Psychometric properties of the revised Teachers' Attitude towards Inclusion Scale

This paper presents the psychometric properties of a questionnaire measure that updates andextends Larrivee and Cook's (1979) Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming Scale in terms ofstructure, terminology, and language. The revised scale was tested using a sample of 106teachers based in inclusive mainstream schools. Using Principal Component Analysis, a fourfactorstructure was found for the "attitudes toward inclusion" section of the revised scale: (a)problems of inclusion of special educational needs (SEN) children in mainstream classes; (b)social benefits for all of the inclusion of SEN pupils in mainstream classes; (c) implications ofinclusion for teaching practice; and (d) implications for addressing the needs of children withSEN. Moderate to good reliability was found for these components (Cronbach's a: .76-.86).In conclusion, the updated and revised Teachers' Attitude to Inclusion Scale (TAIS) showspromise of being a reliable and valid measure for both research and applied purposes.