ED 117 807

bOCUMENT RESUME

95 EA 007 863

AUTHOR Weatherman, Richard P., EA.; Hollingsuorth, Sue Ann.,.-d.

. I

4,:

TITLE Altai -

i-, 12 n ox.---Ituzal-a414-

Sparsely Populated Areas.INSTITUTICr Ninnezota Univ., Minneapolis. Dept. of Continuing

.Education and Extension.SPONS AGENCT Office o! Educatio/i-(DHT4+, Wash-in}-ton-, DEC.

. PUB DATE 75

GRANT OEG-n-73-7096 /,

NOTE 162p.AVAILABLE FROM Department of Educational Administration, 30n Health

Services Building; University of Minnesota, St. Paul,Minnesota 55108, ($5.nn)

EDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORS

MP-$0.83 Plus Postage. HC Not AvAilable from EDRS.ConNeeRge reports; Elementary Secondary Education;Handicapped Students); Population Distribution;*Problem Solving; *Program Descriptions; *RuralEducation; rural Sdhools; *Special Education;*Special Progr,ams

ABSTRAThis book is a compilation of papers prepared for a

1975 co ference on the delivery of special education services.Because conference participants were from states where problems ofdistance and low population density complicate the delivery ofspecial education programs, a multifaceted approach was used toaddress these two critical problems. The 11 individual articles {hatcompose the book focus on the futfre trends and current difficultieseducators must face in developing programs for handicapped children.The artiies include "Economic Outlook for Human Service Delivery inRural America," "A Statewide plan for Special Education," "Problemsand Issues in a Rural Cooperative," "The Southwest regional

'Educational Service Agency fpr Mainstreaming Handicapped Children,""Implementing Early Education Programs for Handidapped Children," "ALook at Regional Centers Serving Handicapped Children," "ESEA TitleIII and Its Implications for Service Handicapped Students," "A Modelfor Training Leadership Persons in Rural and Sparsely PopulatedAreas," "Trends in School Finance and Budgeting," "PersonnelManagement in Rural/Sparslely Populated. Areas," and "Evaluating Needfor Special Education Service in Sparsely Populated Areas." (JG)

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* via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not* responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions ** supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original.Nc** ******************************************************************

.1

D S. DEPARTMENT*, HEALTH,EDUCATION &WELFARENATOONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL .NST.T.:TEEDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

IOU

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISCOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IV MICROFo HE BEEN GRANT BY

Tn,

TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERA,,NG UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE NA',ONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONFURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDETHE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMISS,ON 01 THE COPYRIGHT OWNER

FORRURALANDSPARSELYPOPULATEDAREAS

EDITED131'

RICHARD F. IYEATHERIAANSUE ANN HOLLINGSWORTH

I

Copyright © 1975

by the

U

(....

iversity of Minnesota

1

Printed in the United States of America

3

__Ea306TD

This book is the report of a eonferepiCe held

at the University of Minnesota during the summer of

1975, -which was supported by funds available through

the Department of ContinuingEducation and Extension

and through the Special Education Administration

Training Project (OEG 0-73-7096). Participants

were from states where the delivery of special educa-

tion services are complicated by distance and low

population densiiy;.therefore, the conference

addressed these two critical factors from a multi-

faceted approach.

The following chapters' presented are focused

on the fdture trends and current diffi,culties

educators-confront in trying to develop quality

-pit-grams to serve all handicapped children.

The preparation of this manuscript depended upbn

the valuable assistance of several departmental staff

Members. The editors are especially indebted.te.../

Kathy Majeski, Debbie Allison and Sharon Olson, for

their highly accurate and swift typing of the pant'!"

script into camera-ready form,

Richard F. Weatherman

October 31, 197 Sue Ann Hollingsworth

v

4

-CONTRIBUTORS'

Larry Anderson. Director-of-SpecialEducation for

the Becker-Clay County Special Education Coopera-

tive, Audubon, Minnesota.

Robert Bruininks.Director of Developmental Disa-

bilitiesfor the St nning Agency and

Professor for the Depart nt of -Psychoeducational

Studies (on leave), University of Minnesota,

Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Virginia Bruininks.Assistant' Professor for the

Department of PsychoeducationalStudies, Univer-

sity of Minnesota, Minneapolis Minnesotag

Norman Cole, Special Education Regional Condultant

(SERC), Bemidji, Minnesota.

C;d1uane Hensley.Director for the Division of

Mental Retardation--DevelopmedtalDisabilities,Missouri Division of Mental Health, Jefferson

City, Migsouri.

Wilbur Maki. Professor of Agriculture and Applied

Economics for the University of Minnesota, St. Paul,

Minnesota.

Dwight Maxa.Director of the

Independent Home and

Social Living Center for the Becker -Clay County

Special Education Cooperative, Audubon, Minnesota.

vii

ti

Van D.'Mueller.Professor'and Chairman for theDepartment of Educational Administration, Univer-sity of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota.

William Naylor. Director of Administrative Services_forWillmarpul,1ic.._Schcols.,--.Willmerrinnsig-_ - - -

Thomas Stark-.--

Mankato, Minnesota.

Richard Weatherman. Professor for the l5epartments.of-Educational:Administration and Pgychoeducational'Studies) UniVersity of, Minnesbta, St. Paul,Minnesota.

_ Judith M. Wolf.Assivint.irofesgovfor the Depart-ment of Educational.

Administration and theInstitute of Child

Development, University ofMinnesota, St. Paul, Minhesot#.. '

P.

0.

'TABLE OF CONTENTS

-7--

1 . _ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR HUMAN SERVICEDELIVERY IN-RURAL-AMERICA-

-44

Wilbur R. Maki 1

*-.

Rural Economie OutlOot,. . : 2

jobs Are Important ,2

Burden of Local Property Taies. . . : 3

Dependence of Rural Economieson National Econordc Conditione2;,:j.:3

Inequities ih SerViceAccess. . . ... 3Popu]ation Redistribution. . \. . 4'

bAtional Perspective 5

Regional Growth Centers 9

Employment Shifts 11Community Economic Base 1

Service Sectors . . . . , .1

.-Service Delivery AlternatiVes ;,.13Urpan -Rural Clusters ' 14

public Financing Approaches 16

\ Serl,ie Access Equalization 16

2 A STATEWIDE.REGIONAL PLAN FOR SPECIA.f.

1' EDUCATIONi4OV rman . .. ......... , . .19

.

Th Law.Says . 0 .

Groh in .Special EduAtIon .21

`, .. .... .22

lapse f Cooperatives . . :23

: TSES .

I

3' PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN A RURAL COOPERATIVELarry Anderson : .. .. , . 25

3 41

Becker-Clay County,, Special EduCationCOoperative ,25

The -Area 25Problems and Issues' 27z- ona ruc ure-7Zetal4ed . . 34

Career. Education_Centery.Home and Social Living Project. . . 36Alternative Learning Program 36

Fundipa ronpprn't,i,rp 37Conclusion ... < 38

'1

,THE .SOUTHWEST REGIONALEDUCATION4 SERVICE'AGENCY FOR MAINSTREAMING HANDICAPPED'CHILDREN

,William Naylor 39

Overall ESA,Concept 391 Special EdUcation Tie-in, to ESA 43,

Special Education Emphasis 46,'Summary 47

5 IMPLEMENTING EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAMS FORHANDICAPP4D CHILDREN

Judith Wolf 49

Early Childhood Education of HandicappedChildren . . . 4 50'

Rural Problems of Early ChildhoodEducation. . 51

jloplementiqg Programs for. the Prachool..Haqicapped ° .52

Assessment . . ..- . . .54Curriculum ftannirig

4

56

Program Evaluation 56

Leadership Development 57

Educational Alternatives' 60

Summary 61

6 A LOOK AT REGIONAL CENTERS SERVING,'EANDLCARP_F.D

42:

C. Duane Hensley . 63

.44

Putting It All Together .'64

Thank God 1'm-a Country Boy 65

Different Stiokes for Diff rent Folks.' . .66

Fit for Battle--The PSST /rest .67

A Closer Look at the Regional Centers . .71

Making It Happen 72

Conclusion 77

7 ESEA TITLE III AND ITS.IMPLICATIONS FORSERVING HANDICAPPED STUDENTS

Dwight Maxa 79

Description and History of the Project . .79

The Concept of Teaching IndependentLiving Skills. 1.'4, 82

Setting for the Home-Social LivingCenters Program !' 83

Referral Procedures 84

Funding Information f . . .85

t. Replication Summary 86'

446

8 A MODEL FOR TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERSONS ,IN RURAL AND SPARSELY PQPULATED AREAS

Richard Weatherman 89

Special Education Administration Train4ngProgram 90

xi

Background 92

Indicators of Training Needs 95

Minnesota Needs 97

Competency-Based Education 98

SEATP*Characteristics 100-iumpetcncgascd Edam taanEtpiri-CaT7DdrIValieitf-df--:

4-444

Core Compe'tencies . . . . , . 103-1-17CliVidUcr IS lit. 4u1.1

Field-Centered Instruction 104'

Curriculum 104Performapce Evaluation 105

ConclU"sion . . 105

9 TRENDS IN SCHOOL FINANCE AND BUDGETINGVan D. Mueller ,

,..,

111

The Courts and School Finance . 111

Sources of Revenue-=Taxei 117

Program-Planning-Budgeting Systems . -. 120

Concluding Comment 125

10

, ,

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT IN RURAL/SPARSELYPOPULATED AREAS

Thomas Stark 127

The Human Touch. . 127

PPBS 130The Importance of Management Performance

Evaluation 132Quality Education in the Face of/Decreasing Enrollments . . .. . 132

xii

lU

11 EVALUATINGSERVICES

.Robert H.

Virginia L

NEED FOR SPECIAL EDUCATIONIN SPARSELY POPULATED AREAS

Bruininks. Bruininks 135

Planning the Needs- . . . . . , 136Ahr6iches aNeeds-liggessmirif ---..-.---

Case Findi7Rj in Spol3ely Pupuidtetri

-. .

Areas . . . , .-.

, 139Personnel Tra±ntng in- Sparse lg

Populated Areas 148.

Summary.--.--: - . . . . ........ , 151

/e

Chapter One

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR

HUMAN SERVICE DELIVERY IN

RURAL AMERICA

Wilbur R. Maki

The economic outlook for, human_ service delivery

in rural America is improving in the growing areasnot too far from major metropolitan and large ardaoservice centers. Many rural areas in the Upper .

Midwest states are becoming more densely populated.not only by people seeking small town amenities, butalso by the,social service professionals.

For the spafsely settled rural areas of theUpper Midwest region, the perspective on humanservice delivery is vastly different than in the

growing ruralareas. Here, the sparsely populatedrural areas are more than 100 miles from major metfo-politan centers and more than a one-hour drive frome principal area service centers. The total land

ar is large and the total population is small.Both physical distance,and social poverty make accessto essential services increasingly difficult for alarge percentage of area residents.

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The growing areas in the'Upper Midwest regionare generally located within commuting range oflarge metropolitan ceu.ters /or smaller urban centerswith an institution of higher education or some otherlarge state or fedeial facility, or they have certainnatural resources for itNistrial development orrecreational amenities which attract a growing year-

.

round population. Declining rural areas generallyare sparsely settled and well beyond the extendedcommuting zones of metropolitan and area servicecenters. In-these areas, school districts, countyagencies, municipal service enterprises and insti-tdtions of higher education provide the principalhumamserviCes. State and federal funding sourcesprovide an increasingly larger share of the publicsupport of human service delivery. Both public andprivate sector institutions are becoming,more nd

'more dependent on public financing of liuman se ce

delivery.

RURAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

The economic outlook for human service deliveryin rural areas is largely dependent upon the general:

. economic outlook. Jobs; taxes, general economicconditions and inequities are all important parts of

. the total economic outlook.

i / -op

Jobs Are Important. Jobs are of primary impor-tance, for growth in emploYment is a distinguishingcharacteristic (51 growing rural areas. The residenteW tiployed population may or may not be employed

locally, so commuting takes place between the ruralperiphery d the urban center of a growing ruralregion. I the isolated, sparsely settled butgrowing.ruf 1 areas, the local"resource base pro- .

vides employment'Opportunities. Here, mining,lumbering, and primary processing activities makeuse of the natural and physical resources in pro-duction of outShipments to the industrial and urban

1. centers of the nation. High amenity recreationareas also attract people, but the existence of job

/opportunities in these areas is less important than

13

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK / 3

low cost or high quality access to the natural attrac-tions offered by lakes and streams and scenic vistas.Employment opportunities will emerge later in localareas as a result.pf population in-migration.

Burden of Loca Property Taxes. The property

tax is the major sour of local public revenue,

and in the growing rura areas with increasing re-

quirements for public se ces, the local tax baselags behind population growth and urban development.In declining areas, the property tax imposes agrowing burden on a severely eroded local economic

base. For both growing and declining rural areas,

transfer payments (from federal and state sources)are increasingly important in cpver1' 4 the rising

Ti_public costs of maintaining even min4V levels of

uman services. Health, education and welfareservices are'prime candidates for expanded state andfederal financing.

Dependence of Rural on National Eco-

nomic Conditions. Rural economic 11-being is tied

to national economic conditions in periods of bothcons:I:action and expansion with in-migration occurring

in both periods. An economic downswing returns theearlier out-migrant, while the economic upswingbrings new migrants who seek small town amenitieswhich they cannot find in the more congested, costly,physically unsafe and psychologically turbulent cityenvironment. During periods of economic expansion,rural areas near major metropolitan centers areprime candidat for industrial expansion and re-location. .Me politan area residents generallyprefer livin in rural areas with easy access toboth Urban and rural amenities to their presentresidential location in the metropolitan areas., Themore distant rural areas attract also the in-migrantfrom the metropolitan areas who decides to settleand/or retire in the less congested and psychologi-cally turbulent rural area:.,

Inequities in Service Access. Iriequities in

access to esiweial.human services will increase.within rural as and between rural and metropolitan

6

4 / MAKII

areas as a result of limited local economic develop-ment and management potentials. The first step inachieving equity'in urban and rural,areas is welfarereform. Federal takeover of 'public assistance pro-grans would result in dollar'inflow to the community,thus, the public assistance Would bedOme part of thecommunity economic base, especially in.the-detliniog-ruralareas. School funding reform isneeded alsoto achieve equity. One approach is 'simply for eachstate and the federal government to assume a largeshare of the cost of common schools. The sharingof local educational costs is justified on efficiencyas well as equity grounds because communities whichexperience high net out - migration underinvest in,schooling relative to their ability as measured bythe percentage of lochl income spent on schooling.Moreover, the intergovernmental transfers wouldcompensate in part for local investment in'theyoung peo le who make their economic contributionelsewhere. Finally, tax reform is essential inreducing the even burden of financinservices betwe .rural and reas. Less re-liance on local r erty taxes, for example, would I

raise the dispos ble income of farmers, but reformsto raise tax rates on capital gaIns to the level ofthe rates on earnings co d offset the gains. Onthe other hand, removing eh tax loopholes, 'such as

exemptions for interest on st- e and municipal bonds,would not adversely affect the rmer.

POPULATION REDISTRIBUTION

Population redistribution affects human --rvicesdelis:: in rural areas in both demand for and s -lyof h services. In terms of demand, the newpopulation movements impose heavy pressues onexisting health, education and welfare servicessystems in the growing areas. In declining areas,the out-migration of the young results in a larderdependent population--one that puts increAbingkressure on both the public sector and the localwork force. The,population trends are viewed,

. 4

4

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK / 5

therefore, in both a national and a regional per-spective as they relate to the economic outlook forrural areas. 4

National Perspective.. From a national per-spective, population redistribution is occurringbetween multistate economic regions. This meansthat an increasingly larger, proportion of the totalpopulation is residing in the seaboard states,particularly Florida and California. The AmericanHeartland -- .tending from Chicago to Pittsburgh- -also is holding its own it terms of national popu-lation growth. The Northeast --from Boston toWashington --is another' major population agglomera-tion which accounts for a substantial percentage ofboth present projected population.

Figure 1 mows the 20-plus urban regions of, theUiaied States wh h are growing regions; they in-clude the more den settled rural areas whichalso are growing in tot population. In 1970, atotal of 27'urban regions ted for 76.8 percentof the total national population. Within 60 to 100miles of the contiguous area of the major urbanregions are located the principal growing ruralareas,'which also are the more densely populatedrural areas. Additional growing rural areas areidentified in a series of two population maps. InFigure 2, counties with net out-migration and netin-migration of population are differentiated for the1960-1966 period. The counties of net out-migration

lie in the intervening areas between the major urbancenters. Figure 3, however, shows the newly expand-ing rural areas which have experienced a'recentturnaround in population trends. Before 1960, thaseareas indicated on the map were declining in totilpopulation; they were experiencing heavy out-migration. Since 1960, these areas (e..g., Ozarks,

Applachia, the Upper Great Lakes and the SouthernCoastal Plains) have been increasing in total popu-lation as a result of net population in-migration.

Rural regions of lagging growth are now con-fined primarily to the Southern Piedmont\tnd the

16

6 / MAKI

to

1....e4mr4.1.44444S640e.13

Lc... Groat 1....et3. 0..0.teenia3, jaros 44,4.444.4a. Gwt Coast

T14,1-04.dfre'SCP.Irrt 0.ciromt7. 4444.444C04.4.4444-344.44.4 t1 T.11.04$00

0.171.0 SOune9. 'twin Gun Agawam

10 Caorsa. Pea momII- Santl..0444122- 4.4otrovo6440 Ari2on4

Scaed on 2-child fry projection

13 v4.11 464.y

.44 0444444.444=

.4.r.onsas Vmsey15. 164.1104...--444.4v4,44Y26 .140,1T A144444,417: Cu.. GressII. 34644.44414 Coo ON Ka...

344t LA* 4/444ry20. C440..1 Mo4ors21 4444,440422. East To444464.4.

23. 0444,144444124. 1~4p4.423. EI 44.4.-06644 Juana

Figure 1: tUrbaniegions, year 2000:----

17

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.

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o %

ti

8 / MAKI

l"11.1 ''

2..91,,,*::.14:.11;

' ,R4' 1.1k,

?.711"10

rs T.-... "TT".. 1 . ...

.:. tt:;-A

.**T '''-*2c.'.-?`Fyn . , , 1.;t .,

I! '("114' ''gi0 -,,....%-: N..'"' in t 1. :,'fit .4' 4-%".41%14. s 1 7 N.!., ... .' , ; : .0 . .;

'Y''.f,;.'...1.1. I, 0:- , ,l''`z,:?,.....;\...";.r.t...A.....; *1., fiZ.1 ..\,

!I;:.:.., it.v.irt-T1' t.r. .1\1 '.,--L. -Tr i ; .u.T.. , ii% :, 1,y tt:, 7* 1:-..1 ,. 1. 1 ,.,.. .1, ..n , F' .-,----7

,tx ' ,,., , . . .., , .,.1 , ,.. , .., .. '.. -.... ..""! . ---i

, . . r ' . ' .,,..,).1.,n ,. ...,.,.1 1 ! ,,141.,,,E,I.x--r:c.,;,.: ....,-%it... . 1 .1 ill. . .,., .. ....

,..i.:..111 z;"".3.1.1i_ti'\""1, ! L'.siL,J,;'1' 1.1. 1,1. .1,1::::::. .1

. :

tai:

Figure 3: Comities with popUlation growth inthe 1960's, after loss in the 1950's.

1

.----

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK / 9

Western Cornbelt, including the sparsely settledareas of the Mid-Continent region. They are locatedlargely within the triangle formed by connectingthe three urban centers: Sault St. Marie, Michigan;El Paso, Texas; and Spokane, Washington. Except forthe urban centers and counties in which high amenityrecreational resources or coal, timber and otherprimary resources are located, the region (and

' especially the sparsely settled and isolated county)is losing in total. population.

Parts of the Upper Midwest region lie in twomultistate development regions, namely, the OldWest region and the Upper Great Lakes region. In-cluded in the Old West region are the states ofMontana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and thestates included in the Upper Midwest region are thestates of Wyoming and Nebraska. Regional officesof the Old West regional commission are located inRapid City, South Dakota. The regional commissionis undertaking plans relating to the development~ 'fits primary resources, particularly coal," and therelated community and regional infrastrcture.. TheUpper Great Lakes economic developme region, on

the other hand, includes the nor rn.,cpunties--,in,

Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Mic an. 'Regional office

of the Upper Great Lakes r onal development com-mission are located in uth, Minnesota. This

regional commission also is concerned about primaryresource developmentjincluding recreation) inas-much as this region is extremely dependent upon itsprimary resources. Like the Old West region, theUpper Great Lake's region lacks a major metropolitanfocal area where high-order business, financialand professional ser ''ices are located. The

Minneapolis-St. Paul focal'area serves parts ofboth regions as do other regional Metropolitancenters, e.g.: Detroit, Mic4igan; Chicago, Illinois;and Denver, Colorado.

Regional Growth Centers. Growth centers in theUpper Midwest region include the intermediate sizeregional centers like Duluth-Superior, Fargo7Moorhead,and Sioux Falls, and there are service centers like

20

o

10 / MAKI

St. Cloud, Mankato and Rochester. These centers .

within their perspective service areas are approach-ing a threshold level for self-sustaining growthand development. Loca,1 service centers are linkedeconomically to their surrounding areas and to thearea centers. For certain high order services, thearea centers depend on the regional centers. Thus,a hierarchically organized system of urban servicecenters is delineated in which the ruralareas arean integral part -of the total urban regional settle-ment system. Unlike the surrounding rural areas,especially the sparsely settled areas, the regionalcenters are increasing in total pOpulation and-'economic activity. Population growth is occurringbecause of the concentiration of loCal industry inthese centers (which is coupled', also, with thedispersion of metropolitan area industry into non-:

metropolitan areap).

The Upper Midwest states include also a .series)of commuting, shopping and planning areas. Thecommuting areas are delineated by data on the basisof information collected by the Census o Populationand Housing on place'of work and placedpf residenceof persons in the employed labor force. For themostpart, commuting to work takes place in areaswhere the urban centers are growing in populationand whkre theo,resident population in the surround-ing areas ii" unable to find equally satisfying an4remunerative work locally..

The delineation of shopping areas is based oncertain business statistics pertaining to the_

,,service and trade activitieswhich attract patronsandclientele from an extended service'area. Sizeand spacing'of competing service centers helpdelineate the boundaries of. these shopping. areas.

Planning and development,districti for theextended Upper Midwest states are based on a com-posite set of factors, including governmental.

Generally, however, these districts have beendelineated with reference to the commuting fieldsof principal area centers and the service areas of

21

,ECONOMIC OUTLOOK / lf

principal convenience shopping centers,,. The mqlti-connty planning districts include both urban centersand

Irural areas, and they provide an organizational

capability for undertaking studies and ottler plan-ning activities which are a prerequisite for federal .

financial support ofproposed development prOjects.Fordi many ,districts, howeverthe economic baseimposes a severe limitation on project developmentpo entials. Fo'r the sparsely populated agriculturalat as, economic activity is declining and incomela ens are,low.. Fqr the metropolitanr,oriented areas,ec nomic attivity is increasing and income levelsar high. in many intermediate areas, employment,is increasing-and so are income leVels.

,r

EMPLOYMENT SHIFTS'

-Employment shifts in. the multicdunty planning;

.0 andiiievelopment districts are presented under twoprind#al headings- -the community, economic base andthe service' sectors., Existence 04 a viable community

. economicmse is essential to. the economic viabilityof communities and regions. DifLvences in both theecolltmic base and the service secibrs exists between

.

sparsely settled and densely settled areas in theUpper Midwest.

Community Economic Ba e. A distinguishingcharacteristic of sparsely settled rural areas istheir dependence on primary resource based exportproducing activity.ost rural areas, agricultureis the primary arid, oftentImes, sole exporting pro-ducins -activity in 61earaa. The excess of agri-cultural employment Over the amount of employMentthat would be found kit tha,,nation as a whole per

of -total emploYleni is armeasure of the depen-dency of the area on the agricultural industry.Although the level of agricultuial'employment hasdecl,ined,'many sparsely_ settled. are as muchdeighdent on this,epployment aS the were 10 years .

ago. Declining employment in expdrproducingactivities is tioineeessarily indicative of either'

a

74,1.

12 / MAKI

1....

declining dependency on agriculture or decliningtotal employment An an agriculturally dependent area.

Service Sectors. The service sectors includeboth business related,and household related activitiessuch as transportation in handling freight and trans-portation in the family car which is, serviced by thelocal garage. The distinguishing c aracteristic ofa service is its availability at th production sitewhich typically, except for transportation, is afixed site. Yet, if the purchaser, the service isnot an area lesident,,then the employ engaged inproducing the service for residents7o areais export producing. Human service.del very generallyis not an export activity for an area; it may be,however, for a particular service center.

The service sectors sometimes are residentiary,i.e., local resident oriented. This term denotes the'local economic activity which is not, export producing;it is the "residual" activity in accounting,for theleveltof excess employment in the preceding discus-sion. Of course, some commodity production such aslocal food products, manufacturing for local marketalso is.a residentiary activity.

Employment in the service sectors is changingbecause of the changing relationship between totalemployment and export producing-employment. Sourcesof employment change can be repiesented in terms of

* national growth ef ct, an industry mix effect, anda regional share effect. Service sec or employment,as) well as commodity producing emplo ent, is changingbecause of both national and regions factors.

