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Research Title: Mainstreaming of Children with Special Needs at the SPED Schools in
Leyte: Views, Practices, & Problems
Research Proponent: LEDWINA C. TESTON
Position: SPED Teacher III
School: Sto. Nino SPED Center, Tacloban City
Abstract:
This descriptive study aimed to determine the implementation of mainstreaming program of the
Dep.Ed in the Province of Leyte in terms of views, practices and problems of the school
Principals, SPED Teachers, Reg. Education Teachers, Parents of CSN, the CSN and the Regular
Pupils. Specifically the results showed that the SPED teachers have a highly positive regard
towards mainstreaming. On the other hand Regular teachers have a negative regard towards
mainstreaming. There are significant differences in the means of the four groups of the
perceptions on the extent of implementation of mainstreaming program for CSN. The KruskalWallis One-Way Analysis of Variance was used to measure the differences of the perceptions of
the four groups. The difference of perceptions was significant at 0.05 level of significance.
There are significant differences on the perception of the following pairs of respondents.
Moreover, to know which pair of means have significant differences; the Two-Sample
Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test was used. The result showed that there are significant differences on
the perceptions on the mainstreaming program for CSN between the following groups: School
Principals and Regular Education Teachers (p-value = 0.028) and Regular Education Teachers
and Parents of CSN (p-value = 0.003). On the other hand, the rest of the pairs of groups have no
significant differences on their views about the mainstreaming program. There are three topmost
problems met by the respondents as follows; lack of SPED specialists to handle the program;
lack of facilities; lack in-service trainings in special education by regular education teachers.
Negative attitudes of regular students towards mainstreaming are the least of problems by the
respondents. With the findings and conclusions above on the views, practices and problems, meet
by the respondents in the mainstreaming program hereby, generated a recommendations to wit:
to top SPED Teachers primarily that should have earned a BEED SPED Program and trainings
related to SPED: (2) DEPED should have an accurate, appropriate, and systematic
mainstreaming program thus, School heads, SPED Teachers, and Regular Teachers implement
the proper process and procedures in implementing a mainstreaming program.(3) Use SPED
Fund for the improvement of SPED Facilities, including trainings of teachers, and purchase of
necessary equipment for the SPED classes.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years an increasing numbers of stakeholders in the field of special education are
advocating the practice of having all students with disabilities placed in the regular classroom.
This practice is referred to mainstreaming as the integration of children with disabilities with
their peers in general education based on individual assessment. Mainstreaming is the system of
removing children from their special education classes for part of the day and placing them in general
education classes alongside with their nondisabled peers (McLean & Hanline, 2006). In mainstreaming,
children are given access to general education classes only when they are able to meet the necessary
requirements to be able to function in the regular classroom environment. . Mainstreaming also teaches

Children with Special Needs (CSN) how to socialize with others therefore giving them a better
chance of functioning in a way that is socially acceptable. The practice of mainstreaming not
only benefits children with special needs but normal students as well. It helps develop their
understanding and appreciation of the diversity of people.
Despite the availability of these placements in the Philippine setting, as reported by Dr.
Inciong, there is a question on the accessibility of a whole population of children with disability
to these services. Another question is the quality of these services and their impact to the lives of
children with special needs. There is a dearth of data to answer the above questions. Thus it
appears that there are outstanding government policies on the inclusion issue, but the monitoring
and assessment of the implementation of such policies are not transparent at its best.
Moreover, notwithstanding the fact that mainstreaming has been gaining awareness and
support from people through the years, this practice still faces numerous problems. These

problems arise from the shortage of resources and support from the authorities, discrimination
towards special students, and most importantly the lack of training for the teachers therefore
resulting in their inability to handle special students. This study aimed to look into how
administrators, SPED teachers, regular education teachers, mainstreamed children with special
needs pupils, regular education pupils and parents of the mainstreamed pupils, view or perceive
the mainstreaming program for the children with special needs (CSN) pupils in the Multi-Site
Schools in Leyte. It also looked into the extent as well as the problems met in the implementation
of the mainstreaming program for the CSN. The findings of this study served as inputs for the
proposed improvements of the mainstreaming program in the SPED Centers.
PROBLEM OF THE STUDY
Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following questions:
1. What are the perceptions of the respondents regarding the mainstreaming

program for CSN?

