EVALUATING UTILITY IN DIAGNOSTIC DECISION MAKING

The utility of the procedures special educators apply in making decisions about the identifica-tion of handicapped individuals has not been thoroughly studied. The necessity of evaluating the utility aspect of decision making is particu-larly important in times of both budgetary belt-tightening and legislation calling for the expan-sion of services to the handicapped. This paper examines the utility of diagnostic decision mak-ing from the perspective of receiver operating curve analysis. A procedure for determining the expected utility of a decision strategy is il-lustrated. It is suggested that the evaluation of the utility of diagnostic decision making will enhance the productivity of special educators