The purposes of this investigation were to identify and validate competencies for rural teachers of students with behavior disorders. Initial competencies were selected from previous research studies, university special education programs having a rural focus, and verbal feedback from rural teachers of behavior disorders enrolled in graduate courses at a university. A questionnaire composed of the competencies was distributed to 176 teachers who served students with behavior disorders in West Virginia and 6 faculty members who taught courses in behavior disorders. Content validity was determined by comparing judgments regarding the importance of the competencies to the requirements of teaching.
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