The national growth effect refe s to the growthin total national employ4ent, which, for example, inthe 1960-1970 pgriod was.about'18 percent. If totalemployment in all areas increased at the nationalrate, the 1970 employment would have been 18 percentlarger than the 1960 total employment. Differencesin employment growth rates between a given area andthe nation as a whole can be accounted for by the

23

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK / 13

two remaining effects: namely, the industry mixeffect and the regional, share effect.

The industry mix effect represents the dif-ferential change of employment in a given industryfor the nation as a whole. For example, agricul-tural employment declined by 30 percent from 1960to 1970, while total employment increased by 18percent. Thus, the industry mix coefficient foragricultural is 0.48, which represents the percent-age difference between the two growth rates. This

perce tage difference is multiplied by the totalbase ear empldYment (as was done with the nationalgrow coefficient) to obtain the industry mix effectfor he given area. Thus, rural areas, because ofa ne ative industry mix due to agriculture, arechar cterized by declining total employment.

The regional share effect, on the other hand,is both area specific and industry specific; itrepresents the differential change in employment il'a given industry in one area as compared with otherareas. The regional share coefficient is the dif-ference in the percentage growth for a given in-dustry in the area as compared with the same industryfor the nation as a whole. The regional share effectfor the industry is, therefore, the given regionalshare coefficient times the base year employment forthe area. A declining community economic base often-times is associated with a declining regional shareeffect for the service industries. On the other

hand, a possible industry mix among the export pro-ducing sectors, coupled with a positive regionalshare effect, is associated with a positive regionalshare effect among the 'service industries. In short,

a strong economic base supports an expanding servicesector in the growing rural areas.

SERVICE DELIVERY ALTERNATIVES

Service delivery alternatives for sparselysettled areas are examined with reference to thepopulation, employment and related economic trends

2 4

5relationship in the multicounty planning'and develop-ment districts in Minnesota. The emergence of urban-rural settlement clusters with implications for theorganization and management of human service deliverysystems, the public financing strategies for con-structing and maintaining these systems, and theequalization of human service access financing areimportant concerns inythis discussion.

Urban-Rural Clusters. Population, employmenttrends and relatiOnshlps cited earlier are cast,again, in-a geographic role. Figure 4 identifiesthe spatial economic linkages between urban centers,and on the basis of those linkage groups of urbancenters, they are related to one another and to therural areas which they serve. The urban regionalclusters include the focal area for the organizationand delivery of essential human services ' pecially

in the sparsely populated rural areas. Ea h of theurban clusters in the Upper Midwest states,\ assumingthat all urban clusters in multicounty and Multi-area regions were to be delineated, would include awide range of employment in human services with manu-facturing and other export producing industry.

Each urban cluster includes one or more areagroWili.centers; each of the growth centers and sur-rounding- ?growth areas is linked to larger centers

and ultimately to the metropolitan focal area bythe prime highway network; and each multicountygrouping urban centers include a full range of e u-cational institutions, e.g., a two -year or four ear

college, or a state vocational technical school. If,

Rural areas with easy access to the urban regionalnetwork are, typically, the growing areas.

di full range of hospital services are available,also, to the resident of every urban cluster. Everyregional hospital is linked to several area hospitalswithin each urban cluster and to the base hospital;which in Minnesota is located in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The area hospitals,,S4rve one or more

urban places and the surrounding rural communities.The regional hospital provides the,high-order

2,5

istVC F

5,S

w

M

.11tF

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK /.15

URBAN CLUSTEld-/-.

1F

s

P0HIC

Gt"I D5

V.E

SS I

'41L

"r

MS 5,.

4.6

/ s

1 I s

estlitINt

St ilob S

I

(zinniaMillie

loundaly 81 corsonotet zest

q.

,

, Lr

I/

rs,

s

TtC-

Metiessolitss

Nom

'111 Secimiary

.."

yitsIcsale4/1211

cia:ets

Con/Mete sllopprii cutter

Figure 4: This pattern is tentative but suggestiveof multieounty networks likely to becomeincreasingly important in the years tocome.

2G,

16 / MAKI

specialized medica0l services for the entire region,and also, primary services are available for thelocal resident population.

/

The location of state.employment is still

._.ranother indicator of the degree of disi sion anddedentralization of human services am ): g multi

county urban clusters. In Minnesota (as in otherUpper Midwest states), much of the state employmentis concentrated in the capitol city and the largesturban centers. However, area offices typically arelocated in each of the area centers.

Public Financing Approaches. Figure 5 shows

t the local government expenditures pei capitapr.

.Su port of human services vary widely be-'

tween co and between multicounty urban clusters,or alternii ii-t.,t-cpniity planning and develop-

ment districts. Akeimi;07-4414E-migration,areareas of large per capite-efteramefirmenditures.Also', several of the counties with hiaizY populationin-migration show high per capita expenditures.Instability of population levels, thus leaves behinda legacy of high governmental expenditures. Whenlocal government expenditures are converted from aper capita basis to a per dollar of purchasing powerbasis, the most rural and sparsely settled areasemerge with the highest per dollar burden of localgovernment. Residents in the metropolitan area,

because of higher per capita personal income levels,have a higher ability to pay than residents of asparsely settled rural area where personal income

levels generally are low.

4Service Access Equalization. Fiscal equalize-

on in Minnesota, for example, is more readily

, *achieved than equalization in access to human services.The low income aged resident in an isolated corner ofa multicounty qxban clUster would have much lesspotential access to the urban services in the areacenter than would the resident of the area center.Public tranAtoitation may reduce the difficulty ofaccess, but a desire must exist for this isolatedresident to avail hiMself of particular services; in-0

clu ng e sential health careand_related services.

0

27

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK / 17

C.

All L6Cal Government DirectGeneral Expenditures

Figure 5: Data from the United States Census ofGoVernments, 1967.

28

6

7

Chapter Two

4

,..NSTAiEWIDE REGIONAL PLAN FOR

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Norman Cale

Therpose.of this chapter is to outline thedirection which schools in Minnesota are currentlyloving relative to planning,. implementing, andevaluating'instructionAnd services for childrenand'youpi who tapper: to be handicapped.

THE LAW SAYS

In 1 Dr. Sidney Harland, United StatesCommissioner Education, set the following goal:that'...the United St s should provide a full educa-tiOnil opportunity for every handicapped child inthention by 1980. The speoial education sectionof the State Department Of Mucation believes thatthat goal is a most appropriate and reasonable goalfor Minnesota. However, there are two ingredientsnecessary for the ultimate realization of this goal.First, every school district must cooperate andaccept that goal as its own. Secondly, a plan forimplementiqg ktotal special education system in.

29

20 t cols

every district must, be developed. In order to helpMinnesota school districts meet the goal of providingfull services to all handicapped children by 1980,the Minnespta,Department of Education is helping themto develop a systems approach to planning, imple-menting, and evaluating their special education

c. services. The system is entitled, "total specialeducation system," or TSES. Prior to reviewing theTSES, however, four basic items about Minnesotaservices will be reviewed:

Summary of Minnesota Special Education LawService growth: 1957-1974Impact of the statewide Special EducationRegional Consultant (SERC) projectImpact of the special education leadershipinterdistrict cooperatives

._ Minnesota =w defines who the handicapped are,defines school s onsibility, and school ages (4-21)which may inc preschool. They have made schooldistricts leg ly aware of their continuing serviceto their community. Where can a school district getservice for special education? Special educationinstruction and services may be provided by usingone or more locations: a regular class, a special .

class, through home or hospital instruction, in otherdistricts, a university or state college laboratoryschool, in a state residential school, in other states,by contracting with publI , private or voluntaryagencies, or by any othe method approved by theCommissioner. The law specifies that a full rangeof services must be available and that districts mustcooperate together to provide those services if neces-sary.

Another legal aspect created by the Minnesotalaw is that parents have the right to appeal thesystem. This means that parents have the right toappeal to the Commissioner of Education for assistance.In 'the past few years, this component has played acritical role in special education in Minnesotabecause there have been 304 appeals.

REGIONAL PLAN 21

These laws were created in 1957, and duringthat year the'reported cost wag approximately 2.5million dollars with 14,500 children served. In

1972 and 1973, there were 77,000 children servedwith a 50 million dollar cost. This past year that50 million dollar cost is up another 11 million

.0-

dollars,, so it is a significant budget; of thattotal sum, the state department picks up 23 mil ondollars. In the state of Minnesota, the laNtkeysthat the state will provide 60 percent of the reim-bursement to the school district,- but in actualityit is only about 48 percent. The state reimburses60 percent of the salary of essential personnel notto exceed $5,600,'50 percent of the cost of materials,supplies, and equipment not to exceed an average of$50 per year for each student receiving instruction,and 60 percent"of instructional costs (less founda-tion aids) for-programs in residential facilities.The state also reimburses each district the actualcost incurred in providing instruction and'servicesfor a handicapped child who has been placed in afoster facility when parental rights have beenterminated, parent or guardian is not living withinthe state, or when no-district of residence can be.established. _EduCators in Minnesota commend itslegislators for enacting this subdivision becauseit helps assure that all children living in Minnesotawill receive an appropriate edpcation. It alsoprotects the school district from unfair fiscalburdens.

GROWTH IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

It is the belief at the state department that ifservices are going-to be provided in,a well organized,_efficilt, and effective manner, leadership at theadministrative level is a critical factor. For this

reason, in 1967-1968, the departments made as thetop priority for Title VI funds the development ofdirector of special education positions in Minnesota

school districts. Prior to the use of Title VI money,the number of special education directors for thestate was seven; and, they were single district

31

22 / COLE

directOrs. Today, there are 69 special educationdirectors and 386 districts under their direction.Of all the school districts, 87 percent are repre-sented by a director of special education who isinvolved in the devel went of the total Specialeducation system. For example, in the nort qt

region of Minnesota, the e are 54 school distr Cts,all the districts have a special education director,and 4,100 kids are being served (about 9.5 percent

----of the total population). That region is one ofthe smallest population areas compared to the metro-politan area of Minnesota which serves 8.8 percent.

One goal of the state is to cover Minnesotawith directors of special education. This has notbeen totally achieved, but the state is spendingabout 60 million dollars a year which is up fromthe 2.5 million dollars in 1957, and this growthreflects the work of special education directors.

SERC

In an effort to assist districts develop theneeded special'education cooperatives, a SpecialEducation Regional Consultant (SERC) was funded ineach governor's region. The SERC worked closelywith the superintendents in the area identifyingthe services needed and the need for administrativeleadership in the form of directors of special educa-tion. The SERC project was most successful in termsof identifying the need for director of specialeducation. Just as Title VI funds were the basefor funding the special education director positions,Title VI has also had a significant role in financingthe SERC positions. Between 1968--a time when 1percent of the districts had directors of specialeducation--and 1974when 87 percent, had directors--the numbers of students receiving services almostdoubled. Directors of special education appear tobe the key figures in terms.of generating servicesto children.

2

Ale

olb

REGIONAL PLAY

IMPACT OF COOPERATIVES

Leadership has made the diff ence in Minnesota.

Prior to 1968, services to the severely handicappedpopulation were provided at a stslp residential facil-ity in one of the large school dfstrict programs,or it was not provided at all. Unfortunately, the

latter was often the case. With directors of specialeducation providing administrative leadership,schools began cooperating with each other to prothe services which a single small district could notprovide alone. In several regions, low incidenceconsultants were hired (again utilizing Title VIfunds) to assist schools in determining educationalneeds and providing needed services of the hearingimpaired, visually impaired and physically handi-capped children and youth, and to attend a residentialprogram which can be provided for in their localschool district or in the cooperative program. Be-

cause of the leadership of directors of specialeducation, the commitment of superintendents andboards of education, the mandatory special educationlaws and the careful planning and utilization ofTitle VI funds, the zero reject philosophy has become

- a reality in Minnesota.

TSES

What is the state of Minnesot asking? Not later

. than the end of the year 1978-1979, a applica-

tions claiming special education reimbursement willcall foreach district to give evidence of havingimplemented a total special education system (TSES)'.

It is intended hat in the year 1978-1979, a TSESplan must be written before a district will beeligible for any reimbursement otheir special educa-tion stiff. There are three purposes of the TSES:to identify the needs of each student, to give theminstruction, and to insure that the equal protectipnrOcess for every student is carried- out. These

three basic responsibilities are labeled by three

subsystems: administrative, management, advd.cacy

24 / COIF

subsystem (AMA), child study subsystem L(C4S ),,andinstruction and services subsystem (IS).

The AMA system is primarily the director ofspecial education--what does he do. This is not ajob description because the director does not do itby himself. He sets the goals of the child studyand the instructional services system.,-,-In thenorthwest region, for example, they ayeinvolved

,with computer data (precision teach-In.6 beingcollected continuously on 7,000 children, This

- data i$ now_starting to make sense. That is thebasic function of the AMA, and its directors havechosen to use various parts' of the system.

The basic function of 'the child study systemis to identify and assess existing data to answersuch questions as how to help agencies, parents,teachers an administrators become involved in .

serving handicapped children.

The basic function of instructional servicesis for the district to develop an instructionalplan for every handicapped child. 'This plan mustinclude material, staff and location, beCause Min-nesota believes that everyrspeciaI education childis special!

34

4141

Chapter Three

/Pk8LEMS AND SUES IN A'

RURAL COOPERATIVE -

Larry Anderson

To help-survey some of the problems of the

special education cooperative, administrators

should utilizethe total team of the community.

By viewing the economic development and under-

standiAg the percentage of high school dropouts,

and by observing the population density and the

development of unemployment andemployment in `61.1

area which is served, administrators can anticipate

the key problem in the cooperatives of Ilis/her

region.

BECKER-CLAY COUNTY SPECIAL EDUCATION COOPERATIVE

The Area. Becker-Clay County Special Education

Cooperative touches sections of Norman, William,

Ottertail, Becker and Clay Counties in the state

of Minnesota (see Figure 1). The area covers

2000 square miles, eight school districts, anda-total K-12 populgtion:of 10,000.studeneS, There

are services this year for over 900 special needs

25

.3 5

26 / ANDERSON

KEY:

ElArea Eligible forEDA Assistance

Upper CtimtLakes Region

Sources Minnesota Department of Economic Development,Saint Paul, Minnesota, December 1, 1971.4

Figure 1: Economic Development Act designateddepressed areas and counties in theUpper Great Lakes regional area.

PROBLEMS AND ISFIES / 27

students who receive services at least twice a

week. Figure 1 illustrates the kinds of depressedareas in Minnesota and those areas which are eligiblefor Economic Development Act (EDA) assistance.

Becke County, of course, is one county that emanates

mu economic depression. Clay County, on the other

h d, is a rich rural farm area with no economicdepression. Figure 2 shows that Becker County alsohas a higher unemployment rate because of the Indianreservation and because of seasonal work. Figure 3

illustrates the total number of school dropOurtsfor the 1969-1970 school year. The total number of

school dropouts for Area 4, a nine-county area, is249 or .68. When comparing this area to other areasin Minnesota (excluding the Twin City area), thenumber is lower because _there are less people; and,as far as schools are concerned, most dropouts inthe Becker-Clay area are minorities. Figure 4 shows

the percentage of the population under 20, 20-64,and over 65 years of age. The majority of Area 4's

population is a younger population;

The review of thesefigures sets the stage ofthereconomic and geographical area of Becker-ClayCounty Special Education Cooperative.

Problems and Issues. Observing problems and

issues of the future is difficult because educatorsare reactors. They react to such things-as peoplecalling on the phpne and asking such questions as:Why is Bobby doing poorly in school?; Why didn't Iget a raise?; Who got on the school board last time?;

How many.turkeys were received by ,the hotjunchprogram?; Why is the coffee in the teacher's loungeno longer free?; etc. How can administrators be in-volved with contemplating problems and isues of thefuture, when they are trying to put out all the fires

that are currently burning?

It is true that educators are reactors, andsometimes they do not have the time to put things

in retrospect. best example of this was given

in a sermon by a local priest. He told about a

3,7

28 / ANDERSON

1 N...

.17;\ \

SOH

kI 1

.?;\._

E.... or.

KEY:

f7 Areas of PersistentAUnemployment

riAreas of Substan-tial Unemployment

...1-__

..."..'".14...1 ....11"ITIV....L., '1,42 4,1,41610,14 (.....tv4 ....*,".\N..

{ (!

I i

''' '",l ....h. , , v..... 4 tr.. .N. ,...

Source: Rirsearch and Planning Section, Minnesota Departmentof 'llampover Services, Saint Paul, Minnesota.December '17, 1,71.

Figure 2: Areas of substantial and persistentunemployment and areas with high ratesof unemployment of youth.

/PROBLEMS AND ISSUES / 29

N -241..1. 2

1.-3Lt-431=U0-

N*566 7 L%*1.14

KEYS

N*15

. e--.

N * Total Number ofDropouts PerRegion

Dropout Ratefor Region

sem

Sources State Aids, Statistics, and Research Section, MinnesotaDepartment of Education, Saint Paul, Minnesota,Decreber

11..51,N*21t

10

9 1

..P111.1.1..-..N*528

1,10,411 01

///

Figur?'3: Total number of 1969-1970 school drop-outs K -12 by planning regiOn and totalpercentage of dropouts for grades K-12.

30 / ANDERSON

nn1339.2%46.3%

214.5%

a. 39.2%b. 49.1%c. 11.7%d. 8.66%

a 46.2%bJ. 46.8%0 13 Otr

di. 1.43%

a. 39.6%b. 46.1%c. 13.6%d. 4.871'*WV

a. 40.1%b. 45.1%c. 14.8%d. 2.99%

a. 38.0%b 46-1 R. 36.6%

47.4%c 1-37"c 11.3%d 1.63

ini

611.' d. 2.58%!

LEY:

a. Percen of RegionPopul ti

ill

tirk Vnder20 Ye rs

b. Percent of RegionPopulation 20-64Years

c. Percent of Region

a. 40.1% Population 6Sb. S1.2% Years and Overc. 8.7%A. 49.26%

b. 401.4% ilPowt I b. 421.1% Ea. p.i.

a. 39.1% !

7.11:81

I

: -1--d. '10.08%

I 9 10

d. Percent of StatePopulation inRegion

Ile., Ir.

Source, State P anning Agency, Slate of Minnesota, SaintPaul, Minnesota, January 1972.

Figure 4: Population density in Minhesota byplanning region and age group.

40

PROBLEMS AND ISSUES / 31

mother who had finally received a letter from hercollege-age daughter. It read:

Dear Mom,

The other night I was smoking grassin-my dorm room. Apparftntly, I got sohigh that I-fell asleep, burned the rug,in my room, and started the dorm room onfire; so, I jumped out of the window,and I broke one of my legs And sprainedMy wrist. That wasn't so bad becauseI had-the privilege of being taken toan excellent hospital where I met afantastic orderly who took care of me.After my leg was in the cast for a fewdays, I tried to go back to my dormroom, but going-up those two flights ofstairs were impossible, so John, the orderlythat I met at the hospital, said that Icould stay at his home until it got better.I certainly like living with John; he isa nice fellow. I have been living withhim now fof about a month and a half, and/ think I'm pregnant, Mother, but youdon't have to worry about planning anywedding because John and I are going tocontinue td just live together and do notplan on any marriage.

The daughter went on to say:

Motheri really, I wasn't smoking grassin my dorm :and the joint didn't start afire on my'Lrpet. Thus, I didn't jumpout of the second story window, I didn't'break my leg, I didn't meet an orderlynamed John, I'm not living with a mannamed Jahn, I'm not pregnant, and I'm'not getting married. However, I justwanted to put it in retrospect that I gota "D" in_geography add Ilm flunking English.

. 41

32 / ANDERSON. .

Too many times, educators do not have time to sit,look, and listen, which would make education better.Too many times they are under such pressure thatthey have to become reactors.

The Becker-Clay County Special EducationCooperative has its problems, too. It has eightschool districts (a population of 10,000 throughthe grades K-12), and a board of directors, whichconsists of a school board member from each schooldistrict. The Cooperative was established under theJoint Powexs Agreement Act of 1939, in the state ofMinnesota. The Betker -Clay County Special Echicationdistrict or cooperative is much different from most,in the state becaUse they have some elements thatmost do not. They have a board of directors whichares elected officials from district school boards(see Figure 5): The_Becker -Clay Cooperative also han advisory council; composed of the eight super-intendents, which serves as'an advisory cabinet tothe executive director and the board of directors.These people serve the components listed at thebottom of Figure 5.

The first component, A, is Administration andincludes the director of special Aducation. UnderChild Study, Component B, there are psychologists,hearing coordinator, speech coordinator, speciallearning and behaviorliproblems (SLBP) coordinator,

school social worker, home bound, vision, and schoolliaison persons. Thes are the people that are con-tinually traveling thrOughout the given area. BothComponents A and B are like most other cooperativesin organizational structure. However, Components,

D, E, and F are components that most specialeducation cooperatives do not have. _Component C.stands for the Career Education Center, which is asecondary vocational exploration and training centerfor special needs students aged 14-21. This programdoes not only addrempitself to vocational explorationand tr&Eang, but it is involved in the total growthof each student, e.g.; academic achievement, socialand personal development. Component D addressesitself to the Home and Social Living Program, and

42

PROELEBS AND ISSUES / 33

Organ i3ationo_l' 51-ruc-turoLoe c,bs,of Qi31ric:14 (School Goarda)

Figure 5: The Becker-Clay County Special Education

Cooperative.

4 3-

34' / ANDERSON

Component E is the Alternative Learning Pr ram whichis for adjudicated and'perspective delinqueetts and isspohsored by. the State Crime Commdsbion. The latter_component is a multi-agency approach for servingstudents and provides additional court options forjuvenile delinquent placement. Component F includesthe people who are employed by the independent schooldistricts, i.e. instructors of trainabAatallyTetarded (TMR), educable mentally reta ded (fmR), andspecial learning and behavik problems (SLBP) tutors;resource people; and speech clinicians,

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE - -DETAILEb

CaIeer Education Center. Most of the previouslymentioned components are self-explanatory. However,Component C needs more exi5lanation.

V .

As stated earlier,tthe Ca4eer Education Centeris a program for secondary special needs studentsat the age of 14-21, and its chief' emphasis is in

ei

exploration and vocational training. One of thebiggest factors emphasized is not only occupatio aladequacy, but personal and social adequacyeas w 1,Also emphasized is the Center's related academicarea, which is related to the vocational areas. Thecurriculum has over 60,000 individual skill steps ortask analysis sheets which cover 10 basic areas--but with a proliferation of about 15 areas. Some ofthese areas are food service, welding, wood shop,auto body, auto tune-up, gas station attendant,department store, photography,.convdAation, etc.To complement the task .analysis sheet for these basicareas, there are colored slides and the audicoto gowith these tasks. For example, if a student wereasked to make a jello salad when working in the kitchen

' as a fry cook, that student would go to the multi-media center and check the slide and audio sound.Therefore, a nonreading student could excel in thisprogram, and a child with severe learning disabilitiesthat made a jello salad three weeks ago could knowhow to prepare a jello salad even after he/she hadthorougly forgotten _this task. Each of the tasks

44

'PROBLEMS AND ISSUES / 35

are numbered, andthey get more difficult in eachsuccession of tasks completed. These vocationaltasks are oftentimes tied into the academic areasalso. For example, in the area of baker, the bakerhas to show how to measure and sift flour. If the

/student does not know fractions, it is most difficultto measure ingredients while baking. Thus, there mustbe a correlation, with, the vocational instructorwriting a prescription to the academic teacher statingthe problem. In other words, each student that isinvolved in the academic area proceeds on his/her ownlevel of functioning and at his/her own speed withonly the student competing against himself/herself.'

Another unique area of the Center is the use ofa checkbook. These are used on a token economysystem. If studen10 would like to gain employmentbut are not ready for on-the-job training or fulltithe or part time competitive employment, they applyfor jobs within the Center. That student must thenfill out an application and sUbmiLt three recommenda-tions from three teachers. If these requirementsare met and if the application is filled out correctly,then an interview date is set. If this interview isprofitable, then the student is more than likelyhired. The student then is paid a wage, which wouldbe commensurate with regular uptown pay, and givenCareer Education Center token economy money. Some

of the things that students might be able to buywithin the school facilities is a movie of the week,a field trip, a camera, pens-and paper, magazines,ice cream, donuts, cookies, etc. Students can alsostart savings accounts and get interest on the moneythat they have in the bank.

The unique factor that makes Career educationvery different is that all the work is done by thestudents; it is like a self-sufficient cooperativein which everyone does his/her awn job.

Another unique fact about the Career EducationCenter is its smoking lounge for smokers 18 years

. of age or older and for students who receive written(7,parental permission to use the smoking loon s

45

36 / ANDERSON

is a privilege and, like most privileges, can heeasily lost if the student is not doing well inhis/her classes or vocational areas.

The Career Education Center has options,and each student that goes there certa ly does notnecessarily have to be at the Career ducation Centerall day long. A student, for example, may be in thevocational center for one-half day and at the CareerEducation Center for the other half of the day, halftime in an Area of Vocational Technical Institute(AVTI), and one -half day at the Career EducationCenter, on the job for a half day and half time inhis regular school, or half time on the job and halftime at the Career Education Center.

