Measuring Teachers’ Orientations Regarding Reading Instruction for Students with IDD

Reading skills are important to the academic success and long-term self-determination of individuals with disabilities. Teachers’ theoretical orientations toward reading instruction are relevant to their implementation of interventions that may be more or less effective in addressing students’ needs. Whereas reading instructional orientation has been studied previously in broader samples of general and special education teachers, there is little information about teachers working with students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (SET-IDDs). We recruited a nationally representative sample of SET-IDDs (n = 318) to complete a measure of theoretical orientations toward reading specific to students with IDD. This study describes the adaptation of the Teacher Perceptions about Early Reading and Spelling-IDD scale and its psychometric properties. Results of exploratory factor analysis indicate two subscales: explicit orientations and implicit orientations. SET-IDDs had a stronger preference for explicit approaches than implicit approaches. Additionally, the two subscales were significantly negatively correlated. We discuss the value of assessing SET-IDDs’ theoretical orientations toward reading instruction and implications for reading intervention for students with IDD.