| For the first time, federal legislation provides specific regulations that guide discipline requirements for students with disabilities. This legislation, the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), signifies the most comprehensive additions to IDEA since the law's initial passage. The regulations include many significant changes that are complicated, posing potential problems for understanding and compliance by school personnel.;This study was designed to examine the level of knowledge acquired of the disciplinary by Virginia's special education directors, elementary principals, and elementary teachers. The study also examined whether significant differences existed in their knowledge of the mandate and whether working location in the state made a difference in their knowledge. Finally, a comparison of their knowledge of the mandates and their aptitude to implement this knowledge was assessed.;All assumptions of the statistical tests used were met. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the overall level of knowledge of the mandates acquired by school personnel. An analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Games-Howell multiple comparison tests were used to compare means of the four groups to identify significant differences in knowledge level. A 30-item questionnaire was completed by 260 randomly selected school personnel from all eight regions of the Commonwealth of Virginia employed during the 2001--2002 school year. The study yielded an overall response rate of 53%.;The findings of this study indicated that the overall knowledge level of the disciplinary provisions of IDEA 1997 by Virginia's school personnel is average (M = 39.13, SD = 4.75). Significant differences exist between the special education directors and the general education teachers, the principals and the general education teachers, the special education teachers and the general education teachers, and the special education directors and the special education teachers.;The investigation failed to show there was a difference in the level of knowledge acquired by the educators and the region in which they were employed. In addition, the study found a low positive correlation between the overall level of knowledge of the mandates by the respondents and their overall aptitude to implement the regulations. |
