Teacher Attitudes Toward Dyslexia: Effects on Teacher Expectations and the Academic Achievement of Students With Dyslexia

Abstract

The present study examined teacher attitudes toward dyslexia and the effects of these attitudes on teacher expectations and the academic achievement of students with dyslexia compared to students without learning disabilities. The attitudes of 30 regular education teachers toward dyslexia were determined using both an implicit measure and an explicit, self-report measure. Achievement scores for 307 students were also obtained. Implicit teacher attitudes toward dyslexia related to teacher ratings of student achievement on a writing task and also to student achievement on standardized tests of spelling but not math for those students with dyslexia. Self-reported attitudes of the teachers toward dyslexia did not relate to any of the outcome measures. Neither the implicit nor the explicit measures of teacher attitudes related to teacher expectations. The results show implicit attitude measures to be a more valuable predictor of the achievement of students with dyslexia than explicit, self-report attitude measures.

The role of parental expectations in understanding social and academic well-being among children with disabilities in Ireland

“…literature in the area of expectations for children with disabilities has tended to focus on the expectations of teachers and the issue of stigma or group stigmatisation around certain types of disabilities (Hornstra et al 2010). Stigma research suggests that being labelled as having a disability or special educational need can lead to a change in the behaviour of adults who may encourage 'learned helplessness' (Thomas 1979) or a belief among children (or their parents) that their behaviour does not influence their outcomes.…”

Helping students with LD to succeed: the role of teachers’ hope, sense of coherence and specific self-efficacy

“…Teachers stated the need for specific skills to meet the students' special needs and accordingly, help them develop learning strategies and empower their efforts to perform different academic tasks (Hyman 2012). It has also been reported that teachers' prejudiced attitudes and implicit academic expectations of their students with LD may have a significant adverse effect on the children's self-confidence, personal resources, and well-being, consequently affecting students' achievement (Hornstra et al 2010;Wiesmann and Hannich 2011).…”

Attitudes and intentions of Greek teachers towards teaching pupils with dyslexia: An application of the theory of planned behaviour

“…A study by Hornstra, Denessen, Bakker, Van den Bergh, and Voeten (2010) attempted to make a link between implicit measures of attitudes, explicit measures of attitudes, and teacher expectations for pupils with dyslexia. An interesting finding was that teachers with negative implicit attitudes gave lower grades in writing and spelling to pupils with dyslexia, but did not give them lower grades in math.…”