Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2017, Educational Administration (Education)

A principal has many responsibilities; high on this list includes the need to be educated in current special education requirements to serve students with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the amount of special education legal knowledge that secondary principals in Ohio possess. Demographic information, perceived special education legal knowledge, and potential professional learning needs data were collected through an online, researcher-developed survey. Via an initial email followed by reminder emails and phone calls to respondents, 1,587 secondary principals in rural, suburban, and urban school settings in Ohio were invited to respond to the survey. Two hundred forty-five principals participated in the study. Respondent data provided evidence that the area of special education legal knowledge of highest confidence for principals is in Individualized Education Program (IEP) document compliance. Specifically, respondents had the highest levels of legal knowledge in the following sections of the IEP document: nonacademic and extracurricular activities, meeting participants, specially designed instruction (specific to the differences between and accommodation and a modification), least restrictive environment, and the student profile. The area of lowest special education legal knowledge included principal knowledge of how to work within the dispute resolution process. Specific areas in this process include: impartial due process hearing, working with an IEP facilitator, the mediation process, preparing for an administrative review, and understanding how to use the Ohio Operating Standards for Children with Disabilities. There were statistically significant differences in the way male and female respondents viewed their own special education legal knowledge (p = .004). Females viewed themselves as more knowledgeable. There were statistically significant differences in the way urban respondents viewed their own special education legal knowledge (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Leena Landmark PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Krisanna Machtmes PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Dwan Robinson PhD (Committee Member); Dianne Gut PhD (Committee Member); Charles Lowery PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; School Administration; Special Education