Nebraska public school principals\u27 attitudes toward special education issues

The primary purposes of this study were to examine Nebraska school principals\u27 perceptions and attitudes toward special education, to survey principals\u27 level of special education training and experience, and to determine principals\u27 perceived need for, and interest in, such training. Principals\u27 perceptions of the need/importance of formal training in special education, and principals\u27 interest in receiving inservice training in the area of special education were compared to principals\u27 school setting, level of school, special education training, exposure to persons with handicaps, and responsibility for special education. A survey, Principals\u27 Attitudes Toward Special Education-Revised, was used to gather data from 450 principals in Class II-V school districts in Nebraska. Descriptive statistics were used to report quantitative data. The Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) by Ranks, a nonparametric ANOVA, was used to compare groups. Post hoc analyses were completed with the Mann-Whitney U-Test. Significant differences were found in principals\u27 perceptions of the need for special education training according to locale, level, special education training, and exposure to persons with handicaps. Significant differences also were found in principals\u27 interests in receiving special education training, exposure to persons with handicaps, and responsibility for special education supervision. Major findings of the study were: (1) Principals lacked special education training. Nearly 40% of principals had completed no special education coursework. (2) Over 85% of principals perceived special education training for school principals to be moderately to extremely important. (3) Over 80% of principals indicated a moderate to very high interest in receiving special education inservice training. (4) Principals had limited exposure to persons with handicaps. Nearly 72% of principals reported no, some, or only moderate exposure to persons with handicaps. (5) Over 75% of principals had exclusive or shared responsibility for supervision and evaluation of special education teachers in their schools. (6) Principals reported that they had become more positive and supportive of special education as a result of their involvement in special education programs