal
Shift, toward the realistic place-

ment of acoustically impaired Children,
as compared to a corresponding lecture-
discussion presentation.

As with Hypotheses l-lA, an effort was made to determine the effec-
tiveness of the simulation in changing teachers' attitudes toward the in-
tegration of acoustically impaired Children into the regular classroom.
This hypothesis relates to the teacher's ability to realistically deter-
mine appropriate educational placement of an acoustically impaired Child.

Table 4 reports the sum of squares, adjusted sum of squares, and de-
grees of freedom which are required for an analysis of covariance and the
F test of significance. The resultant F value of 2.65 is well below the
critical F value of 4.24 which would be necessary to claim significance

for rejecting the null hypothesis at an Alpha level of .05. The Null

Hypothesis 2 cannot, therefore, be rejected.

*1 V...“ -1!“- A k"! 0‘qu
\

74

Table 4. -- An Analysis of Covariance for "Realistic Placement (Realism)'l

for the Treatment and Comparison Groups.

 

 

Total Within Between F
Sum of Squares 291.0 263.0 28.0 --
Adjusted Sum of Squares 288.27 260.67 27.6 2.65
Degrees of Freedom -- 25 l --

 

F= 4.24 at Alpha .05

The third hypothesis to be tested was:

H-3 - In-service regular classroom
teaChers with high initial levels
of cognitive information about
hearing and.hearing impairment

will not have a greater shift in
attitude, relative to the accept-
ance of acoustically impaired
children, as a result of a simula-
tion experience as compared to regu-
lar classroom teachers with low
initial levels of cognitive informa-
tion about hearing and hearing impair-
ment.

In the testing of this hypothesis, knowledge about hearing and hearing

impairment are looked at as variables affecting the teachers' attitudes

about the acoustically impaired child. The relation of the initial level

of knowledge, as measured by the General Information Inventory, to the

experience resulting from the simulation was considered.

The measure

used to look at attitude was the teacher's acceptance of the acoustically

impaired child.

75

Table 5 reports the necessary sum of squares, adjusted sum of squares,
and degrees of freedom.for conducting an analysis of covariance and the
resultant P value. Table 6 reports the means, standard deviations, and
ranges for the high cognitive and low cognitive subgroups within the
Treatment Group. The F value of 10.15 is well above the critical F
value of 7.77 needed for Significance at an Alpha level of .01. The null

hypothesis is, therefore, rejected and support established for the Al-

!I:. ' ' - “\f.‘“ffinifi‘

ternate Hypothesis 3A.

Table 5. -- Analysis of Covariance for "Acceptance" fer the High and Low
Cognitive Level Groups.

 

 

Total Mflthin Between F
Sum of Squares 182.0 176.86 5.14 ~-
Adjusted Sum of Squares 181.04 137.89 43.15 10.15
Degrees of Freedom -- 25 l --

 

F= 7.77 at Alpha .01

While the P value is sufficient for rejection of the null hypothesis,
it does not indicate the direction of the shift for the groups. An ex-
amination of the means of the pretest-posttest gain scores shows that the
high cognitive level subgroup had a mean gain of + 1.86 and the low cog-
nitive level group had a mean gain of + 1.14. This, then, would indicate
a shift in a positive direction and give additional support to the direc-

tional Alternate Hypothesis 3A.

76

Table 6. -- Comparison of the Gain Score Mean, Range and Standard Devi-
ation for the High Cognitive and Low Cognitive subgroups Within the
Treatment Group.

 

 

Realism Scores Acceptance Scores
Group Mean S.D. Range Mean S.D. Range
High +1.00 1.29 0 to +5 +1.86 1.77 [-1 to +2
Low +1.50 3.50 -5 to +6 +1.14 3.98 -3 to +8

 

The fourth hypothesis to be tested was:

H-4 -Inservice regular classroom
teachers with high initial levels

of cognitive information about
hearing and hearing impairment will
not have a greater attitudinal
shift, relative to the realistic
placement of acoustically impaired
children, as a result of a simulation
experience as compared to in-service
regular classroom.teaChers with low
initial levels of cognitive infor-
mation.

As with Hypotheses 3—3A, Hypotheses 4-4A look at the relation of
knowledge to the experience resulting from the simulation. This hypoth-
esis relates to the teacher's ability to realistically place an acous-
tically impaired child into an ”appropriate" educational setting.

