Date of Award

8-1983

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Special Education

First Advisor

Dr. Morvin A. Wirtz

Second Advisor

Dr. Gerald L. Sievers

Third Advisor

Dr. Elizabeth Patterson

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Abraham Nicolaou

Abstract

Public Law 94-142, the Education of all Handicapped Children Act, 1975, requires school districts, through evaluation, to document compliance to the law and its regulations. In Michigan, the individuals primarily responsible for the monitoring of compliance to these federal rules and regulations at the intermediate education unit (IEU) level hold the position known as Coordinator of Planning, Monitoring, and Data Collection (CPMDC). Little is known about how persons holding CPMDC positions functon. A review of the literature revealed a need for more information concerning these positions so that data based decisions can be made. This investigation was concerned with patterns which emerged between the perceived importance of and time spent engaging in seven required CPMDC activities.

Based on the results of on-site monitoring visits, each Michigan IEU was ranked according to the number of state department negative citations received. Ten IEUs with the least number and another 10 with the most negative citations were selected to form two groups. Following a field test, each of the CPMDCs from the 20 IEUs was interviewed on-site and asked to rank the perceived importance of required activities and time spent engaging in them. In order to determine the extent to which participants' rank ordering tended to be in agreement, the investigator made use of Kendall's statistic, W, the "coefficient of concordance."

The results of this investigation indicate agreement among the low citation group and a lack of agreement among the high citation group concerning the importance of and time spent engaging in required activities. The low group also participated in fewer non-required activities than the high group. While limitations of the study preclude making casual statements about the variables, recommendations included a need for the role and responsibilities of the CPMDC position to be more clearly defined.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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