This study examined the expectations held by key administrative personnel within West Virginia public schools regarding the role of the special education administrator. Existing differences in perception of the administrative functions of the special education administrator in West Virginia among and within groups of superintendents, principals, and special education administrators were investigated. Forty administrative tasks organized into seven administrative activities were examined in order to identify potential areas of conflict between the school system administrators. The responses analyzed pertained to both the perceived performance and the perceived importance of each administrative task. The West Virginia school personnel that participated in this study included: (1) all 55 county superintendents of schools, (2) all 55 persons identified as special education administrators and (3) a random sample of 150 West Virginia public school principals. The survey instrument used was the revised Newman instrument. For the current study, the Newman instrument was revised to reflect changes in special education that have occurred since the instrument was used 12 years ago in the Sullivan (1986) study. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to answer research questions one through fourteen and an alpha level of 0.05 was set as the criteria for determining significance. Analysis of the data indicated: 1. There were significant differences among the three groups of administrators on nine of the fourteen research questions. 2. There were significant differences among the three groups of administrators regarding the perceived performance of 28 of the 40 tasks and the perceived degree of importance of 14 of the 40 tasks contained within the seven administrative functions 3. The significant pairing included the superintendents and the principal and the special education administrator and principal. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Completion of a doctoral program is not an individual effort. In my case I want to thank my good friends and comrades in the doctoral program, Chuck Bethel and Rudy Pauley. Rudy, thanks for the push every time I seemed to need it during the dissertation process. I want to thank my committee members Dr. Phyllis Durden, Dr. Barbara Kean and Dr. Ron Childress for their great support. Special thanks are owed to Dr. Mike Sullivan for entrusting me with the replication of his dissertation and Dr. Powell Toth for his guidance and support throughout my time in the doctoral program. Thanks are also due to Dr. Mike Cunningham for his great generosity with his expertise and his time. I want to thank my family for their support and patience. My parents, Doris Leary and Dr. Paul A. Leary, have been helpful to me in ways too numerous to list. They instilled in me the desire to have goals and the discipline to work to achieve them. Without that, I would not have been able to complete this program. My daughters, Emily and Grace, have been a source of encouragement and support. My group of extended family and friends has e...