Hone and Social Living Project. This componentwas funded, through a grant; by the Hartz Foundation.There are three parts to thiS component: the laboratoryschool (whidh is the day peri44 aid far which a'four-bedroom house across the street from the regular schoolis utilized to teach many different home-living socialskills); the evening home program (the home, super-vised by a young couple serving as house paremt0, isused by students so that they may learn how to liveindependently or as a group); and the tndependentapartments (students have a male and a female counselorwho help with their independent living in an apart-ment complex in Detroit Lakes). In this last step- -.before students go off on their own--students buytheir own groceries, do their own laundry, preparetheir own meals, plan a good share of their own ,

recreational time, and meet and talk, with the couft-selors whenever they feerthe need.

,

, Alternative Le4rning Program: The alternativelearning program is sponsored by the Crime Commissiongrant. The two staff members involved under thiscomponent are "youth advocates" and they work withthe courts, the home, the probation officers, and;th, law officers to aid the courts with options forplacing students in independent apartments, and/orin day sehpol at the Career Education Center, within-depth counseling. This programyould.be for

46'

PROBLEMS AND ISSUES / 37

students who are adjudicated delinquent or possiblypredelinquent and show evidence that they are orpossibly might be on the road to much more delinquency.

FUNDING COOPERATIVES

One question that people ask regarding cooperativeassistance is, "Where do you get your funds, and whogives you the money?" The Becker-Clay County SpecialEducation Cooperative receives assistance from several

different agencies: special education, vocationaleducation, vocational rehabilitation, private foun-dations, welfare, Crime Commission, Title III,Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), privatedonation, National Association for Retarded Children,Rural Minnesota Concentrate Employment Program,Department of Labor, Mahnomen-Hubbaid-Becker (MAHUBE)Counties (which is an 0E0 program), and federal and

state hot lunch programs.

Another question asked by many educators is,

"How are the raises negotiated?" In the Becker-Clay Cooperative, teachers have their own negotiatinguhit, and these teachers negotiate with assignedrepresentatives fbm the board of directors.

Some people ask, "What are the problems youhave in transportation?" That is an awesome problem

when the area coverage is so vast. To compensate,

there are taxi-cabs, and student buses that run eery

hour on the hour.41,

The last question many people ask is, "Whatdoes the financial picture look like in our special

education cooperatives?" It certainly has improved

this past year. Previously, Becker -Clay Cooperativereceived 60 percent, up to a maximum of $5,600 in

special education reimbursement. This year, they will

be getting 65 percent to a maximum of $10,000. That

increase certainly helps to pay for specialists likepsychologists, consultants, etc. The increase willbenefit the cooperatives now, but no one can foreseewhat.the legislature is going to do for the coming

years.

47

38 / ANDERSON

CONCLUSION

There are many variables and factors thatcannot be controlled in our educational sodiety,but one of the best solutions and the biggest factorinssolving problems that we have found is a goodstaff. Even with, an excellent staff, there must be,team work. This team must be aware of the totalgoals and must be somewhat in agreement or at leastagree to carry out these goals. Also, this tiarahas to be continually conderned in making the students,the parents, thecommunitysand themselves winners;and, there is no one more important in becoming a.winner than our students.

48

Chapter Four

THE SOUTHWEST kpi6NAL

ibucATIokAL.SERvia AGENCY FOR

MAiNSTREAMIN&HANDiCAPPED CHILDREN

William Naylor

gain purpose Of this chapter is twofold.First, the overall Edlicational,Seconcept will ,Wdiscassed; What s i, , and what

...does it do is terps ot%. organii for delivery of,

s

'e,

not ,only' special edgcAiOn aervi es but a vast-. 4.airratf services thst...Asa. be g ganized: Coop/eta- .

.>

- .. .tAvely? What are agioe,. .phi behind_ this,

and,Why'does this seat to'be:..nedded7. SeiondlY, . . .

tilOy. special educafiOn ties 'irit.p the overall '8SA of..

. regionar,educatiOn concept will be descried. -"Xn

additi6, the'.eDOhasfe ,or direCtio0'. which 'special

educpaori'deViees hives takeniii..the .4.SA structure ,4 .6

AIP, indi*Xda% ": '..,

.

. ,

.

ESA ],tCQNCEPT

.

t'.:Jhe.Edacational:SerVicd Area (heieafter. re-.

ra ed_pi. as the 2SA)..civets a 24 Bounty area -in

4 . 4.:

'

40 / NAYLOR

southwestern and west central Minnesota. The.reasonsuch a broad area is covered is because this is apilot program for the state in terms of setting:upintermediate units or regional educational programs.As a result of this vast territory (120 by 80 miles),

. communications will be a major-problem until thisterritory can,be broken into smaller areas. Fortu-nately, the legislature set up the MinneSota Develop-ment Regions some years ago, and this has been helpful.Regional development is becoming a more importantorganizgtional factor not only in the delivery ofservices in education, but in the political,area.Minnesota currently has regional development commis:- .

sions; these are operational. Many governmentaltypes of problems, funding, control mechanisms, etc.are being handled and channeled through this mechanism.Such a political development is threatening to somepeople, (namely the counties) .because at some point -

in time,ii threatens to supplant the county wteM.It is fortOnate for the ESA that: the state was ,.dividedint planning regions because this prcrOded the-neededgeog hic structure. AsvariQus special educationcoopers ves and'other cooperatiie arrangements havedeveloped,, various schools learned.to, work together

' in coordinating certain types of Seivicesrand,theESA, in fact, has grown dufof previous io.oneratVgeendeavors. For Eufample, southwest Minnesota had the

Educational Researah and Developmedi Council (ERDC),the, precUrsor to the ESA. Radit.not been for that,,.prganization, the ESA probakly wotld,riat have eierge .

..

:Tup.gRix atarted-ta.1.967when'the southWeit-region secured alarge Title III grant to developsuppleMentai Y edut4ional benters..-TAI.U-

. enabled thsouthwest to employ various types Ofitinerant specialists and *sultants to its ruraltaChools, "school psychologists, social workers,nurses, reading and curriculum consultints. Aa,the_program,devalopea, theledeial money was phased'out .

over athree-year.period: 4tThe programs werefinanced by local fending ercontractlor serviceswith special.educatIonas the,piimary service. Through-the combination` tla,.localmoney and

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY / 41

contracting for services, these programs are, beingmaintained end suppoitech

As the EP* developed, there .was a need for amore permanent type of structure. The ERDC wasorganized under a joint powers agreement and admin-istered by superintendents who served on the boardof directors. By contrast, the ESA has its ownspecific legal structure and is controlled by localschool boardmembers. .

.

Since the late 1960's, the State Education Agency,h10 developed and proposed the MESA bill; however:several prpposed`MESA (Minnesota Educational ServiceAgeiCy) never got of the ground. 'Observingtiffs, the southwest region wrote their own bill forthe 1973 session of the legislature, called it.thepilot. ESA,'and the legislature did pags,that-6111in 173.

Thepiloi educational, ervice area was startedwith the adMinistrative structure as sho in Figure 1.At, the top of thislfigure ins the board .° 'directors,

cpmposed of a 12-member lay board electe at largefrom school'bo.ard members througApvt all the schoolsin the fegioni VOUT categories of services are pro-vided by thiS.u4,4,(the tistarch and development -section is not *function atthistime).:tratilie and staff personnel services, instructional' 'services, special'educatiOn services, and mediaservices, EaCh of-these components has its own

committee. .

.advisory committee which is aimed itowad giving ladal-

. iniut into-itbe PrograMs:.

IntOt4ohllosophy, the ESA is-seryiceb#sed.-'1.'The ESA, develops services that people in the localSchools want; therefore, it is set irp to gAre,thelocal schools 100 percent control of its programs.The services are all discretiOnary,'and schools arenot evenrecluired to- belong pothe,ESA.

,

The other factor which establishes local-control ...

.. is the direction proVided,bY the ESA board of directors-,

,-,. , ) , . .,y.*.- -

42 / N AY LOR

.=1111111MI10...11.

ECM

DIARSI. 44 4., 460 et

8111IIKTNE

FERS01111

SERVICES,

IRSTRUCTICK

sEAVICtS

SPECIAL

BUCATICil

SERVICES

Figurd 1: Proposed organization dhart of southwestand west educational service area.

52

Ss.

A

./7

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY / 43

consisting of local school board members. This

group makes all final policy decisions. Thus, majordecisionmakiug is tied to local people starting withthe board of directori and extending through advisorycommittees. For example, each special educationcenter has an,adlisory committee consisting of schoolpersonnel. The person who works with that advisorycommittee is largely a special education director, '

and these people meet three- to four times a year.Any major programmatic changes,'Policy decisions,etc. are brought to that committee and discussed,ecause these a e basically decisions which affect

local schools. Perhaps there is a need to involvedifferent per onnel, to move to,a different deliverysystem or to even recommend salaries. Local recom-

, mendations, in turm, are relayed to a comprehensiveregional ad isory committee and eventually to theESA board of directors. ,

,

SPECIAL EDUCATION TIE-IN TO ESA

Figure 2 best illustrates the special education'tie-in to the ESA. The smallest circle shows allthe services offered. Under instructional servicesthere are programs for gifted students, and at thispoint, a task force is meeting regularly and attempt-ing to find ways of providing more options fof thesestudents. The ESA has an individually, guided educa-tion (IGE) league consisting of a group of 25 schoolswho have developed( the IGE structure at the elementary

level. In the area of human relations ESA has devel-oped a common model program which could be taken intoan individual school district and used. Anotherinstructional service is the social studies league,which is essentially a group of social studies teacherswho plan in-service and staff development activities.During 1975-1976, the Council for Quality Education,has funded a program to improve the fine arts in ESA

schools. Finally, instructional services include a

resource center for Right-to-Read progra s and the

regional Right-to-Read. Directors have een admin-

istratively assigned to the ESA.

! .

53

"A4 / NAYLOR

4*

Figure 2: Special education tie-in to the ESA.

51

SERVICE AGENCY / 45

Administrative services include: data processing

(budgets, scheduling, time share, etc.); educatio 1

planning (helping schools th comprehensive nee and

goal sett': of students prioritizing of concerns,

and help schools wit curriculum planning and evalu-

ation); fede progr.. development (Title III, Title I,

Title VI); and -e ..D ent of a professional informa-tion center including social studies, arts and humani-ties,.media, right-to-read, and comprehensive special

education libraries.

Media service; include: cooperative purchasing,

audio-Visual equipment repair, printing services, and

a shared 16 mm. film library.

The large wheel in Figure 2 represents the specialeducation instructional materials center (SEIMC) which

is the major support service for special education

programs. The center.was developed through fedefalfunds derived from Titles III and VI of ESEA. Alibrary valued at/$100,000 exists for the purpose Ofbeing used prescriptively in the gducational progTams

fOr handicapped students. SEIMC uses a special re-

trieval system to match materials to educational pre-. aoriptions. Materials arvanned to schools on a

regplar schedule, and all materials are shared by ESA

schools. The instructional materials center is cur-rently being.supported by local funds charged to all

participating schools on a per student basis.

The ESA also hosts four special education coopera-tives with each center headed by a special education

director. Each cooperative employs itinerate consul-

tative personnel through the ESA including: school

psychologists, school Social workers. learning dis-ability consultants, speech, superVisors and prescrip-

tive,resource.teachers. Generally speaking, the ESA

emplOyllthe support personnel while individual schools

hire direct service teaching staff. The one notable

exception is in speech pathology where schools still

employ some therapists through ESA.'

In addition to the above, ESA has added con-

sultants fhfough the approval of federally funded

-5 5

46 / NAYLOR

programs. These include a consultant for preschoolprograms for the developmentally disabled, a regionalconsultant for the hearing impaired, a consultantfor the educable mentally retarded, and an additionallearning disabilities consultant.

Indicating the comprehensive scope of specidleducation services'in ESA, the Special EducationalRegional Coordinator, SERC, for southwest Minnesotahas been assigned to the ESA. The SERC provides

. overall coordination and liaison with the StateEducation Agency.

SPECIAL EDUCATION EMPHASIS

it is Ovious-that a regiOnal approach to specialeducation, which at the same time emphasiies localcontrol, provides a number of major advantages indelivering services:

Special education becomes integrally relatedto a total education program. This isparticularly significant when emphasis isplaced on "mainstreaming."

A comprehensive progriM is possible throughESA with a great deal of staffing flexibility.Economies of scale also allow added supportservices such as the special education instruc-tional materials center.

st The ESA permits better coordination of services,particularly in the area of special education.It is possible through this structure todevelop a regional plan in addition to strate-gies developed locally.

Schools can purchase services to the degreeneeded and desired, and this advantage becomesincreasingly important during times of decliningschool enrollments in rural schools. Thebroader geographic base makes such an advantagepossible.

Special education services in the ESA emphasizea basic commitment to a systems approajch. Schools

56

: EMCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY / 47

are currently attempting to operationalize compre-hensive child sway and instructional servicessystems for special education. Under these systemsa process would be clearly delineated under whichhandicapped students are identified, their needsdiagnosed, assessed, and addressed by means of aneducational prescription. Follow-up and evaluationare the concluding steps in this overall process.

A continuum of services model is employed byESA schools. Generally speaking, children aremoved to more structured programs as they are unableto function adequately under mainstream options.

A third commitment is toward developing aneffective staff evaluation program. Currently, ESAstaff are exploring use of management by objectivesor MBO methodology. It is the philosophy of ESA notto force systems on staff or schools, but to explorealternatives related to prioritized needs with staffand schools and to involve "consumers" in developmentof the systems which they can then become a part ofthat system. Management by objectives allows aprocess of negotiation between a special educationdirector and his/her staff. Staff have a clear andconcise voice in determining tlie objectives by whichthey will be evaluated.

SUMMARY

The ESA provides structure or an umbrella underwhich a vast array of educational services and programscan be delivered. Since the services and programsare discretionary and basically controlled by contractswith local schools, it is necessary that the ESA employqualified staff who are capable of assuming the rigorsof this type of built-in accountability.

Under the ESA, special education is an integralpartof a total educational program and not isolatedfrom regular education. The emphasis in special

education is placed upon prftiding a comprehensivestaff, adequate support systems through the instruc-

-

57

48 / NAYLOR

tional materials center, and importance is placedupon developing a systems approach emphasizing theleast restrictive alternative, and a comprehensiveevaluation and staff development pier'.

58

Chapter Five

IMPLEMENTING EARLY EDUCATION

PROGRAM FOR

HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

Judith Wolf

The past quarter of a century has been markedby a shift in viewpoint concerning the functionand importance of stimulation in,early childhood,

'and consequently the child's early years have takenon new significance. A generally accepted beliefheld until -t by psychologists and educa-tors was that development was fundamentally amaturationally -determined process: Child studiesduring the 1930's challenged the concept of thefiked IQ. These studies provided some of theearliest research findings to demonitrate theeffects of environment on the young child's cog-native growth. Leading psycholdgists and educatorshave contributed enormously to the efficacy ofearly education, and many have stre4se.d the needfor quality dhildhood education.

The-federal government has also expressedconcern for early childhood education, planning and

49

50 / WOLF

impl4mentation. The past ten years, particularlysince President Kennedy's 1963 Message to theCongress, have seen early childhood educationemerge as one of the Nation's key interests.Robert Hess in 1968 expressed this public comrmitment'when he stated the following:

°.

...the current growth of programsin early education and-the large-scale involvement Of the schoolsand federal government in them \snot a transitory concerne It repre-sents a fundamental shift in the re- .

lative roles and potential influenceOf the two major socializing institu-tions of the societythe-family andthe school.

6 I)

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

The unique educational needs of handicappedpreschool children are in the forefront of concern.by educators and researchers alike.

In a- telephone survey conducted by the Councilfor Exceptional Children Information Center, 57investigators in the area of special and regulareducative identified early Childhood as one of themajor areas of research activity (Jordan, 1971)./Bloom (1964) suggests that a major proportion ofthe variance in adult intellectual achievement,measured by a wide variety of procedures, is alreadyaccounted for by the time the child reaches theage df five. Special educators have become awarethat selected and critical affective, linguistic,and cognative patterns are formulating in the earlyyears.

In recognition of many unmet needs of handi-capped children in the preschool age, range, Congressin 1968, passed ,the Handicapped Children's EarlyEducation Assistance Act; Since, this time, the

t.

6O

EARLY EDUCATION / 51

is sa

Office of Education's Beau of Education ?for theHaadicapped has established and supported a widevariety of early childhood programs. One exampleof such a program is the statewide plan for pre-school severely handicapped children and theirfamilies in'llinnesot. Another activity of theBureau has been the cteation of Research, Develop-ment and Demonstration Centers at four majorUniversities, coimitted to the investigation of andprogramming for the cognitive potential of preschoolhandicapped children. Martin (1971) stated that aprime, objective of the Bureau by 1976 is to havefacilitated the implementation of comprehensiveearly education for 75 percent of all h4ndicapped,or potentially handicapped, preschool -age children.

RURAL PROBLEM OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Educators and investigators are inclined topioneer in their own defined area often without aconcern for its many related fields. It is thisAbsence of systematization in early childhoodwhich has brought Rowrer (1970) to state, "Theresearch and development phases of early childhoodprograms have succeeded but the implementationphases, thus far have largely failed." Rowrercites as evidence of this situation the. apparentlimitations of compensatory education on the onehand and compelling evidence of success for somerelatively small scale programs on the other.Martin (19'71) has suggested that the development of-preschool programs for Lhe handicapped has beeninhibited by the paucity of prototype programs forlocal planning and lack of structured informationon how to create and implement successful programsin early intervention for handiceppert children.

,

Preschool educators in rural and sparselypopulatedareas,face an even greater problem thando urban educatOrs in terms of available materials,staff and reso 'irces for early education.

52 / WOLF

IMPLEMENTING PROGRAMS FOR THE,PRESCHOOL HANDICAPPED

Three major areas of concern confront the e u-cator in'designing and implementing programs fothe preschool handicapped child in rural andsparsely populated areas. One obvious concern is-for resources. Even if preschool investigate swere to acknowledge that individual stimulat on ona day-long basis would be optimal for every child,financial restraints would surely,prevent isfrom happening. Considerations such as 1 gth-of day, materials needed, space Involved- trans-portation involving long distances and antityand quality of staff employed all become ortantconcerns in planning early education programs,especially in rural areas.

Design decisions confront one continuouslyin plannink early education programs, and selectionof s basic model becomes an immediate issue. In '

general, four models have been employed. Theydiffer mainly in degree of structure, setting in-volved, and educational delivery system.

A frequently employed model could be calledthe school model. Here, children are removed fromthe home and educated together at a central loca-tion. Advantages are that as an educator he/shecan control many learning variables, and thus,modify the total environment. The major disadvan-tage is the'heavy financial burden that resultsin transporting children to a center in a sparselypopulated area. Also there is the possible dangerof alienating parents due to their relative lackof involvement in the child's; program.

An itinerant teacher model is when a trainedtutor 4s sent into the home to work with the childfor a 4pecified amount of time. Although this is

fta relatively convenient method of providingstim-ulation, parents may choose to leave during tutoringso that the educational experience and the homeenvironment may have no positive interacting effects.

7.

V"- -

.,,s.

. kigiclizoN / 53'.-

,, c.

Also depgnding on. the dia tarices traireled, expensemay be great if using "this model- in a rural:area..

irt- a h tip visit model, an educator goes intothe hOme .to trainthe mother _or father to stfmu-late their c ld.:'butcoMes using this model can. . v.

besubstant a , OroVided, the interaction between .'.. 0 vlsito andparent,is posIii've'and'motiliating.:

vial onside tation; .telat Jug; to long dis'tance't bee me important -wlen using this model. .- - , ....-

, . .,,A spppbrt gi-9,1.21, rasditi attempts . to' s txengthen- .

_patentchild tiondErby hakrine,parents train otttsideof the" hoine as a group. Although there. is no directmonitoring of stiraulation.actiiffes .with the c'hild, :the parenta gain support _from othei parents fecing .i.",,, tsimilar pr'oblems.with a handicappecrchlid, arid, the ,,:; .

experience, may enhance self- awareness and- facilitbetter child-re.aring belistinrd. The, advantage 'o,..."this model is that financial coilirnitment ',ist. liatc-a,_ ,, .

..but the model is' disadvantaged by` offering no direct,:stimulation for tte clq.id.' ,, Y .:' . -. , .,.,

A..variety of 4cOal. isilies historically asso-ciated With early intervention havg _been telaiedtd the .fear of -tampering with the almost ,ntytticalielationshiii between child and, family, althoughxesearch has shown that the bonds within the ...famil9.may',actually strengthen 3f the child is offeredstimulation, especiallyif the family is.givensupport end/ot, trainin4 '(Kegan and.Whitten, 1970).Still, early educators need to be very concerned .

about the possibility o' creating a gap betheenchild and environment, and recognize the fact thattraditionally children have been "schooled" athome, tintil, five years of age; .

.-

Mother serious sociological problem is the,issue of continuous ptogrannping for the child frofit ',.preschool through his school years. preschoolprovides a somewhat protective, generally Indi-vidualUed, 'situation where there is of tett. one -'to =.one child-staff interaction and activepatent iiizvolvement. Upon 'entering the public school systtn, .

54 WOLF

oo

the handicapped child may b e labeled and placed in,a special class based only on'test scores and dig-

Iregardiitg functional level., Parents who have had,three years of interaction wj-th preschool staff:who have encouraged the normalization of heirhandicapped child laay feel very resentfu of thepublic_school approach to placement and rogram-ing. Continuity from preschool throug theelementary years is a very real issue lin earlyeducation,

Other significant issues in imp menting pro-. gramsfor preschool handicapped chit ren include.. child assessment, curriculum, progr m evaluation,educational alternatives and leade ship develop-ment cin early. education.

CHILD ASSESSMENT '

There are many'new and Interesting approaches, for idpntifying and assessing-the young child. Inoutstate areas, many handicapped children are not

4

identified at all before schoor, and children who .

are screened before school may be -offered onlyhearing and/or-visionscreening. Children with

' pther potential learning problems- are generallynotidentified until school entrance. Clearly',

lack of early identification impedes attempts toprovide adequate preschool programming for allhandicapped children.

One new assessment. area is neonatal screening.,The.siphasis.here is on infant reflexes and re-sponpivity., As the level of measurement sophis-tication increases, investigators hope to be ableto predict potential educational problems wilei

. some degree of accuracy by linking infant measuresof responsivity to the cognitive and perceptual

'demands of a learning situation.

An infant deVelopment test being usedelOrimentally by some investigators, called theUzgiris-Hunt Scales, offers a uniqueway of viewing

,9". , 6 4

-EARLY EDUCATION / 55

infant intelligence. The SCalea purport.to,testprelinguistic or precognitive skills that-seem toprecede preconceptual and formal stages of learn-ing. Innovative measures such as these may even-tually prove to predict school-age intelligencemore successfully than the.traditional measuresof intelligence.

Another way to measur child performance isby the use of a criterion,- efeignced test. For.example, one could identif a discrete number oftasks preschool-Childreh ght be able to accom-pli§H, i.e., some notion of minimum essentialcompetencies, and test children's performance ofthese tasks. Instead of recording correct or in--correct responses,.children, would be graded onlevel of respbftse., A level one response ,would bea response that required,no.input ftom an adult.A level two response would be a response completedafter verbal -command or instruction 'offered by anadult. A level three response would require tom-Illation of a task after receiving an imitative

'stimulus from an adult. A level four responseimplies that the child needs manual, guidance to:Complete the task. Because each of us has differentlevels of understanding and skill ability on tasks,this strategy of measuring behavior is an attemptto assess the level of independente at which achild understands and can work toward completion

. of a task.

Another important change occurring in childassessment is the ethological approach to measure-ment., Although ethological or anthropolOgical field'methods are not new to edUcational research, useof these techniques with handicapped preschool'children is a relatively novel adaptation of tbebasic observational methodology. .Etholagical,

'approaches can be characteriied by observing andrecording behaviors using a sampling (time or'event) approach, noting patterns of behaviorfrom_a theoretical basis or "set" and developing

an appropriate data base. Information obtainedfrom ethOlogiCal'approadhes can be used for tte

, 66

56 / WOLF

development of criterion-referenced testing, pre-scriptive programming for children or parent-child -

dyads, further observation involving children' ortheir parents, and a measure of program effective-ness. The procedure for employing'an ethologicalapprOach inyolVes selecting a child or child-parentdyad for observing, selectingan observationalscheme such as an ethogram, category system orbehavior checklist, collecting observational data,analyzing,the data in order'to draw impliCationsand conclusions, and utilizing the data for future

programming and/or assessment.

CURRICULUM. PLANNING

One of ithe most important areas of researchas been the study of difference in curriculaas they relate to program effect' venessi Weik rt'(1960 cOmpared'a traditional preschool/prograwith a cognitive program and an academi/c.skil

/

pro ram. Each curriculum model was prsented to ,

a coup of eight functionally retarded prebc oolerson a one-half' day baSis,supplemented,with h iMe

,17 its ,twice monthly. After one yea ,.each pro-grem group made intellectual, developmental, andsocial improvements with no significant di ferencesbetween program groups. Weikart suggests hat theoperational conditidas of an experimental pr liectare far more potent in influencing'outcomes thanthe particular curriculp employed. If one thinkscarefully about what is meant' by this statement,one'finds that Weikariris suggesting that oie ofthe most ,important.follpes.in effedtive early child-hood education Ls the organiation and technicalleadership inherent in being. part of any curric-ulum project. This statement has. direct implica-tions for trainin$,needs which will be addresiedlater in this discussion.

