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IMAGES OF PUERTO RICAN PARENTS AND ANGLO-AMERICAN TEACHERS TOWARD FIVE BILINGUAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA

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Date Issued:
1982
Summary:
The purpose of the descriptive study conducted in Orange County, Florida, was to determine what image Puerto Rican parents held toward five bilingual elementary schools and to compare those images with the images held by Anglo-American elementary teachers in the same schools. An eighty-item questionnaire, the School Image Description Questionnaire, developed by Don Croft at New Mexico State University, was used as the survey instrument. The instrument was mailed to a random sample of the two groups and eighty-seven questionnaires, sixty percent, were completed and returned. It was hypothesized that no significant differences existed between Puerto Rican parents and Anglo-American teachers at the .05 level on career preparation; socialization, or citizenship school goal variables. It was also hypothesized that no significant differences existed at the .05 level between Puerto Rican parents and Anglo-American teachers on the attributes of achievement motivation, school spirit, student friendliness, attend trade school, operative philosophy, cooperative philosophy, teacher friendliness, and openness. Findings indicated significant statistical differences existed in the images held by the two groups in regard to the school goal of socialization and the school attribute of cooperative philosophy. Significant differences did not exist between the groups on other goals or attributes. The major conclusions were as follows: (1) considerable incongruence existed between school goals as perceived by the Puerto Rican parents and the Anglo-American teachers; (2) Puerto Rican parents felt no anxiety or hostility toward the schools; (3) teacher friendliness as perceived by the Anglo-American teachers decreased as Hispanic student enrollment increased; (4) the teachers held a more direct, operative view of classroom management, while the parents held an image of the teacher as an advisor. The major recommendations included: (1) staff development on cross-cultural differences and nonverbal behavior; (2) increased parental involvement; (3) analysis of reasons for low ratings on openness and teacher friendliness; (4) additional research on achievement motivation, possible sex role differences, perceptions of Anglo-American parents toward school goals, and the perceptions of Puerto Rican parents who withdraw their children from bilingual programs.
Title: IMAGES OF PUERTO RICAN PARENTS AND ANGLO-AMERICAN TEACHERS TOWARD FIVE BILINGUAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA.
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Name(s): BRYANT, RONALD MAXIE, author
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Urich, Ted R., Thesis advisor
Cowgill, Robert, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1982
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, FL
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 139 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The purpose of the descriptive study conducted in Orange County, Florida, was to determine what image Puerto Rican parents held toward five bilingual elementary schools and to compare those images with the images held by Anglo-American elementary teachers in the same schools. An eighty-item questionnaire, the School Image Description Questionnaire, developed by Don Croft at New Mexico State University, was used as the survey instrument. The instrument was mailed to a random sample of the two groups and eighty-seven questionnaires, sixty percent, were completed and returned. It was hypothesized that no significant differences existed between Puerto Rican parents and Anglo-American teachers at the .05 level on career preparation; socialization, or citizenship school goal variables. It was also hypothesized that no significant differences existed at the .05 level between Puerto Rican parents and Anglo-American teachers on the attributes of achievement motivation, school spirit, student friendliness, attend trade school, operative philosophy, cooperative philosophy, teacher friendliness, and openness. Findings indicated significant statistical differences existed in the images held by the two groups in regard to the school goal of socialization and the school attribute of cooperative philosophy. Significant differences did not exist between the groups on other goals or attributes. The major conclusions were as follows: (1) considerable incongruence existed between school goals as perceived by the Puerto Rican parents and the Anglo-American teachers; (2) Puerto Rican parents felt no anxiety or hostility toward the schools; (3) teacher friendliness as perceived by the Anglo-American teachers decreased as Hispanic student enrollment increased; (4) the teachers held a more direct, operative view of classroom management, while the parents held an image of the teacher as an advisor. The major recommendations included: (1) staff development on cross-cultural differences and nonverbal behavior; (2) increased parental involvement; (3) analysis of reasons for low ratings on openness and teacher friendliness; (4) additional research on achievement motivation, possible sex role differences, perceptions of Anglo-American parents toward school goals, and the perceptions of Puerto Rican parents who withdraw their children from bilingual programs.
Identifier: 11821 (digitool), FADT11821 (IID), fau:8745 (fedora)
Degree granted: Thesis (Educat.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1982.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): College of Education
Subject(s): Puerto Ricans--Education--Florida
Education--Florida--Orange County
Schools--Florida--Orange County
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11821
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.