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Teacher preparation programs in special education are responding to demands for quality. Sources inside and outside the field of education have called for change. In 1986, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accreditation redesign was implemented. The Council For Exceptional Children (CEC) adopted Standards for the Preparation of Special Education Personnel in 1983 and these standards for special education programs have become a part of the NCATE redesign. This study proposes to answer the question of whether these professional standards and the NCATE redesign have had a direct impact on masters level special education teacher preparation program quality and development.;Research was conducted on a national level surveying teacher preparation programs for the mildly and moderately handicapped. The sample of 150 included members of NCATE due for program review in 1987-88 and those in 1990-91, as well as a sample of programs that are non-NCATE members. Analysis viewed differences in NCATE/non-NCATE teacher preparation programs, programs being reviewed for continuing accreditation in 1987-88 and 1990-91, and the extent to which the CEC standards for the Preparation of Personnel and Code of Ethics are addressed when comparing the NCATE and non-NCATE accredited institutions.

As manager and instructional leader of the school, the principal is responsible for the well-being of all programs, including the provision of general and special education services for children and youth with disabilities. However, the intricacies of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, P.L. 101-476, coupled with the complexity of the building administrator's role in contemporary educational settings, result in a need to assist principals in keeping abreast of key information regarding special education. A core set of special education competencies, based on clearly defined areas and identified by the principal and other key stakeholders responsible for preservice and inservice training is needed.;The present study was conducted to investigate core special education competencies needed by public school principals in Virginia for the effective administration of special education programs in their buildings. The study was also designed to determine how elementary, middle/junior high, high school building administrators, special education administrators, and university professors in Virginia differ in their perceptions of the importance of these competencies. The final purpose of the study was to determine the degree to which building administrators perceive their level of knowledge relative to the core special education competencies identified.;The study involved responses from surveys received from 308 principals, special education administrators, and university professors (i.e., 74% of the 414 randomly sampled individuals from these groups). In response to the research question regarding which core special education competencies are needed by principals, a set of seven major competencies, accompanied by 24 sub-competency statements were generated. Five of the seven major competencies surveyed were deemed very important for building administrators by the groups surveyed. The remaining two competencies were deemed somewhat important by the groups. No statistical differences were found to exist between building administrators regarding either their perceived level of importance or their level of knowledge relative to the seven major competencies. The principals as a group considered their level of knowledge relative to the competencies to be moderately low. Recommendations are made for future research.

In Virginia, the State Board of Education has specified fourteen areas in which every teacher who is granted a Collegiate Professional Certificate must be competent and has established the Virginia Beginning Teacher Assistance Program (BTAP) for the purpose of assessing the competence of beginning teachers. The basis of BTAP is a "set of measurable or observable indicators through which beginning teachers can demonstrate their competence in each competency area specified by the Board of Education." In studies of teacher effectiveness in regular education, these competency areas have been consistently related to increased student achievement. Few studies in special education have sought to demonstrate that these competency areas relate to increased achievement for handicapped students. The purpose of this study was to validate the BTAP indicators of competence for special education teachers. Classroom observation data on teaching behavior of subjects and reading achievement data on mildly handicapped students in subjects' classes were collected. Data were analyzed for relationships between teaching behaviors of subjects and reading achievement of students.

