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The effectiveness of inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms depends on many factors, among which, the teachers’ attitudes and competences play a key role. They are shaped in teaching practice and through socio-cultural experiences. To date, numerous studies have shown the importance of cross-cultural comparisons. The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and the attitudes towards including students with mild and moderate disabilities in mainstream education in teachers from Poland (n = 279) and India (n = 210). The differences found between the groups in the area of ⁣⁣sociodemographic variables and experiences in working with students with disabilities were the basis for including these variables in the analyses. Data were collected using the Attitudes Towards Teaching All Students Scale and Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale. The analysis allowed us to determine relationships between self-efficacy and attitudes towards integration of students with mild and moderate disabilities both in the group of Polish and Indian teachers. Generally, the obtained trends confirmed that higher teachers’ self-efficacy was associated with more favourable attitudes towards the inclusion of students with disabilities, but only in Indian group. The contribution of the variables of seniority, professional preparation and gender of the respondents was indicated. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

There is a growing emphasis to improve every student's academic, social-emotional, and career and college development as schools strive to design and deliver comprehensive counseling programs that support students' development in these areas. The purpose of this study is to explore a large urban high school teachers' counselors and admins' perspectives on improving a high-poverty urban school's counseling services to extend school leaders' and counselors' knowledge about delivering effective school counseling programs as, ultimately, success lies with an effective principal and school counselor partnership. Particularly, data from our study will allow urban school principals and school counselors to identify the high and low program needs of urban students to become college, career, and life ready. The next set of comparisons was conducted for social-emotional needs. Like academic development needs, the entire ANOVA summary tables showed non-significant differences. The findings indicated that some responses varied significantly across (1) special education faculty, (2) regular classroom teachers and (3) school counselors in terms of rating of students' counseling needs. School leaders and school counselors can apply the findings of this study to create systemic and comprehensive student services in their schools. Particularly, school leaders and counselors can apply the results in decision-making, discussions, and time allocation in prevention/education versus reactive/responsive academic and counseling services.

There is a significant increase in the number of students with disabilities. However, many general education teachers report that they feel ill-equipped to educate a classroom of students with diverse special education and learning needs. In this qualitative study, the structured focus group interviews were conducted to determine the PD opportunities and characteristics that general education teachers perceive to influence their sense of self-efficacy for educating students with special needs. The results of the focus group discussions revealed that there are several targeted professional development strategies to increase teachers’ efficacy for educating students with special needs. This study makes recommendations for the research supported professional development activities, focused on educating students with special needs, provided to general education teachers.

Teacher self-efficacy has been linked to positive student outcomes. This quantitative research study aimed to examine the mindsets and behaviors of regular education teachers concerning their ability to educate students with special needs. The modified Teacher Self Efficacy Survey was administered to general education teachers. Data revealed that general education teachers feel less efficacious for educating students with special needs in the areas of engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management. This study makes recommendations for professional development, focused on educating students with special needs, provided to general education teachers. Particularly, the findings speak to the need for a more diverse, flexible, and comprehensive approach to implement teacher professional development activities to improve the achievement of students with special needs.

Advocacy has become a crucial professional obligation for school principals. Seen by policymakers as honest brokers who have at heart the best interests of the children and families whom they serve, school principals should offer themselves to policymakers and their staffs as accessible and reliable sources of information about the actual or likely impacts of measures that have already been enacted or that are being introduced. They should be ready to collect, examine, and articulate data of interest to policymakers. Moreover, they should provide compelling stories for those policymakers to remember and retell as they debate, not only education-specific measures, but any policies impacting children’s ability to be healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

This chapter provides a brief autobiographical account of her multiethnic and racial background as a Louisiana Creole in south Louisiana. The author points out that among all racial and ethnic groups in the United States, Indigenous people are the only ones that require some form of lineal Native American descent or blood quantum. The chapter provides an ancestry account of two American Indian tribes along the bayous of south Louisiana, the Chitimacha, and the United Houma Nation. While one federally recognized tribe has attempted to remove all relations to individuals of Black, Negro, or African American descent, the other has closed enrollment to new members (despite lineal descent), with the unifying factor among these communities being establishing progenitors. Finally, the author articulates how lack of access to resources related to issues such as COVID-19 has perpetuated the historical legacy of medical racism in tribal and underserved communities in the United States.

The Connecticut Comprehensive School Counseling Framework was released in November 2020?8 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the progress made by principals and school counselors in implementing the new framework, and to understand the impact of the pandemic on their efforts to do so. We found significant overlap between the perceptions and priorities expressed by participating principals and school counselors. Particularly noteworthy was the fact that both groups described increased collaboration within their schools.

The study aims to suggest a model for attitudes towards inclusive education that will yield a good fit across different countries. Moreover, we aim to explore the effect of years of teaching experience, educational work level of teachers, and the highest degree completed by teachers on teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion across different countries. A demographic scale and the ATTAS-mm were applied to 908 teachers employed in schools of general education or who offered parallel support and/or resources in five different countries (Greece, the UK, the USA, Malaysia, and Turkey). CFA suggested a 4-factor solution, which included the cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors that have been previously introduced by Gregory and Noto (2012), and a fourth factor, labeled overall attitudes towards teaching all students. In the cognitive factor, the UK had the most positive attitudes. TU, MA, and GR enrolled in the same cluster, and the USA had the least positive attitudes. In the affective factor, GR had the most positive attitude. MA and the USA enrolled in the same cluster and TU and the UK had the least positive attitudes. A similar pattern is observed for the behavioral factor with GR having the most positive attitude. TU and MA enrolled in the same cluster, and the USA and the UK had the least positive attitudes. Finally, years of teaching experience, educational work level, and the highest degree completed have a significant effect on teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in all countries. Providing feedback for future research is the focal point of the discussion part. © 2022, Associação Brasileira de Psicologia.

Almost half of the students who begin college are not retained at the institution in which they began. The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of first-year college students to improve their psychological and emotional well-being.  This quantitative study utilized the College Student Mentoring Scale that includes two interrelated constructs which are, Psychological and Emotional Support and The Existence of a Role Model. The research found that multiple factors impact first-year students' perceptions of their psychological and emotional well-being. Additional findings indicated that response levels were highest for The Existence of a Role Model.  It is the intention that this study will add to the somewhat limited research on improving the psychological and emotional well-being of first-year college students in higher education. Also, it will assist in future policies and practices by providing a foundation of the components that influence first-year student success through improving the effectiveness of peer mentoring programs.