Attitudes Of Elementary School Students Toward Their P eers With Disabilities. Amman, Jordan

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to examine the attitudes of elementary school students toward their disabled peers. The sample consisted of (421) students without disabilities in the eighth to tenth grades who attended public and private inclusive schools in Amman. The (Students' attitudes scale was administered to evaluate student 'attitudes toward inclusion, the validity and reliability were confirmed for the scale. The study's findings indicated that students' attitudes toward this category of peers are more positive if it was a female student, if they attend a public school, if one of his or her family members has a disability, and finally, if the student is older. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the predictors of attitudes, results showed that the gender and class grade dimensions can be used to predict the attitudes of students toward their peers who have disabilities. Further recommendations were provided including the use of structured interviews and observations to assess student attitudes in a more natural setting.