To clarify the role expectations held for the cooperative special education director in North Dakota, questionnaires were sent to 30 public school superintendents, 22 special education directors, and 30 special education teachers. Results of the questionnaire showed that the rankings of the seven task performance areas identified in the survey were (in descending order of importance): personnel, curriculum and instruction, finance, superintendent relationships, public relations, legislative responsibility, and research and continued study. The rankings for personal characteristics of the director (in descending order of importance) were: task-related characteristics, personality, intellectual ability, social characteristics, social background, and physical characteristics. The third part of the survey concerned 20 selected administrative situations. Among findings for this section was that all groups agreed that the cooperative directors always should accept responsibility for developing long range plans for the special education program. The authors' conclude with 10 recommendations such as the need for additional research and evaluation. The questionnaire and references are appended. (PHR)