Special Education Department Organizational Change: A Case Study

<p>Special Education compliance is an area governed by mandates and assurance reviews by government agencies, both state and federal. This study presents the current state of the District Z’s Exceptional Learner Department prior to an organizational leadership change which demonstrated the need for improvement in the current system of functioning. The study continued to monitor and explore the changes the district made in personnel, protocols, procedures and how accountability was maintained in order to achieve improvement in a timely manner. Research is presented in the area of leadership and special education that exemplifies the need to enact change through prescriptive steps in order to facilitate school improvement. The study found that implemented systems, protocols and procedures uniformly paired with administrative accountability were successful in improving three areas of compliance. The study addressed the ability to conduct initial eligibility meetings within the 60-day required timeline, the presence of appropriate documentation of functional behavior assessments and behavior intervention plans in current student files and the perceptions of the faculty during the structural change in the organization. Interventions were developed and implemented to address these main areas of compliance. The key findings in this study were the success of the interventions, and impact of the organization change and the impact of distributive and transformative leadership.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Year dc:date.available

2016

Author dc:creator

• Cloidt, Christina Castellane

Contributors dc:contributor

• Steven Moskowitz
• Suzan Nelson
• Timothy Wade

• Educational Administration and Supervision
• Educational Leadership
• Special Education and Teaching
• Teacher Education and Professional Development

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dune.une.edu/theses/79

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dune.une.edu:theses-1078