The implementation of Public Law 94-142 (amended in 1990 by Public Law 101-476) guaranteed individuals with disabilities a quality public education. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 opened the doors of postsecondary educational institutions to individuals with disabilities wishing to continue their educations past high school. This influx of diverse individuals to colleges/universities has created a need for support service programs to assist, guide, and ensure the success of this population. Postsecondary institutions have responded to this need by creating offices that provide a variety of services to students with disabilities. It was the purpose of this study to examine: (a) the nature of support service programs provided to students with disabilities, (b) the qualifications of administrators of support service programs for students with disabilities, (c) the level of satisfaction of students utilizing support service programs for students with disabilities, and (d) attitudinal and architectural barriers which might be encountered by students with disabilities. Administrators of support service programs for students with disabilities and students with disabilities in public colleges/universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia responded to this study. Data were analyzed using measures of central tendency and analysis of variance. The results of this investigation indicated that support service programs for students with disabilities in public colleges/universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia offer a variety of services. Administrators of support service programs, who responded to this study, identified the various types of services available to students with disabilities on public postsecondary educational institutions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The majority of student respondents with disabilities utilizing these services were satisfied with support service programs offered to them.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the integration of an attribution retraining program and a cognitive self-instruction procedure as a means of improving the academic performance and component attentional skills and modifying the cognitive-behavioral beliefs and behaviors of elementary-age children served in self-contained learning disabilities (SCLD) programs.;Subjects were 77 children, 10-13 years of age, served in public school SCLD programs. A primary group (n = 27) received attributional retraining and cognitive self-instruction, a secondary group (n = 25) cognitive self-instruction alone, and a control group (n = 25) traditional instruction. Intervention in the treatment conditions was presented over the 10-week period in three phases: (a) Controlled Instruction, (b) Transition, and (c) Direct Instruction.;Assessment was conducted in reading, mathematics, and written language on a standardized instrument (Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement) and probe sheets, locus of control (Children's Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External control scale), cognitive-behavioral trends (Burks' Behavior Rating Scales), general attention (Visual-Aural Digit Span Test), and attentional style (Matching Familiar Figures Test).;Analysis of covariance and post hoc least squares means analysis revealed significant primary treatment growth in cognitive-behavioral outcomes (poor attention, poor ego strength, and excessive dependency) and probe sheet mathematics; significant primary treatment growth versus either secondary treatment or control conditions was noted in cognitive-behavioral areas (poor academics and poor impulse control) and standardized reading. No significant differences were noted in mathematics or written language on the standardized instrument, reading or written language on probe sheets, trends toward internality, general attention/memory, and latency (near significant) or error rate.;Recommendations include longer term investigations of antecedent attributions, clarification of the role of attribution in cognitive-behavioral change, and a diverse application of attribution retraining in education.

This study addressed three questions: (1) Are social planning processes, i.e., means-ends thinking, knowledge of social conventions, and social schematic ability, related to each other? (2) Are they related to the perceived social competence of learning disabled (SLD) adolescents? (3) Are they determinants of differences in perceived social competence?;Martin Ford's (1982) Social Competence Nomination Form (SCNF) assessed the social competence of 59 SLD adolescents from The New Community School in Richmond, Virginia. Extreme groups of SCNF scorers were compared on three social planning skill measures: Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure (MEPS) (Spivack, Shure & Platt, 1981) and the Comprehension and Picture Arrangement subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Tests (Wechsler, 1974, 1981). The sample was described with the UCLA system of marker variables (Keogh, Major-Kingsley, Omori-Gordon, & Reid, 1982).;The hypothesized relationships were neither proved nor refuted, because although intercorrelations among the three sets of social planning process scores were significant, the correlations between the social competence scores and social planning process scores were not. However, the significant intercorrelations and the analyses of high and low scores added to the validity of Ford's (1986) social competence theory. The study also added to the SLD data base, confirmed the variance in the Kaufman's (1979) social judgment construct, and added to reliability data.;Needing further investigation are the MEPS's cognitive and linguistic features, its scoring, and the effects of the interview process. The SCNF'S cognitive demands, item situational specificity, and bases for perceptions of social competence need closer examination. In addition, studies need to be done with both normal learning and SLD adolescents. Samples should be small, but larger than this one. Also, subjects should have had the opportunity to participate together in multiple school social settings. The results then should be validated by examining behavior in natural situations to see if perceptions of social competence are confirmed by social leadership in real-life situations.