Table 7 reports the necessary sums of squares, adjusted sums of
squares, and degrees of freedom for conducting an analysis of covariance
and the resultant F value. The F value of .012 is well below the critical

F value of 4.24 necessary for significance at an Alpha level of .05.

As a result, the Null Hypothesis 4 cannot be rejected.

ruin—"ICI— x7

 

77

Table 7. -- Analysis of Covariance for ”Realistic Placement (Realism)"
fer the High and Low Cognitive Level Groups.

 

 

Total Within Between F
Sum of Squares 291.0 288.72 2.28 --
Adjusted Sum of Squares 288.27 288.13 .14 .012
Degrees of Freedom -- 25 l --

 

F= 4.24 at Alpha .05

Basically, this study set out to test four hypotheses which dealt
with the attitudes of regular classroom teachers toward the integration
of exceptional children into the regular classroom. The feur hypotheses
relate to the two specific dimensions of attitude toward integration
that are measured by the Classroom Integration Inventory: (1) acceptance
of exceptional children by regular classroom teachers and (2) the real-
istic placement of exceptional children into educational settings (as
compared to similar judgements made by a panel of experts). Hypotheses
l-lA and 3-3A deal with the former dimension (acceptance) while Hypoth-
eses 2-2A and 4-4A deal with the latter (realism).

To summarize, the results of the study, given in terms of the above
dimensions, are shown in Table 8. The pertinent data are listed along

‘with the indication and level of significance or non-significance.

7!

“final—wax
n .‘A ' .‘ n vw n

E'.

78

Table 8. -- Summation of results of analysis of covariance for all re—
searCh hypotheses.

 

 

Actual F Critical F Significance Reject Null
Hl-lA 7.82 7.77 .01 Yes
HZ-ZA 2.65 4.24 -- (.05) No 5-1
H3-3A 10.15 7.77 .01 Yes a I
H4—4A .012 4.24 -- (.05) No I ‘I

 

Discussion

As has been mentioned above, Hypotheses l-lA and 3-3A deal with the
acceptance of exceptional children (Specifically, acoustically impaired
Children) by regular classroom teachers. An examination of the results
of the analyses shows that, in both cases, the null hypotheses were re-
jected and support for the directional alternate hypotheses was implied.
.Additional examination of the pretest-posttest gain scores Show that the
shifts were in a positive direction for the appropriate groups. Table
9 summarizes the information relating to the rejection of Null Hypothe-
ses l and 3 and the support of the Directional Alternate Hypotheses 1A

and.3A.

79

Table 9. -- Supportive data for the rejection of Null Hypotheses l and
3 and the support of the Directional Alternate Hypotheses 1A and 3A.

 

 

Actual Cfitibal Alpha Pretest- Direction
F F Level Pos ttest Gain
H1 7.82 7.77 .01 + 1.50 Positive
H3 10.15 7.77 .01 + 1.86 Positive

 

As has already been mentioned, Hypotheses Z-ZA and 4-4A deal with
the teacher's ability to place acoustically impaired children in appro-
priate educational settings, when compared with the judgements of a panel
of experts in the field of Special education.

An examination of the results of the analyses shows that, in neither
case, did the F value reach the critical F levels for significance at at
least the .05 level and, therefbre, neither null hypothesis could be re-
jected.

While neither null hypothesis was rejected, an examination of the
pretest-posttest gain score means shows that the shifts for the appro-
priate groups, while not significant, did move in a positive direction.
Table 10 summarizes the information relating to the Null Hypotheses 2 and

4.

8O

 

 

Table 10. -- Pertinent data relating to Null Hypotheses 2 and 4.
Actual Critical Alpha Pretest- Direction
F F Level Posttest Gain
H2 2.65 4.24 .05 + 1.43 Positive
H4 .012 4.24 .05 + 1.00 Positive

 

In final summary, it should be noted that, after having analyzed
the gathered data, the simulation experience seems to have been most ef«
fective in modifying teachers' attitudes toward greater acceptance of
acoustically impaired children. While the Simulation experience seems
to have had some effect on a teacher's ability to place acoustically
impaired children in appropriate settings, no conclusions can be drawn

because of the lack of significance in either case.

CHAPTER FIVE
SUIVIMARY AND CDNCLUSIONS

SWWMUOI

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the at-
titude of regular classroom.teaChers toward the integration of acous-
tically impaired children could be modified through having experienced
a simulation of hearing loss.