PRO AM EVALUATION . .

Programs. are evaluated for a variety of reasons:for selecting,a program mode, for decisionmaking

66

EARLY EDUCATION / 57

on the continuation or expansion of a program, orfor developing a program design. The essential ,

fact is that program evaluation continuous,ongoing process. At the initial stages of evalua-:tion, formative evaluation, used for developing oradjusting a program design; is most appropriate. °During the implementation of the program, a tran-sition from formative to summative evaluation, anoutcome' selection and decision process, is mosteffective. One should evaluate notjmst for pro-gram effectiveness, butfor the nature aqd causesof the effects. Because most programs show mul-tiple effects, it should be accepted that evalua-tion is an integral part of designing and implementing educational, programs,.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMEN

The severe shorexpeiienced.in specand administrationlack of trained ledeterrant to servieducation for hartits public and giteneedy populaleadership. Devcreative servican, administrati

personnel.

age of personnel trained andal education, early educations clearly recognized. This

dersh p acts as a -genuineg hand capped children. Early

icapped children cannot fulfillernmental commitments orserveon of children without trainedlopment of programs utilizing-delivery.systams is dependent op,

e model and,trained leadership'-

There ar many specific problem's and issues,in considerin: early education programs for hand'-Lapped children in rural and sparsely populated

In the state of Minnesota (and there isreason to balsieye the situatfbn is similar

other states1Nthere are no requirements for slid'leadership personnel. State guidelines suggestthat only if the word "school" appears-in the nameof the-program must there be one qualified (pre-sumably through appropriate experience and/orcertification) individual on the staff, and thisindividual does not have to be the director or

67

58 / WOLF

' administrator of the program. In practice whatseems to occur is that the trained personsin earlychildhood education remain in the population centers,and the rural and sparsely populated areas are theemployers of the poorly prepared staffs. The smallpercentage of handicapped children being served inthe rural and sparsely populated areas highlightsthe urgency for program development and leadershippeisonnel.

A response to the lack of comprehensive pro-gramming for the early education of handicappedchildren is that public schools assume leadershipand responsibility.' However, public school can-trol'of early childhood education will net itselfaddress the leadership issue,nor solve the short-ages of trained personnel in -rural areas. Trainingprograms will still be needed to develop a leader-ship pool of teachers now residing in.outstatareas. There is no adequate statement conce ingthe amount'or type of training needed-by an clivid-ual in this un que situation. Nor is there obor position alysis literature available pr viding,dessrption on therole/function of such

indiVidual. arious guideline documenti an numefrous

,sinformal-con ersations held between the aut or andother early ducators suggest that, the preschooladministrat r should be skilled in the followingareas:

/ .

knowledge of current ;rends in methods andmaterials for handicapped preschool' children,especially trends in noncategorica .approaches

pr..*in education;

understanding of models of curric a and hr .

delivery syStem alternatives for ervingyoung handicapped children; /

insight and understanding, into family in-tegration, problems and nature of relation-ships especially in rural situations;knowledge of child development/nd current or

trends in theory and philosophy;knowledge of current assessment trategies

68

EARLY EDUCATION / 59

in child measurement, staff development,and program eV4uation;understanding of all state and local reg-ulations affecting preschool handicappedchildren;establishing working relations with allother agendies serving handicapped pre-school children;recruitment; training,and evaluation ofqualified early education personnel;reporting and communication skills fordealing with federal, state, and localofficials; _

budget planning and implementation; and, involvement in Valley determination in

c' district and statewide purpOses and goals.

A field-centered competency-based model foragement skill development of individuals in

administrative positions is one way to approachthe training needs of regular and special educatorsinvolved in early education. Many of the $sentpreschool directots may be itl outstate rur4 eas

at some distance from the urban educatio 1 cen rs,

which makes participation in the usual manncoming on campus to takesurses during e schoolyear -- difficult. Almost directors are -..loyed-on 48-week contracts, which eliminates the po -sibility of attendance at a five-week or longersummer session; and, taking a year's leaye ofabsence is not a viable option of obtaining furthertraining, since most of the target populat'ion arenew persons in their positions. While a number, of

these newer directors may returd to school in somecapacity within the next five yeais, they need .

leadership training now. An alternative programin additioh to a campus-based model could be de-signed to provide instruction in specific skillareas-needed for administering eatly education'programs for handicApped"children in outstate Areas.Didactic teaching units would be combined withssim-

..ulation experiences An order to provide the direc-tor with a field as well as academic base specific

to the-unique demands,of the preschool setting.

b9

60 / POLF

EDUCATIONAL ALTERNATIVES

The primary vehicle for providing educationalservices to handicapped children has traditionallybeen the special class. It is only natural thatpreschool programs should have followed suit andhave moved to develop self-contained programs forhandicapped preschool children. Recently, becauseassumptions regarding the efficacy of special classpla ent- for handicapped school-aged childrenhas b en subjec -d to critical review, preschooleducators have egun to question their policies andprocedures oncerning the segregation of, handicappedpreschoolers. Some basic philosophical issuesshould be consider d. Individual or preseript'veprogramming i accepted goal by special andregular educators alike. A commitment to this con-cept would suggest an appropriate placement foreach preschool child, depending on his or her needsand abilities. This may mean piecing the handscapped preschool child in a neighborhood daycarecenter, a nearby Heads tart program, or in the caseof the child in a rural area placement, in thenursery school in the nearest town available.

The adoption of this procedure leads quitenaturally to the acceptance of two additionalmanagement cpncepts in special education: normali-zation and noncategorization. Normalization meansproviding opportunities for the handicapped in-dividual to lead a life as close as possible to theactivities and norms of the mainstream of society.In early education, this principle would urgeplacement of a child in a preschool situation whichwould allow for the maximum amount of expression,mobility aid peer interaction. If children areplaced in what the courts have referred to as the"least restrictive alternative" and offered anindividualized program, a noncategorical approachto early education would be an outcome. Preschoolchildren manifesting a wide rangeof handicappingconditions could be served by trained personnelutilizing a variety of delivery systems.

(_

y70

EARLY EDUCATION / 61

RY

This overview of problems and issues relatingto the early education of handicapped preschoolersin rural areas is both pessimibtic and optimistic.Within our grasp is an opportunity to identify andprovide stimulation for handicapped children at anoptimal stage in their development. But, trainingand resource needs are grear. Leadership develop-ment and creative management and evaluation systemswill be the decisive factors determining the over-whelming success of early education or the dismaldisillusionment of just another educational fad.

71

62 / WOLF

REFERENCES

JBilk, Benjamin. Stability and change in humancharacteristics. New York: Wiley & Sons, 1964.

Hess, R. & Bear, R. (Eds.). Early education associalization. Early Education. Chicago: AldinePublishing Co., 1968.

Jordan, J. Th exceptional child's early years.Exceptional Chi ren, 1971, 37(9), 627.

Kagan, J., & Whitten, P. Daycare: Is it a,goodthing? Psychology Today, 1970, 4, 36-39.

Martin, E. Bureau of Education for the Handicappedcommitment and programs in early childhood edu-cation. Exceptional Children, 1971, 37(9),661-663.

Weikart, D.P. Comparative study of three preschoolcurricula. Paper presented at the biennial meet-ing of the Society for Research in Child Develop-ments, Santa Monica, California1.969.

( i2

Chapter Six

A LOOK AT REGIONAL CENTERS

SERVING HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

C. Duane Healey

The only thing that really saved me in schoolwas the fact that somebody taught me how to read.Later, in 1961, I became a teacher of history andEnglish. The first students I met were the "dumbkids" and those youngsters whose behavior was notsuitable to the system. -Seeing these children whodidn't quite fit, I recalled my own difficulties inschool and I said to myself, "That's me. I've beenthat route before. Why don't-I get interestid inthese kids."

The school principal save me a class for thegifted and a class of educable mentally retarded(EMR) youngsters,/and I liked it. I was commissionedto dip them in something and send them back to the-regular class wholly functional. 'I was determinedthat I would do something that would undo what ,

orthodox academia had done to them.

In 1967, a bunch of rebels gathered together:and formulated an education prpgram with-a range

63

F

64 / HENSLEY

and style quite different for the state of Missouri.At that time, there was a very limited special educa-tion law. Slowly, the Missouri Department of MentalHealth began to assimilate the public school rejects.Department of Mental Health sponsored vocational

technical programs, special education classes, andday care centers which were started thfalihout thestate for developmentally -disabled and behaviorallydisordered youngsters. According to Missouri Statutes,there is little that the Deportment of Mental Healthcannot do in terms of treatment services includingeducation. There is wide-open responsibility, andtheagencyls seen by most as the advocate for thehandicapped child. If the child is on the agencycaseload, the agency can tell a school district thatthey are wrong, put them in another school, and billthe local school district. The Attorney Generalhas offered an opinion which states that the Depart-meat of Mental Health may provide or procure, butthey must assure that school -aged children on theirservice registers be provided educational opportuni-ties. Because our special education law is new,however, the Department of Mental Health has move8slowly in effecting a penalty process upon the localeducational agency. It has choen to develop withinrather than to detail a child to an alternative situ-ation.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Missouri has a system of regional advisorycouncils, state advisory councils, and a mental healthcommission. There are 11 regional advisory councilswho make recommendations regarding children receivingservices throughout the state. TIOy do this througha state advisory council which causists of parents,handicapped consumers, educateks,, psychologists,doctors, lawyers, etc. Anytime help is needed,these people are readily available.

Missouri Statutes define developmental'disa-bilities as mental retardation, epilepsy, learning

74

REGIONAL CENTERS / 65

disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy-and otherneurologically handicapping conditions closelyrelated to, mental retardation. The Division ofMental Retardation-Developmental Disabilities alsosupervises special education services for the emo-tionally disturbed and behaviorally disorderedthrough the Mental- Illitess (MI) section of theDepartment. Thus, it has a comprehensive networkof services in rural/sparsely populated and metro-politan areas of the state.

THANK GOD I'M A COUNTRY BOY

Much of what I learned as a boy was related torural America. My grandfather used to say that oneshould first, "Build a straight fence" (one you canbe pround of ten years later); second, "Hoe a cleanrow" (do the job well And get maximum use of yourresources); third, "Grease your plan well" (takecare of what you have through wise utilization andmanagement).

Missouri's system of regionalization is a pro-ductive, well conceived, program which has greatlystrengthened special education services, especially

. in, sparsely populated reas. No rural school canuse the excuse that Lt does not have adequatediagnostic or support ve esources to assist in thedevelopment of indivi ualized educational services.Each regional center has three to four diagnosticclassrooms,,speech and audiological, neurological,psychological and other service components designedto meet the needs of school- g d children. Approxi-mately 70 percent of each gional center budget isused for educational servi es. Missouri has aneffective and efficient de elopmental disabilitiesservice delivery and supportive system for the entirestate; and, it is presently working to upgrade

. services co.behaviorally disordered youth accord-.

ingly.

-ID

66 / HENSLEY

DIFFERENT STROKES

Missouri belduals and states.there ar differebecause every staown special educaunits of governmein Missouri iscoordinate withagencies. There

OR DIFFERENT FOLKS

eves in the uniqueness of indivi-It is important to recognize that

t strokes for different folks, ,

e has its own set of laws, itsion bill, and its own supportivet. Possibly, the error committed

at educators do not utilize orhe services available through stateis no way that education or educators

are going to suceed with handicapped people if thelocal district hai to pay the total bill. Specialeducation is costly, so there is a need to learn howto utilize the many resources which are available.There-are very few superintendents or special educa-tion coordinators in,Missouri who really have knowl-edge of Title XX to support their day school program,for example. They do not know how to address theproblem of what happens when a child goes home inthe evening, what happens to him on the weekend, andwhat happens with the lapse in the summer when lostground Must be made up in the fall. Title XIX,Title XX, vocational rehabilitation, and local schooldistrict funds are available, and these resourcesshould somehow intermesh to end up with a compre-hensive kind of service system which includes specialeducation. Each regional center has the responsi-bility of advising school districts as tdhow theycan integrate their programs with other communityand statewide resources.

Educators must-come out from behind closeddoors andeducationwill givethey willresourcesselves inso doing,

the loser.

enter the arena of action. If speciallives unto itself, such parochial thinkingbirth to entropic isolationism. That is,

so separate themselves frol)soate variedof the community that they excuse them- ,

the "It'd rather do it myself" vacuum. In 1

the handicapped child once again beComes

Everything that one does or does not do isbased upon one's experiences. The kids who are the

6

REGIONAL CENTERS / 67

''hell- raisers" have learned that kind of behavior.' Their so-called maladaptive behavior is a response- --set which has been reinforced at home, school, andin community activities. The teachers, on the

/7.other hand, have a variety of contingency mechanisthsat work which makes them react to Students

).as'yy;he

do. Tlierefore, the public schools mustearm hovtowork with psychiatrists, psychologists, saCialworkers or any other resource in order that theymay reinforce suitable behavior appropriately. In

so doing,, the school will find that it,can betterdeal with the complex problems outside the schoolwhich seem to negate then accomplishments of the edu-cation staff.

FIT FOR BATTLE--THE PSST TEST

In Missouri, it was found that there were manypeople who did not have proper training. Specialeducation teachers, school counselors, speech there-pistet, etc. had book knowledge, but they scored lowon the teacher adaptive behavior scale. The studentsentering the Department of Mental Health programs

.\were not all docile Down's syndrome children. Theyexhibited learning and behavior related problems

mseldom encountered in most college and universitytraining regimes :\ Since college and universitystudents ate not receiving the proper training toknow what to do with the really tough-to-handlehandicapped kid who may have been kicked out of orexcluded ffain several schools in the state, theDepartment of Mental Health says that they must passthe "PSST" test. This means they must be peed uponat least once, stretched at least twice, spat uponthree times, and have one's clothes torn at leastfour times before they are ready for frontlineaction. If these things have happened, then thesepeople ere probably ready for Missouri's mentalhealth program.

A person working with these special kids hasto be more than a special educator. He/she mistunderstand the total life situation of a child and

%7

68 / HENSLEY

what he/she can do for that child to give him amore dignified existence. It is believed that t ereis a high correlation between dignity and the al er-natives one has for being and developing to his \

fullest potential.' How can one talk about kids '

having greater dignity and being recognized as r41live human beings, unless there are alternativesfor them, not only in the school system, but athome or at play. To aid Missouri's public schoolsystem in coordinating their efforts with Title XI ,

Title XX, vocational rehabilitation agencies,recreation programs, HUD projects, etc., the Department of Mental Health utilizes its 11 regional cent rstaffs (see Figure 1). Special education_ programscan be related to or intermingled with other socialservice programs. In order to comply with federalor state regulations, a school system often musthave a special education program by objectives,social services has a state plan by objective, the .

community recreation program has objectives, etc.There ought to be some way of effecting theseprograms into a composite unit of service.

It has been found in Missouri that through(:--coordination (especially in the rural areas),

additional resources can be utilized and more viableprograms developed. For the small school districtwhich does not have the money to develop and/ordevise their own services, special education programsmust somehow be borne out of collective action. For

example, when a kid learns a currency program, whofollows up to see if he can spend his money correctlyat a store? Title XX can buy a monitoring person totest what is taught, to assess his ability to functionindependently, but educators are slow to come around tosee if their /techniques of teaching are accountable

outside the educational arena.

Supportive services are available to manychildren and adults under the Title XX program.These include day care services, genetic counseling,

, transportation, chore service, employment services,education of a particular type, and diagnostic work-ups. The rural school district can take advantage

78

REGIONAL CENTERS / 69

I 0.004.:1 noloNw% g 17", 77"..

,C r(33

;tar 14(1

: ... . N:,.. J. 1 ) \'i 7 i ii ),,;.u.,,

1-1;.1;w-i I i "tie' ki_ i Ir-"il'''' '..........,

1.....z.....4 ,laerde-c*""1-"'"' 1

)1 I....4

L...i.,...4 I 1 ! r 1.----1

a -i f I - 1 I "t Cr.1-,

i1 i

7.-=.1-1 i 1 .....' rz,.7:44-1,..--...1.-

4.--i i I '1

: 47:4-:, rir.7,;47:1-1

1. Albany Regional Center

1.`, 2. Kirksville Regions Center

3. Rumba: Rogicnal Center

4. Kansas City Regional Center

S. Jcpiln Regime! Center

6. Springfield Regional Cents?

7. Rolla Regional Center

S. Poplar Blaff Regional Center

9. Sikeston Regional Center

10. Marshall Regional Center

11. St. Louis Regimal Center

N. Neva4a State SchcolWspitalN. Marshall State School-timpital

H. St..ta Sahool-Hospital

S. St. Louis State School-Mospital

T. St. Louis DevelopmentalDisabilities Treatment Center

Figure 1: Missodri's regional centers and their

service areas.

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70 / HENSLEY

ofthese by working with their county welfare people.In Missouri, where day cars and transportation arethe two biggest problems for the handicapped, theyare purchasing these and other activities withTitle XX and Developmental Disabilities Act funds.One must, of course, be careful not to supplant theefforts of the local educational agency.

The Department of Mental Health also operates,.special education programs for institutionalizedjuveniles. The Department of Mental Health eitherprovides the program or else students are bused andtransported to schools off campus. There are approxi-mately 1,100 scho6I-aged children in state institu-tions. The regional centers, however, have preventedinstitutionalization b generating community-basedprograms for several thousand children. The numberresiding in institutions has also been substantiallyreduced partlytbecause of Missouri's new special ,

education bill: The Department of Mental Health doesnot 'receive children because they are retarded or

behaviorally disordered; they get them because thereis nothing in their community for them. ,In'order toidentify and deal specifically with the individualproblems of institutionalized children, special edu-cation people are often employed right out of collegeand university training programs. These people arebaptized with fire and confirmed in the conflictsof the troubled or rejected youth residing in thestate hospital. It seems that the ideal learningsituation is where at the end of the day the handi-capped child has progressed, the teacher has grown,and the educational assistant is a little wiser,If there is, any one of the three who was somehowleft'odt, there is something wrong with the system.Remember, there cannot be utilization of just pro-fessionals to really get the job done. There mustbe allowance for everyone to do his thing while'putting it all together for the kid who is searchingfor order amid chaos.

Because there must be different strokes for af-ferent folks, it is important to briefly mentionmanagement by objective (MBO). Since the Department

REGIONAL CENTERS`/ 71

-of Mental Health has responsibility even in the

' rural areas for handicapped kids, it must put to-gether a meaningful plan of action. The Department

of Mental Health develops an MBO plan in each ofthe 11 regions for every person in the state of

Missouri who is handicapped. Effective this fiscal

period, the plan will address itself to the needsof and services for three distinct groups--childrenand youth, adult, and aged.' The Departmental budget,including all of the services recommended for edu-

cation,

ap,

will come out of this, plan. The end result

will be a working plan of action designed for afew thousand students with annual presentation tothe state legislaturg. This will show the legisla-

,Iture what the agency can and should not do, and howit will support but not duplicate other servicesystems. Once the mechanism is set up, it works

'quite well, and the agency,ia able to request andallocate funds via this client- centered budgeting

approach. At the same time, the Department ofMental Health testifies in behalf of the Departmentof Elementary and Secondary Educationand localschool districts when school foun tion and cate-

gorical aide funds are being cons dered.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE REGIONAL CENTERS

There are many good things happening in the

xegional centers. Missouri's regiohal centers arein many ways different from those in other states.

They are especially effect e in rural sparsely

populated areas. In each egional center, there is

a director who may be a so ial worker, an educator,psychologist, etc., but eery center has at least

four special education t e people. They each have

three to four classrooms o perform diagnostic and

evaluation services. Mb t regional centers have

40 beds. Bed space is e pecially useful in therural areas because the children often must stayovernight. A school or parent may make a referralto a center,or an individual who is 16 years orolder can walk into a center and ask for help. An

evaluation is conducted, and the parent or guardian.

81

72 / HENSLEY

is notified. Laformation is relayed ba4k to theschool in a variety of ways, and in-service trainingis often provided to the school. Money collectedfor such services does not follow the child inMissouri. It is deposited in the state treasury,and must be reappropriated the following year. Thisis a very great problem administratively and inteferes with the timelines and effectiveness of theprogram.

i No child gets into a state institution from arur 1 or metropolitan area unless he is referredthr ugh a regional center. Deinstitutionalizationis he rule, not thej xception. To Missourians,deinstitutionalizat 'n means the prevention ofinstitutionalizatio as well as moving them backinto the communit , and one cannot move people backunless the scho s have the kind of support theyneed from the tate agencies. Missouri's regionalcenters prov de this support.

MAKING I4 HAPPEN

ao

Ho does one get plugged into the system? Firstll, there is treatment by objective. When the

student arrives At the center, the presenting problemis iden ified and behavioral objectives developed

through standard assessment instruments such as theMissouri-Minnesota Behavioral Scale and other sup-portive iiagnostic tools. Remember, treatment/andeducatio are, in most instances, synonymous. How -

ever, the public school people are having a hardtime unde tanding whet to.do with "an educationplan." If ne mdntions achievement levels, makingprogress in educational terms, they feel they under-stand. Too any educators IS Missouri are used toWaling with -verything in general and nothing inparticular. s, nothing in particular is accom-plished purposefully. In all fairness, however, moreand more requests are coming into the regional centersto assist in August staff development sessions forinstructional and administrative personnel.

82

E GIONAL

Figure 2 graphically displays low treatment -education by objIctive plans are developed. In theupper left hand colu, there ins a certain basicpremise from which to operate and understand thetreatment-education process. Here, one must look atthe school day as being one part of the total life'plan that i$ developed fopandicapped people. Theremust be some treatment aandards, individualizedtreatment plans which includf7education, and anappropriately trained staff lqg help relate to theobjectives. One of the reasons the management byobjectives (MBO) approach is desired is that whentreatment objectives are stated, this means thatsystematic evaluation techniques must be built in.

The age ply is able to handle some probleig. with

a baseline Neropmental evaluation (Missouri-MinnesoiaBehavioral Scale); but, if there is an emotionallydisturbed or behaviorally disordered, child, then thePrQblem- oriented Record is often used. For example,.

suppose a kid is really causing tiou le in school.A local regional center is contacted d asked whatshould be done. A special educat social worker, orpsychologist will go over to the school to review thesituation. He/she may be able to help, or he/she maytake the youngster in fora one-day evaluation, three-day evaluation, etc: The Problem-oriented Record is .

used because it identifies and systematizes ta planof action to alleviate the problem. -One must look

at what is causing the disturbance of problem.Assuming the yourigsver has average intelligence, his

s o

real lem is reacting appropriately to stressfulituat s, so, the child is plugged into the systdg

and-a,plan of action devised based upon both positivand' negat eCts of his behavior. If heismentally etarde learning disabled, etc., then adevelopmental $c 1, or other apPropriatZ diagnostic

,..; device is di4 a supportive information is gathered..

The developmental scale is often used as well withseriously emotionally disturbed Children. There arefff sick kids that require a real in-depth workup,psychOmlysis, or long-term hospital care. The

bulk of the "problem kids" are those that may havesome learning problems, but they came to'the Depart-

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[ HENSLEY

Figure 2: Treatment by objective model.

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REGIONAL CENTERS /-r-

ment of Mental Health because they fit the sy em,raise hell, and reap the overt manifestations f aconfused and anxious family, school, or judicisystem.

Once a child is plugged into the syStem andgiven the initial workup, there is an individualtreatment plan devised which includes*recommendat ons

to the school. On the far right of Figure 2, theis a target objective; so from the treatment planto the target objective, there are all sorts of ena lingobjectives and strategies. That workup is hopeful yput into a language that the teacher understands.To put it simply, a plan is developed, the needs areidentified, the evaluation checks are implemented,and specific recommendations to the teacher e

offered:

In the lower two- thirds part of Figure 2 is thes steil which the Department of Mental Health utilizes.For instance, whenever a referrail comes into a unitof the Division of Mental Retardation - Developmental

Disabilities, one already knows he is presenting a:problem. However, what is wrong with him and how 'tohandle him is not known. Informatiod must be obtainedfrom those who aie in close ,proximity to the problem.Missouri is therefore expanding satellite units closerto the school districts it rural areas. It will notalways be staffed by a professional person; it will

' be a person from the community who knows the localschool dist icts and.can talk their language., Thesepeoples will ecure information that will help, assessthe situat on. Consequently, ,the Division of Mental, .

Retardation - Developmental Disabilities se As theschool districts a packet of reoMmendatiana whichcontain more than recommendations to el* tache;-; ; *

Othe information which does not, infringe the_con-tality ofthe family or client.ia:intlud'ed tothe school to more.fully assess the spe&ific

ing situations in school are related to the-s 124rit adaptive and survival skills elsewhere,.,If, one tak s the various points. like th:e presenting

problem, the initial screening, ,the ,diagnosis, -antcan see the various subsystemA iihich-iateract

8 .t

76 / WEWSLEY

constructively apProaching a solution in the bestinterest of the child. This_also aids as' checklist

in identifying weaknesses in the procesf and improvingservices which will move the child through to the,final reentry into the school system or into thecommunity.

