Book Summary: The purpose of this book is to assist readers to use better practices when developing educationally meaningful and legally sound Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Beginning with the history and purpose of IEPs, this book examines the context and reasons IEPs were first created. The core chapters address better practices in conducting assessments, developing present levels of academic achievement and functional performance statements, crafting measurable annual goals, determining special education services, and monitoring and reporting on students’ progress. The authors also discuss placing students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE) and provide forms and graphics to assist in developing students’ special education programs.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine which, if any, of seven variables, as well as the linear combination of same, help to explain a significant amount of variance between ideal and real role function of counselors in the implementation of PL 94-142. The study investigated whether the explained role incongruence was increased, independently or collectively, by the following independent variables: (1) discrepancy of counselors and special education administrators' perceptions of appropriate counselor responsibilities in assisting with the implementation of PL 94-142 (discrepancy index), (2) amount of staff development regarding special education topics, (3) experience, (4) counselor-student ratio, (5) sex of counselor, (6) degree classification, and (7) proportion of time clerical assistance is available to counselors. The study was conducted in West Virginia by surveying a random sample of public school counselors and all fifty-five (55) special education administrators in the state. Questionnaires were returned by 204 of the 216 counselors in the sample and by 54 of the 55 special education administrators, for an overall return rate of 95.2 percent. Data was collected from January to March, 1983. Results of the multiple regression analysis, stepwise method, indicated that the linear combination of staff development, discrepancy index, and experience explained a significant amount of role incongruence variance. No relationship was found between role incongruence and any of the independent variables when each was considered independently. The item analysis of counselors' responses on the questionnaire indicated that a majority have assumed primary responsibility for eleven of the forty tasks on the questionnaires, even though a majority perceived twenty-seven of the tasks to be appropriate. The tasks which a majority of counselors perceived to be appropriate but had not assumed as a primary role pertained to the delivery of related services, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) development and evaluation process, communicating with parents to acquire or disseminate information, and administering instruments to assess areas such as self-concept, interests, and career maturity. Eight (73 percent) of the eleven tasks which a majority of counselors reportedly have assumed as a primary role are quasi-administrative. The remaining three primary role tasks assumed by counselors include participation in school-based assistance team meetings and placement advisory committee meetings, as well as providing career education programming for handicapped students. / Ed. D.

This study described the state policy-making process as it was affected by the impact of the 1976 Federal Vocational Amendments. The roles of the state level actors were investigated in order to explain the process by which policy was developed. The impact on the local division was analyzed in terms of importance, action taken, and impact as these related to the issues of Sex Stereotyping, Local Advisory Council, Vocational Guidance, and the Assurances on Administrative and Fiscal Matters. The data were first viewed in aggregation and then as perceived by type of respondent, as well as by size, type, and geographical region of the school division. The major findings of the study were: 1. That the policy-making process at the state level was a complex array of assignments, committees, state officers, and staff. 2. The State Plan and Accountability Report Committee was the most influential actor in the policy process with the State Advisory Council placing second in importance. 3. In terms of prior action before the 1976 Vocational Amendments, little had taken place at the local level. 4. In terms of impact, the 1976 Vocational Amendments had only a moderately low to moderate effect on school organizations as reported by Superintendents and Vocational Directors. 5. As reported by respondents, school division size, type, and geographic region, only the issue of Sex Stereotyping produced an adjudged difference in impact. 6. Partial correlations across the relationships of importance to impact, importance to action taken, and action taken to impact revealed moderate to low relationships. 7. The conclusions of this investigation were, at the state level, that the development of the Five-Year Plan for Vocational Education was carried out with very few changes from the draft that was formulated by the State Plan and Accountability Report Committee and that the State Plan and Accountability Report Committee played a unique and important role in the policy process. At the lowest level, the 1976 Vocational Amendments required the local divisions to focus attention and resources on the selected issues. Although the Amendments required the school divisions to take action, only a moderate effect had been reported by the localities on their school division organization. At the local level, the 1976 Vocational Amendments required the local divisions to focus attention and resources on the selected issues. Although the Amendments required the school divisions to take action, only a moderate effect had been reported by the localities on their school division organization. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study is to make a survey of state legislation for establishing special education programs for exceptional children to determine the extent to which it meets basic principles for special education of this type.

