Date of Award:

5-1967

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department:

School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Department name when degree awarded

Educational Administration

Committee Chair(s)

Homer M. Johnson

Committee

Homer M. Johnson

Committee

Oral Ballam

Committee

Kaye Owens

Committee

Devoe Rickert

Committee

Basil Hansen

Abstract

The purposes of the study were to determine the level of priority of importance of administrative problem areas and specific problem items preventing the implementation of special programs for the educable mentally retarded in Utah. The study was conducted using a survey of twenty-seven school districts in the state of Utah lacking a sequential program for the educable mentally retarded in grades one through six.

A questionnaire was sent to 184 selected respondents, including school board chairmen, superintendents, and elementary principals. Responses were received from 92 percent of the original selection. The respondent was asked to rank each of the problem items according to one of five choices, major, moderate, average, minor, or no problem to implementation.

Results were evaluated on the basis of agreement among the rankings of the respondents, the relationship of the rankings, priority of the administrative areas, priority of the problem items, and individual group rankings. Statistical treatment revealed significance at the .01 level for the level of agreement and relationship among the rankings of the administrative problem areas. Further treatment revealed the priority of administrative problem categories in order of major importance to be: (1) professional personnel, (2) pupil personnel; (3) supervision , (4) communications, (5) research, (6) finance, and (7) policy.

Individual problem items used in the questionnaire were ranked by priority of importance as perceived by the respondents as a combined group as well as by individual groups. There were sixty-two problem items ranked in order of priority.

The conclusions arrived at as a result of the analysis of the data included: (1) there was a high level of agreement among the perceptions of the administrators in ranking the importance of the problem areas and specific items , (2) the respondents as individual and combined groups perceived the category of obtaining and retaining qualified professional personnel as the major problem to implementation of the special program, (3) the individual problem of greatest concern was the obtaining of a qualified classroom teacher for the educable mentally retarded, (4) communications are needed to inform the parents, public, and school faculty to gain support for t he educational needs of the educable mentally retarded, (5) administrators recognize the need for early identification of the potential retardate, accurate diagnosis and educational placement as important to program implementation, and (6) it appeared that present school policies are adequate in meeting the needs of program implementation of the educable mentally retarded.

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