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The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of unified school district administrators regarding a merger of special and regular education as proposed by some educators who support the Regular Education Initiative (REI). The REI is a position statement generating from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, that calls for a new partnership between regular and special educators in addressing the needs of all children with learning problems, including those with handicapping conditions. The study elicited responses from 229 administrators in Arizona during the 1988-89 school year. A survey instrument was used to obtain information from the administrators regarding their opinions on items within six categories of consideration (student, instructional, funding, teacher, administrative, and current program) that have implications for a merger. Administrators were also asked to indicate their overall support for a merger and to rate its feasibility and desirability based on each of the six categories of consideration. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences among the three administrator groups regarding the responsibility, role, and directorship of special education in the education of students with learning problems; the willingness of regular education teachers to work with students with handicaps; the benefit of a merger for nonhandicapped low-achieving students; and their rationale for changes in the current special education system. Additional significant differences were found regarding administrators' perceptions of the feasibility of a merger when the analysis was based on district size. Administrators were equally divided in their support for a merger. Most administrators indicated that regular classroom teachers were ill-prepared to educate students with handicaps and would not favor a merger. Administrators expressed strong support for waivers of federal state rules and regulations to implement merged systems experimentally and indicated that no major changes should be considered until results from evaluation studies were available. Results of this study hold implications for policy makers, researchers, teacher trainers, and school administrators.

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This ethnographic study examines the unique schooling experiences of Yaqui students in an urban public school setting in Tucson, Arizona. The dissertation focuses on life narratives as a means of understanding how contemporary Yaqui adults view formal education, the struggles they endured to maintain their cultural identity within a mainstream educational environment, and Yaqui-defined factors contributing to the diminished and differential school success experienced by present-day Yaqui youth. The study enlisted 10 Yaqui individuals who resided in Old Pascua at the time of their elementary and secondary schooling, and who represented a range of ages and schooling levels. Old Pascua was chosen because it was established as the first Yaqui community in Tucson and because of Yaqui student attendance in specific schools. Critical theory provides the study's theoretical framework. Such a framework illuminates both the institutional practices and policies which contribute to the limited success of minority students, and the means of transforming those limiting conditions. Yaqui oral narrative accounts serve as the primary documentation and critique of existing educational institutions. The individual and collective struggles revealed in these first-hand accounts, as well as the social, political, and historical factors impacting the lives of Yaqui individuals, are examined. This documentation and a thematic analysis of the accounts suggest several institutionally produced factors that contributed to Yaqui students' lack of school success: the hidden curriculum of school; family support for education; and perceptions related to success. These themes are explored relative to the lives of Yaqui individuals, to research literature, and to critical theory. Finally, participant-generated recommendations for institutional change are discussed. These include changes in school and community relations, relevance of schooling, and economic factors. This study provides insights into the uniqueness of Yaqui school experiences and extends the current body of literature on American Indian/Alaska Native education by considering schooling from a neglected perspective--one informed by Yaqui individuals themselves. By examining the complex array of factors contributing to Yaqui students' diminished school success, the study also joins microethnography, macroethnography, and critical theory in a unified, systemic approach.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relevance of the graduate study program to international students who studied agriculture at the University of Arizona. The study was a descriptive survey of the 185 international students enrolled during the Spring semester of the 1987-88 academic year. The results from the 106 respondents (57.3 percent) representing 51 countries indicated the following: they had a concern for careers not being met in their home countries; they had a high opinion of the University of Arizona academic community; they were satisfied with their graduate study programs; and they thought course work could be used to solve practical problems. However, they wanted academic advisors to encourage graduate research related to the needs of their home countries and they wanted more off-campus educational activities. It was recommended that the academic advisors thoroughly assess the home country needs of international students when selecting a research topic and that the College of Agriculture develop a better program of off-campus educational activities in order to give international students a broader perspective of American agriculture.

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