Teacher and student perceptions of self-determination

Abstract

Teacher and Eighth Grade Student Perceptions of Self-Determination by Jennifer L. Black Dr. Susan P. Miller, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Special Education University of Nevada, Las Vegas For almost two decades, research efforts specific to self-determination have resulted in the development of curricula, assessments, instructional strategies, interventions, model programs, and proposed quality indicators (Field et al., 1998). Despitel the combined efforts and perceptions of researchers, teachers, parents, employers, and college disability service providers related to these important aspects of self-determination research, limited attention has been devoted to understanding the perceptions of self-determination from secondary students with and without disabilities and their general and special education teachers. The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher and student perceptions related to self-determination. Teacher perceptions were measured with the SelfDetermination Teacher Perception Scale (Hoffman, Field, & Sawilowsky, 2004). Student Perceptions were measured with the Self-Determination Student Scale (Hoffman, Field, & Sawilowsky, 2004). Perceptions from students with disabilities were compared to the perceptions of their general and special education teachers. Results of the chi-square test