The report examines barriers to provision of free appropriate public education to handicapped children in West Virginia based on a needs assessment of eight regions. Eight regional meetings (which included representatives of school administration, teachers, parents, and institutions of higher education) used such techniques as "Likelihood-Impact Matrix Analysis" to analyze the perceived problems common to county school districts. Of the 68 problems identified, 58 were judged as having high importance (if resolved) in at least four of the state's eight regions. Eighteen priority problems (i.e., having a high likelihood of resolution and a high impact) were identified which clustered in four areas: parent involvement deficiencies, assessment and programming deficiencies, state department leadership deficiencies, and regional/county leadership deficiencies. Also judged as high impact (but low in likelihood for resolution) were deficiencies in seven areas: vision, attitude, partnership; facilities; programs; personnel (quality/quantity); definitions/guidelines; state department leadership; and community support. Details on problem areas identified in each of the high impact areas are presented, as is a summary by region. Appended are the matrix results for each region. (DB)