The simulation consisted of a videotaped presentation about the
Zwislocki Acoustic Bridge. Tha audio track was passed through a Gen-
eral Radio Corporation Multi-Filter and, as a result, certain pre-de-
termined frequencies in the voice of the teacher were eliminated.

Three different types of hearing loss were thus Simulated 0n the video-
tape--a flat loss of about 22 dB; a gradual high frequency loss with
frequencies above 2000 hertz effectively eliminated; and a precipitous
high frequency loss with frequencies above 800 hertz effectively elimi-
nated.

The Simulation videotape was presented to a class of regular and
special education majors enrolled in an introductory course on the ”Ed-
ucation of Exceptional Children." Its purpose was to simulate the con-
dition of the acoustically impaired child in the regular classroom. It
was this experience which was being considered as a strategy for modi-

fying, in a more accepting direction, the attitudes of regular

82

classroom teachers toward the integration of exceptional Children, in
general, and acoustically impaired children, specifically, into the
regular classroom.

The pOpulation consisted of the members of two sections of "Edu-
cation of Exceptional Children" during the 1971 Summer term in the
College of Education at Michigan State University. From this popula-
tion, twenty-eight in-service, regular classroom teachers were chosen
as the research sample. There were feurteen subjects chosen from each
section and the subjects were matched on the basis of cognitive pre-
test scores from the General Information Inventory, a cognitive test
of knowledge about exceptionality.

With the Treatment group, the f0urteen subjects were divided into
two subgroups, again based upon the General Infermation Inventory pre-
test scores. The subgroups were a High Initial Cognitive Infermation
Level Subgroup and a Low Initial Cognitive Information Level Subgroup.
The median score for the total group was used as the dividing line for
setting up these sUbgroups.

To measure attitude change, the Classroom Integration Inventory
was selected as the test instrument. The Classroom Integration Inven-
tory has two dimensions to it which makes it a useful tool for the
needs of this study. Utilizing two separate scoring techniques, an
acceptance score and a realism.score can be obtained. The acceptance
score is an indicator of how accepting a teacher is toward exceptional

children, in general, and toward exceptional Children in the regular

83

classroom, Specifically. The realism.score indicates a teaCher's
ability to place an exceptional Child in an ”appropriate" educational
setting, as compared with similar judgements made by a panel of experts
in the field of Special education.

Both test instruments, the General Information Inventory and the
Classroom Integration Inventory, were administered prior to the three-
day experience and following the simulation, which was presented on the
last day of the three-day experience, the Classroom Integration Inven-
tory was readministered. The pretest-posttest gain scores on the
Classroom Integration Inventory were used in the analysis and to de-
termine significance.

An analysis of covariance and F test were used to analyze the
gathered data and to test fer significance of results. One analysis
compared the gain scores of the Treatment Group (which experienced the
Simulation) to the gain scores of the Comparison Group. A.Sec0nd
analysis compared the High Initial Cognitive Infermation Sub-Group (in
the Treatment Group) gain scores to the Low Initial Cognitive Infer-
mation Sub-Group (also in the Treatment Group). A.minimum alpha level
of .05 was used as the critical level of significance fer rejecting
the null hypotheses. The hypotheses which were tested in this study

were:

84

p5 H-l. A simulation experience fer in-
service regular classroom teachers
will not result in an attitudinal
shift, toward the acceptance of acou-
stically impaired children in the
regular classroom as compared to a
corresponding lecture-discussion
presentation.

H-Z. A simulation experience for in-
service regular classroom.teaChers
will not result in an attitudinal
Shift, toward the realistic place-
ment of acoustically impaired child-
ren, as compared to a corresponding
lecture-discussion presentation.

H-3. In-service regular classroom
teachers with high levels of cognitive
information about hearing and hearing
impairment will not have a greater
shift in attitude, relative to the ac-
ceptance of acoustically impaired
children, as a result of a simulation
experience as compared to regular
classroom teachers with low initial
levels of cognitive information about
hearing and hearing impairment.

w

H-4. In-service regular classroom
teachers with high initial levels
of cognitive information about
hearing and hearing impairment will
not have a greater attitudinal
Shift, relative to the realistic
placement of acoustically impaired
children, as a result of a simu-
lation experience as compared to
in-service regular classroom teachers
with low initial levels of cognitive
information.

The analysis of the data supported the rejection of Null Hypotheses

1 and 3 and support was implied for Alternate Hypotheses 1A and 3A.

