The purpose of this study was to identify correlates of successful social adaptation in secondary schools, as perceived by students, teachers and parents. A description of behaviors important for mainstreaming mildly exceptional students into grade levels six through twelve was sought.The long term significance of the study was to begin development of an adaptive behavior scale for adolescents which would discriminate normal from mildly handicapped students. The literature contains substantial agreement that no reliable method or measure exists for the evaluation of adaptive behavior in the mildly handicapped secondary student, although the Education for Handicapped Children Act CPL 94-142) requires such an evaluation.Subjects of this study were middle and senior high school classes selected at random from three middle and three senior high schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Teachers and parents were also participants, as were secondary special education teachers throughout the system.An eighty item checklist was composed from the literature. It described personal or behavioral characteristics and was distributed to all subjects, who were asked to select ten items from the list which, in their opinions, described the most important requirements for successful adaptation in their respective middle and senior high schools.Responses from participating groups were tabulated and compared on the bases of grade placement, sex, and adult status (regular teacher, parent, special educator). One question asked about previous special placement and located a number of mainstreamed survey participants. Data revealed notable similarity in checklist selections by age group. Selections of mainstreamed students at all grade levels resembled those of middle school students. Adult participants concurred in many of their selections; in terms of the total survey, there was some overlap in the item choices but sufficient difference to demonstrate varying priorities between students and adults. Some aspects of the returns suggest possibly new considerations regarding expectations for mainstreamed students, and contain data for future factor analytic studies toward eventual development of a measurement instrument.

This study investigated the relationship of the elements of professional development and the attitudes of teachers and principals toward inclusion. Participants in the study were the teachers and principals in Indiana schools designated as "Inclusion Schools" by the Indiana State Legislature in the summer of 1992. Thirty-one schools of the 50 designated schools were approved for data collection. Three hundred ninety teachers and 31 principals responded to the survey instrument.The dependent variables were the attitudes of the participants toward the inclusion process and the concept of inclusion. The independent variables were six characteristics of professional development: design, presenters, location, attendance requirement, when professional development occurred, and how much professional development was received. Additional independent variables were demographic information such as: age, experience, level of education, and if special education classes had been taken at the university.The conclusions of this study for teachers found positive relationships with the dependent variables for inclusion professional development characteristics: design by building based decision making, presentations by special education administrators and staff, the location in the home school, voluntary attendance, and the more professional development the more positive the teachers' attitudes. A negative relationship was found when professional development occurred before inclusion began. The age and experience of the teachers had a negative relationship to positive attitudes toward inclusion.The only positive relationship between the principals' attitudes toward inclusion and professional development found that attitudes were more positive when more professional development was attended. They were positive when the professional development took place before inclusion began. Other findings reflected negative relationships with inclusion professional development characteristics for: location, design, presenters, and attendance requirement. The more inclusion aide support the principals had, the more positive were their attitudes toward inclusion.The teacher findings in this study were supported by literature and prior research findings by the NASBE Study (1992), Miller & Lieberman (1988), Brehm's Reactance Theory (1983-84), and Pearman et. al. (1992).The principal findings were not conclusive and further study should be made to find how inclusion professional development can develop positive principals' attitudes toward inclusion. / Department of Educational Administration and Supervision