This is to certify that the thesis entitled A Comparison of Selected Self-Concepts and Other Characteristics of Secondary Students Enrolled in Utah Non—Vocational Classes presented by William D. Woolf has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. degree in Business and Distributive Education I/ 21% (/ \"‘\\U/Lt..,u .9 Major professor Date A_ugust 11, 1972 0-7639 muxuuxgwuminim ‘ Nhk/ dom‘r’ ‘HflQx/l w 603+ 49D; Awe): . Tfltkuoe, ; Aaoor Mk) QBNEJU—H’lmfi. The. W? ‘970 A COMPARISON OF SELECTED SELF-CONCEPTS AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF SECONDARY STUDENTS ENROLLED IN UTAH SENIOR VOCATIONAL AND NON-VOCATIONAL CLASSES By -49; William D? Woolf AN ABSTRACT Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Business and Distributive Education) College of Education 1972 ABSTRACT A COMPARISON OF SELECTED SELF-CONCEPTS AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF SECONDARY STUDENTS ENROLLED IN UTAH SENIOR VOCATIONAL AND NON-VOCATIONAL CLASSES By William D. Woolf Purpose of the Study. This study was undertaken to determine selected characteristics of students enrolled in Utah senior vocational classes and to identify ways in which vocational students were either the same or different from their non-vocational peers. The variables of particular importance were: sex, place of residence, intelligence, academic abhievement, socio- economic status, self-concept of academic ability, self-concept of vocational ability, and perceived parents', friends', and teachers' evaluations of academic ability. The influence of the variables intelli- gence, sex, place of residence, academic achievement, and socio-economic status upon the self-concept variables was of specific interest. Procedures The population samples were Utah high school seniors. Four sampling techniques were employed: (1) cluster sampling of total schools and total classes, (2) stratified sampling of vocational Specialties and l II I it. . p.. 4 r. . v . . . .5 A. .. u at a .d {L y . . a C a .b .4. o H. o. e. .u h.” Ann .9. an r C t V). r . 1 .d a.” p3 .. s 1‘. AL a; .U a,» 1 .u a .l a ‘l; .C r , . l. .3 ul. .. a u. an. C ... 2.. t -_. A 5. ‘IA Hi. “5.. ad 6 a... J. M2. .3 C a. . . . e. v. v. J. .t 0 T! V. S u .3 .u c . 4‘ .3.“ a“ ... . v. a“ a.“ as ”I a.» 5* an r «m A. . u a . QL- ac . a r. . \‘y VIA an I“ .u. .p. I: .v‘ A s . s .7. .r5 .9 ~ si- 0 .\u n I .iv ‘5 .F. .K. n» 1 William D. Woolf and place of residence, (3) random sampling of specific schools, and (4) non-random sampling of the rural school. Selected were seven high schools. Of the 674 students tested, 121 were enrolled in distributive education, 159 in office education (shorthand-transcription), 95 in agriculture education, 121 in home economics, 86 in trade and industry (automotives), and 92 in English or social studies classes. Four instruments were administered: (1) The Michigan State General Self-Concept of Academic Ability Scale, (2) The Wamhoff Self-Concept of Vocational Ability Scale, (3) The Science Research Associates' Army General Classification Test (First Civilian Edition), and (4) A Self- Report Questionnaire. The Duncan Socio-Economic Index was used to determine students' socio-economic levels. A randomized block statistical design was used for the test of significance. An analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and correlation coefficients were the statistical treatments employed. Findings only the major findings of the project are presented herein: 1. When vocational and non-vocational students were compared, only two variables were significantly different, academic achievement and self-concept of vocational ability. The non-vocational students scored significantly higher than the vocational students on the variable of academic achievement. The vocational students scored significantly higher on the variable self-concept of vocational ability. 2. In the comparison of each vocational specialty class with the . a .0 qh' Aa.‘-' .. p .n- Evob - TE A.» L. a U'I‘F «\- 9L ‘ Fk an: C6 Bra Cant' William D. Woolf non-vocational control class, a substantial degree of difference was found. The distributive student was significantly lower on intelligence and academic achievement scores, but significantly higher on self-concept of vocational ability scores. The office education student scored significantly higher on intelligence and academic achievement variables. The agriculture student scored significantly lower on intelligence, academic achievement, socio- economic status, and self-concept of academic ability; but signifi- cantly higher on self-concept of vocational ability scores. The home economics student did not depart significantly from the non- vocational student on any variable. Trade and industry students scored significantly higher than the control group on the intelli- gence variable, but significantly lower on the academic achievement variable. When the above vocational student characteristic profiles were tested for consistency across schools, the distributive, agriculture, and trade and industry classes were consistent, without exception, from school to school. The office education and home economics classes were not consistent in student characteristics comparing schools. A11 independent variables (sex, intelligence, socio-economic