The Perceived Effectiveness of Physical Therapy Programs in Michigan Public Schools.

The study problem was the lack of evidence to indicate whether physical therapy programs in Michigan schools are meeting the needs of h and icapped students in accordance with the Department of Education's Guidelines. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of school physical therapists, through a questionnaire survey, of how well physical therapy programs are perceived to be meeting the needs of h and icapped students. These perceptions were measured against the role defined by the Michigan Department of Education's Guidelines for Public Act 198 of 1971. A researcher designed survey instrument (a three-part questionnaire with seventy-nine variables) was mailed to all (135) Michigan Department of Education approved public school physical therapists during the 1980-1981 school year. Three major research questions were investigated: (1) To what extent do school physical therapists in Michigan perceive that the therapy needs of h and icapped students are being met by the programs offered by schools with respect to the Michigan st and ards? (2) To what extent do Michigan school physical therapists perceive that their formal education prepared them for employment in schools? (3) To what extent do Michigan school physical therapists perceive that the school systems are attempting to attract and retain physical therapists? Analyses of the responses were tested by measures of frequency, percentages, chi-square, and contingency coefficient to determine the relationship between five selected variables and the concerns raised by the questionnaire. Therapists, in all sizes of school districts, reported instances of h and icapped children who qualified for physical therapy service but were not being served. Many of the therapists did not perceive that their formal education and preparation for employment in schools was adequate. According to many reporting therapists, the majority of their skills for working with h and icapped children were learned on the job. It is concluded that local practices in school physical therapy programs compare favorably with state st and ards in some areas of service but appear to compare less favorably in others.Ph.D.Educational administrationUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/158916/1/8215086.pd