2. Is there a significant difference on the perceptions of respondents regarding the mainstreaming

program for CSN across the six groups?
3. Are there significant differences on the perceptions of respondents regarding the mainstreaming
program for CSN between any two of the following groups ( School Principals, SPED Teacher, Regular
Education Teachers, Parents of CS, CSN

and the Regular Pupils)

4. What are the perceptions of the respondents regarding the actual practices in the
implementation of mainstreaming program for CSN?
5. Is there a significant difference on the perceptions of respondents regarding the actual
practices in the implementation of mainstreaming program for CSN?
6, Are there significant differences on the perceptions of respondents regarding the actual
practices in the implementation of mainstreaming program for CSN among the following groups:
(School Principal, SPED Teachers, Regular Education Teachers, Parents of CSN)

7. What are the problems met by the administrators, regular teacher, SPED teachers, and parents
in the implementation of the mainstreaming program for CSN?
8. What improvements can be proposed relative to the implementation of the mainstreaming
program for CSN based on the findings of the study?
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN
Theoretically, the researcher adopted the model based on ecological development
paradigm as an approach to mainstreaming of children with special needs. Porter (2006) Porters
proposes a model emphasizes the importance of ecological development. She views childrens
development in terms of being holistic, dynamic, transactional, and singular. Holistic means all
areas of development are inter-related. Dynamic is concerned with the principle of goodness of
fit. This study aimed to gain insights and explain the views, practices, and problems in the
system of mainstreaming of children with special needs.
Profile
On
Characteristi
cs

Views/Ideas
on the
Mainstreami
ng Program
for CSN

Observed
Practices on
the
Implementati
on of the
mainstreamin
g for CSN

Problems
Met by the
Implement
ers of the
Mainstrea
ming
Program
for CSN

Proposed
Implement
ation
Practices
to Improve
the
Mainstrea
ming
Program
for CSN

Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework of the study.

The Measurement of variables are on the views on the mainstreaming program, the extent
of the implementation of mainstreaming program and the problems met by the implementers of
the mainstreaming program. The respondents of the study were the administrators, SPED
teachers, regular education teachers, mainstreamed children with special needs, regular education

pupils and parents of the mainstreamed pupils. The 100% distributions of the respondents were
used except for the regular students were the CSN enrolled which only 20% of the average
population taken thereof. Purposive sampling

technique was utilized in determining the

respondents of the study . The data gathering was done at the above SPED Schools in Leyte
This study used the following instruments in its data gathering.

Part I used an

enumerated tools to capture data on the (1) Checklists on the Views/Perceptions towards
Mainstreaming Program. There were six-set of checklists answered by the administrators, SPED
teachers, and regular education teachers, mainstreamed children with special needs pupils,
regular education pupils and Parents of the mainstreamed; (2) Checklist on the Extent of
Implementation of Mainstreaming Program for the Children with Special Needs in the Multi-Site
Schools in Leyte; (3) Checklist on the Problems Meet on the Implementation of Mainstreaming
Program for the Children with Special Needs. While the Part II used the Focus Group Discussion
method to investigate phenomenon that emerges from the data of generated by the statistics of
the responses from the survey. The underlying reason of the result that emerged from the study is
investigated in using Focus Group Discussion method.
The Part I of the study was composed used survey through questionnaires and checklist.
After the data is gathered, it was analyzed and interpreted using statistical treatment, based on
the trend that emerges after the statistical processing, questions for the Focus Group Discussion
was formulated. While the Part II of the study was derived from the focus group discussions. The
purpose of this section of the study was to investigate and probe deeper into the issue, which
escapes the finite procedures of surveys, checklist, and numbers, as it involves unquantifiable
data particularly the views, ideas, and practices as evident in the mainstreaming program of
CSN.

