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How is special needs status assigned? A study of the decision-making processes surrounding eligibility requirements for special needs placements within the Salem Public Schools
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe and document those criteria utilized by TEAM members to determine which students receive special education service within the Salem, Massachusetts Public Schools. The central question inherent in this study was "How is special needs status assigned, through the TEAM evaluation process, to children within the Salem Public Schools?" The focus of this study was to describe how members of a special education evaluation TEAM, in one suburban community, went about determining which students were deemed eligible to receive special education services. The process for determining who is eligible for special education services is a source of concern and discussion at all levels of public education. The incidence of special needs placements increases throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Salem Public Schools is no exception to this trend. The commonly held admission criteria to special needs programs include lack of student progress combined with a handicapping condition. Both criteria, however, are not defined and are subjective in nature. The design of the study was descriptive research in which the investigator was a participant observer in TEAM meetings scheduled during October and November of 1989. The focus was to record TEAM dynamics and student assessment data to identify and define criteria which impact on the decision making processes at seventeen TEAM meetings. Taped transcriptions were analyzed individually in keeping with content analysis as a prescribed research methodology using simple frequency counts and cross-tabulations. The results of this investigation showed, clearly, that students receive special education service more as a direct result of TEAM dialogue than any concrete entrance criteria or diagnostic findings. This dialogue confirmed five wide-spread assumptions. Pre-determination, Ititerant Services, Parents as Advocates, Somebody to Care, Special Education: A Remedial Program were found to be the predominant attitudes of TEAM participants in deciding who assigns special needs status.
Subject Area
Special education|Educational tests & measurements|Educational evaluation
Recommended Citation
O'Connor, James Driscoll, "How is special needs status assigned? A study of the decision-making processes surrounding eligibility requirements for special needs placements within the Salem Public Schools" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9100546.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9100546