Perceptual study of school principals' working knowledge of special education and schools' level of educational services.

摘要

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to determine the relationship between the schools principal's working knowledge of special education laws, diagnosis procedures, and instructional best practices a relates to the level of educational services within a school's special education department. To examine this relationship, the researcher reviewed data collected from a survey given to select special education teachers. This research measured the special education teacher's perception of the following: special education law, instructional best practices, and diagnostic procedures. The results of the survey were analyzed to determine if principals' working knowledge of special education had a relative impact on level of educational services within schools' special education departments. The results of this study indicate that special education teachers' perceptions of their principal's working knowledge of special education laws, special education instructional best practices, and special education diagnostics procedures were positively and statistically associated with their perceptions of the quality level of the services delivered within their special education department. Therefore, participants who rated their principal as more knowledgeable also tended to show stronger levels of agreement with the quality of the services delivered within the special education department.