Preliminary activities and the actual administration of the instruments were done by the
researcher. The data gathered for Part I was treated using the Chi Square Test for Independent
Non Parametric Test. Additionally the Kruskal Wallis One Way Analysis of Variance was used
to know if there is significance in the difference of views of respondents. Furthermore the TwoSample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test to test which pairs of means in the responses of the
respondents have significant differences. While for Part II of the study, deals with qualitative
data which are composed of the views/ ideas/ and actual practices culled from the interviews and
FGD. This used a different treatment. The responses from the FGD were transcribed. The
transcribed interview was then analyzed to reveal the themes that emerge from the respondents
answers.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
Problem #1. What are the perceptions of the respondents regarding the mainstreaming
program for CSN?
The perceptions of the respondents regarding the mainstreaming program for CSN are
reflected that the SPED Teachers have a highly positive regard, followed closely by the School
Principals. Only the Regular Education Teachers showed a negative regard in perceiving the
mainstreaming program for CSN.
Problem #2. Is there a significant difference on the perceptions of respondents regarding
the mainstreaming program for CSN across the six groups?

There is a significant difference on the perception of the respondents regarding the

mainstreaming program. Using the Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance it showed that
at 0.05 level of significance that there are significant differences on the perceptions of the six

different groups on the mainstreaming program for CSN (p-value = 0.000). Thus, it can be
concluded at 0.05 level of significance that there are significant differences on the perceptions of
the six different groups on the mainstreaming program for CSN (p-value = 0.000).
Problem # 3. Are there significant differences on the perceptions of respondents regarding the
mainstreaming program for CSN between any two of the following groups( School Principals, SPED
Teacher, Regular Education Teachers, Parents of CS, CSN and the Regular Pupils)

There are significant differences in the perceptions of the respondents regarding the
mainstreaming between the groups was proved by the Two-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test.
The results yielded conclusive significance at 0.05 level of significance. Specifically the test
identified which groups show significant differences on the perceptions on the mainstreaming
program for CSN between the following groups: (1) SPED Teachers and Regular Education
Teachers (p-value = 0.005); (2) SPED Teachers and Parents of CSN (p-value = 0.000); (3) SPED
Teachers and CSN (p-value = 0.000); (4) SPED Teachers and Regular Pupils (p-value = 0.000);
(5) Regular Education Teachers and Parents of CSN (p-value = 0.005); (6) Regular Education
Teachers and CSN (p-value = 0.005); (7) Regular Education Teachers and Regular Pupils (pvalue = 0.005); (8) CSN and Regular Pupils (p-value = 0.000). While the rest of the pairs of
groups have no significant differences on their views about the mainstreaming program for CSN
as shown in their corresponding computed p-values which are greater than 0.05.
4. What are the perceptions of the respondents regarding the actual practices in the
implementation of mainstreaming program for CSN?
The four selected groups of respondents declares that, the school principals perceived that
mainstreaming program for CSN is partially implemented with mean of 3.15 and standard
deviation of 0.06. On the other hand, the other three groups thought that the program is seldom
implemented only: SPED teachers has a mean of 2.84 and standard deviation of 0.31, regular

education teachers with mean and standard deviation of 2.52 and 0.39, respectively, and parents
of CSN with mean of 2.93 and standard deviation of 0.35.
5. Is there a significant difference on the perceptions of respondents regarding the actual
practices in the implementation of mainstreaming program for CSN?
There are evident differences in the means of the four groups of the perceptions on the
extent of implementation of mainstreaming program for CSN. In order to know if the differences
of the perceptions of the four groups were significant and not only by chance, the Kruskal-Wallis
One-Way Analysis of Variance was utilized using the SPSS.
Problem #6. Are there significant differences on the perceptions of respondents regarding the
actual practices in the implementation of mainstreaming program for CSN among the
following groups: (School Principal, SPED Teachers, Regular Education Teachers, Parents of
CSN)
There are significant differences on the perceptions on the mainstreaming program for
CSN between the following groups:

