The Regular Education Initiative: Perspectives of Arizona school administrators.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of unified school district administrators regarding a merger of special and regular education as proposed by some educators who support the Regular Education Initiative (REI). The REI is a position statement generating from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, that calls for a new partnership between regular and special educators in addressing the needs of all children with learning problems, including those with handicapping conditions. The study elicited responses from 229 administrators in Arizona during the 1988-89 school year. A survey instrument was used to obtain information from the administrators regarding their opinions on items within six categories of consideration (student, instructional, funding, teacher, administrative, and current program) that have implications for a merger. Administrators were also asked to indicate their overall support for a merger and to rate its feasibility and desirability based on each of the six categories of consideration. Statistical analyses revealed significant differences among the three administrator groups regarding the responsibility, role, and directorship of special education in the education of students with learning problems; the willingness of regular education teachers to work with students with handicaps; the benefit of a merger for nonhandicapped low-achieving students; and their rationale for changes in the current special education system. Additional significant differences were found regarding administrators' perceptions of the feasibility of a merger when the analysis was based on district size. Administrators were equally divided in their support for a merger. Most administrators indicated that regular classroom teachers were ill-prepared to educate students with handicaps and would not favor a merger. Administrators expressed strong support for waivers of federal state rules and regulations to implement merged systems experimentally and indicated that no major changes should be considered until results from evaluation studies were available. Results of this study hold implications for policy makers, researchers, teacher trainers, and school administrators.