Figure 2 basically illlstrates.what is being

done in Missouri. Missouri's regional centers coverthe rural and sparsely populated areas very well andthe metropolitan areas fairly Well, but its schooldistricts are a long way from really cranking outadequate programs.

Out of necessity, ehe Department of Mental Healthin Missouri has assumed a role within its legalresponsibility but beyond that which is often in thebest interests of the child. Because the Departmentwas doing so much, the public schools were often doing

very little. Hopefully, this will be remediedVol-lowing full implementation of a special educationbilk which states that no child who is on the, mental

health rolls can be denied educational services. A

problet 'which is particularly bothersome to publicschools is certain specialized workups which areforeign to most educators. 141-ten one talks about a

youngster with a learning disability, the schooldoes not khOw how to go to a neurologist or otherspecialist to get the heeded workup and, then trans-late the, same into educational terms. Because of this,

the Department Of Mental Health provides a useful'service by assisting the school with specialized

diaghoses and follow-up.,

\ There is no reason why a child in a rural Missouriarea,should go without educational services. There is

no reason because the youngster has a state and regional

'advisoty.council and the Department of Mental Health

PA Who can and do serve as Ilk advocate. .In the larger .

.

cit4es,,,however, Missouri'in.11 has many problems.

`.The,,biggedt, of course, is just sheer numbers; but,pf".the seemingly overwhelming numbers, the

4.1aloadt.lbelltai health centers have had significant

'ts'Oe.

. -

_ -

CONCLUSION

REGI-CARAL.22A3

It is very exciting to see what has happened inMissouri. Nothing has happened overnight. It hasbeen a long hard struggle, but we are getting there.I believe that if one starts doing things for kidsand maintains them at the center of action, it willpay off personally and professionally. One mustlearn to look at the differences in people and tolook at each person as "a real live, exciting andchallenging human being. The time is right for thespecial educator with broadening horizons and dis-carded blinders. The special educators must not berestricted to tunnel vision, but he/she must bereceptive to all the resources which can benefit thechild.

487tl

40,

Chapter Seven

ESEA TITLE III AND

ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR

SERVING HANDICAPPED STUDENTS

Dwight Maxa

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the

developmen of an' lementary nd Secondary Education

Act, 1965 ESEA) Title III f ded,program dealingwith teach ng independent living skills to a popula-tion of sp cial needs youth i a rural and sparsely

populated rea in northweste Minnesota.

DESCRIPTIONS AND HISTORY OF THE PROJECT

To ful y understand the ,h story of the Home

Social Livi g Center program, t is necessary to go

back to 197 , and recall the Home and Family Living

Laboratory hick was developed within the St. Paul

school syste through an ESEA Title III grant. This

program was the first innovative, independent, livingskill training program for trainable, mentally retarded(TMR) and educable mentally retarded (EMR) youthwithin tht state of Minnesota. Its concept was)

79

88

80 / MAXA

centered around the idea that teaching these skillscould be best done by removing all abstracts whichwere a hindrance to learning for mentally handicappedyouth. To o this, a house was purchased next doorto the Child velopment Center, a school for K-12handicapped youth. This location was easily acces -,sible to the student population within that building.Teaching in this facility was designed to providestudents with information that they needed to supple-ment academic skill building and vocational skilltraining. There was an oppottunity for students to

. learn about skills that were necessary to maintainthemselves independently or semi-independently aftergraduation from the school. The Home and FamilyLiving Laboratory was a day-school program, and thestudents who w re enrolled in this program were givenan opportunity o work within this laboratory settingfor one-half days either in the morning or in theafternoon. In addition to developing this model-teaching laboratory situation, a curriculum wasdeveloped which was divided into seven units withpre- and posttests for,feach unit, a task analysissheet for each practical skill was taught, and aglobal curriculum test was given. The objective's

of the Home-Laboratory program were twofold: first,

to develop a model teaching laboratory; and secondly,to develop an instructional curriculum package whichcould be useful pi teaching independent living skills.This program was fulded through an ESEA Title IIIgrant f6r a period A three years. As an offshootof this program, another program was developed witha more sophisticatePdesign and with even morerealistic groject objectives. The Home-Social LivingCenter program began in July, 1974, and the objectivesof this program were:

To develop a,day -school model facility to instructspecial needs students in' ndependent livingskills and social adjustment skills. The day-

.

cool program is taught within the context ofa house as a teaching laboratory. This house

is a four bedroom rambler with an attacheddbuble garage, across the street from the CareerEducation Center, located in Audubon, Minnesota.

89

ESEA TITLE-11111-f-81

To provide a realistic semi-independent livingexperience for mentally retarded youth in asocial-family home environment. this house,unlike the one in St. Paul, is used 24 hours aday. The staff changes at 3:00 .m., and agroup of six students, who norma ly would gohome, use this facility as a c sroom and evalu-ation training ground to learn semi-independentliving skills under the direction of two'marriedcounselors. This second objective of the programwas designed speci=ally with the needs of TMRand low incidenie in mind. This facilityprovides them with an opportunity to learnindependent living skills not only during thedaytime, but to be evaluated and to continue to

.add to that living experience through the evening.By doing this, it proviltijoremany more oppor-tunities for realiatte-experiences, i.e., makinga bed, takingshowers,.and preparing meals. This

objective also provides for maximum-social devel-opment of students due to the nonschool atmospherecreated in the evening.To provide an independent living situation andsocial development program which will focus onbehavior management requirements for communityliving skills for special needs-y-outh.'-TheApartment Center program is located in Detroit..,Lakes, Minnesota, and consists of four-unit apart-ments within a large apartment complex. This

. program is intended to meet the needs of emo-tionally disturbed students, Predelinquent youth,and borderline retarded EMR youngstei's. By ,

putting these students into an apartment situ-ation, there can be a prediction with almost100 percent accuracy whether or not studentswill be-Ole-to function successfully within thecommunity after leaving school. This is a truly

unique opportunity for'special needs youth toexperience an independent living situation whichprovides in opportunity for learning to takeplace while under the direction'of a counselor;and, actual conditions which would be encountered

upon graduation are simulated daily. Each

.9 0

82 AllAXA

student who is enrolled in the ApartmentCenter program is working on the job either`full or part .time.

THE CONCEPT OF TEACHING INDEPENDENT LIVING SKILLS

To answer the question, "What is meant byindependent living skills?" one must look at thetotal developmental picture for a special needsstudent. Many students leave the Career EducalionCenter with vocational skill training. In otherwords, a student can be trained to do a job whetherit is entry level auto skills, building and groundsniaintenance or dishwashing. Problems arise oftenwhen these students try to bridge the gap betweenschool and the community. Even though they aretrained to do a task, these handicapped youth needspecialized, systematic instruction in personalmanagement skills; and, they need training in howto get along in the community. Things that'normalwyoungsters seem to know without any instruction, xr

these special youth do not. These youngsters do notassimilate information about normal day-to-dayliving as would a normal youngster and need to betaught in a systematic step-by-step way how to dosuch things as using deodorant, preparing a simplemeal, cleaning the bathroom,, combing their hair,doing their-laundry, balancing their checkbooks, andother assorted .day.-to-day tasks which all peol4eface. When.looking at the total educational develop-ment of special needs youth in three different areasof instruction, one sees the following:

Vocational skill training is important, andthese students must be taught in a single skillconcept how to do vocationaLjob tasks.They also need academic enrichment skills whichcan be taught in coordination with vocationaleducation.Students neee4,training in independent livingskillh Which complement the other facets oftotal training. Vocational skill trainingcannot stand alone nor can training in inde-.

ppidint living skills.

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ESEA TITLE III / 83

Another important concept in teaching independentliving skills is the social development that takesplace. Statistics show that 90 percent of people whoare fired from their jobs were noe'fired because oftheir inability to master vocational skills. Theywere usually fired because of their inability torelate to fellow employees or the boss., In otherwords, it was a social problem, and there have beensimilar problems with handicapped youth. They have a h

very difficult time relating to their peer group andto solve this problem, independent living skills areused as a springboard for the development of socialskill training. Students who are enrolled in theApartment Center program and the Home Center programare encouraged to develop their social skills througha variety of different activities. For example, byliving in an apartment building with other studentstheir own ages with similar interests and similarability levels, many students develop their ability torelate socially to their peer group and to all others:For many of these youth, this is the first opportunitythey have had to develop friends and share socialexperiences outside of school with other yoUngsterstheir own age,

SETTING FOR THE HOME-SOCIAL LIVING CENTER PROGRAM

This project is hosted by the-Becker-Clay SpecialEducation Cooperative which is located at Audubon,

Minnesota. The Cooperative covers an area of over2300 square miles and provides services directly toeight-member school districts: The Cooperative is

divided into several components; the Home-SOcialLiving Center is one of the components. Anothercomponent is the school kWh serves the eight-Member.school districts and other school diptyicts in thearea on a tuition paid per student baifs. The Career

.Education Center is set up_to provide servioes tothose youth who cannot fdnction in the mainstream of

education. These students-are classified as special

needs youth, and-there are approxiMately 130 fulltime students at the facility. Some o er students

are also members of the Career EdUc ion"Cenfer for

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84 / MAXA

part of the day and may spend other hours at theSecondary Vocatiqnal Center, at the post-secondaryvocational school, or at the local school. Eightypercent of these students are from small family farmsand 20 percent of the total population of the Cooper-ative are native American. The result of'thjsstudent population is a very strong, rural base withonly a very small number of students livin withincity lithits. The Home-Social Living Cen r programis directly coordinated with the Caree ducationCenter. Students who. attend the Career EducationCenter are bused from local scfiodi districts from asfar away as an hour's ride on the bus one way.

Students who are participants in the live-inprogram ride the bus to school on Monday. Afterclasses at the Career Education Center, they bringtheir change of clothes and other personalebelongingsacross the street to the Home-Social Center or ridethe schodi vehicle into Detroit Lakes to the Apart-ment Center. The length of stay varies; it can bethree or four months in duration or as short as sixweeks depending on the individual need of the student.On Friday afternoon after classes have ended at theCareer Education Center, thes'a"live-in students returnhome for the weekend on the regular bus. Transporta-tion-from the school to the Apartment Center inDetroit Lakes and to other school-activities is pro-vided by means of a school vehicle. This vehicle isoftentimes used to transport students from the job tothe apartments or to school each morning.

REFERRAL PROCEDURES

The Home-Social Living Center program is pri-marily aimed at spedial needs adolescent boys andgirls ages 14 -21 who exhibit the ability to liveeither semi-independently or independently. Specifi-cally, students are referred from the following

--three gxoups:

,aural handicapped youth needing a social-livingprogram who may be characterized as mildly

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ESEA -I 85

retarded by any psychometric score and arelacking ip coping skills for independentlyliving or exhibiting significant behaviorproblems. These students attend the CareerEducation Center and are receiving job skillstraining, but for complex and other environ-mental reasons, needed additional trainingfor social living within the community.Those students who attend schools in theC6operatives served by the Career Educationcenter or nearby nonmember schools. Theytypically have peaked in academic skill attain-ment and are referred to the Career EducationCenter for training in vocational' skills,behavior adjustment, and social living s Ils.

Youth who are returning to the communiti s afterhaving spent part of their lives in variousinstitutional settings including state mentalinstitutions and day-activity centers. This

also includes youth who have been recommendedfor placement on a diversionary basis fromcrime correction programg. Actual referrals

are made on the basis of student performance .

on -a series of tests which measure social skilldevelopment, aptitude, and ability for inde-pendent living and a general picture vocabulary

test.

FUNDING ItFORMATION

The sources of funding for this program are many.First, seed money for this project was provided byESEA Title III and hosted by .the Becker-Clay CountySpecial Education Cooperative with local tax dollar

support. The first year grant was $62,826, with -

approximately $40,000 of matching funds from the '

Cooperative, mostly in the form of special education

reimbursements. Another source of funding was theHartz Foundation, a private foundation, which wasutilized for the purchase of the house in Audubon

which is called the Home Center. Another source of

funding was the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation,which provides financial assistance to students foi

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86.] MAXA

on-the-job work experience, thus makingit possiblefor each student in the Apartment Center program tobecome employable. Financial reimbursement is alsoavailable through the Welfare Department which .71.11soon be providing a per diem allowance for studentswho attend the Home Center and Apartment Center. Thisreimbursement would be much the same as it is forstudents who are maintained in group home settingsunder the Welfare Rule 34 license.

Other sources of additional funding are beinginvestigated at this time with the idea that it ismost important that financial arrangements be madeto absorb the $62,000 of Title III funding after thethree year grant has ended in 1977.

REPLICATION SUMMARY

The Home - Social Living Center program is designedto provide services to special needs youth enrolledin a career education program who have adjustment orbehavioral problems which interfere with their adjust-ment in the program or in the community. Two socialliving units have been established to serve youthwith such problems who are in transition from theregular school to the Career Education Center, fromthe Center to the community, or from institutionsto the community and Center. These social living units'develop skills in home living and management of socialbehavior through a three phase program which is inte-grated with the ongoing prograta at the Center.

The overall goal of this project is to providea community living setting for special needs fromrural areas to acquire social living skills necessaryfor independent living, and this is made .possibleftyan ESEA Title III grant from the Minnesota Departmentof Education and through the cooperation of the Becker-Clay County Special Education Cooperative.

In terms of exportability, this program is wellsuited to both urban and tural settings. Since most.school districts own at Jeast one house.and oftentimes

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ESEA TITLE III 87.,

many more, the program could become operational witha small dollar investment. To-assist this process,a developmental program guide is available. A cur-.riculum guide has been written and is' avhilablecomplete with task analysis sheets. A slide shoWdepicting the first,year ofithe Home-SocialCeUterprogram is available for dissemination, and otherdevelopmental and dissemination materials areavailable upon request. .

It is the opinion of this author that thisprogram is truly innovative .in its concept to'dis-associate frqm the conventional School classroom byproviding an atmospheKe_ which is totally relevant'to students. Working 'iath this program provides an

.opportunity ,to see tremendous il,iipovement in students'

self-concepts whin have resulted from these success-oiented student activities. This program has apotential for adding a viable, new curriculum dimen-sion to an already existing program in special edu-cation.

.4

f-).1*.

O

Chapter Eight

AtioDEL FOR-TRAINING '-

LEADERSHIP PERSONS IN

RURAL AND SPARSELY POPULATED AAAS

Richard Weatherman

4.

The problems of educating handicapped childrenin the rural and sparsely populated areas parallelthe difficulties of providing all human servicesoutside of the larger populati areas. In mostrural and sparsely populated are s, the number ofschoolage persons is declining t a rate greaterthan that of the metropolitan centers. Consequentlchildren with unusual or very difficult educatii5naproblems then constitute a very small proportion f

the total school population.

Another problem of providing specialized services'to handicapped c4,ildreriin'rural and sparsely populated areas is that programming,fer, these children?finding the educational specialists equipped to workwith them% and distances between s cial educationcenters contributes to the difficu ty of providingthese services. Frequentl the distances are sogreat that to use an,itin nt model, or one where -'

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9.7

90 / WE HERMA:,

the speci 1 educatiomil resource person travels from

7/-> one school o another o assist in the education of

/ ` handicapp ildren, is not feasible. with the

re/ativ v sins ers of handicappechiLdr-eh_yldthe 1 ge distances between special educatin centers,

ter lnt-ressu of t t erf

rvices on a per pupil basis.- As a result, other

models tor providing education must be developed.

ile distance, number f children, and cost

are important variables in .t matrix of a servicedelivery system, the key factor for a successfulprogram is leadership personnel to plan and direct a

program. The model that is described below repre-sents one such effort to attempt to allev1ate theifficuity leadership persons in rural and sparsely

populated areas have in obtaining training for thecritical competencies they need.

SPECIAL EDUCATION ADMINISTRAThN TRAINING PROGRAM

In September, 19.73, the University of Minnesotabegan operating a new training program for specialeducation administrators. Known as the Special Edu-

cation Administrati Training Program (SEATP), the

project is a joint venture between two departmentsof the University: D partments of Special Education

and Educational Administration. It is supported by

a grant from the Bureau of Education for the Handi-capped, United States Office of Education, and by

funds from the University of Minnesota.

The program is designed simultaneously to meeta current, pressing need in Minnesota and also toserve as a model that can be replicated in trainingadministrators and practitioners in other areas ofhuman services (e.g., practitioners and administratorsof day activity centers, group homes, nursing homes,etc.). In addition, the geperal model of this

program may be applied topreparation programs forocher types of positions.

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TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERSONS / 91.

SEAM is a (1) competency-based educationprogram, (2) developed from a systems orientationmodel, and (3) used for continuing education ofprofessional administrators. Each of these threefeatures was adopted to promote educational_effec-iveness Aria efficiency.'

A competency- asg or per rmance-basedjpreparation program is one in wh ch

...performance goals are specified, andagreed to, in rigorous detail in advanceof instruction. The student must eitherbe able to demonstrate his abilities orperform job tasks. He is held accountable,not for passing grades, but for attaininga given level of competency...the twininginstilLtion is itself held accountable forprodulTng able practitioners. Emphasis

is on demonstrated produce or output.(Elam, 1971, pp. 1-2)

SEATP's apoption of a competency-based approach isan attertKto focus on education directly applicableto the special education administrator's actual job.As a consequence, the program (SEATP) should bebetter TILle to accommodate individual educational

needs. A adriition,-the procedures developed toidentify and validate competencies should promoteprompt changes in the existing curriculum sequenceto mee changing conditions and to facilitate repli-c on of the model elsewhere.

.4;

The requirement that comp tency- ased Firograms

be able to demonstrate thelpDo ncy of each traineei*lies that they are data bas :. SEAT? has used asystems approdch to identify ea h component of the ttraining developme t sequence an to attempt to assure

s fficient information for Matin ecisions at each 4

p nt. The systems-orien ation should also contri-bute substantia ly to se of program modification

I and epliaation.

A 9 9

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92 / WEATHERMAN

SEATP-...is a continuing education program'which

can be pursued by the employed director of specialeducation while he is on the job. It has incor-porated procedures used successfully in other con-/tinpilezeducation programs (including those currently

--bm..4ng-iAlka04e- T: .t

in Hospital and Health Care Administration, Schoolof-Public-Heaithi- T-and-theAmerican Management Association Continu g EducationProgram). Continuing education has the :dvantageof enabling more directors o special education to

re,.

participate than would be ssible with raditionalon-campus training programs. It is also expectedto be more efficient, both in terms ' time and in-cost, especially after the initial program developmentphase has been completed. However, the program canreadily be offered on either'a preservice or in-service basis, because of the nature of the compe-tencies toward p,Which the program is directed(minimum essential on-the-job performances).

BACKGROUND

, The "Administrator of Special Education" Position.Specia education programs and services for handicappedchildr n have expanded during the last decade at anunp cpdented rate. This sharp acceleration inse ices isNduto a number of factors, includingphil phical acceptance of the right of all childrento an education, advocacy from parents of exceptionalchildren as well as school personnel for special '

services, litigation and legislation requiring public,.schools to provide special services, and increasedstate and federal funding for initiation and ongoingsupport of such programs.

This increase in the number of services appe,rsto be progressing with expanding sophistication inthe field. Research and demonstration programs haveprovided insi hts into the manner in which exceptionalChildren lea , and appropriate instructional tech-nology has be developed to cope with the problems.Many stud, eve alsp recommended new conceptu4li-

TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERSONS / 93

nations of service models and organizatidtn patternsto facilitate pupil learning and efficierit use of

resources.

/

One of the most prominent of these trends isthe philosogIfy-relerredto ±trtts various guises as"mainstreaming," "normalization," or "the principleof least restrictive alternatives.' It implies chatthe traditional methods of providing special educationservices need to-be-thoroughly reexatined.and King (1970), for example, comment that:

I

The main alternative to-a regular classhas been placement in a special self-contained class. However, new sequential)arrangements of instructional alternativessuggest that only a small number of ex-ceptional children will require self-contained settings. The greatest numbermay be able to remain in the profit fromthe main system if resource help isavailable and if that system makes useof concepts such as differentiated staff-ing and provides viable mechanisms forthe individualiza4ion 91 instruction.

(p. ix)

As the school's capability to accommodatehandicapped children in regular education programsincreases, the organization of special educationservices must change accordingly.

In the past, general education focusedon the Nodal" or large group of typicalchildrn within the school population;special educatio was delegated therespons bility f educating those

children w ell int disability cate-gories defined by general educators,asbeing children unsuited fo*the generaleducational.program. But events in recentyears indicate that these two quasi-distinct educational systems will con-verge, and the next decade may see all

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94 / WEATHERMAN

children and teachers within the para-meters of educion.

4(Weatherman, 1969', p. 17)

However, as these changes take place, a parallel'trend has been establishment/of separate administra-tive units for cial education programs. Thenumbers of dirac s-and oLheL ad4iiiibtLdtuLb Trf-

special education programs have been grdwing rapidly.A number of reasons account for this trend andthese can best be examined within'the content ofthe following broad rationale:

Purpose of special education. A general purposefor which special education is organized is toprovide interventions designed to remedy or !

ameliorate those conditions which thwart normaldevelopment. The responsible organizational

,.unit must include not only special teachers,materials, etc., but also provisions for effec-tive advocacy of exceptional children's rightsand needs, expertise to plan and supervise,special education interventions, and to ensureongoing communications with all levels withinthe school system and with appropriate communityagencies.'

Population to be served. Although many mildlyhandicapped children can be served in mainstreamprograms with appropriate support, schools arealso being asked to provide intensive servicesror severely and multiply impaired children whowere previously considered %neducable," and whorequire intensive, expensive services. 'Theseservices are often provided in conjunction withnonschool agencies, in cooperation with otherschool districts, or by intermediate districts;

*I rather than by the district in which the childresides, but the local school district retainsresponsibilities for program monitoring andtuition payments.Categorical legislation and funding sources.Most states provide categorical state fundingfor special education services and increasedfederal support for special education has

u 2

TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERSONS / 95

become available.' These factors havecreated needs for efficient planning,supervision, and accountability forthese multiple funding sources.

prYgramdevelopment, organization,and supervision, involve many complex respnnRihilitae&for the director of special education. He/she isexpected to be a specialist in a variety of funct-i-ons------development of learning systems for the handicapped,administrative procedures, communications with manyagencies and persons concerned with the handicapped,curriculum development, and contributions to theadvancement of general education.

Indicators of Training Needs. In the past,little emphasis has been placed by colleges anduniversities on education of special education admin-istrators or on research training these leadershippersonnel.

Milazzo and Blessing reported in 1964 that of225 colleges and universities preparing special edu-

'cation personnel, only 40 offered programs in admin-istration and supervision. Only eight programs offereda sequence of general administration courses, andMilazzo and Blessing repOrted a need for.specifictraining and experience in administratiye endeavors.Willenberg (1966) noted the "paucity oil specificresearch on administration of special/ education"(p. 134) and described several obstacles which mightaccount for this lack. Connor (1970) noted "anintermittent and slow rate of interest in specifyingand upgrading standards of preparation" (p. 373).

More recently, Vance and Howe (1974), in afollow-up study of students who had received federaltraining grants, noted that most special educationadministrator training was provided at the doctorallevel, and stated:

This is expensive, time consuming and ignoresthe need for training at the subdoctor -allevel for' those" individuals just beginning

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96 / WEATHERMAN

a career at the management level in

special education.(p. 121)

Vance and-Howe also indicated needs for competence

in general administrative PinEigges and-Traztfues----

of the mainstreaming movement, skills

in understanding theimplications of due pro-d-e-Wg7

L.2.,:;_and_Internship opportunities.

In considering development of preparation programs

for these directors, however, a further need becomes

apparent: the lack of precise definition of the

curriculum due to the frequent ambiguity of the

special education administrator's role.

Unlike the role of a school principal or busi-

ness agent for a school distriCt, the role of the

special education administrator has been determined

by factors such as state laws and regulations. edu-

cational practices in the national, state, regional,

or local programs for which he is responsible, and

the philosophy toward handicapped children which

exists in his organizational unit. A recent dis-

cussion"(Kohl and Marro, 1971) commented:

It is difficult to define the typical

duties of this leader since he is found

in different administrative patterns

and has a variety of titles with little

relationship to specific functions.

(P. 9)

In addition to variations in job descriptions

among directors, further ambiguity is created by the

differing ways in which other'staff in the school

district and community perceive the director's role,

'creating discrepantexpectations of the administrator

of special education (Hensley, 1973).

a

Despite these variations in role definition,

however, some studies have noted a convergence on

typieFal or most pressing problems encountered by

1(14

TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERSONS / 97

special education directors in Minnesota, as per-ceived by the directors themselves (Bilyeu, 1973,Wedl, 1972).

Minnesota Needs. Inadequate educational oppor-tunities-,_insuffid&ut role definition, a lack ofrelevant research on administrator preparation, theneed for education at *be subdontorAl 1pvpl, andthe need for administrative competencies are all

ra_of_which SEATP planners were aware__

However, several studies of special education admin-istration in Minnesota indicated training needsspecific to this state, as summarized below.

