Teacher Manageability: Do Special and Regular Educators Agree?

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to determine whether there were differences between regular and special educators in their perceptions of manageability of common problem behaviors and which behaviors were identified as most problematic. Forty-four regular and 65 special education teachers completed the Behavior Manageability Scale, a 39-behavior, 11-cluster checklist of problem behaviors. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated no significant differences among groups, with the socially withdrawn, inattention and work organization behavioral clusters rated as most difficult to manage by each group. Implications for teacher education and referral and placement policies are discussed.