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This investigation sought the perceptions of a selected group of border-educated Mexican American community leaders regarding their curriculum preferences for Mexican American students of the community. The investigation was structured on the basis of a three-part theoretical framework drawn from the literature of psychology and education. The theory included the following: (1) Perceptual Psychology, (2) Philosophies of Education, and (3) Curriculum Considerations. An interview schedule organized on the basis of the theoretical framework was developed based on the Experimentalist, Conservative and Reconstructionist philosophies of education. These twenty Mexican American community leaders were interviewed in depth by the present investigator regarding their curriculum preferences for Mexican American students in their community. Among the findings, the following curriculum preferences indicated by the Mexican American community leaders appeared particularly significant: (1) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to have instruction in their native language throughout their educational careers; (2) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to experience a wide variety of positive personal relationships in the classroom and the school to strengthen their self-regard and confidence throughout their educational careers; (3) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to learn in a classroom environment where harmony between the intellectual and the emotional is continuously sought throughout their educational careers; (4) Mexican American students should have the opportunity to use their personal interests as points of departure for their learning throughout their educational careers; (5) Mexican American students, in order to be active and effective participants in society, should have the opportunity to acquire the leadership-cooperation skills of planning, thinking and deciding throughout their educational careers.

The purpose of this descriptive study in Nogales, Arizona, was to replicate an investigation conducted by Avelina Trujillo (1982) in Tucson, Arizona. This investigation sought the perceptions of selected groups of Mexican-American leaders in Nogales concerning their recollected classroom relationships with their teachers. The investigation was based on a three-part theoretical framework drawn from the literature of psychology, anthropology, and education as established by Trujillo (1982). The theory included the following: (1) Perceptual Processes; (2) Cultural Processes; and (3) Interpersonal Processes. The interview schedule utilized in the Nogales study consisted of 29 statements and associated Likert type scales. Provision was made for comments for each statement. Twenty Mexican-American community leaders in Nogales, Arizona, were identified and interviewed, utilizing the interview schedule. This schedule dealt with the perceived relationships which the participants had with their various teachers. Findings indicate: (1) The participants agreed that their teachers were aware of them and their backgrounds. (2) The participants agreed that their teachers accepted them and their backgrounds. (3) The participants did not feel that their teachers neither encouraged bilingualism nor accepted the participants' native language. (4) The participants noted that their teachers appeared to be sincerely concerned about the academic health and welfare needs of the students. (5) The participants reported that their teachers aspired for them to acquire good educations. (6) The participants reported that their teachers shared with them in their educational and personal problems. The findings from this investigation were compared and contrasted with the findings of the Trujillo (1982) study. The comparison of the data in the two studies was accomplished by computing the differentials (chi square) in perception of each of the 29 items of the interview schedule. Items that were considered to be most significantly different in the two studies were discussed.

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The purpose of the study was to develop a model for use by planners of migrant education. Attitudes and behaviors of planners and teachers relative to the academic expectations set for migrant students were assessed. The levels of task difficulty, information sources, and feedback mechanisms encouraged by planners and the evaluation standards applied by teachers were investigated. Descriptive analyses were made and reported for data collected from twenty-five teachers and fifty state and local planners attending the Eleventh Annual National Migrant Education Conference.While academic achievement was generally judged to be a priority, half the teachers and over one-third of the planners expressed lower expectations for migrant students than for the general student population. These findings were interpreted as substantiating a need for a model for setting higher academic expectations. Teachers and planners also favored assigning easier tasks for migrant students, a practive revealed in the review of literature as producing unhappiness and shame in the student.Diffuse use of warmth and friendlines was reported by-teachers of migrant students. An exception showed that teachers tended to use warmth and friendliness discriminately for purposes of classroom control. In findings of related research a relationship was established between diffuse warmth and friendliness and low academic achievement.Sources, highly susceptible to the effect of existing expectations and stereotypes were favored. Teachers used multiple sources of information, but relied most on ethnic background and communication from other teachers. Information about student past performance was used more than information comparing migrant students to national or local norms.The following were conclusions of the study:1. Migrant teachers and planners hold lower expectations for migrant students than for the general population, an attitude found to relate to low academic achievement.2. Teachers exhibit warmth and friendliness toward migrant students without regard to the quality of performance. Such use of diffuse warmth and friendliness has been found to be directly related to low academic achievement.3. Teachers and planners rely on past performance, ethnic background, and other teachers for information. All three sources promote a continuation of low expectations.4. By giving the highest grade or mark available to migrant students regardless of the quality or difficulty of work, teachers lead migrant students to believe their work is outstanding.5. Migrant students, assigned easy tasks, are thereby subjected to conditions which produce unhappiness as well as limited academic achievement.6. Migrant students, seldom provided evaluation information based on comparison with others, must rely on non-challenging past experiences in establishing future expectation for self.An interactive model involving teachers indirectly in raising Mexican-American student expectations was designed based on the findings of the study and related research. Components of the model included the existing national math and reading skill lists, a national norm-referenced achievement test or tests, systematic student career goal-setting by parents, systematic academic expectation objective-setting by students, and process evaluation of teacher use of feedback with students.Processes were identified for interstate, intrastate, and intra-project interactions. At each level peer commitments among implementers combined with implementation experiences would result in the use of increasing numbers of information sources. Ultimately teachers, parents, and students supported by local, state and federal planners would set challenging academic expectations for migrant students.

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