UMI Number: 1512313
[Abstract]
"Understanding how labels and prior training affect teachers of students with a disability is a step towards creating effective educational environments. There were two goals of the study. The first aim was to examine how teacher training (special education versus general education training) and labeling of students (either as having a label of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or having no label) affected teachers' memory for specific attributes of a hypothetical student. Furthermore, the secondary aim was to identify whether teacher training and label type influence how the teachers would respond in a student-initiated conflict. Depending on the type of memory attribute, hindering or facilitative, special education and general education recalled a different amount of information in the labeling conditions. Intrusion errors revealed that participants tended to remember more hindering items. General education teachers tended to endorse more mediation approach overall when compared to Special Education Teachers. Findings of this study inform educators' current knowledge regarding disability training, including the role of field-based training, the use of labels and how teachers' training may affect how they handle classroom conflict with students with a disability."