principle with the concept of inclusion, and were willing to implement practices to achieve that goal, the majority believed that they had insufficient time, training, and resources to do so. In terms of time, the general consensus was that teachers would need at least an hour a day to plan for students with disabilities. Appropriate training would involve intensive, systematic, well-planned, and ongoing services from specialists in the field. Teachers felt that the addition of a teaching assistant, or at minimum, daily contact with special education teachers would be warranted. The need for special curriculum materials and other classroom equipment was expressed. Further, teachers felt that class size should be restricted to no more than 20 students so that the additional time needed to accommodate instruction for disabled students would not have a negative impact on the class in general.
Teachers' comfort in including students with mild disabilities in the classroom varied. In one study, only 23 percent of the teachers surveyed supported mainstreaming students with educable mental retardation (Scruggs and Mastropieri, 1996, p. 62). Most based the perception of the need for additional resources and support on the severity of the disabilities of potential students. In general, it was felt that secondary teachers would have a more difficult experience accommodating disabled students than would teachers at the elementary level.
One fear routinely voiced by general education teachers is that inclusion of disabled students migh
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