85

Alternate Hypotheses 1A and 3A were directional hypotheses which indi—
cated that the shifts would be in a positive direction. In addition to
implying support for the Alternate Hypotheses, further support was
gained upon analysis of the direction of movement of the scores. The
scores for both grOups and for all of the individuals within each of
the groups moved in a positive direction.

Several difficulties were encountered during the progress of this
study. First, the sample size was limited to 14 per group because of
the limited number of subjects in the Treatment Group. With only 14
regular, in-service classroom teachers in the Treatment Group, it was
necessary to limit the Comparison Group to the same number. A second
difficulty which was encountered was the problem of standardizing the
output of the sound track of the Simulation. A sound level meter was
used in an attempt to maintain a constant output level. Despite this,
the acoustics of the classroom in which the simulation was presented,
presented numerous problems, e.g. - dead spots. Also, at least once
during the presentation, the University grounds crew passed by the win-
dow of the classroom with a power mower that tended to drown out the

audio.

3
I

86

Conclusions

 

Based on the analysis of the data, the following conclusions can
be supported:

1. The simulation experience was effective in modifying the at-
titudes of in-service, regular classroom teachers toward the acous-
tically impaired child.

2. The Simulation experience was most effective in creating a
more accepting attitude toward the acoustically impaired child, on the
part of in-service, regular classroom teachers.

3. There was no change noted in the teachers' ability to realis-
tically place acoustically impaired children into the most appropriate
educational setting.

4. In-service, regular classroom teachers with high initial levels
of cognitive information about hearing and hearing impairment had Sig-
nificantly greater changes in attitude, in terms of acceptance of the
acoustically impaired child, than in-service, regular classroom teachers
with low initial levels of cognitive information.

While the above conclusions are self-explanatory, some further dis-
cussion is warranted to support these conclusions. The analysis of the
data Showed that the two null hypotheses which were concerned with the
teacher's acceptance of the acoustically impaired child (Hypotheses l

and 3), had been rejected. Support was gained, therefore, for the

 

87

Alternate Hypotheses (1A and 3A) dealing with acceptance. While the
analysis showed a change in the attitude (acceptance), it was necessary
to examine the mean gain scores to determine the direction of the Shift.
This subsequent examination showed that the Shifts for the appropriate
groups (the Treatment Group in Hypothesis 1 and the High Initial Cog-
nitive Information Level Sub-Group in Hypothesis 3) were in a positive
direction. Thus, it may be said that the simulation was effective in
creating a more accepting attitude on the part of in-service, regular
classroom teachers toward the acoustically impaired child.

The data analysis relating to the two hypotheses which were con-
cerned with the teaCher's ability to realistically place an acousti-
cally impaired child into an appropriate educational setting (Hypotheses
2 and 4) showed that the shifts which occured as a result of the simu-
lation were not sufficient to be Significant and, therefore, the null
hypotheses could not be rejected.

The findings of this study, related to realistic placement, sub-
stantiate those of Haring (1956) and Proctor (1967). Both of these
studies used different methods of presentation of the information on
exceptionality and neither found that, on the basis of experience or
information, there was a change (improvement) in the classroom teacher's
ability to realistically determine the most advantageous placement for
the exceptional children described in the Classroom Integration

Inventory. Both Haring (1956) and Proctor (1967) concluded that:

88

whether or not teachers had experience
with exceptional children in their
classroom seemed to make little dif-
ference in their ability to be more
accurate in their judgment con-
cerning the placement of these child-
ren (Haring, 1956).

A review of the results of the three studies which used the
Classroom Integration Inventory shows that there is apparently little in
or no relationship between experience and/or knowledge and a teacher's
ability to realistically place exceptional children in appropriate
educational settings.

A reason for this lack of evidence might be the inability of
the test instrument (the Classroom Integration Inventory) to measure
what it was designed to measure. When Proctor (1967) reestablished
the scoring key, she reported a large disparity in inter-judge
agreement on the most appropriate educational placement. She shows
a range of agreement from 73 percent to 53 percent (Proctor, 1967).

With a panel of experts having such difficulty determining appro-
priate placement, it seems that the task might be far too difficult
for a classroom teacher.

In summary, the Classroom Integration Inventory may not be a
valid measure of a teacher's ability to realistically place exceptional

children in appropriate educational settings.

