National Study of High School Programs for Handicapped Youth. National High School Project. Vol. 2: A Quantitative Description of Concepts and Practices for Students with Disabilities.

Overview & Synopsis

The National High School Project was initiated to provide policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels with the information needed to design and evaluate the quality of special education programs serving youth with mild to moderate disabilities. This project report describes the results of a series of five surveys which examined multiple perspectives on the desired attributes of high school special education programs and staffs. An introductory section reviews literature on projected societal trends, the general education initiative in secondary-level special education programs, postsecondary transitions, regular education reforms, and teacher training. The five surveys, which examined the values of directors of special education, superintendents of schools, and preservice teacher trainers, and their impacts on special education programs and teaching staff are then detailed in five separate sections. These surveys addressed: (1) identification of attributes of successful high school special education programs, activities of quality special education programs, special education teacher attributes, and preservice teacher training activities; (2) ranking of the 15 most important program and staff attributes by experts in the field of special education; (3) weighting of 10 program attributes and 10 teacher attributes; (4) determination of the utility of program activities' impact on special education program attributes; and (5) identification of preservice training activities that have the greatest utility for developing a defined set of desired teacher attributes. A final section of the report reviews issues and trends and describes goals for model high school special education programs and for teacher education. Appendixes contain the survey forms. (Contains 123 references.) (JDD)