The relationship of attitudes towards disabled persons and barriers to the livery of vocational education to persons with disabilities

The purpose of the study was to determine: (1) whether persons in two administrative levels in postsecondary vocational education in Florida (deans/directors and program chairmen) differ in their perceptions of barriers to the delivery of vocational education to persons with disabilities; and (2) whether their attitudes toward persons who are disabled and/or certain demographic factors correlate with the number of barriers within categories and the total number of barriers they affirm.; The population to be studied consisted of deans/directors and program chairmen of postsecondary vocational-technical centers and community colleges which have been designated as area vocational centers in Florida.; The data was collected by means of an attitude scale (Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons, Form B), and a listing of barriers within the four categories of legislation, support services, special education, and vocational education.; The analysis of data revealed no significant differences in either the number of barriers affirmed or the attitude scores between deans/directors and program chairpersons.; The Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPM) revealed a significant negative correlation between affirmative responses in the vocational education category of barrier and attitude scores of deans/directors. The PPM revealed a significant correlation between affirmative responses in the legislation and support services categories of barriers, total number of affirmative responses and attitude scores for program chairpersons.; Area of certification of deans/directors contributed to the negative correlation between vocational education barriers and attitude scores. Regression models including the business education and technology education areas of certification had F ratios which were significant. Area of certification of program chairpersons contributed to the correlation between legislation barriers and attitude scores. Regression models including the health occupations, public services, marketing education, and other program areas of certification had F ratios which were significant.; The demographic variables of age, gender, level of education, and size of community did not contribute to the correlation between categories of barriers and attitude scores.