Date of Graduation

2003

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the West Virginia Department of Education, Office of Special Education's monitoring system in bringing district special education programs into compliance with federal and state standards. Data for the study were obtained by surveying special education directors (22), special education teachers (848), and parents of students with exceptionalities (2,410) from 22 county school systems in West Virginia. The monitoring report for each of the 22 counties for the 1997–1998 and 1998–1999 school years and the previous monitoring report were analyzed. The 1996–1997 federal Office of Special Education Programs monitoring report of the West Virginia Department of Education's Office of Special Education was analyzed. For each survey question for each group surveyed, arithmetic means and standard deviations were calculated, Pearson correlation coefficients were determined, and frequency of responses were calculated for percentage of agreement. Arithmetic means and standard deviations were calculated and Pearson correlation coefficients were determined for Review 1 and Review 2 for each area: evaluation, Individual Education Program (IEP) process, and administration of services. Complaint summaries for 1999–2000 and 2000–2001 were analyzed to determine if changes ordered by corrective activities in the monitoring process had sustained long-term change. Data reports, complaint data, state self-assessment data, monitoring summary reports, and grant initiatives were reviewed to determine if progress had been made on deficient areas identified by the 1996–1997 federal Office of Special Education Programs monitoring report. The results of this study clearly show that services in the areas of IEPs, administration of services, and evaluation for students with disabilities in West Virginia have improved. The current accountability system used in West Virginia to monitor special education services and programs has corrected the deficiencies noted in the 1996–1997 compliance review conducted by the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.

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