It can also be concluded, on the basis of the data, that teacher

89

attitudes toward exceptional children can be changed as a result of

experiencing a simulation of the handicap involved.

There are, though, some words of caution.which must be voiced with
regard to the changing of teachers' attitudes through simulation or by
any other means. The instruments used for measuring attitudes and,/v
attitude change was a paper and pencil test. Such an instrument re-
quires only one form of response on the part of the teacher; that is,
a low level written response in the form of selecting one choice of
five givens. ‘Caution must be observed in drawing conclusions on ,,/'
attitude change solely on the basis of verbal response. verbal
behavior is only one indicator of attitude (Zimbardo and Ebbesen,
1970). There is need for more and better indicators of attitude in
order to make some wide-ranging conclusions about the effectiveness

of one method or another in changing an individual's attitude.

Implications for Future Research

 

As mentioned above, there are other dimensions of behavior related
to attitude than verbal behavior. In order to determine the effective-
ness of one method or another in changing attitudes, it is necessary to

consider several of the dimensions of attitude-related behavior.

90

One such possibility would be in the form of a longitudinal study
observing teacher behavior in the classroom with an exceptional child.
Procedures similar to those used in this study (simulation) or by Haring
(1956) (workshop--i.e.-in-service training) could be used but with the
addition of several Observational evaluations of the teacher's behavior

in the classroom.

r —- -— 1‘7ng
1' _,—.i

Another alternative would be to develop a new simulated situation
into which a teach would be placed. This Situation would require the
teacher to perform for a given period of time in a classroom with an
exceptional Child integrated as a part of the class. While this type
of evaluation may not provide information on behavior in the same way ‘Vf
that actual experience "on-the-job" would, it would still provide a

wider range of response to the Situation than does a written test.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(N

10.

ll.

12.

13.

14.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Bell, A.H. "Attitudes of Selected Rehabilitation WOrkers and Other
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Cruickshank, D., gt, a1. TeachingProblemS Laboratoryt_Simulation
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Cummins, R.E. ”Research Insights into the Relationship Between
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Dawson, R. ”Simulation in the Social Sciences." In Simulation in
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Dickstein, Jean and Elaine Dripps. ”An Analysis of Attitudes of
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D011, Geraldine L. "Principles and Practices of Special Education.”
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Dunn, Lloyd, ”Special Education for Mildly Retarded-Is Much of it
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Fine, Marvin J. "Attitudes of Regular and Special Class Teachers
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Flanders, N.A. ”Teacher Influence, Pupils' Attitudes, and Achieve-
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Greenlaw, P. et. gt, Business Simulation In Industrial and Uni-
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Grosenick, Judith K. ”Assessing the Reintegration 0f Exceptional
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GustafSon, Kent L. "Simulation 0f.Anxiety Situations and Its Re-
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Harford, Earl. "How we Hear." Gordon N. Stowe and Associates,
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Haring, Norris. ”A Study of the Attitudes of Classroom TeaChers
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Henphill, John K. , Daniel E Griffiths, and Norman Frederiksen.
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Hicks, Doin E. "Conparison Profiles of Rubella and Non-Rubella
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Jansen, Megens, et. gtt_ "Is Special Education Necessary? - Can
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Johnson, 6.0. "A Study of the Social Position of Mentally Handi-
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Johnson, M. "Simulation of Classroom variables By Computer."
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Kagan, N., et. al. Studies In Human Interaction. East Lansing,
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Kersh, Bert. Classroom Simulation: A New Dimension in Teacher Edu-
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Kirk, Samuel A. "Basic Facts and.Principles Uhderiying Special Ed-
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APPENDIX A

99

PERSONAL QUESTIONNAIRE

The following questionnaire is designed to give us certain information
about you and your background as a teacher. We request that you answer
all applicable questions as thoroughly as possible.

 

 

 

 

1. NAME 2. SEX: M F
3. STUDENT NUMBER: 4. AGE___
5. MAJOR:
(i.e. - secondary ed}, special ed., etc.)
6. Are you presently employed as a teacher? _____YES NO

 

\1

If yes, how long have you been teaching? (check appropriate box):
0-1 years; 2-5 years; more than 5 years.

8. If no, have you student taught yet? YES NO.

 

9. On what level do you now teach (or, if you have only student taught,
on what level did you student teach)?

Pre-School

Primary

Middle School
______ Junior High (7-9)

Senior High (10-12)

Post-Secondary (This would include any area outside senior
high school - such as voc-ed, community college, etc.)

