The Rural Principal's Role with Consideration for Special Education

Schools continue to place learners with disabilities in the general education classroom and provide special education services in that environment (Sage and Burrello, 1994). This trend, developed from shifts in both general and special education, promotes the provision of an individualized education to all learners, including those with disabilities in the typical classroom environment. Integral in making this and other changes work is the school principal. Effective schools research revealed the importance of leadership at the local school level (Campbell, Cunningham, Nystrand and Usdan, 1990). "Leadership is influence ... [and] the ability to obtain followers" (Maxwell, 1993, p, 1). Effectively achieving an integrated special education program within the general education environment involves the principal providing the necessary direction and vision (Gameros, 1995). In fact, principals are key in making special education succeed or fail (Parker and Day, 1997; Smith and Colon, 1998). In addition to the leadership role principals play, they are also accountable for the referral and delivery of special education services in the school building (Quigney, 1996). Recent legislation and litigation continue to place more responsibility on the principal. This and other site level responsibilities challenge the constantly increasing role of the school administrator (Servatius, Fellows, and Kelly, 1992; Williams and Katsiyannis, 1998). How can principals demonstrate leadership in this area? What do principals currently do? The results of this survey examine these responsibilities and the principal's role in special education leadership. Method The participants were principals of small rural schools of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Each of the schools may be classified as rural in that "all schools in the district are located in counties with a population density of fewer than 10 persons per square mile" and was identified as rural by a governmental agency (Paige, 2004). Respondents completed a survey developed and sent by the investigators. The survey was a modification of the work of Billingsley, Farley, and Rude (1993). If participants failed to return the survey, the principals received a follow-up letter and survey. In addition to a number of demographic queries, the investigators asked respondents to pen their agreement or disagreement to indicators of special education leadership roles (Billingsley, Farley, and Rude, 1993). The survey adapted forty-two indicators to positive statements from which the respondents were requested to respond. These statements in the questionnaire are listed in Table 1. The principals responded to each questionnaire using a Likert-type scale. A response of "1" indicated strong agreement, "3" was neutral, and "5" indicated strong disagreement. Results The participants in this study were principals and other school officials who performed the duties of a principal in small rural schools of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The results are based upon 255 (58%) questionnaires returned from an original mailing of 439. The numbers reported do not always equal 255 because not all of the participants answered each question. Regarding their primary administrative assignment, 98 (39%) were elementary school principals, 78 (31%) were secondary school principals, 19 (8%) were elementary/secondary school administrators, and 50 (20%) were central office and other administrative officials. Of the respondents, 5 (2%) had bachelor's degrees, 177 (70%) had master's degrees, 51 (20%) had specialist's degrees, and 12 (5%) had doctorates. The average age of the respondents was 47.4 years with a standard deviation of 8.6 years. They had as an average 22 years of experience with a standard deviation of 9.3 years. The respondents included 74 females (30%) and 172 males (70%). When asked, "What percentage of time is spent on regular education tasks and special education tasks? …