The purpose of the study was to determine what changes have occurred in the attitudes and judgments of Indiana public school superintendents regarding early childhood programs and the public school system. This study replicated a 1976 study conducted by Link. The population for the study included all Indiana public school superintendents. The sample was comprised of 1990-91 superintendents who were willing to complete and return the questionnaire.Instrument Used for Collection of DataThe instrument consisted of forty-five (45) items. A Likert type scale was used to record respondents' attitudes and judgment concerning selected issues. One open-ended question allowed for generalized comments.A Chi-Square procedure was used to test the five stated hypotheses. An overall significance level of .05 was used. Individual items were tested at an appropriate level of confidence to ensure the overall .05 level was not exceeded for a decision in regard to the hypothesis. At least one item exceeded the alpha level established for each subgroup of items pertaining to the null hypotheses. All five null hypotheses were therefore rejected at the .05 level of confidence.General Findings1. Indiana public school superintendents in 1990 have altered their judgments and/or attitudes concerning early childhood programs and the public schools when their response to the issues measured by the instrument and the response provided in the Link (1976) study are compared.2. Compared to the respondents of Link (1976), a larger number of Indiana public school superintendents in 1990 are willing to state a position, either favoring agreement or favoring disagreement concerning issues pertinent to early childhood programs and the public schools.3. Compared to the respondents of Link (1976), a larger number of Indiana public school superintendents in 1990 expressed an affirmative response or an attitude favoring agreement with selected statements concerning issues pertinent to early childhood programs and the public schools. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to identify parent perceptions of a developmentally appropriate curriculum (goals, teaching strategies, learning activities, and assessment methods) in selected early childhood centers. The relationship between income level and educational background and parent perceptions of a developmentally appropriate curriculum was also studied. Additionally, the relationship between parent perceptions of a developmentally appropriate curriculum and the selection of early childhood centers was examined.The Parent Perception Questionnaire, developed by the researcher, was mailed to 16 licensed early childhood centers in central Indiana. Respondents included 215 parents of 4- and 5-year-old children. Income level for the total group of parents ranged from less than $16,000 to more than $48,000. The largest group of parents (26.5%) reported an educational background of 1 to 3 years of college followed by parents (26.0%) with an educational level of a high school diploma.Through the use of a Likert scale, parents rated items on goals, teaching strategies, learning activities, and assessment methods as very important, important, somewhat important, or not important. A section for additional comments was also provided for parents. Each participating center was observed one time by the researcher. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale was used to assess the developmental appropriateness of the participating centers' environment. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance at the .05 level of significance was used to test hypotheses I, II, and III. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was applied to test hypothesis IV.Results1. An interaction effect of income level and educational background on parent perceptions of a developmentally appropriate curriculum (goals, teaching strategies, learning activities, and assessment methods) was found to be not significant. Hypothesis I was not rejected.2. The effect of income level on parent perceptions of a developmentally appropriate curriculum (goals, teaching strategies, learning activities, and assessment methods) was found to be not significant. Hypothesis II was not rejected.3. The effect of educational background on parent perceptions of a developmentally appropriate curriculum (goals, teaching strategies, learning activities, and assessment methods) was found to be significant. Hypothesis III was rejected.4. The relationship of parent perceptions of a developmentally appropriate curriculum to the curriculum of selected early childhood centers was correlated (r = .25). / Department of Elementary Education