10. Have you ever had a handicapped or exceptional child in one of
your classes?

YES NO

 

 

11. If yes, what was the nature of the handicap? (i.e. - Mentally re-
tarded, crippled, hearing impaired, etc.).

 

 

 

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

100

If you have had contact with an exceptional or handicapped child
in your classroom, how many years have you had such contact?

1-2 years; 3-5 years; more than 5 years.

Do you have anyone in your family who might be considered handi-
capped or exceptional?

YES NO

 

 

What is the nature of the handicap? A descriptive phrase such as
hearing impaired or visually impaired will be sufficient here.

 

 

Have you.had any other form of contact with a handicapped or ex-
ceptional child or adult? (such as a neighbor, an associate at
work, a friend, etc.).

YES NO

 

 

If yes, what was the nature of the contact?

 

 

 

If yes, how long have you had this contact?
1-2 years; 3-5 years; more than 5 years.

Why are you enrolled in Education 424?

 

 

 

Finally, if you were teaching in the public schools, and were told
by your principal that this coming Fall your class would include
a Child who was exceptional or handicapped and would require some
special accomodations for the class, what would your reaction be?

APPENDIX B

TEST PACKAGE

Teachers are ordinarily faced with a wide variety of problems,
arising from the many different kinds of students they work with each
cay. On the following pages you will find brief descriptions of the
behavior of a number of exceptional Children. In each case, you are to
indicate how you would prefer to handle the situation if the decision
were entirely up to you.

INSTRUCTIONS: Read each item and mark the correspondingly number space
on the answer sheet as follows:

1A If you feel that you could handle such a student in your
regular classroom without any fUndamental change in your
present procedures.

B If you feel that you could handle such a student in your
regular classroom provided advice from a specialist or con-
sultant was occasionally made available to you whenever you
felt a need for such aid in dealing with some particular
problem,

C If you feel that you could handle such a student in your
regular classroom provided there was a full-tine specialist
available at your school who could provide supplementary
training for the student and frequent consultation with you.

D If you feel that suCh a student would benefit most by
being assigned to a Special class or school.

B If you feel that such a child cannot be handled.profitably
within the context of regular or special public education.

Mark each item clearly, filling the space between the dotted lines
on the special answer sheet. Please do not make any marks in this
booklet.

IN REGULAR CLASSROOM

WITH PART-TIME AID

WITH FULL-TIME AID

IN SPECIAL CLASS OR SCHOOL
NOT FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

WP???

1. Alfred is defiant and stubborn, likely to argue with the teacher, be
willfully disobedient, and otherwise interfere with normal classroom
discipline.

2. Barbara weras thick glasses, and her eye-balls jerk spasmodically from
side to side; she can't see the blackboard very well, and reads poorly.

3. Chuck can get about only in a.wheel chair; someone must move it for him,
or carry him.in their arms, because he is unable to control his limbs.

mane?

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

103

IN REGULAR CLASSROOM

WITH PART-TIME HELP

RUTH FULL-TIME HELP

IN SPECIAL CLASS OR SCHOOL
NOT FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

Donald is six years old and does not speak very much; what he does
say is indistinct and childish, with.namy missing or incorrect sounds.

Earl is eight and wears coWboy boots to class because he hasn't
learned to tie his own Shoelaces; he is generally cheerful and.well-
behaved, but talks very little and is incapable of following any but
the most simple directions.

Florence is immature and oversensitive, likely to burst into tears
at the slightest provocation.

When Alice wears her hearing aid She hears as any other youngster;
her voice sounds flat and hollow, and is somewhat unpleasant to hear.

Suzy frequently gets so excited She loses control of herself and.wets
the floor.

Ruth is very muCh like other eleven-year-olds in most respects but,
occasionally, during the day, a rhythmical quiver will pass over
her face and she becomes totally oblivious fer a few seconds.

Roger's face was severely disfigured in an auto accident; although
he is completely recovered physically, the surgeons do not expect
to be able to make his appearance more acceptable for mahy years.

Alan wears a leg brace and walks with the aid of crutches; he gets
along quite well by himself though and ordinarily needs no help
fromIanyone.

Bernard is a bully, given to teasing other children and provoking
fights with them.

Cora is supposed to have a hearing loss, but She seems to hear all
right when she sits at the right end of the front row of seats.