This case study was concerned with examining the role of principals supervising programs for students with disabilities in effective schools as defined by the Virginia Department of Education's Outcome Accountability Project (OAP). In order to do this, three questions were framed, and after reviewing the literature, a research design was developed allowing data relative to the study questions to be collected. Multiple data sources were used in this investigation.;From the data collected in this study, three major conclusions may be drawn. The first finding is that the role of the principal in a school with an effective special education program, defined by the Outcome Accountability Project (OAP) indicators, differs from the role of a principal in a school with a lower OAP rating. Differences were found in practices that addressed behaviors in the following performance areas: communication, staff development, systematic evaluation of instruction, collaboration, and instructional programming.;The second conclusion is that interaction between the special education administrator and principal of an effective OAP defined school does differ from that of a special education administrator and principal in a school with less effective OAP ratings. Interviews with principals and special education administrators and results from responsibility charts delineated best practices for principals of effective OAP schools.;The third major finding identified the lack of time, lack of knowledge of special programs/curriculum and lack of central office assistance as the three main obstacles that impede the instructional effectiveness of principals. Supporting documentation from the interviews indicated the effects of these obstacles.

The purpose of this study is to identify social and intellectual sources of influence shaping 14 gifted high school seniors in one rural culture, to delineate patterns among those sources of influence, and to generate questions for further investigation of giftedness--primarily in a rural culture.;All 14 seniors attending the single public high school in a rural county in eastern Virginia who had been identified according to state guidelines as gifted by school division personnel were selected as subjects for this case study research. The triangulated data collection methods used in this study encompass interviews, observations, and the examination of school records, subject journals, and researcher memoranda. The triangulated data sources include subjects, parents, faculty, peers, school records, and subject journals.;The individual case studies are composed from the raw data in order to explore the sources of influence on each subject. The prosopography compiles and contrasts the same raw data from all the subjects in order to delineate patterns. These patterns are summarized according to the eight sources used throughout this study: background, home, rural community, church, school, outside world, peers, and self.;From the summarized findings, ten conclusions are drawn; six recommendations for administrative practice are made; and nine questions for future research are specified.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions that school principals, directors of special education/directors of pupil personnel/psychologists, regular educators, and special educators in Virginia public schools have of the process of integrating educable mentally retarded, learning disabled, and emotionally disturbed students into regular classes in grades 5-9. The study sought to examine mainstreaming perceptions of educators, factors that underlie educator perceptions, and obtain individual qualitative accounts of educator perspectives regarding the availability of instructional resources within their school divisions.;The Survey of Educator Perceptions of Enhancing and Restraining Forces Related to the Integration of Mildly Handicapped Students in the Regular Educational Setting, was the survey instrument used in this study (Prus, 1989). Six hundred and forty educators were randomly selected from school divisions characterized by size and rural and urban demographics and mailed a survey. Three hundred thirty-three (333) educators returned completed surveys.;One hundred twenty-eight (128) regular educators were randomly selected to participate in individual interviews with the research regarding the availability of instructional resources within their school. The selected sample included four teachers from each of the division types; a total of 16 participants comprised the sample. Interviews were conducted at the school site of each participant. A structured, interview questionnaire, developed and field tested by the researcher, was used as a guide for data collection.;The results of the Multivariate Analysis of Variance, Analyses of Variance, and post-hoc analyses indicated the existence of significant differences between educator groups on the survey scales. Except for the Attitudes Toward Mainstreaming scale, principals provided the most positive ratings on each scale. Regular educators provided significantly lower ratings on this scale.;Pearson Product-Moment correlations indicated several demographic variables were found to be small, but significant predictors of the total survey score.;The validity of the survey results was supported by content analysis of respondent recommendations for the improvement of mainstreaming effectiveness within their school divisions, and the analysis of interview data.;It was concluded principals perceive the level of administrative support, support services/resources, expectations/climate, and instructional training/planning as more facilitating than inhibiting factors related to the mainstreaming process in their school divisions. The significantly lower ratings revealed by other educator groups suggest these groups perceive these factors to be more inhibiting factors related to mainstreaming effectiveness within their divisions. Consistent with the pattern of differences noted on the survey analysis, survey respondents and interview participants indicated areas of need for improvement in division mainstreaming efforts. Specific recommendations for further research and practice are included.