As in other emergent fields, growth in specialeducation programs has meant that the'demand forqualified personnel has exceeded the available supply.To staff expanding programs, persons with minimalexperience and certification have been hired, creatingneeds-for in-service or continuing education prbgrams.A recent study (Spriggs, 1972) indicated that thisis true for administrators as well as special.educa-tiori teachers. The majority of directorg or adminis-trators of special education programs had assumedtheir present positions recently; for most, theirpresent positions are their first administrative ones.

The s me study indicated a high degree ofeducational level for new special education adminis-trators. As a group, entry level administrators,usually have a masters degree in A particular specialeducation disability area rilr teaching specialty.They tend to be young, with three to five years ofteaching dr related professional experience, butwith limited administrativ ience.

The educational bac round f these new specialeducation administrators tendv,to be somewhat dif-ferent from that of the typical administrator inethic-don. Generally, education administrators

me their titles and positions only after complet-ing a certification program in school administratibn,but the special 'education administrator typically

98 / WEATHERMAN

enters without a certification program in educationor other administration or management training.

Directors of special education are often promotedby their employing School districts into administra-tive positions. New directors are probably selectedfor their positions because of demonstrated successas_aRecial ed=gtion teachers or for a variety ofother reasons. The disproportionate number of specialeducation administrators in Minnesota who were for-merly school psychologists or speech pathologistssuggests that seleCtion might be influenced byprior visibility and inteiactions,with other admin-istrators within the district. Demonstrated admin-istrative competence does not appear to be the majorselection criterion.

Districts with new special education administra-tors are frequently rural or small town interdistrictspecial education cooperatives located beyond commutingdistance from the Twin Cities. The special education-administrator is usually hired on a 12-month contract:.Consequently, a new director is not in a position toleave his/her job and return to a-university orcollege program for administrative preparation eitherduring the school year or in the summer. Furthermore,

new ministrators are expected both by the organiza-tions in which they work and by the State Departmentof Education to administer the program successfully,and, when necessary, to learn on the job.

Competency-Based Education. Traditionally,,preparation programs for teachers and administratorsof educational programs consisted of a set of experi-ences which the prospective practitioner must undergoprior to receiving licensure Or certification in hisprofession. Such programs tended not to specify in,detail the tasks prospective educationists needed tobe able to do or accomplish to qualify for'licensure,nor was there any objective guarantee that graduatesof Such programs had been prepared to perform thetasks actually expected of them once they actuallyassumed teaching llor administrative position.

4

TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERSONS / 99

Criticisms of traditional teacher preparationprograms have been mounting since the 1960's, andthe sources of discontent are r* d. Some sourcesof dissatisfaction are genera , including the in-creasing awareness in ,the la t de f lack of

in education andprogress in meeting inadequthe implications that vastly improved preparationreauimgmgnts are necessary both to meet changingconditions and to maintain the viability of publicedu_cational-s_ystems. In addition, demands forrelevante of preparation programs have increased,resulting in demands for participation of presentand prospective teachers in determining educationgoals and methods. Another source of demands forchange in teacher preparation programs comes fromadvances made in the art and science orteaching.Technological development, experimental instruc-tional models, and the increased availabilityoffederal funds to support these research and develop-ment efforts have enhanced the possibility thatimprovements in fact could be made; and, under-girding all of these is the'increasing pressure foraccountability in educational programs.

The terms "competency-based" and "performance-based" education are often used to refer to the samemovement. "Performance-based" terminology stressesthe manner in which the learner.demonstrates knowl-edge and skills and implies that knowledge gainedmust be employed in overt action. "Competenc based"terminology stresses the notion of a minimum st ndardfor effective performance. Both identifiers c note_

educational programs that go beyond knowledge for itsown sake, and emphasize performande and consequen s

of. actions (Houston, 1974).

Despite the lack of many precedents for compe-tency-based continuing education programs for administrators, educational needs seen by SEA plannerssuggested that a competency7based approac ight

well be appropriate' nd profitable for this 'rogram.The emphasis on performance goals,. systematic ly

defined and derived from the performante of rec g-nized practitioners, is relevant to the lack of

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100 / WEATHERMAN

role definition noted earlier. The emphasis onassessment of-both learner progress,e0 effective-ness of the` instructional system perkfts continuedrefinement of a relatively experimental program inits developmental phases. In addition, the flexi-bility offered in delivery of services increasesthe probability that the program can be adapted to

the variety_a_conditions which_exist_even within a_given position in a single state.

In special education, factors in addition tothose mentioned above have resulted in changes intraining programs. The field has grown at an unprec-edented rate--both in numbers of pupils served andin sophistication of practitioners. Major shifts inorientation (e.g., away from the "medical model")

,have created training'and retraining needs. Anothersource of demand is the number of persons in specialeducation programs not appropriately certified,despite the general oversupply of teachers, and whorequire training programs that are at one and thesame time entry level training and continuing educa-tion.

SEATP CHARACTERISTICS

The University of Minnesota has had a preparationprogram for administrators of special education for a/ ,

number of years. ,14,1ce most 4pnventional programs, it/

has been an on-campus program, focusing on traininga limited number of pers/nsat the doctoral level.

To reach the maribir'ity of new directors forwhom the existing d4gree program may not be desiredor appropriate, the Special Education AdministrationTraining Program (SEATP) has been developed as analternative education sequence. This program has notonly been designed specifically,as a response to theconditions indicated in'the previous section, but itis also seen as having the ,p6tential for widespreadadoption for training,spedial education administra-tors in other states o for training administrators

1u8

TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERSONS / 101

and practitioners of other human services programs.SEATP has seven basic features:

The objectives of SEATP are stated as compe-tencies of a director of special education.These competencies or performances are derivedempirically froil examination of the job whichexisting special education directors perform.71ere_exists an identifiable core of minimumssential competencies for all director of

special education positions, despite variationsin individual job descriptions, scope cif, author-ity, line or staff designation, size of program,and single or multidistrict organization. Thesecore competencies constitute the SEAT? curri-culum.

Instruction received by a participating directorof special education is based on his or herindividual needs as determined by prior andongoing assessments.InstructiOn is field centered.

The types of instruction offered emphasizeteaching of facts and concepts and the practiceof skills relevant to performance in the posi-tion.

The basis for evaluation of the success of thetraining program is student (administrator ofspecial edusatj.on) practices, learning, andperformance:,

Each of these seven points will be discussed ingreater detail below, along with corollary descriptivecharacteristics of the program and an indication ofassumptions on which ,these character stics are based.

Competency.-Based Education. ,The first charac-

a teristic of this prsgram, its competency-based ori-entation, reflects aNnumber of current educationaltrends. The recent press for accountability ineducational programs, the desire to reduce fragmen-tation and overlap in training sequences, the needto individualize instruction, and the advantage ofcommunicating to the participating student what is

irf

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expected of him have all contributed to the emergenceof competency-based-training programs in teacher

Competency -based instructional programs assumethat the competencies or performances which consti-tute an educational program can be identified andstated. Although some people will contend that thisis a controversial point in competency-based teachereducation, the results from needs assessment activi-ties and review of literature in the field of specialeducation administration strongly suggest that compe-tencies in this area can be identified and stated.

Empirical Derivation of Competencies. Tradi-

tional training programs attempting to convert tothe competency orientation have sometimes tended torely on the judgments of university fabulty as a

(means of deriving competencies. The second SEATPprogram characteristic is the method of derivationof competencies for this training program, which haSbeen done by surveying the population at which thetraining program is directed. Although a consensus

on competencies by experienced special educationadministrators at local, regional, and stat g.. evels,

and college and university faculty has been 1pb ained,a study of the role and function of the director ofspecial education and observation of Minnesota specialeducation directors has also been used to empiricallyderive those tasks and those performances which con-stitute the special education administrator's job.Competencies for this training program have beenderived from these needs assessment activities.

Although this basis for establishing educationalprogram criteria may appear to assume a certain

amoun stability in position description, it isreco ed that any position is a d c and changingone and that preparation programs wil require con-

comitant revision. Regulations, increases in knowl-edge in the field, and changes in accepted practiceswill all influence the knowledge, attitudes, skills,and task capability necessary for minift perforthancein a generalized pcsition. Consequently, instructional

1 0

TRA:.VING LEALiERS:27- :EPSC/NS / 103

content and performan4ce criteria will'change overtime, as tne job changes. The progrdm design pr,..).,/i,:,cs

for regular periodic reassessment of competenciesessential for performance of the special educationadministrative position. Some ad:ustmentt will bemade on an ongoing basis; overall reassessments ofspecific competencies will be made every three yearsand at any time when changes in -tducation organiza-tion, operations, legal constraints, and externalforces (e.g., medical progress) suggest that theposition has undergohe substantial change.

Core Competentles. The program asserts thatthere exists an identifiable core of minimal essentialcompetencies for all special education directors,that they can be agreed upon, and that those compe -'tencies will form the content or curriculum of,thepreparation program. SEATP personnel are well awareof the variations which occur among specific posi-tions in Minnesota, some of which vary systematicallyaccording to location (i.e., urban, suburban, orrural; single distriCt or'interdistrict cooperative;or size of program); othersticcording to range ofresponsibilities arrt amountf authority given aspecific director. Additional sources of variationare idiosyncratic to the needs and desires of aparticular school district. Consequently, employersrecruiting prospective special education administra-tors may desire performances and skills not includedin this training program. However, these tend to bein addition to the minimum core skills which havebeen identified,repeatedly th;ough studies conductedunder this training program and elsewhere. SEATPassumes that nerk,who have attained these coreskills can function in an entry level position andcan adapt to the variations which Occur among districts.

Indiv,Iduallzed InstractIon. Competency-basedpreparation programs make it possible to pinpointindividual needs. This, program assumes that, despitea common lack of, experience on the job and littleprior formal preparation in education adinistration,new special education administrators will vary inthe extent to which they have already attained the

11 1,

104 / WEATHERMAN

minimel,essential competencies. Initial performanceon c!omz-ir,-rcfcrcnced tots of =tont and on pabrfor-

mance in simulations will determine specific preOlara-tion objectives for each participant; therefore, theamount and content of instructional experie ces willvary among participants. Continuing asses mentthroughout the course of the preparati dgram

will also enable the program to adjust t arious

rates of partiLipant learning. This accommodationto individual needs applies both for instructionconducted in a group and on an individual basis.

F.1.1d-Centered Instruct20.) A prominent featureof this program is the location of instruction.Special education administrators tend to be scatteredthroughout the state. Because of their 11- and 12-month contracts, they are generally unable to attendclasses held op the University of Minnesota campusin the Twin Cities. Instruction under this prepara-tion program is therefore field centered. iknumi!..er

of program objectives can be met through individualstudy. Ongoing monthly group and individual meeti gswith field consultants (experts in specific contareas--e.g., fiscal) scheduled in locationsclo to the parti ipants 'den d places ofork. - -II assumes not only that field-centered instruction will increase the p. siblenumber of participants who are willing to takefurther preparation, but also that the fiel setting

is appropriate the instruction to be,offe ed.

1Qurriculu The content of instruction offerthrough the program is also distinctive; it attemptto teach basic facts (e.g., knowledge of specialeducation laws, concepts (e.g., program budgeting)and skills (e.g., ability to evelop a child studysubsystem). Methods of evalu tion of/the programare consistent with these k of instruction, con-sisting of demonstrated retgnti of the facts,concepts and skills presented and performance orapplication (actual or simulated) of skills taught.") '7.

The assumption is made that a person can be success-,7ful o he can demonstrate those skills

,

and nat knowledge. In many cases, applicationO)fe,

F.

TRAINING LEADERSHIP *PERSONS / 105s_ss.

skills taught y6 actual rob1I

administratorTs ongoing cycle ofrequired.

ed in thees will be

As indicated earlier, participants are tr ned

at the master's level prior to entry into the ogram;

thus, philosophi nsiderations are not s ssed,

nor are there ex ded direct attempts to inflpence

attitudes. Howe r, newly appointed novice specialeducation administrators can prdfit from ,interactionswith experienced school ministrators ana with theirpeers (other special ed cat on directors). It

expected that fieleCbt sul ants will setFe as roledmodels for the new irectors. At the saMe time, use

of field ccnsultrepresents deployment of valu-able training resources often overlooked in tradi-tional administratorlpreparation programs.

Performance Evaluation. The basis for evalu- 4

ation of the Special Educailion Administration TrainingProgram is the student? (special educaton_adminis-trator) learning andsp rformance. As indicated

above, there is a direit relationship between trainingoffered and methods of evaluation. No attempt is

made to show effects of this preparation program onstudent (child) learning. One reason for this is

that effects of staff development on cLldren's progressis still not quite clear, thus, that topic generates

6considerabie controversy within competency-based teacher'kclucation. Besides, there is little reapon to belley.6--

that a direct result of administrator prepatatibn willbe seen from improvement in child learning, eventhough pupil growth and development is the purposeof all school-related activities.

Essential program characteristics, corollarycharacteristics, and assumptions on which thesefeatures ,7e based are summarized in Table 1.

, CONCLUSION

SEATP h s been,.developed as an attempt to meetcritical continuing education needs of special edu-

IA:3 4

106 / WEATHERMAN

ft.

T I

Special Educot cn Aronist,ation Training Program CliaraOr rist,cs

Characteristp:s

1 Goals of the tra.ningprogram are statedas c.,,;ttencle, orperfgrrances

2 Performance arc,

deri.telfrom pb

S3. Core of r 7,1.4t:1

essential Pornoetenci::svoli be taught

4 IrttructIon is basedon incliidual needs

5. Instruction isfieldccritered

6 Kinrfc of instroctiota,rglif-facts, concL,and skills

7 Flrfti-tc tram W.;

r ;I err. t.,

'

WO

\

COr011arieS

Training conter.f andrfi f-arc: cr,'erta

changeOvE timedoes iob

Other perforn3nces nayesired for specifictons

be

Do-

nt and contentRate of

progress vary

(valuate oy demonstratedteritioo of rnh r rat do

erf or -u -pc Acipalor sir. Iatei ) o1 skills

i i 4

Assur ptions

Rele,,nt goals canbe iderl ir-d and

so staled

This a reasonableprearo, Luse

Those skiil can oeagree -..1 uponPersons ,,sithcore skills conN,functi,n in entrylevel posit.uns

Varying levels ofprior trainingexper era, aridability

Continuing educationfor employed personsLocation is appropriateto the.training to beoffEred

Person can be

successful in robif he/she hoc thoseskills and theltknrywklge

There is that direstrelationship. Can'tshow effects on student(child ) learning

-r4

TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERSONS / 107

cation administrators. At this point the programand model are still regarded as tentative and subjectto revision from experience. While it is recognized

that a new system with some differing requirementsmight c some discomfort or disequilibrium in

those trained by other methods, SEATP plannersbelieve that both the methodology and procedureused in the program are defensible.

The application of this model to the trainingneeds of special educators in rural sparsely popu-lated areas has been initiated, and preliminaryresults suggest that this approach has great promise.

1 15

108 / WEATHERMAN

REFERENCES

Bilyeu, A.E. A taxonomy of problems identified byMinnesota adMinistrators of special education asdefined through latent partition analysis. Doctoralthesis, University of Minnesota, 1973:_

4

Connor, L.E. Preparation programi for special edu-cation administrators. In C.H. Meisgeier andJ.D. King (Eds.) The Process of Special EducationAdministration. Scranton, Pennsylvania:. Inter--national Textbook Compaq, 1970.\

Elam, S. Performance-based teacher education: Whatis the state of the art? Washington, D.C.:- AmericanAssociation of College for-Teacher Education, 1973.

Hensley, C.D. A delphi procedural analysis of rolefunction for the special education supervisor indiagnostic clinics serving sparsely populated regionsof Missouri. Doctoral thesis, University of Min-nesata, 1972.

Houston, W.R. (Ede) Exploring competency-basededucation. ,Berkeley: McCutchan Publishing Corpora-tion, 1974.

Kohl, J.W. & Marro, T.D. A study of the adminis-tration of special education programs. Washington,D.C.: U.S. Department of Health, Education andWelfare, 1971.

Meisgeier, C.H. & King, J.D. The pTocess of

special education administration. Scranton,

Pennsylvania: International Textbook Company, 1970.

116

TRAINING LEADERSHIP PERS 109

Milazzo, T. & Blessing,.K. e training ofdirectors and supervisors o special education

programs, Exceptional Childre 1964, 12,(4), 4-5.

Spriggs, The role of administralOrs off` special

education programs as perceived by administratorsof special education program in the state ofMinnesota. Doctoral thesis, University of Minnesota,

1972.

Vance, V.L. & Howe, C.E. Status of specialCduca-don Administration students who received USOE/BEHtraining grants, Exceptional Children, 1474, 41(2),

'120-121.4

Weatherman, R.F. A study'of the administration ofspecial education. Minneapolis: Minneapolis

Publ,c Schools,'1968.

Wedl, R. Minnesota State Department of Education,

1973.

Willenber2.*E/T. Oreanization. administration andsupervision of special education, Review of Educa-'ion Research, 1966, 36, 134-150.

I 7

Chapter Nine

TRENDS IN SCHOOL FINANCE AND BUDGETING

°

Van D. Mueller

The purpose of this chapter is twofold: to

review the leading'court cases in which state schemes

for financing public education were challenged,ineither federal or state courts, and to explore theimplications of planning- programming- budgeting.systems for improved internal school managemept.Ultimately, an understanding of the interrelation-ships between internal and external resource alloca-tion systems should enable an accurate comprehensionof.the important challenges and opportunities Inensuring adequate finance for public schools.

THE' - COURTS AND SCHOOL FINANCE

There is an old saying that "the rich gee richer

and the pooh get poorer." Nowhere is there abetterexample of this old cliche than in the manner inwhich most states have financed their educationalsystems. The first successful challenge to a 'stato:rs

educational finance system came out of the California

. Supreme Court in August, 1971, in the now famous-

111

112 / MUEL

Serrano v. Priestl case. To legal-Scholars acrossthe nation, Serrano was the "Most significant court

, decision in recent decades affecting a state's programof funding the operation of its public schools"(Shannon, 1973, p. 1). The key principle enunciatedin Serrano briefly put says that a child's educationmay not be a function of wealth other than the wealthof the state as a whole. Serrano did not providethat per pupil expenditures be equalized or thequality of educational offerings be substantiallyequalized. Neither did it require full state fundingof public schools, eliminate local autonomy or outlawthe use of the property tax as a revenue source.Implementation of the "fiscal neutrality" principleonly requires that the state school finance systemprovide each school district with relatively equalfinancial capacity.

Wynkoop (1974) has reviewed and summarized themajor criteria or guidelines that evolved from thesix court decisions made within one year afterSerrano. Six criteria or guidelines were identifiedand are shown in Table 1. The three criteria most'heavily emphasized by the different courts were:

Fiscal neutrality; that is, education may notbe a func\tion of wealth other than the wealthof the state as a whole. (Each of the sixdecisions indicated that the school financesystem must make taxable resources equallyavailable to each child.)The state must equalize any local revenue thatis utilized in the model. (Three of the courtdecisions required local revenue equalization;one court did not discuss it; another courtsaid this criterion is not applicable because'all local revenue must be eliminated.)Variations in expenditure per pupil are per-missible. None of the courts said variationsmust exist, but they were not "requested tomake a decision on variations. '

(Wynkoop, 1975, p. 543)

__-)

5 al 3rd 584.

1!.9

.

TABLE 1.

CRITERIA ENOCRSED BY THE COURTS*

Court Cecisions

>1

.1-) .... .

". .0

ni1.

.4.

.,...

.V

I 7r-

C.1

1....

C

Criteria from the Courts

..-

, ,0

cv

ny4,

0 ,

.....

D0

?,

.....

a.,

...,

>...

.0..-

. -0

.al

^JC

l -"

1- C

.",..

7,..

., E

Ler

-,G

J 0-

44 C

e-,..

..V

) , 0

76 7

4., C

....

e, 0

.>

, O.

0....

:;:.;

.4 n

, Q.

E ;-

. ' S

-7

S.)

....-

C0.

0 N

CJ

M. C

0n

=1.

..1 o

0.

Li. .

0 .'.

. C.

CC

F.

CJ

c ,1

s_ 0

..-

0- ..

.)..-

1.-

C -.C

.), .

,..:.

3-,J

.C

V...

. a.,

.].E

ru

.--

...-

.9...

- ..

c14

.C

)

...- 0 C N

.... C

4-4

,C

Cl)

...-

,,,,,

:: c.

...e Serrano v. Priest

XX

Van Ousartz v. Hatfield

XX

RAr13..zz v. San Antonio

4ndne-e.znt School District

XX

RoSInson V. Lhill

XX

XX

X

Sweetsater County Planning

Cc nittee v. Hinkle

XX

XX

Hollins v. Shofstall

XX

*Rc5art J. ',:ynkoop, "Emerging Constitutional Models for School Finance," Educational

De%elos-ent Journal,

inter, 1974, p. 39.

114 / MUELLER

These criteria drawn from significant courtdecisions may provide a useful check on the trendsin school finance reform in any home state.

Since the Serrano decision four years ago andthe subsequent litigation in scores of other states,much study of individual school finance systems hasbeen initiated. Commissions, committees and taskforces have studied the school finance systems ofall of the 50 states. A comparative analysis ofthe study reports indicates some agreement for aset of criteria for a state's schdol finance structure.Five general guidelines for new school finance modelshave emerged and are summarized in Table 2 (Wynkoop,1973).

The first guideline presented in the model re-quires the development of a more fiscally neutralschool finance system.

Many states have or are in the process of imple-menting this guideline by increasi g the state's,share of the cost of the total scho 1 program. Thestate's share of the current operating costs of edu-cation in Minnesota rose from approximately 35 percentin 1971, to between.65 percent and 70 percent in1974. As the state's share of educational expendi-tures increases, greater equalization results, regard-less of the specific method used to allocate the aid.A more fiscal neutral school finance system is thuscreated.

The second guideline deals with the maintenanceof variations in expenditures per pupil. The courtsand commission reports have not said that "one scholar,one dollar" is the appropriate standard. This partof the model is of considerable interest to individualswhose primary professional assignment is concernedwith administering programs for pupils with specialneeds. Recognition is given to the possibility ofdiffering educational needs and the differing educa-tional cost associated with meeting those needs.This guideline is particularly important in recog-nizing program cost differentials that exist and, in

Guidellne

se-co; finance law

snould be fiscally neutral.

New school firerce le,

s-culd prev-de for voria-

t-ons to exist in fie

pe-diture per pupil.

Net school finance raw

srould eliminate or greatly

reduce local iritiative re-

ouired or permitted.

Ne4 school finance law

should provide for the

equalization of local rev-

erue.

Ne, school finance law

should fully fund the

school finance model en-

acted by the state.

TABLE 2.

A MODEL THRCUN lHlCP TO 71E'.; SCHOOL FI NANCE REFORMS

Clarification of ri1cel'ne

There sho..ild he an equal ava,1-

ability of taxable resorces per

pupil.

The state in its s'Jbventions anc

the local dIst-Ict 'n 'ts expend,-

tures sho,ld provide different re-

sources to ..-eet difforent ereds of

children.

The amount of revenue raised by

toe local referendum -to enable

tho scnool district to increase its

expendlt,re should be curtailed

or eliminated.

Equal tax efforts among districts

should permit equal expenditures

per pupil.

All revenue for the support of the

schools should be raised by the

legillature and not by the local

schO7c1 district.

Orin

r n

c

-

oc

the cc

and ts'e

tne c:

rr-,

t)-,a cc rt-.

Tn'F. sJ,del,ne

hea,y

'-c

cc

-s

'cc

,c,ate:

; 'c,-

'1-es

,n :-

both rech'.c, 'cc ,

e--

phas.s 'rc- tne

Tr.s ouldel'ne rccel'ad

h,eav c,sl,c c ',n- let'"

tie c:--Isslen -c;:cr's ,

a-a t-e COJ'ZS.

This gulce'ire received

empnas:s f-c' '-e

co-1,ssion -,ports a,d

moderate support fro- the

courts.

ti

116 / MUELLER

addition, cost differentials attributable tg demo-graphic and geographic factors, i.e., sparsity anddensity and economic' factors (differing costs ofliving and salary levels).

The -third and fourth guidelines are inter-related and focus on the equalization of localrevenue and the elimination or reduction in localinitiative. Until the finance reforms of the early1970's, the relationship between school districtwealth and expenditure levels per pupil was bothpositive and consistent from state to state. Thoseschool districts with fiscal ability usually measuredin terms of property wealth were spending three tofour times as much per pupil to buy educational

-i .goods and services as their less wealthy neighboring!school districts. This disparity inilexpenditure

levelenormally was achievable in the wealthy districtsowith a lower tax rate. Numerous states have imple-'mented new laws to restrict the fiscal initiativeof local school districts. The dilemma here resultsfrom an apparent conflict between the goals of"6qualization" and "local control or initiative."The battleground between the egalitarian and thelibertarian is part of the school finance reformstruggle. Is is possible to design school financesyitems that provide equal measures of equity andcontrol? In a state constitution, where is theresponsibility placed for the operation of theeducational systems? What is the appropriate rela-tionship between the State and local educationaldelivery syst&?

04.

The fifth and final guideline suggests fullfunding as a method of achieving significant schoolfinance reform. While some of the states have takenmajor steps in the direct on of full state fundingand full state funding ha4bbeen recommended bysome majoi study reports (Fleischmann, 1973), thisguideline apparently has much less support fromeducators, political leaders, and the courts thanthe.othet four. However, it is importilt to notethe growing inter st in the full state funding ofcertain catagor al program areas such as specialeducation an ocational education.