(1) School Principals and Regular Education Teachers (p-

value = 0.028); and (2) Regular Education Teachers and Parents of CSN (p-value = 0.013). On
the other hand, the rest of the pairs of groups have no significant differences on their views about
the mainstreaming program for CSN as shown in their corresponding computed p-values which
are greater than 0.05.
7. What are the problems met by the administrators, regular teacher, SPED teachers, and
parents in the implementation of the mainstreaming program for CSN?
The top five problems that were identified by more than more than Five hundred (500)
respondents were the following: (1) Lack of SPED specialists to handle the program, (2) Lack
of facilities, (3) Regular education teachers lack in-service trainings in special education, (4)

Lack of support from the regular education teachers, and (5) Lack of support from
administrators.
Problem #8. What improvements can be proposed relative to the implementation of the
mainstreaming program for CSN based on the findings of the study?
The following are the proposed program relative to the implementation of the
mainstreaming program for the CSN; First is to top SPED Teachers primarily that should have
earned a BEED SPED Program who would be effectively handle this mainstreaming program;
(2) DEPED should have an accurate, appropriate, and systematic mainstreaming program thus,
School heads, SPED Teachers, and Regular Teachers implement the proper process and
procedures in implementing a mainstreaming program.(3) Use SPED Fund for the improvement
of SPED Facilities, including trainings of teachers, and purchase of necessary equipment-School
heads often reapportion SPED Fund to the needs of the general education program.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The researcher came to conclude that the SPED Teachers and Regular Teachers are in the
forefront of the mainstreaming program. Any or all inadequacies in the process of mainstreaming
are experienced by both. As such both group of respondents in the survey, and as further clarified
in the Focus Group Discussion declare that mainstreaming is seldom implemented.
Parents of CSN also agree with the opinions expressed by the Regular Teachers and the
SPED Teachers in the FGD. Parents feel that the needs of their CSN are not fully met in the
mainstreaming program of the SPED Centers in DEPED schools. They pointed out several
problems, which remained unsolved for several school years. However despite the difficulties
encountered mostly by the SPED teachers in educating their children, parents expressed their
appreciation for the efforts of the SPED teachers in making the best of what they can to educate

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their CSN despite the difficulties. Moreover, the respondents feel the reason SPED Teachers,
Regular Teachers, and Parents of CSN held similar views, in that they perceive mainstreaming
to be partially implemented , is partly dues to the fact that they share a common experience.
The SPED Teachers, Regular Teachers, and Parents of CSN are in the forefront of
implementing the mainstreaming program. Each day they encounter challenges which are rooted
to the inadequacies of the implementation program. Often times, the SPED Teacher and the
Regular Teacher find solution on their own, beyond their job description, all in the spirit of
helping the CSN.
The three topmost problems met by the administrators, regular teacher, SPED teachers,
and parents in the implementation of the mainstreaming program for CSN are the following ; the
lack of SPED specialists to handle the program; lack of facilities; lack in-service trainings in
special education by regular education teachers. Negative attitudes of regular students towards
mainstreaming are the least of problems by the respondents. Thus, the School Heads, SPED
Teachers and Regular Teachers expressed the need for augmentative and assistive technology to
help the CSN.
From the conclusions presented, the researcher recommended the following: (1) To top
SPED Teachers primarily that should have earned a BEED SPED Program who would be
effectively handle this mainstreaming program; (2) DEPED should have an accurate, appropriate,
and systematic mainstreaming program thus, School heads, SPED Teachers, and Regular
Teachers implement the proper process and procedures in

implementing a mainstreaming

program.(3) Use SPED Fund for the improvement of SPED Facilities, including trainings of
teachers, and purchase of necessary equipment for SPED program.

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