Developing and Validating the Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education Scale (AIES) Around Contemporary Paradigms of Inclusion

Abstract

A few educational models have evolved fast as inclusive education (IE), which has expanded from being a special education technique focused on integration to a comprehensive model that encompasses the education of all students. However, there is a lack of measurement tools that align with the evolving conceptualizations of IE, provide insights into its implementation in the field, and capture the perspectives of school staff. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was twofold: firstly, to develop the Attitudes towards Inclusive Education Scale (AIES) to assess the attitudes of school staff, including teachers, managers, and school counselors, towards IE; and secondly, to examine the relationships between staff attitudes, demographic factors (age, gender), work experience, educational level engaged with and prior training in IE. The AIES comprised 43 items and three distinct dimensions, demonstrating a valid factor structure and satisfactory internal consistency. The findings revealed that school staff's attitudes significantly varied based on gender and prior training in IE. This study makes a valuable contribution to the field by developing a robust and up-to-date attitude scale to assess attitudes towards IE.