Teacher and Student Behaviors in Inclusive Classrooms

In this study, I examined general education teachers' classroom behaviors and as well as academic engagement, off-task and problem behaviors of students with special needs. The sample group of this study comprised 54 general education teachers working at local primary schools in Eskisehir, Turkey and their 54 students with mild intellectual disabilities. Teachers' and students' behaviors were observed and recorded on a data collection form designed according to the time-sampling method. Observations took place in each of the 54 classrooms, in four different lessons, for a total of 120 min in each classroom during the spring term of the 2011-2012 academic year. Results indicated that students with mild intellectual disabilities showed academic engagement in 58.58%, off-task behavior in 34.11%, and problem behaviors in 7.31% of the lessons. During those lessons, teachers' academic communication with students with mild intellectual disabilities 7.50% of the observation time, while approval of their behaviors was at 0.13% and disapproval of their behaviors was 0.27%. The behaviors of students with mild intellectual disabilities and the academic communication of teachers with them significantly changed according to the placement of these students in the classroom and the teachers' adjustments in the instructional program toward them.