Debby cannot use bathroom facilities unless someone is there to help
her; She is perfectly capable of making her needs known in ample
time to avoid accidents.

Clara has a noticeable scar on her upper lip; her speech seems to be
coming through her nose and she is hard to understand.

Dotty is eight; she has difficulty following the class and doesn't
seem to learn to read at all.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

104

IN REGULAR CLASSROOM

WITH PART-TIME AID

RUTH FULL-TIME AID

IN SPECIAL CLASS OR SCHOOL
NOT FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

Eight-year-old Edward sucks his thumb all the time, apparently in-
different to reactions of parents, teachers, or other children.

Every few weeks, without any warning, Stella will have a violent
physical convulsion during which She may bite her tongue or lose
control of her sphincters; after several minutes She returns to
consciousness.

Sylvia's height is grotesque; she towers over every other child in
elementary school and.wears adult-Size clothes.

Flora has neither bladder nor bowel control and must be taken to the
bathroom at frequent intervals.

David squints through his eyeglasses, even when he sits at the front
of the room, and cannot read the blackboard or his book quite as
rapidly as many of the other children.

Occasionally Edward will repear a sound two or three times before
he seems able to go on; he speaks when called upon, but does not
volunteer much.

Chuck doesn't seem to catch on to things as quickly as most, and
needs to have things explained over and over afain; eventually,
though, he appears to learn everything the others do even though
it has taken longer.

Doris is Slow, absent-minded, and a daydreamer; she seems usually
quiet and withdrawn, avoids others, and is inhibited and restrained
in her behavior.

Every hour or so Henry stares upwards at the ceiling for several
seconds and loses consciousness; he has been like this for several
years but is otherwise developing normally.

Fred can feel the vibrations of loud music from a radio or phono-
graph, knows when a door has been slammed, but does not hear Speech
unless it is shouted.

Greg tires easily and needs frequent opportunities to rest; excessive
stimulation or excitement must also be avoided.

Harold is a capable student but has a physical defect which appears
to evoke laughter, ridicule, avoidance, and rejection from the other
children.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.
42.

105

IN REGULAR CLASSROOM

WITH PART-TIME AID

WITH FULL-TIME AID

IN SPECIAL CLASS OR SCHOOL
NOT FOR.PUBLIC EDUCATION

Irv is sexually precocious; masturbates in class, uses Obscene lan-
guage, and has made advances to several girls in his class.

Jane can tell the direction from which the sunshine enters her
classroom; She cannot read the letters in an ordinary book.

Albert does not pronounce all of his speech sounds correctly, but
can be understood.

Betty is only a little over seven but she can read the fifth grade
reader very well; however, her handwriting is poor and She is about
average in most other things.

Chester is deceitful, tells lies, and cheats in school and at play;
he has been involved in several thefts, and is a persistent truant.

Generally Speaking, Everett can control his bladder and bowel, al-
though he is likely to have an occasional accident.

Jerry does perfectly good work as long as he is left alone; he be-
comes extremely tense and anxious, however, whenever an adult speaks
to him.

Virginia rubs and blinks her eyes occasionally when reading, and
seems to find it difficult to distinguish between certain letters
of the alphabet.

Andy hears most, but not everything, that is said in class even
though he wears a hearing aid.

Stan's walk is a slow Shuffle; he gets along on level surfaces or
moderate inclines quite well, but is unable to manage stairs at all.

Roy has a bright purple birthmark which covers one cheek and the
Side of his neck.

Several times a day Lester says he smells bananas; usually this
means that he will soon fall to the floor in a convulsion which
may last several minutes.

Carla is a persistent talker, whisperer and notepasser.
Bert could play songs with one finger on the piano when he was four;

now, in the first grade, he has begun composing little melodies to
which he gives names like "Rainy Day," "Bert's Bike," or "Juice-Time."

monoo>

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

106

IN REGULAR CLASSROOM

WITH PART-TIME AID

WITH FULL-TIME AID

IN SPECIAL CLASS OR SCHOOL
NOT FOR.PUBLIC EDUCATION

June's eyes are crossed but She has adequate vision in either eye
despite the muscle imbalance.

Laura's speech is laboriously slow, tortured, jerky and indistinct;
her voice is monotonous in pitch and she cannot control its intensity.

Harry sulks, and sometimes gets quite noisy, whenever he loses the
direct attention of the teacher.

