Psychometric Analysis and Revision of the Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming Scale

• Published in: Exceptional children Vol. 62; no. 2; pp. 139 - 149
• Main Authors: Antonak, Richard F., Larrivee, Barbara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.1995; Council for Exceptional Children; Sage Publications, Inc; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Attitude Measures; Attitudes; Biological and medical sciences; Cognitive Development; Disabilities; Disabled children; Educational psychology; Elementary Secondary Education; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Inclusive Schools; Integration; Mainstreaming; Mainstreaming in education; Opinions; Opinions Relative to Integration Students Disabil; People with disabilities; Psychological tests; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rural Schools; Social Integration; Special education; Student Behavior; Students; Teacher; Teacher Attitudes; Teachers; Test Reliability; Test Validity; Urban Schools; USA; Human; Test validation; Attitude scale; Teacher; Psychometrics; Revised drafting; Social integration; Special education
• ISSN: 0014-4029; 2163-5560
• DOI: 10.1177/001440299506200204

This article provides supporting evidence for the use of a revised version of the Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming (ORM) scale. Analyses of data produced by a test of the revised scale, the Opinions Relative to Integration of Students with Disabilities (ORI), indicated satisfactory item characteristics and adequate reliability and homogeneity. Initial support for ORI's construct validity was demonstrated by the results of regression analyses relating ORI scores to respondent sociodemographic and experiential data and scores on the Scale of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons (SADP). The ORI should prove useful to researchers evaluating the attitudes of educators toward the integration of students with disabilities into general education classrooms.