Early Career Agriculture Teachers’ Efficacy Toward Teaching Students with Special Needs

Abstract

This study sought to assess the perceptions of early career agriculture teachers’ ability to teach students with special needs. Agriculture teachers in the first five years of their careers indicated that administrative support contributed the most to their success in working with students with special needs, while in–service activities that focused on students with special needs contributed little. Self–efficacy was the strongest predictor of self–perceived success of teaching students with special needs. Self–efficacy, combined with administrator support, in–service and teacher preparation, accounted for 27% of the variance in early career agriculture teachers’ self–perceived success of teaching students with special needs.