Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify strategies that a panel of experts believed to be most important for California K-12 school districts to implement by the year 2015 to attract and retain special education administrators. The study also sought to identify which strategies were most feasible or likely to be implemented in California school districts by the year 2015. Methodology. The study employed Delphi methodology, a structured iterative process to forecast future complex situations and examined the consensus of opinion from a panel of experts. The panel of experts was twenty-three special education administrators from across the state and from various educational organizations located in California who participated in four rounds of data collection. During Round I, participants identified strategies they believed important to attract and retain special education administrators in the year 2015. Round II asked panel members to verify that the compiled categorized list of fifty strategies reflected their opinion. During Round III, experts were asked to rate each response by importance and feasibility of implementation using a six-point Likert scale. Lastly, in Round IV, experts were provided a copy of their individual rating and the mean of the group and were given the opportunity to change their rating. Findings and conclusions. The quantitative and qualitative data from the four rounds indicated that to attract and retain special education administrators in the future, important considerations for future implementation fell within three major topic areas: (1) "Building and Supporting Administrator Capacity" through increasing skill and knowledge through intensive training, (2) "Work that Matters" or "Making a Difference" through the provision of administrative support, valuing experience and knowledge, and (3) "System Support" through redefining school district leadership practices and promoting collaborative efforts between general and special education. Panel members identified many other strategies as important to attract and retain special education administrators in the future, yet were doubtful that these strategies could be enacted.