The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between selected variables (age, sex, years of preparation and experience, size of school district, existence of an Affirmative Action plan, type of position) and the expressed opinions of superintendents and boards of education presidents in Indiana concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts.An Opinionnaire developed by the author at Ball State University was used to measure the opinions of superintendents and boards of education presidents concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts. A background data questionnaire was used to elicit data pertaining to the identification of selected variables such as age, sex, years of preparation and experience, existence of an Affirmative Action plan, and type of position.The One-way Analysis of Variance and associated F-test was utilized to statistically analyze twelve null hypotheses formulated to test the relationship between expressed opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts and the variables identified with the background data questionnaire.Three of the twelve F-tests were significant at the .05 level. Nine of the twelve F-tests were not significant at the .05 level.Findings of the study indicated that superintendents expressed significantly different opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations when grouped according to size of school district as measured by average daily membership and having or not having an Affirmative Action plan. Superintendents expressed significantly different opinions when compared to school board presidents.The following conclusions were drawn from the data collected:1. Superintendents in large school districts ranging in size from 38,840 to 11,640, as measured by average daily membership, expressed more positive opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations that did superintendents in smaller school districts.2. The Eta Square value of .72 suggested that 72 percent of the variation in the dependent variable, expressed opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts, could be explained by knowing what category--large, medium, or small--the superintendent's school district was in. 3. The Scheefe Posteriori test suggested that although statistically significant difference was found when the three groups of superintendents representing school districts in categories--large, medium, and small--were compared, none of the possible two-way comparisons were statistically significant. Moreover, each group mean score exceeded the average mean score of 54.0000, which suggested each group of superintendents expressed positive opinions. 4. Superintendents in school districts having a boardapproved Affirmative Action plan expressed more positive opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations than did superintendents in school districts not having a boardapproved Affirmative Action plan. 5. The Eta Square value of .03 suggested that only 3 percent of the variation in the dependent variable, expressed opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts, could be explained by knowing whether or not a superintendent worked in a school district that had a board-approved Affirmative Action plan. The Eta Square value further suggested that although superintendents in school districts having a board-approved Affirmative Action plan expressed more positive opinions, the existence of the plan itself was not the reason.6. Superintendents expressed more positive opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations than did school board presidents. 7. The Eta Square value of .04 suggested that only 3 percent of the variation in the dependent variable, expressed opinions concerning the effect of Affirmative Action laws and regulations on public school districts, could be explained by knowing if the respondent was a superintendent or a school board president. The Eta Square value further suggested that although superintendents expressed more positive opinions than did school board presidents, the type of position itself was not the reason.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/178091 |
| Date | January 1978 |
| Creators | Mason, J. W. |
| Contributors | Wagner, Ivan D. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | viii, 123 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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