TABLE 2.-Competencies in Which Self-ratings of Proficiency Were Lower Than Ratings of Importance (from table 1) 1

1 See appendix C for statistical procedure used to determine significant differences.

92

22

1353

93

35

95

99

maladjustment and mental retardation [12], to provide a wide range of community experiences in community living for retarded children [20] and to analyze factors which have to do with language development and provide appropriate learning experience [24].

In general, teachers felt significantly less proficient in 18 of the most difficult and intricate of all the skills listed in the inquiry form. The extent to which teacher proficiency along these lines can or should be increased is yet to be determined. These findings have serious implications for teachers themselves, for agencies concerned with the setting of professional standards, and for colleges and universities conducting programs for teachers of the mentally retarded.

Proficiency Rated Higher Than Importance

There were 14 competencies in which the teachers rated their proficiency at a significantly higher level than their ratings of importance. These are listed in table 3. One of these was in the "very important" category, 12 in the "important," and 1 in the "less important" grouping.

This group of competencies is difficult to interpret. For example, many of the teachers had transferred from regular teaching, and some of the items may have been ones for which they had less need when teaching mentally retarded children. There is a hint, too, that they felt that theory might have been over stressed in their teacher preparation experiences. Examples are: Evidence regarding inheritance of mental deficiency (87) and arguments for and against segregation (88). There is also a suggestion that they felt they possessed more proficiency in testing than the classroom job demanded.

TABLE 3.-Competencies in Which Ratings of Proficiency Were Higher Than Ratings of Importance (from table 1)

Rank order of importance

33

Rank order of proficiency

ITEM

COMPETENCIES RATED "VERY IMPORTANT” (1)

The ability to win the trust and approval of so-called
normal children as well as mentally retarded pupils

COMPETENCIES RATED "IMPORTANT" (12)

1

61

34

70

72

A knowledge or understanding of evidence for and against
effects of environment and training on the growth
and development of mentally retarded children

The ability

36

to interpret special educational programs for the men-
tally retarded and the problems and potentialities
of these children, to related professional personnel,
such as doctors and social workers

48

to interpret special educational programs for the men-
tally retarded, and the problems and potentialities
of these children to non-professional school workers
such as bus attendants, school custodians, etc.
to administer to mentally retarded individual diag-
nostic tests of arithmetic and reading disability
A knowledge or understanding-

of the evidence for inheritance of mental deficiency
of the arguments and studies for and against segre-
gation of mentally retarded pupils in special classes

The ability

to administer group achie.ement tests

to take responsibility for, or to assist with, one or
more extra-curricular activities for mentally re-
tarded, such as Scouts, hobby clubs

A knowledge or understanding of the history of educa-
tion of the mentally retarded

COMPETENCIES RATED "LESS IMPORTANT" (1)

The ability to administer group intelligence tests

DIRECTORS' AND SUPERVISORS'

APPRAISAL OF RECENTLY PREPARED TEACHERS

Both State and local directors and supervisors of special education also gave opinions on the proficiency of teachers of the mentally retarded. They expressed their satisfaction with the preparation of all recently prepared teachers in 14 aspects of the teaching program by giving "yes," "no," or "undecided" answers to a list of questions in the inquiry form. The answers in percentage form appear in table 4 below. In all but two questions (numbers 12 and 13) a "yes" answer expresses a better rating of the teachers; the discussion, therefore, will be centered on degrees of satisfaction rather than percentages replying "yes," "no," or "undecided."

To a great extent, State and local personnel agreed in their evaluations of the proficiency of these teachers; table 4 shows a marked parallelism. On only one question, however, was there a difference in the percentages of satisfaction which were statistically significant with a 1 percent probability of occurrence or less (see appendix C, page 78). The State personnel were significantly better satisfied than local personnel that the teachers had sufficient experience in classroom teaching of normal children (q. 1).2

2 Q. i refers to Question 1 in table 4 and graph 1.

TABLE 4.-Evaluation of the Professional Preparation of Recently Prepared Teachers of the Mentally Retarded