The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the reported educational level and occupation of a child's parents affects school psychologists' judgments about the child. Specifically, given data which might support recommendations for either inclusion in or exclusion from programs for the learning disabled, the question is, would the parents' socioeconomic status significantly affect conclusions reached by school psychologists about placement in learning disability classes? A secondary purpose of the study was to determine the affects of implied socioeconomic status on psychologists' recommendations for integration in regular classes and prognosis for future school success, with and without provision of special help to the child.Three hundred subjects were selected from the 1979 Membership Directory of the National Association of School Psychologists. The Ss were selected randomly by assigning a number to each and drawing the numbers at random from a box. One hundred subjects were randomly assigned to each of three groups, two for experiemntal and one for control purposes. In February of 1980 all subjects were mailed psychological reports which included identifying and background information, referral reasons, and test results. Three versions of this report were used. These reports were identical in every respect except for information on parental education and occupation. The report provided to subjects in one experimental group indicated that the parents of the child in question had attained relatively high educational and occupational status. The report provided to subjects in the second experimental group indicated that the parents of the child in question had not finished high school and had public assistance as their main source of income. The subjects in the control group were given no information on parental education or occupation.The subjects in all three groups were asked to make judgments on four Likert-type affirmative statements. These pertained to the subjects' judgments regarding the appropriateness of placement in programs for the learning disabled, the likelihood of future academic success with and without the provision of special services, and the desirable percentage of integration in regular classes. The subjects were also asked to provide information on their own age, experience, education, certification status, and state where employed.172 of the 300 subjects (57.) returned usable response forms. Inspection of the demographic information revealed similar characteristics among the subjects in the three groups on mean age, mean years of experience, education certification status, and geographic location.Chi-Square and one-way analysis of variance were used to determine significant relationships and differences among the three groups' judgments or the Likert-type scales. Hypothesis I, which stated no significant relationship existed between the subjects' recommendations for placement in classes for the learning disabled and the parents' education and occupation, was not rejected.Hypothesis II, which stated that no significant relationship existed between the subjects' judgment regarding the likelihood of future academic success without the provision of special help and the parents' education and occupation, was not rejected. No significant relationship was found between the subjects' judgment regarding future academic success with the provision of special help and the parents' education and occupation. Thus, Hypothesis III was also not rejected.A one-way analysis of variance indicated no significant differences between the three groups on the mean percentage of integration in regular classes; thus, Hypothesis IV was not rejected.Within the limitations of the present study, several conclusions were made based on the statistical analyses of the data. In the present study parental education and occupation did not influence school psychologists' judgments regarding placement of a child in classes for the learning disabled, prognosis for future academic success with or without special help, and percentage of integration in regular classes.Recommendations were made for further research on the effects of bias caused by socioeconomic status and other variables. These included research utilizing similar designs in vivo studies, and matched group comparison of children already placed in classes for the learning disabled.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/180658 |
| Date | 03 June 2011 |
| Creators | Shahriari, Kurosh Rex |
| Contributors | Wenck, L. Stanley |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 3, vi, 92 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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