Although some literature exists that examines special education due process practices, the studies have been done in different ways and consequently result in different outcomes. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine the one-and two-tier due process system in the United States. The study focused on national practices of due process, issues disputed, and disability categories involved in special education conflicts. A survey of the 50 state directors of special education and the director from the District of Columbia was conducted to obtain information concerning due process hearings and dispute resolution for the time period 1986-1987 to 1990-1991. Records of all reported special education litigation for the same time period were obtained from the Law Offices of Charles L. Weatherly in Atlanta, Georgia. Data from the states providing due process information were analyzed with a t-test. The remaining data, both from the survey instrument and litigation records, were analyzed using qualitative analysis, frequency counts, and percentages of the raw data. Findings of the study reveal a slight national trend toward a one-tier due process system for special education dispute resolution. Furthermore, placement remains the most frequently litigated issue, and specific learning disability the most frequently involved category in special education disputes. Finally, there is no predictable relationship between the size of the disability population and the volume of special education litigation. The results of the study evidenced the need for continued research of national practices of due process. Additional research is also needed in the areas of mediation, the costs of due process hearings, and hearing officer's authorization to award attorney fees. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate Virginia public secondary school principals' knowledge of and attitude toward P.L. 94- 142, personal background, and the relationship of these variables to the provision of special education services at the building level. Provision of services was defined as the proportion of students receiving special education services, the number of students served in self-contained classes, and by a special educator's rating of the principals' influence and support for special education. Knowledge and attitude scores were normally distributed for the 46 principals. A mean score of 14.18 was obtained on the 29 item instrument, Knowledge of P.L. 94-142. A mean of 70.82 (100 possible, the higher the score the more positive the attitude) was found on the instrument, What is Your Opinion? Regression analysis using the three dependent variables accounted for 11 to 20 percent of the variance in the provision of services. Twenty percent was controlled when using the special educators’ rating of the principals' influence and support for special education. Fifteen percent of the variance was controlled for using the number of students in self-contained programs. Eleven percent of the variance was controlled for using the proportion of students served in the building. Special education administrators consistently reported their perception that principals' knowledge and attitudes strongly influence the provision of special education services in their buildings. They also attributed more influence over special education at the building level to the principals than the principals perceived. The relationship between special education administrators' perceptions and principals' perceptions and scores were consistently low and in some cases negatively correlated. / Ed. D.

Legal data for the study come from briefs of state and federal court decisions. Political information is drawn from various governmental reports to the Sixty-third Texas Legislature on public school finance reform. Other material is from minutes of the House Committee on Education and interviews with members involved in the legislative process. The study describes and analyzes competing forces which try to influence policy decisions and attempts to identify the salient issues in the political process of educational policy-making. This information is incorporated into a systems model for heuristic purposes. The study pays special attention to state and federal court decisions, with emphasis on the "Burger Court" and President Nixon's influence upon the court. The latter part of the study concentrates on the Sixty-third Legislature and post-Sixty-third Legislature of Texas, and its efforts to write a public school finance reform program. The findings of the study show that the disparity in educational opportunity in Texas is a reality. The study also shows that school districts with the greatest need for reform are often least effective in influencing educational decision-makers. Finally, the study reveals that the inequities in public school finance are inherent in the ad valorem tax system used in most states for public school financing. Further study is recommended into the politics of public school finance reform, with particular attention to the Texas Constitutional Convention's efforts to reform the state's funding formula. A study of the governor's role in public school finance should also be made, with special attention to the reasons for his refusal to call a special legislative session to deal with the problem. Finally, it is recommended that a study be made of the Fort Worth et al. v. Edgar case, since it represents a new dimension in the conflict over the use of the ad valorem property tax in funding public education.

This investigation is concerned with determining the impact of the United States Supreme Court's Rodriguez decision upon the state and federal courts. The first chapter discusses the background behind the 1973 decision and outlines the basic issues. The second chapter examines the decision's impact upon opinions in the federal courts and concludes that Rodriguez has become a significant precedent. While school finance reform is dormant in the federal tribunals as a result of the decision, the third chapter concludes that reform is still possible in the state courts. However, there has been a deceleration in the rate of cases overturning school funding statutes since 1973. The final chapter examines some of the state legislatures and concludes that statutory reform is not necessarily linked to action in the courts.