Middle school students’ attitudes towards the inclusion of peers with special educational needs

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with middle school students" attitudes towards peers with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Greek mainstream schools. A sample of 138 students participated in this study and data were collected using a questionnaire containing a sociodemographic section and a section measuring attitudes. It was also tested whether the participants" attitudes are influenced by factors such as gender, familiarity with children with SEN, place of residence, achievement score, occupation and educational level of the parents. The main results indicate that middle school students have positive attitudes towards peers with designated SEN. The importance of these and the other findings of the research are discussed. It is expected that the research will provide useful information for education professionals and educational policy makers and will contribute to the formulation of effective strategies in the pursuit of inclusion and equality of opportunity for students with special educational needs.