1z3

I

SCHOOL,FINANCE 1 117

'SOURCES OF REVENUE- -TAXES

HiSkrically, educators have preferred to focustheir attention on the allocation didension ofschool finance, assuming that the sponsibility 4for the design and implementatio revenue systemscould and shouI be left to the econ fists and

politicians. 'dith the school finance re activityof the 1970's has e'me an increasing awareness ofthe need for educator concern with sourdes of revenue- -tax systems. The criteria and guidelines for reformissued by the courts and various study reports haveemphasized fiscal neutrality, equalization of revenue,reform of the property tax, and increased infusionsof state revenue:',

Since the local portion of school districtrevenues is almost exclusively borne by propertytaxes, the need for property tax reform has becomean integral part of the general concerns for schoolfinance reform. The Advisory Commission on Inter-governmental Relations, an organization made up ofrepresentatives of state government, county andm governments,icipal govements, Congress and the Executive

nch has studied the financing of schools andproperty tax relief in great depth. The majorfindings (Advisory Commission, 1973) of the Com-mission report are:

The property tax is by far the most unpopularof all major revenue producers..The clear public preference for state salesor income taxes over the property cax isfurther manifested in the fact that the com-bined state-local income and sales tax burdenborne by the average family has grown duringthe past 20 years at a decidedly fasterrate than the residential property tax burden.Despite its obvious defects, the property taxhas significant political and fiscal virtues.In spite of growing more slowly than statesales and income taxes, the residential propertytax has grown faster than the value of theaverage residence or the income of the averagehousehold.

1"z4

118 / MUELLER

When compared to the property'tax burden borneby the average family, the property tax loadcarried by poor householders must be charac-terized as excessive.

The states are beginning to, take action torelieve extreme property tax burdens, especiallythe overburdens of the elderly.

Property taxation is used unevenly by thevarious states.

Any property tax reduction achieved throughthe reduction or elimination of the schoolproperty tax threatens to be offset by increasesin the expenditures of other:units of government.Substantial reduction in property taxes, ifachAved, will result in windfall gains toowners of land and buildings,Any nationwide plan to exempt residentialproperty from school property taxes wouldencounter obstacles from the various stateconstitutions.

The federal government, through its income taxcode, is already providing' partial prowirtytax relief for homedwnes, but the relief helps ,

the high- income homeowner far more than themiddle- and low-income person.There is a growing differ4nce of. opinion arii;Ag

the specialists in the field of taxation as towhether the property tax is paid primarily byrenters and other users of housing through higher.rents or by'investors.through lower interest andprofits.

In spite of the widespread feeling that theproperty tax is detrimental to urban development,there is no strong indication that the propertytax is a primary factor retarding urban economic'and ildustrial development.Reforni proposals such as more uniform assessment,statewide Pisoperty taxation, and site -valuetaxation do.,not hold forth much promise ofproperty tax relief.

( (pp 12-14)

There ars,only three jor sources of tax,revenue available to suppo t public, services at the

SCHOOL FINANCE / 119

local, state and federal levels. Taxes can be

levied on property, sales and income. The resultsof public opinion surveys indicate that the propertytax is very unpopular. However, the property tax isan enormous producer of revenue in every state. To

eliminate the property tax entirely in Minnesotawould require state sales tax that is five times asgreat as the current tax--an increase from 4 percentto 20 percent. That alternative is unreasonable.Currently in Minnesota, there is a relatively highincome tax; and, if this tax on property were eliminated entirely, the state would have to quadruplethe state income tax--another unreasonable alterna,tive.

The solution then is clearly not the eliminationof the property tax as a source of revenue to supporteducation but an improvement in its use and administration. A major concern in property tax administra.-

n has to do with assessment practices. How do you

ac ieve u iformity and equity in a highly decentralizedsys em w h over 1,800 taxing jurisdictions in Minnesot lone--440 of thtm representing school districts?What is the role of state government in assuring equityin the locally administered property'tax?

,Another concern for educators is the growingcompetition with other public services for a share ofthe tax dollar. In most states sources of schoolrevenues are not earmarked on dedicated taxes. Funds

to finance education come from local, state and_federal tax systems which impact on the taxpayer in

differential ways.

Figure 1 illustrates the relative impact offederal taxes (expressed as a percentage of totalincome). The graduated federal income tax clearlybears most heavily on those most able_locpay and t uis generally defined as a progressiVeems. x. Other

federal tax sources such as payroll and socialsecurity taxes are regrc6sive in nature bearing mosthevi1 on those of lower income levels.

120 / MUELLER

tzt n.c e To._ _ c4.7pere Pofos Tot--- E.c.se Toes

Pcpoll Tate{4

12

1

t 1

S`..'CO- S503- S =.4o3 S 2 PLOD- S Ore,PIOT) SSEDO S790O S143400 5.2930 srfseo S27603 535533 192000 592003Total ',name

1 IESEAL TAXES AS EPICENTAGE OF TOTAL INCOAE 111.,E.,404 Aronps...)

The data, in Figures 2 and 3 indica e t t thecombined effect of state and kcal e -sive. The impact of state sales takeS\and(tbelocal prope ty taxes--the source of over 0)percentof schoo fi ancing revenues nationwide--dges notmeet t le standards of equity. The challengefor e ucatorithen is to assist in the ret}eSIgn ofthe total revenue system in order that the shareof the resources allocated to the financing Ofpublic schools can collect in a fair and equitablemanner and distributed in a way in which all childrenwill have equal access to educational services--not.conditioned by accident of birth, geography, orparental' economic status.

PROGRAM-PLANNING-BUDGETING SYSTEMS

at is PPBS? The basic PPS--SCIlea is to decidevery clearly what is to be accomp'lished and how toplan it before action is taken. Alternative ways

8

7

_ 6

e 5

4

3

0

SCHOOL FINANCE / 121

Irccm,e Toes-- Soles o' Etc.ses- Copoole Ptol,ts Tat

Property Tot-- Poi to,i Totes

_........_." .-':_.t1---- 1 1

_ ____1 1 1 --,_ .

J

---=._,Ctet

$92000Untie $ 4,:v0-

$4C0D WC*45 'CO5 7 X.13

S r900$ ..:40::,

S .7'4;:r:£',,,X

si.z..):D.$ ,74(.0

S iSCOSna:.0

$22(0)4 na..10

4 '.`_CO-$42000

I coo 1 Iroo,e

Awn) STATE AND LOCAL TAXES AS A PIRCENTAwf OF TOTAL INCOME 034.0,...k

24

I6

Tosof

Federal..°

12 ---- Stott a-4 local- - ---- -

,I-- L 1 1 1 I I

ti^dt $4001. $`000 S 7V.-.0 Sq00 $1,7i 0 $1740$ 4COD S'>> :A 3 7 ,,Kri sl 0 4 ,..),) 31_5.70 51150 s:41.4.0

Twat Income

SPNTO 4 4`..40- Over33550o s . f .c.xx) 392'00

f opo 7,10TAL TAILS AT ALL LEVEL:AS All nctra AGE OF TOTAL INCOME

122 / MUELLER

the task might be done is studied; costs and otherrequirements of each way are considered; the planbelieved to be most suitable is selected; then,progress measurement can be decided in advance.

Several forces have combined to encourage theuse of PPBS in school distriCts. 'One of the primereasons has been the increased cost of education.While education has always been a significant cost,particularly at the local and state level, increasedcosts have caused a corresponding concern with"educational accountability." Legislators facedwith requests for more money understandably wantto know what will be accomplished with the money.School board members and parents have the samequestions and Concerns as they review school budgetrequestS.

PPBS is an analytical planning or "systemsapproach" to school district management. It focuseson the "outputs" or "results" of the educationalprocess rather than the "inputs" or traditionalmeans of describing educational programs in termsof numbers of teachers, classroonis, books, etc.

Gorhap (1967) described the activities involvedin the PPBS prbcess in the following statement:

The Planning-Programming-BudgetingSystem is a framework for planning- -

a way of organizing information andanalysis in a systematic fashion sothat the consequences of particularchoices can be seen as clearly aspossible: It attempts to do threethings:

1. To display information about thefunctioning of actual governmentalprograms so that it is possible tosee easily what portion of federalresources is being allocated toparticular purposes, what is beingaccomplished by the programs, andhow much they cost;

129

SCHOOL FINANCE / 123

2 To analyze the cost of alternativemethods of achieving particular'objectives so that it is possible'to rank the alternatives in ternsof their relative costs; and

3 To evaluate the benefits ofachieving objectives as compre-hensively and quantitatively aspossible in order to facilitatethe setting of priorities amongobjectives.

(pp. 4-5)

Gorham's statement supports the premise thatPPBS is more than a method of budgeting by progrm.

vMany educators have erred in believing that programbudgeting was essentially a financial procedure.While it is true that the school budget does get ;involved and the school business official is anessential contributor, the primary focus r p.ates toeducational goals and objectives, programming, andevaluation of results. Program budgeting can refinethe data used to explain what is being done withpublic

)describes PPBS in terms of four

major process components. All are essential in thecomplete system. The first component is the struc-tural aspect. This involves the setting of objec-'tives and the development of a programOructure.There is already a breakdown of educational activityby program area. At a minimum, there are elementaryand secondary programs in most districts; and, inaddition, there are special needs programs, vocationalprograms and library and support service programs.Programs are also defined by geographic location(building), target populations (Title I), etc. A keypoint in consideration of program structure shouldbe categorization of activities according to theirrelationship to organizational objective's.

The second major component of program budgetingIs the analytical aspect. It is within this area,that cost-effectiveriess analyses and trade-offs are

ISO

124 / MUELLER

made. It is in this area that generation or identi-fication of alternative ways to meet objectivesmost often takes place. The emphasis here focuseson Alternative packaging of "inputs" to meet thedesired "output."

The third major component of program budgetingis the control aspect. Basically, this involves themonitoring of how well a program is being implementedand recording any modification or changes in theprocess, in other words, progress reporting.

The fourth component of the program budgetingsystem is its data and information aspect. Thestructural and analytic components influence thechoice of data. What were the objectives of theprogram? What level of resource allocation wascommitted to the implementation?

The implementation of a "results-oriented"program-planning-budgeting system requires the wide-spread participation and involvement by staff,students, and the public. This aspect may not beas easy to achieve as it may appear to be.

In the past, there has been communication withstaff and public in terms of the "inputs" utilizedin the educational process. The traditional function(administration, instruction, etc.) arid object(salaries, books, heat, etc.) budgeting codingstructures have not been terribly meaningful to either,internal or external school constituencies. To theparent who is concerned about the level or qualityof reading instruction in the third grade or whatthe district's priorities are in the senior highschool, or how much activity the district is fundingin programs for the handicapped traditional budgetingand program structures are not at all helpful. If

program objectives cannot be specified precisely andthe level of resources allocated to a program notknown, how can there be a change in the deliverysystem, a modification of the resource level, achange in program objectives, or elimination of an

131

SCHOOL FINANCE / 125

activity withiony assurance that the decision will

provide improvement in educational services?

Program-planning-budgeting systems are not a

panacea. The educational profession is woefully

lacking in evaluation skills and techniques. PPBS

does present potential of securing sound and validparticipation by staff and citizens in the managementof school affairs and provides a systematic processfor clearly describing the contributions of theschool system.

CONCLUDING COMMENT

The purposes of this discussion were twofold:to review the trends in state/local school support,and to'describe triefly the potential of PPBS asa means :61- improving the internal management of

school districts. The primary focus was concernedwith the allocation of resource'to school districtsand the sources of revenue available to meet the

financial needs of schools. In the past four years,

since,Serrano, the reforms in school finance have

been substantial. The effects on this reform move-

ment in the United States will need to be:evaluated

carefully in light of widely held expectations byeducators and the public for movement away from theinherent inequities of the old finance systems.

While the cl4nges of tie, early 1970's have

suggested an evolutionary rdode of reform rather than

revolutionary changes, it appears clear that bothexternal and internal factors affecting school finan-cial management have had an effect on the local, state

and national level. These changes and others cur-

rently underway should be of great interest tospecial education administrators and to all educators

and citizens.

132

, 126 / MUELLER

REFERENCES

Advisory Co owl ission on Intergovernmental Relaiirions.

Financing schools and property tax relief--a tateresponsibility. Washington, D.C.: 1973, 12- 4.

-----

leischmann% Manly, Chairman. The Fleischmann reporton the'guality, cost, and financing of elementaryn secondary education. New York: Viking Press,/y/73.

.,

Gorham, William. Notes of a practitioner, ThePublic Interest, 1967, 8, 4-5.

Haggart, Sue A. (Ed.) Program budgetingdistrict planning. Englewood Cliffs, Ntional Technology Publications, 1972.

Shannon, Thomas A. Chief Justice WrightLornia Supreme Court and school finance. Fourteenth done it again? Nolpe School1973, 3, 1.

for school.J.: Educa-

.

, the Cali-: Has theLaw Journal,

Wynkoop, Robert J. A study of significant schoolfinance committee reports published within one-yearof Serrano. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,Ohio State University, 1973.

Wynkoop, Robert J. Prognosis for change in state q

finance plans: an analysis of recent cOnimissionreports and court decisions, Educatioqal Adminis-tration Quarterly, 1974, Autumn, 20-32" .

Wynkoop, Robert J. Trends in school finance reform,Phi Delta'Kappan,'1975, April, 543.

133

Chapter Ten

PERSONNEL ilANAGEFENT IN

RURAL/SPARSELY POPULATED AREAS

Thomas Stark 1

THE HUMAN TOUCH,

When considering the problems of the,administration of rural schools, I recall a previous positionin Lake County'schools, Two Harbors, Minnesota, adistrict where,the whole northern half of the countyis roadless by law. The'size of the district exceedsthe size of several Minnesota cities. Airplanesmust fly over when'in that area, and theterritory is limited in t rms of motorized vehicleuse--bikes, motorboats, sn wmobiles, and canoe by

-summer. That is rural!

'After leaving Lak County schools for GrandRapids (which is in the north central pert ofMinnesota) I encountered another large districtgeographically--a school district over 2,000 squaremiles, a district largel- than the state of RhodeIsland, yet with only 5,.700 students."

1. 'Transcribed and excerpted from a dialogue onJuly 7, 1975.

127

4

128 / STARK

There are some unique administrative problemsto face when one administers a school district thathas diverse interests, aR unusual geography andsparse population. An obvious problem is transpor-tation. In a place such as the Lake Cbunty SchoolDistrict, and in earlier times, portible schoolbOldingg'were moved into logging camp areas toserve the "shackers" who came with their families tolog the area.

Certainly, there is a problem in providing, specialeducation services when'there is one youngster in onearea who is visually impaired, another youngster 90miles away who has a hearing problem, and yet'anothertrainable mentally retarded (TMR) student somewhereelse. In sparsely populated areas such as these, itis terribly difficult to provide good services, yetone must work out wayg to take care of these needs.

Special education is terribly important school'business because of the young people whose lives aredifferent'and in need of special help and4ecausespecial educators have an- opportunity to do somethinggood for them. It was Horace Mann who once said,-"Let not your life end until you've won some signif-icant victory for mankind." A dedicated educator- -whether it is an educable mentally retarded.(EMR)teacher,..first grade teacher, superintendent or aPrincipalcertainly carries many victories for man-kind. In fact, there are few professions that reallyhave the impact upon society than does the professionof being an educator. That says a lot about thewhole business of personnel administration and theimpOrtance of hiring able people.

Beautiful, buildings can be built, and there aremany in Minnesota, but a beautiful building does notmake a good school., For example, there"were fiveelementary schools in one town in which our familyonce lived. The area which'housed my family containedan old school building, a school built 111'1894 whichwas about ready to fall down. Before en ollin my

children into the old school building.( howe , the

other four beautiful buildings were examined. It

135

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT / 129

was apparent that the newer schools were much moreattractive and that they were even programmed fornewer educational methodologies. It was not longafter the start of school, however, that I realizedthat the older school was indeed an outstandingschool. It contained dedicated teachers who caredimmensely about"the children under their care. My

children could not have received better educationalservices than they did in that old dilapidated schoolwith old traditional programs. This observationmagnified for me the fact that it is not the methodology that is used, the materials or equipment, theschool building or the finances that make the realdifference in quality of education, it is the teacher.It is the teacher who delivers the service. Forexample, a teacher may have a choice of two procedures for a particular lesson: procedure X versus

procedure Y. From a carefully considered point ofview, procedure X might be better, but if the teacherdoes not think that procedure X is better, then thatteacher should use procedure Y because the teacher isthe one who must deliver that service. Until theteacher can successfully be convinced that procedureX is better, theory Y is the better choice. Machiavellionce wrote, "A poor battle plan vigorously carriedforward has more chance of success than an excellentone supported halfheartedly." That is true of teaching also. If an administrator feels that the optionsare somewhat equal but likes one better than theother which is the reverse of the teacher's opinion,the teacher should be allowed to use his/he choicebecause he/she will think it is good, wil ork at it,and will generally make it work.

In terms of personnel administration the most-important thing that a special director or leader inthe field of special education can do is to recruit

_and select good people. Technical competencies areimportant, but human qualities are even more important.A good person who is motivated--and if he/she dlsp hasbasic background in a speciality--will become a goodteacher because that teacher will not be satisfiedwith anything but good performance. Having all the

N.

4.

130 / STARK

academic credentials in the world does not necessarilymake a good teacher. It is the human quality whichis the most important.

PPBS

Planning, Icrogramming, Budgeting System (PPBS)is a system that started during World War II whenEngland was faced with the problem'of dealing withthe bombing_of London and some of the surrounding

t/industrial cities. They had to figure out ways\thatthey could put all of their resources, all of theirpower, all of their best thinking together to meet theobjective of thwarting the imminent invasion ofEngland. Somewhat later, the AFretary of Defensefor the United States, Robert tacNamara, organized allof the Pentagon operations -Into a system wherebygoals were laid out for the various divisions withinthe defense organization. These division goals wtied to organizational goals and were justified interms of how successfully they contributed to thelarger organization reaching its goals from a cost/

'benefit point of view. One innovative featuer of PPBShas been the move from a line item budget to a pro-gram budget. A line item budget, for example, islike being in a school system where the administrationknows that for all of its teachers, it has 3 milliondollars to spend. With program budgeting, however,a system is developed whereby the operational programsof the school district are determined by way ofsystems analysis. Whatever programs are determined,those programs are monitored to determine the extentto which goals are met, and financial investments arerequired.

One system of PPBS identifies five components ofthe system: cost accounting, systems analysis, goalsettAg, program planning, and eva)uation. Afundamental tenant of the system is,that schoolsbelong to the people, and..sehe people within a

community should decide what schools should be workingtoward. Educational leaders should, however, provideleadership in helping the public decide what kind of

0

137'1

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT / 131

programs they want. In the final analysis the people

must decide what the schools should be doing.

In Mankato the school system has gone through

a system of involving the public in a goal setting

exercise. The public has established a listing of

goals in priority orderas-to what are the mostimportant things that their school system should be

doing for their community. Then, the public has

been involved with an evaluation activity. It has

taken each of the goals which were identified and

has answered the question: to what extent do the

present school programs meet these goals? (The

highest ranked goal established for the MankatoPublic Schools was gaining skills in reading, writing,

and listening.) The community could responc along

a continutm of response options varying between"doing a poor job" to."doing too much in this area."

By going through this exercise, Mankato has been able

to match the ranking of the goals with the public's

perception of how well the district is reaching

those goals. Highly ranked goals with low perfor-7a.nde evaluations are receiving top attention for

time, energy and budget allocation. This procedure

is part of what MS is about. The decision as to

where those dollars should be allocated becomes

quite clear. People really believe school systemsbelong to them, and they.can determine the directionthe school system should be going. The system is

helping to improve our school system.

After goals are set by the public, it is theresponsibility of professional educators to determine

how the goals can be reached. Performance objectives

for each program should be established. If a program

has 10 performance objectives, those objectives arerelated to the community established goals. If

there is a performance objective that does not relate

to the goals that the community has established, it

is either cut out or the public should be consultedto determine whether or not a goal should b dded

to the overall list of goals. On the otheritnd,

one may find that e of the goals that the public

indicated as very imp tant is not addressed by a

132 / STARK

performanc objective /4'his circumstance tellsthe distri t that it better gear up, design, andmodify so programs so that they meet the districtobjectiv . It would be a management error for aschool di trict not -to have some kind of plan formoving t e system in the direction of its establishedgoals.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

One of the most important steps in managerialevaluation is to clarify who is responsible for what.For example, one plan is to have an administratordraft a job description of his/her own assignment.Then selected subordinates review the job descrip-tion and suggest modifications. The administrator'ssuperior next reviews what the incumbent (the sub-ordinates) say the job should be. After dialoguewith the incumbent, the superior finalizes the jobdescription. This plan is being followed in Mankatofor all administrators. Job descriptions and eval-uation instruments all follow the same format.

This system was sold on a positive note emphasiz-ing that most people do satisfactory work and shouldhave the opportunity to know that their subordinatesfeel that that is the case. The final activitfis todevelop performance improvement objectives or targetsfor the following year

EDUCATION IN THE FACE OF DECREASING ENROLLMENTS

Today, decreasing enrollment is 4, problem interms of staffing and still maintaining qualityeducation for a number of Minnesota school districts.The Mankato district has been successful in negotiat-ing an unrequested leave policy (the procedures to befollowed in placing tenured teachers on leave ofabsence for possible future recall due to staff reduc-tions). The system is based strictly on certificationand seniority. For example, if 20 positions in aschool district must be cut for its school year, the

d 9

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT / 133

first to be released would be probationary teacherswho are the least .needed by the district. Probation-ary teachers in Minnesota are those teachers intheir first two years of teaching or in the firstyear of teaching in a district following a move fromanother district. Staff reductions based solely onseniority cause severe management problems. Oftena highly valued teacher must be placed on unrequestedleave merely because he/she is a junior staff member.Being able to consider competitive in determingwhich teachers positions should be terminated wouldstrengthen the present system.

Because of tenure'laws, school boards and admin-.istrators must develop extremely effective recruit-ment and selection procedures. When.. a teacher is

hired, he/she has for all practical purpose been given

a life contract. Approximately .5 million dollars4

of.the community's resources are in that person'scareer (with the average salary at 12,500 dollars, /times 40 years). That amount should be the best ---,-

investment the community ever made if the person isa good teacher or money wasted,if the person is apoor teacher.

On the whole, school systems have been doing amuch bette4job than they have in the past in improv-4e-their recruitment selection. procedures.

("s'

140

j

Chapter Eleven

EVALUATING NEED FOR S CIAL EDUCATION SERVICES

IN SPARSELY P LLATED AREAS

Robert H. Bruininks.Virginia L. Bruininks

There is generally widespiead recognition amongeducators and social.planners that needs assessmentis an impertant part of 'program planning, although

the concept and -methodologies of needs assessmentmay no't be well understood. Needs assessment is anactivity planned to estimate the present and futurecopulation in need of service and describe the needsof that target population, determine present servicesand the nature of services required to meet identifiedneeds, locate available and potential resources,and suggest a realistic and effective way to organizeresources to deliver appropriate services. A commonmisconception is that needs assessment is a "one-shot"effort used only at the initial stage of p gramplanning. On the contrary, an effective eeds assess-ment progtim is a continuous process, yi lding objectiveinformed& for planning, evaluating, d revisingprograms.

T e purpose of this chapter is to apply principlesand e les of needs assessment activities to developing

135

1A1

1111

136 I BRUININKS

special ed4cation services in sparsely populatedareas, where factors of distance, population con-centrations and mobility, and availability of economicand personnel resources complicate the task of pro-viding appropriate services. Special emphasis isplaced on methodology of needs assessment with stressgiven to two of the more common problems in sparselypopulated areas: case finding and personnel training.

PLANNING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

An essential step in designing effective needsassessment is to constitute a Planning Committee ofconsumers and decision-makers who might have reasonto relate to the issue of special education servicesin the broad geographical region under consideration.Gaining active participation of such persons at theplanning stage maximizes the potential of translatinginformation obtained into innovative, effective, andappropriate services:

The Planning Committee should address itself toquestions such as the following suggested by Warheit,.Bell, and Schwab (1974):

What do we need to know?Why do we need to know it?

. How will the information be used?How can information be obtained to answer ourquestions?

. How can we most effectively compile, analyze,and present the information?What other agencies should be included in theeffort?

. What will the effort cost?What schedule will be followed for the 'project?What approach(es) will be used to gather and

. present the information?How can we insure that the effort will be takenseriously?

The Planning Committee, after considering thesequestions, should agree on the following:

42

EVALUATING NEED / 137

. a statement of philosophy and beliefs aboutgood special education services;objectives for the needs assessment activity;methods to be used in collecting information;and

strategies for organizing data and presentingfindings to have maximum impact on the scopeand quality of services available for handi-capped pgrsonS.

