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The Administration of Special Education Programs in Rural Schools 113
The descriptive statistics derived from the survey data were analyzed to identify trends,
commonalities, and discrepancies among the respondents’ answers. The researchers critically
analyzed the data to discern, specifically, which special education administrative functions were
least often (low rates of partial and substantial delegation) and most often (high rates of
substantial delegation) delegated, which functions were most often shared with subordinates
(partial delegation), and whether there was commonality among the type of functions that fell
within any of these categories. To accomplish the analysis, the survey items were grouped into
one of five function type categories based on their primary focus: (1) student focused, (2)
teacher focused, (3) instructional related, (4) general support, and (5) legal and policy related
functions. These function type categories were developed based on themes emerging from the
literature review. A factor analysis was not performed due to the low number of responses.
The percentages under each response for all items were analyzed to identify which
functions fell into one or more of the following data analysis categories:
1. Not Delegated—For this category, response data were analyzed for inclusion into
two sub-groups. The first group included the functions that were not delegated by
50% or more of the respondents. The second group that was identified included the
functions that were not delegated by 70% or more of the respondents.
2. Partially Delegated –Included in this group were the functions that were partially
delegated by 40% to 60% of the respondents.
3. Substantially Delegated In and Out—This category combined the survey items that
were delegated to subordinates inside the district or delegated to entities outside of
the district by 30% or more of the respondents.
For data analysis purposes, the Not Delegated and Partially Delegated response data
were combined, as were the response data for Substantially Delegated In and Substantially
Delegated Out, creating two general levels of delegation. The function types and data analysis
categories were used as lenses through which to view the survey responses for identifying
trends, commonalities, and discrepancies among the respondents’ answers and to facilitate the
discussion of the results.
RESULTS
The internal consistency reliability for the survey used was found to be .97 using
Chronbach’s alpha. The special education administrative functions that were delegated the least
by the rural school superintendents and principals in this study were functions that could be
described as general support and traditional personnel administrative functions. When crossreferenced
with Table 1, Table 2 showed that these items included the following tasks: selection
and assignment of staff members, establishing communication lines with other administrators,
budgeting and funding activities, conflict resolution between and among adults inside and
outside the school, and scheduling. These functions were not delegated by 70% or more of the
respondents. When expanding consideration to items not delegated by at least 50% of the
respondents, the same type of administrative activities emerged. The additional tasks were also
common to the general administration of a school, for example by the role of establishing
various procedures within a school or assisting staff members in setting professional goals. Also
included in the group functions that were delegated more than half the time were tasks where
the Individuals with Disabilities Act requirements mandated administrative representation. One
example was participation in Individual Education Plan meetings.