William.can't hear anything with his left ear, but he gets along
fairly well if he can Sit in one row by the window, in a room on
the quiet Side of the building, with the class to his right.

Ben is unable to walk and has been confined to a wheelchair; he
manages this very skillfully and needs very little help.

Les was born with a malfOrmed left hand which is withered and mis-
shapen up to the elbow.

When Terry was five he was run over, losing both his legs and
genitals; he gets around quite well now but his bladder discharges
into a.bag which must be emptied several times a day.

Once or twice during the year Peter has complained of a peculiar
feeling in his Stomach; about a minute afterwards he has lost con-
sciousness and his body has been first ridgid and then convulsed
for several minutes.

John has no difficulty on the playground or at the blackboard but
he gets quite uncomfortable when he has to use his eyes at close
range for any length of time.

Hugh eventually mutilates and destroys everything that gets into
his hands; his books are marked and torn, his desk ink-stained and
scarred, and he has even managed to crack a blackboard panel.

When anything happens to John the whole school knows it. A bump
on the playground produces tears and wailing, an "A" for an exam
brings on unrestrained shrieks of delight.

Sam.moves about somewhat awkwardly and his limbs are in a slight
but eontinual tremor that becomes pronounced when he is nervous
or excited.

ITIUOWED

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

107

IN REGULAR CLASSROOM

WITH PART-TIME AID

MOTH FULL-TIME AID

IN SPECIAL CLASS OR SCHOOL
NOT FOR.PUBLIC EDUCATION

Arnold is an extremely bright nine-year-old who is far ahead of the
rest of the class in most subjects; he spends a good deal of his
time working on a mathematical system he calls "kinestatics."

Bill has difficulty in starting to talk, grimaces and strains, and
repeats sounds on about half the words he says in class.

Kate weighs enough for two children her age; it is almost impossible
for her to aqueeze into a standard desk.

Although Melvin does not really soil himself, as the day draws on
he begins to smell more and more of feces.

A.hearing aid provides no help for Harriet; she lipreads fairly
well and can hear when she is not facing the speaker if shouted at.

Helen's right hand may sometimes begin to tremble uncontrollably;
during the next few minutes the spasmodic movement spreads along
her arm, Shoulder, and.hear before it finally stops.

 

IL

108

INSTRUCTIONS: Read eaCh item.and mark the correspondingly numbered Space
on the answer sheet. Mark each item clearly, filling the space between
the dotted lines on the Special answer Sheet.

101.

102.

103,

104.

105.

106.

107.

108.

109.

110.

The congenital deaf child.will probable display (1) articulatory
disorders; (2) voice abnormalities; (3) retarded language growth;
(4) all of the above.

The deaf, deafened, and hard-of—hearing are different categories
based mainly on (1) degree of hearing loss; (2) Speech development;
(3) lip reading ability; (4) amount of hearing loss and age of onset.

Hard-of—hearing children usually have a decibel loss of (1) 0-15 dB;
(2) 20-60 dB; (3) 70-90 dB; (4) 90-100 dB.

The criticism of the manual method of theching the deaf is that
(1) it is too difficult to learn; (2) it is difficult for these

pupils to communicate with hearing people; (3) few teachers know
the method; (4) it is too symbolic.

Educating and rehabilitating the hard-of hearing is primarily

(1) developing language; (2) fitting hearing aids; (3) giving
audiometric tests; (4) teaching lip reading and Speech correction
and auditory training.

The oral method of teaChing the deaf refers to (1) teaching by means
of speech and lip reading; (2) only by auditory training; (3) de-
velOping speech and language; (4) teaching arithmetic and reading.

The criterion used for placement of a child in a class for the deaf

is (1) speech deve10pment, intelligence, and hearing loss; (2) disease
causing the loss and intelligence; (3) Speech development alone;

(4) hearing loss alone.

The attitudes of teaChers toward handicapped children is (l) ver-
balized acceptance but somewhat rejecting; (2) completely accepting;
(3) the same as toward their normal children; (4) more understanding.

The attitudes of parents toward their disabled children tend to be
(1) oversolicitous, rejecting; (2) accepting, understanding; (3) the
same as toward their normal Children; (4) more positive than toward
their normal children.

The attitudes of disabled persons toward themselves tend to be
(1) not significantly different from normal children; (2) negative;
(3) accepting; (4) more positive than normal children.

HICHIGQN STQTE UNIV. LIBRRRIES

 

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