It should be noted that arriving at,consensuson beliefs about special education services and ob-jectives of the needs assessment are two issues re-solved by the local Planning Committee. The resolu-tion of these issues by this group at the outset ofthe needs assessment effort increases the probabilitythat the study will result in changes in the scopeand organization of services. As Lewin (1953) andothers have demonstrated, more dramatic and permanentchanges occur when people participate actively inthe solution of problems than when solutions are pre--sented to them by individuals as a fiat accompli.Needs assessment is not simply an investment in datagathering. Instead, effective needs assessment ispart of an overall strategy to improve the access,scope., and effectiveness of services, and it is im-portant to secure involvement of those people whowould likely be affected by the changes in servicessuggested by the needs assessment.

The needs assessment effort, therefore, shouldnot be viewed as existing in a vacuum. It takes placewithin a'sociopolitical,context in which decision-makers consider the implications of results from thevantage of personal roles and responsibilities.- Tomaximize the iimpiact df needs assessment efforts; itis also important that recognition be given to creat-ing within the Planning Committee the proper environ-ment for constructive problem-solving. Appropriatechange is most likely to occur when to PlanningComittee is sensitive to the following principlesof collaborative relationships described by Bennis,Benne, and Chin (1969):

143

138 / BRUININKS

. a joint effort that involves mutual determin-tion of goals;

. a spirit of inquiry--a reliance of determina-tions based on data, publicly shared;

. a relationship growing out of a concrete, here-and-now encounter;

. a voluntary relationship between change agentand client with either party free to terminatethe relationship after jointconsultation;

. a power distribution in which theclient andchange_ agent have equal or almost equal oppor-tunity to influence one another;

. an emphasis on methodological, rather thanspecific, substantive goals.

(p. 147)

Providing a comprehensive discussion of all thefactors that determine the ultimate impact of needsassessment and other evaluation efforts in specialeducation programs is beyond the scope of thischapter. It is important to note, however, the in-teresting and ,often overlooked idea from Benniset a1.(1969) that "emphasis on methodological,rahter than specific, substantive goals" is morelikely to create an atmosphere conducive to effectivechange in organizations and programs. Attention tomethodology is also a major task of the PlanningCommitte , which underscores the importance of thePlanning Committee's role in the needs assessment effort.

e following materials discuss several method-ologies used in needs assessment. Specific examplesof recent applications of these methods to the areasof case finding and personnel training are included.

APPROACHES TO NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Approaches to conducting needs assessment varygreatly in terms of the questions to be answered,precision, information produced, and costs. Warheit,Bell, and Schwab (1974) have described five commonlyused approaches to need's assessment in the field of

141

EVALUATING NEED / 139

mental health which are applicable to planningspecial education services. They are the key infor-mant approach, the community forum approach, therates-under-treatment approach, the social indicatorsapproach, and the field survey approach. Each of

these approaches presents advantages and disadvan-tages, and this. information is summarized in Table

1:

All of the approaches summarized in Table 1represent viable methods of conducting needs assess-ment. Each approach presents achlantages and dis-advantages, especially in sparsely populated areas.The direct survey method is generally the preferredapproach to follow, but the costs involved make itimpractical in many community studies. Such surveysare best conducted 'on a larger geographic scale.

In sparsely populated areas it may be necessary,therefore, to rely upon statewide and national surveysto predict needs for service. EXtrapolation of

findings from such surveys in different geographicareas should be done with caution, preferablyin combination with locally generated data. For

reasons of costs and resources, the key informant,community forum, and rates-under-treatment methodsof needs assessment are most applicable to surveysa sparsely populated are

Two of the most vexing problems in planningspecial education services in sparsely populatedareas are finding persons in need of service andrecruitment of personnel. The next sections pro-vide discussion of practical methods of conductingneeds assessment in these two important areas.

Case Finding in Sparsely Populated Areasi Theapplication of national prevalence estimates toschool populations is a commonly used technique topredict the number of handicapped children in needof special education services. Typically, under thisprocedure service needs are assessed through multi-plying the United States Office of Education preva-lence estimates for various handicapping conditions

145

Table 1

Needs Assassaenc Appreaches

APPROACH

SOURCE Of 1NTOEMATION

1.

Rap Informant

1.

Secured frau persons with knowledge of

coUrpn/Cy's needs and pravalling pattern

of service'.

2.

Cemunicy rerun

2.

Secured Cr. .. individuals in

public %aeries

-

3.

Mates-under-treatseat

3.

Description of persona using services in

covesuntcy--location, LES charccerletic.

age. etc.

4.

Social Iadiceters

4.

Analysis of factors found to bs associated

etch screens in need through statistics in

public records end repents.

Example.

Indies. of poverty related ce proportion of

children is special cl

by social status

levels.

3.

Direct Survey

3.

Peraens is need of service are 0000000

directly, using ataadardisal methods.

SELECTED ADVANTACtS

SELECTED DISADVANTAGES

e

1. .) Low ...lc

1. 4) Potential bless p

1

b) Snead participation

and agency

c) Inprevenenc el colsountcaciea

10 May inaccurately eveciaelcs

need..

2. .) Easy re arrange

i) low costs

c) Hay increase conmunity

support end participaciee

3. a) hbv cost

h) /*grate. tapecc.

4. at Useful predictor. of need

b) Useful in conbinucion with

other approaches.

c) Identify factors 00000 tared

with service need and ut111-

CatiOn.

3. a) Mbar accurate - possible re

sees extent of error in

survey.

1

b) As.essmenc to direct. nee

, indirect.

c) Liiely to-ptoduce acre re-

liable end valid inf.:vac/en

than other loathed..

2.

Logistic

3.

Assuring eemflientlelity

4. s) Provide sn incomplete piccure

of need..

b) Lend 0e incorrect and pre-

p...urn conclumlOns retarding

counts of need.

c) Incoleplets ssssss isent e( need.

5. a) Costs can be very hick.

b) Xm'iutres sore sophisticated

approaches rhea ocher oersteds

C) Legistica.

..eso

gt,

0

EVALUATING NEED / 141

by the number of school children residing in a spec-ified geographic area. (For example, if the prev-alence of severely retarded children is approximately0.3 percent, the number of school-age childIen in anarea is 10,000, the expected number of severely re-tarded children in need of service would be 30.)While this technique is widely used, y special educa-tors, it also possesses a number of built-indeficiencies, including:

1. The U.S. Office of Educationa estimatesin many cases are not based uponempirically derived findings. Forexample, the prevalence estimatesof mental retardation are based uponprojections from the- normal, theore-tical distribution of intelligencetest scores (Mackie, 1965),

2. These estimates are derived and re-'ported at a singe'pointin time andthereby ignore cyclical trends in theincidence of exceptionality resultingfrom major changes'in medical practiceand social philosophy (e.g., epidemicssuch as rubella).

3. Application of reported nationwide,estimates to particular geographicareas is frequently inappropriate,since the importance of local charac-teristics which could influence theprevalence of handicapping conditionsare ignored (e.g., per capita wealth,adequacy of health care, etc").

Surveys of community agencies are another pop-ular means of assessing demands for special educationservice. As with the previously discussed method,this voluntary reporting or key informant procedurealso contains a number of limitations. Irojectionsof service need based on this method are limited by the

14'2

142 / BRUININKS

peculiarities of agency intake policies, difficul-ties in developing consensus on definitions of handi-caps and the extent to which they present educationalproblems, the problem of achieving comprehensive surveycoverage among agencies with conflicting and over-lapping jurisdictions in large geographical areas,,and questions related _to the confidentiality of agencyrecords. Even with these limitations, Wishik (1956)reported a 63.4 percent agreement between case find-ings obtained through voluntary reports from agenciesand a diagnostic sampling study in two differentcommunities in Georgia. ,On the basis of theseresults, he concluded ",that voluntary reporting,even lay reporting, is an important case findingdevice that should be given serious consideration..."(p. 199). The reports of Wishik and others (Lemkauand Imre, 1969) indicate, however, that a majorshortcoming of this approach is that it tends toyield conservative estimates of the actual numberof.handicapped persons represented in the population.

Another common approach to determining prevalenceis the diagnostic survey method. This procedureentails the construction of random samples of schoolchildren and'comprehensive diagnostic workups oneach child by an interdisciplinary team of specialists.It is themost rigorous and reliable case finding,approach of the various survey methods, but alsothe most expensive. Few school districts and publicagencie4 can financially afford the luxury of con-ducting comprehensive diagnostic surveys of schoolpopulations.

What, then, represents an acceptable method ofestablishing tift$Fled for special education servicesin sparsely poputted areas? Perhaps the most '

feasible and reliable approach is a combined methodusing nationwide prevalence estimates and voluntaryreporting procedures. By combining the two methods,both nationwide and regional factors may be enteredinto the determination of student program needs.

This combined needs assessment has been used ina survey of handicapped pupils in Northeast Minnesota

148

EVALUATING NEED / 143

(Weatherman and Bruininks, 1970). That is, bothnationwide Statistics and a community survey were

used in predicting the proportion of the school-population in need of special-education assistance.Northeastern Minnesota for the most part is asparsely populated area with many:of the generalcharacteiistics of other rural areas.

In designing the community survey study,attempts were made to control some of the problemsof using voluntary reporting procedures. To avoid

some of the methodo1ogiCal pitfalls of the agencysurvey, method, the investigators developed a SpecialEducation Survey Form and employed two trainedfield workers to convass the northeast section of thestate.'

The survey forMyis developed by identifyingreadily observable attributes of handicappedchildren as described in various professionalpublications in special education. Several intro-

ductory texts on exceptional children, standardbehavior checklists, as well as other pertinentprofessional literature were consulted in formulatingthe initial list of descriptors (Balow, 1968;Cruikshank and Johnson, 1967; Darling, 1966; Dunn,1963; Garrison and Force, 1965; Kirk, 1962; Petersonand Quay, 1967; Telford and Sawrey, 1967). More-over, every attempt was made to describe the selectedCharacteristics in educational rather than medicalor psychiatric language. Following the development

of the initial list, several persons with professionalcompetence in various handicapping areas were re-quested to rate the importance of the characteristicsas descriptors of each type of handicap, suggest anyother characteristics which would improve the def-inition of handicap(s), and critique the generalinstructions of the form.

An additional feature of the form was that it

'asked respondents to estimate the extent of servicethe student required along a four-point scale(complete, extensive, supplementary, and none)This question was prompted by asuspicion that

149

144 / 8RUININKS

previously reported prevalence figures were inflatedfor some handicaps because investigators had failedto determine whether the child's handicap was suf--ffcient to warrent the intervention of special

'education services. Perhaps the best illustrationoft,this problem is in the reporting of prevalenceestimates for physically handicapped children,wherein children with mild orthopedic impairmentsmay be reported.as handicapped even though theirlimitations present no special educational problems.

The final version of the form was subdivided,into two sections. One section, entitled "Descriptionsof Handicapped Children," contained an extensive listingof characteristics to define each major handicap.A second form, entitled th.e "SPedni-Education SurveyForm," was used to elicit from various agenciee'et,well. as professional and lay persons the n es ofhandicapped children with intellectual; phy eat,emotional and social handicaps of educationalsignifieah,ce.-

The Special Education Survey Form was administeredto key informants in public and private, agencies bytwo specially trained field representatives who wereemployed for approximately two months to canvassthe communities included in the northeast region ofthe state. This survey also included a specialsampling study to derive prevalence estimates ofstudents with special learning difficulties, usingstandardized intelligence and achievement `testscores.

The information in Table 2 summarizes the rev- I

alence of handicapped children in this area usingthe two estimation techniques. The data from thissurvey suggest that estimates agree reasonably wel4in the case of severe impairments, but differ markedlyin the' case of milder handicaps. Several reasonscan be posited as explanations for these differences.Regional and cultural variations in such areas asvalues, varying" sensitivity of schools slid otheragencies to handicapping conditions, lack'bf servicesin some areas, per capita wealth, and quality of

'50

SOLE 2

1

EVALUATING NEED I 145

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47,463 24.6 1 0 .23

Beal, 1-44:.0 -- 47,46) 77 1 0 .09---

Spec e'. tise d .4 -;, 1 . 67,491. 3061 3 5 3 5

tracizz 1e; .:re - 7,:a..1 87,01 115 .6 .13

Deaf $7,46) 41 .1 .05

lard C' %tat j 17.401 74 .5 .0!

Ttst U17 r-5 a. 290 01 .33

67,407 63 03 .07

r,t)A, .: C7,473 221 06 26

1.-5. t .y

Sort.: r ri 31,4!) 153 2 0 .17

So'. is d $7,403 0,754 10 47: 5 775

se.,,: 4.- 1. .4 f;.; c

1'11 : C -4e. e :. r4 co: L

"' _ ,0f.

"011. Sfy ta. Irt 1-., SC, areas d,r :0 1.,,Cvf.:( Cttir3trt cfpc rst s css .a ' ps4s.y.4

41,1 r. s, r ,.y - o

C.r.rta tcr. ;nc c 07f:c 7716, al. in: pro5crIons.

ay./

151

146 / BRiIININKS

educational programming are likely to have a markedimpact on estimates of the numbers of mildly retardedand emotionally handicapped pupils. Ambiguitiesinvolved in certifying the special educational needsof many physically handicapped pupils doubtlessaccount for the wide differences reported for thishandicap by the two methods. For whatever reason, itis clear that the two approaches do not yield thesame estimates of service need. It seems reasonableto conclude from these findings that regional factorsdo influence both the ascertained and true prev-alence rates of handicapping conditions.

An added aspect, of this study was the use of astandard method for projecting school enrollmentsto predict future needs for special education.services. The projections of handicapped childrenin this study for the period of 1970 to 1980. werederived by a technique which uses survival -ratiosof enrollment data as well as growth ratios ofcensus data (cf. Leu,.1965; Chapter II). A survivalratio is determined by dividing the enrollment of-children in a particular grade or age group during a

given year by the ensollment of children an pre-ceding year in one lower grade-pr age group. Forexample, to establish a survival ratio for the1971 for sixth graders, one would divide the numberof sixth graders in 1971 by the number of fifthgraders in 1970.

A weighting system was devised 'that gave themost recent survival ratios a heavier weight. Thispractice rests on the belief that the most recentdata are probably bettet predictors of the f4ure.Assuming a 10-year history which was used in hesecalculations, the most recent ratio, 1969-19 0, wasassigned a weigii_of 9.0 and the least recen , 1960-1961, a weight of 1.0. -

Inspection of Table 3 reveals the effe t of adeclining school population on the expected numberof handicapped children. Assuming the inci enceof handicapping conditions remains stable uringthe next 10 years, school personnel could expect a

15 2

EVALUATING NEED / 147

3

Future Estimated Nu...,re of Nandi:4;nd F,4,11s

in Northc-st !Iinnconoa

1974-75 and 1974 SO School :care.

USOE Fr.valcnce Volt.ntsr- RenortInc

Esti' it 'ethod1974-751974-75 1979-80 1979-80

Mental'', Fetarded - Total 1,735 1,543 958 852

Trainatle -ertally Fctarded 226 201 211 188

Ed4cdble Menta.'" Petarded 1,509 1,342 747 664

Fhyticall± hand.:4;red - Total 1,509 1,312 279 248

Orthoptdtcalli 755 671 211 188

Mcalth 1,84,,ared 754 671 68 60

Speech Rardicapped 2,641 2,349 2,641 2,349

Hearing Handinned - %LA. 452 403 98 87

101.,aaf 75 67 38 33

Hard o' hcarirg 377 335 60 54

Ylsuolly Inpa`red - Tc:11 68 60 249 221

Elind 23 20 53 47

Pa,tlalli Sag ted 45 40 196 174

e

,.c.a,rt, 1,503 1,342 189 168

Soc,,11) s:ei

Spcci,1 Learrlog 0.sa^.1ities 2,204 2,013 4,528 4,026

10,178 9,052 8,942 7,951

153

148 / BRUINIPIKS

proportionate reduction in the numbers of handicappedChildren in this area. It is obvious that fewindependent school districts in this region couldafford to provide an adequate continuum of servicesfor all types of handicapped children, particularlyfor those conditions of low frequency. The reportconcluded that the "factors of declining enrollmentand reduced numbers of handicapped children makeconsideration of a regional approach to planningspecial education services...imperative"(Weathermanand Bruininks, 1970, p. 85).

There are a number of potential problems inthe use of any population projection technique. Itis important to consider that projections of pupilpopulations may be affected by atypical (past)historical trends and often fail to take into accountcertain economic and social factors which exertinfluence on the rates of population growth anddecline. Moreover, employing current prevalencefigures to predict the future incidence of handi-capped children may involve considerable risk oferror. Situation factors such as disease conditions,medical advances, changing trends in populatipns,changes in the philosophy and structure of ?kgulareducation, and numerous other considerations can allaffect the 'incidence rates of handicapped children.

However, the essential value of making populationprojections in special education is to facilitatethe planning and organization of future patterns ofservice. If incidence rates of handicapped childrenremain reasonably constant over the next decadesuch estimates are of value in projecting minimalspecial education service needs.

Personnel Training in Sparsely Populated teas.People who live in a sparsely populated are avechosen that locale for economic, social, or personalreasons dnd are likely to remain there. Effectiveutilization of these people in planning and in pro-viding service programs leads to continuity andpermanence in services for handicapped persons insparsely populated areas.

151

EVALUATING NEED / 149

A survey by special education programs at the

University of Minnesota exemplifies a systematicapproach to evaluating the training needs of practicing

teachers (Bruininks, Rynders and Gordon, 1973).

The approach followed in this survey is based osten-

sibly on a model developed by the UCLA Center for

the Study of Evaluation (Klein, 1971). It is designed

to yield data to assist in the selection of chtent

in training activities, and possible approaches which

might be used to develop skills among persons engaged

in the education and'training of severely retarded

persons. The procedures, however, could be adapted

to fit any personnel training problem.

A four part strategy was employed, including:

-listing of possible training goals or.objectives(competencies) to prepare teachers for work with

severely retarded persons;determining the importance of the objectives;

assessing the degree to which competencies are

present in the repertoires of teachers--i.e.,

to identify discrepanciel between idealizedand actual competency levels; andusing evaluations of goals and data on dis-crepancies to select training program contentand strategies for preparing teachers toeffectively serve severely retarded persons.

This approach to needs assessment uses the key

informant or self report method. Following the

development of a comprehensive list pf possiblegoals, faculty and a sample of teachers and programdirectors rate the..relative importance of eachgoal (skill) and the extent to which they believe

teachers generallypossess the skill through a

systematic procedure. An example objective appears

below:

Demonstrate skill in administering bothformal and informal diagnostic and assess-

ment instruments (e. perceptual motor).

150 / BRUININKS

All perso rating the goals use the same fivepoint scale of importance: 5 = very important,4 = above average, 3 = average, 2 = below average,.and 1 = unimportant. After the ratings are com-plete the rankings are averaged for each goaland t e f rater (cf. Klein, 1971). Thus, ratersrank pr gram objectives according to their perceived importance and the extent to which theyfeel such skills (goals) are present in the reper-toires of teachers working with severely retardedpersons.

The procedures followed in the survey requirethat each rater first rank program objectives forimportance, ranging along a scale of very importantto unimportant. Rdters are next asked to rate'theextent to which they feel practitioners in programs,for severely retarded persons, possess such skills.Both sets of rankings yield valuable information,

to develop the content and the strategies for atraining prograin.

This approach can be combined with forecastingtechniques to predict future personnel trainingneeds. A systematic ap.proach for' predicting future .

educational trends is available in the DelphiForecasting Technique. The procedure is describedby Weaver (1971) as follows:

Typically, the procedure includes aquestionnaire, mailed to respondents whoremain anonymous to one another. Respon-dents first generate several rather concisestatements of events, and in the secondround give estimates as to the probabilityof each even occurring at a given date lnthe future. Once the respondents havegiven their answers, the responses arecollated and returned to each respondentwho then is invited to revise his estimates.The third Tound responses are made withthe knowledge of ho....7 others felt regarding

the occurrence of each event. Again, theresponses are assembled and reported back

;156

EVALUATING NEED I 151

to the participants. If a respondent'sestimate does not fall within the inter-quartile range of all conjectures, he isasked to justify his position, whetheror not he wishes to change his position.

(p. 267)

The Delphi forecasting method is designed to achieveconsensus in predictions by maximizing the participa-tion of all respondents in a survey, while minimizingthe undue influence typically exerted by persuasivepanel members. Weaver presents an excellent dis-

cussion of the strengths and limitations of thisapproach to forecasting educational trends and events.

SUMMARY

This chapter has emphasized the importance ofneeds assessment in planning special educationservices in'sparsely populated areas. Selected

methods for conducting such surveys were developedfor two programmatic areas: in determining thenumbers, proportions, and types of children in needof specialized educational assistance; and inasse sing the in-service training needs of specialand regular education teachers.

Recommended was that school systems and agenciesemploy two methods for ascertaining the need forspecial education services in a community: the

application of nationwide projections to schoolenrollment figures,. and the use of k informants

through surveys of agencies, communi organizations,

I.PsofeAsionals, lay persons,,and comth iz, leaders.

When sufficiett financial msoufCeS a e available,.ediagnodtiC sampling studies shouldbe conducted.The value of data fruch surveys can be enhancedby pupil projection figures obtained through one ofthe standard enrollment estimation method's (cf. Leu,1965; Chapter II).

The purpose of a prevalence study is toidentify the number of pupils in need of special

157

152 / BRUININKS

education assistance. Unfortunately, it is notpossible in this type of study to determine pre-cisely the type and pattern of special educationservices requiredn. In other words, a prevalencesurvey is pot a diagnostic study--i.e., it is notwithin its purv'ew to identify the precise nature ofservice needs f r individual pupils or even for

t\pupils who have een identified as exhibitingcertain handicap It is quite conceivable, forexample, that a child with a particular handicap(e.g., an orthopedic impairment) might need a pat-

tern of services quite different from that indicatedfor other children with a similar categoricaldesignation. Thus, it is necessary in surveystudies of this kind to classify children into grosscategories which may represent at best only crude .

approximations of their actual educational and/ortraining needs.

A formal survey method was also discussed foridentifying in-service training needs of specialeducation teachers. Important to note is that thistechnique and others call be adapted to surveyingneeds in a variety of areas, including the need forselected services and organizational.models,management functions, definition of staffing func-tions and relationships, and as a general approachfor assessing the performance skills of personnel.The technique only requires that a careful specifi-cation of goals or skills) be made, and that a groupof raters assess the importance of_these goals andthe degree to which theza/re being`Sucpessfullyachieved (Klein, 1971).

While a variety of eeds assessment surveymethods exist, it is im ottant to stress again thatthe successful development of special education pro-grams in sparsely populated areas rests largelyupon meticulous and informed planning. It makeslittle Sense to begin establishing services untila community clearly specifies the nature and extentf handicapping conditions among its school-ageulation and the extent of its available resources.

158

EVALUATING NEED / 153

If service needs are carefully evaluated, sub-sequent stages of program development shouldproceed planfully, rather than in a haphazard

manner.

4

159

4 '

154 / BRUINIqKS

REFERENCES

Below, B. ,School behavior profile. Minneapolis,Minnesota: University of Minnesota, 1968.

Benriis, W. G., Benne, K. D. & Chin, R. Introductionto collaboration and conflict. In W. G. Bennis,K. D. Benne, & R. Chin (Eds.) The planning ofchange. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1969.

,Bruininks/ R. H:, Rynders, J. E., & Gordon, D.Needs assessment: A vital step in designing an

(-objectives-based training program for teachers ofmoderately and severely retarded pupils. Paper\presented at the 52nd Annual Convention of theCouncil for Exceptional Children, New York, 1974.

Cruickshank, W. M., & Johnson, G. 0. (Eds.),Education of exceptional children and youth.Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,1967.

Darling, G. H. Identifying students with speciallearning needs. Austin, Minnesota:, Center for

`Special Services for Children, 1966.

Dunn, L. M. (Ed.), Exceptional children in the schools.New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963.

Garrison, K. C.; & Force, D. G. The psychologyof exceptional children. New York: The RonaldPress,

Kirk, S. A: Educating exceptional children. Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1964.

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EVALUATING NEED / 155

A

Klein, Stephen P. Evaluation workshop I, participant's

notebook. Monterey, California: CTB/McGraw-Hill,

1971. (Developed at the UCLA Center for the Stud

of Evaluation).

Lemkau, P. V. & Imre, P. D. Results of a field

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Deficiency, 1969, 73, 858-863.

Leu, D. J. Planning educational facilities. New

York: The Center for Applied Research in Education,1965.

Lewin, K. Studies in group decision. In D.

Cartwright & A. Zander (Eds.) Group dynamics.Evanston, Illinois: Row, Peterson.& Co., 1953.

Mackie, R. Spotlighting advances in specialeducatibn. Exceptional Children, 1965, 32(1),77-81.

Peterson, D. R. & Quay, H. C. Behavior problems

checklist. Champaign, Illinois: University of

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Telford, C. W. & Sawrey, J.414. The exceptional

individuals Psychological, and educational

aspects. Englewood Cliffs', New Jersey: Prentice-,

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Warheit, G. J., Bell, R. A. & Schwab,'J.' J.

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Bethesda, Maryland: National Institute of Mental

Health, 1974.

Weatherman, R. F. & Bruininks, R. H. Handicapped

children and special education needs in northeastMinnesota. St. Paul, Minnesota: State Department

of Education, 1970.

Weaver, W. T. The Delphi forec ting method,

The Phi Delta Kappan, 1971, 52, 267-271.

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Woe

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t.,