Teacher knowledge of and confidence in meeting the needs of children with chronic medical conditions: Pediatric psychology's contribution to education

Abstract

AbstractMore children and adolescents who have chronic illnesses are being included in regular education classrooms today than ever before. However, teachers may not feel confident about being able to meet these children's educational, social, or emotional needs in the classroom. School psychologists are able to assess children's functioning in these areas and can provide information to teachers on a case‐by‐case basis to ensure that children with chronic illnesses receive appropriate and comprehensive services at school and are included in regular education settings to the fullest extent possible. This study assessed special education and regular education teachers' perceptions of their knowledge about and confidence in meeting the academic and social needs of children with chronic medical conditions. Two‐hundred and forty‐seven teachers from 15 midwestern elementary schools completed a survey rating their knowledge and confidence in meeting the academic and social needs of children with 13 chronic medical conditions. Special education teachers reported being more knowledgeable than regular education teachers about cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hemophilia, spina bifida, renal failure, and allergies. However, overall, special education teachers were not more confident than regular education teachers in meeting the academic needs of children with chronic medical conditions. Future research should focus on whether experience affects teacher knowledge and confidence and should examine the effectiveness of interventions to improve teacher knowledge for working with children with medical conditions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.