status, grade point average) except place of residence, influenced signifi- cantly self-concept scores. The variables self-concept of academic ability and self-concept of vocational ability behaved differently for most statistical tests undertaken in the study. D h ‘ ‘fll' 0 -.t3. . u“ William D. Woolf Conclusions The major conclusions of the study are: The two groups, vocational and non-vocational, were more similar than they were different, but the characteristics registering a significant difference were important for educational purposes. Vocational classes enrolled less academically capable students than the non-vocational classes, but these same students possessed an enhanced perception of their abilities to perform in an occupation. There was some justification in giving credit for this enhanced perception to the vocational classes even though this study could not fully substantiate the claim. The vocational specialties were not homogeneous on the variables tested. Agriculture, distribution, and trade and industry (auto- motives) classes could be branded "dumping ground" classes. The programs enrolling females, on the other hand, were concluded to be catering to the educationally superior students when compared to non-vocational students. The variables of sex, intelligence, grade point average, and socio- economic status did influence the results of the study. The place of residence variable did not. The variable self-concept of academic ability on self-concept of vocational ability did measure different dimensions of self-concept. Recommendations The major recommendations advanced related to ideas for further research but also included the following points. It is recommended that: Nina}... . .‘..—..‘k .u. . frag. 6.9“}. II II I... |_ . , , . . ._.. . . .\ . .n In rt 4.1 v. .c :4 .4. .w. .3 .4. .3 .HL 6 .. on u. e an v. .... .C r. a.” run . u pt .. .. l. 3‘ .. _IA v. .4 s. 1‘. a - a.“ William D. Woolf Utah school administrators and teachers examine the practice of enrollment procedures in vocational education currently used by the schools in the state. Teaching practices in the agriculture, distributive, and trade and industry (automotives) classes should reflect the fact that they are teaching students significantly lower in academic performance than their non-vocational peers. Teacher preparation programs for the agriculture, distributive, and trade and industry (automotives) teachers should implement material and practices to better prepare teachers to teach students exhibiting the stated characteriStiCS.. [‘5‘ A J». (‘1 A COMPARISON OF SELECTED SELF-CONCEPTS AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF SECONDARY STUDENTS ENROLLED IN UTAH SENIOR VOCATIONAL AND NON-VOCATIONAL CLASSES By William D. Woolf A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Business and Distributive Education) College of Education 1972 {n‘ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The writer would like to express his sincere thanks to the following people for their guidance and direction and their constant encouragement in making the completion of this study possible: Peter G. Haines, Committee Chairman, for his assistance and advice throughout the entire doctoral program, and especially for the direction of this study. Donald Meaders and Beatrice Paolucci, members of the guidance committee, for their assistance and encouragement during the writing of this study, and to Kenneth Harding for his partici- pation in the final stages of the degree. The author wishes to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of all who made this study possible. His sincere thanks go the seven school superintendents, principals, and 32 teachers who cooperated with the researcher in the conducting of the study. A special thanks to Maureen, Margaret, and Janice. ii ”—R {'31. - II TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv LIST OF APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv I THE PROBLEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 STATEMENTOFPROBLEM.............. 7 OBJECTIVESOFTHESTUDY............. 8 SIGNIFIANCEOFTHESTUDY............ 9 TERMS USED IN THIS RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . 13 BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY . . . . . . . . . 16 LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITATIONS . . . . . . . . . . 17 II A REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 SELF-CONCEPT THEORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 SELF-CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL ABILITY . . . . . . . 22 SELF-CONCEPT OF SUB-GROUPS WITHIN THE GENERALPOPULATION.............. 23 THE STUDY OF VOCATIONAL STUDENTS AS A SUB- GROUP WITHIN THE GENERAL STUDENT POPULATION . . 25 MODIFICATION OF SELF-CONCEPT .... ..... ......... 31 SELF-CONCEPT INSTRUMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 STUDYVARIABLES.................45 S MARY OF CH APTE R O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O 4 9 ”:LU‘TR 5...- . :- 'YY ' Lot ‘ CHAPTER III IV V RE SEARCH PROCEDURE S O O O O O O O O O O O O O O DEFINING THE RESEARCH SETTING AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE STUDY POPULATION . . . . . . . . . . CHOICE OF SAMPLING TECHNIQUES . . . . . . . . CLASSIFICATION OF THE VARIABLES . . . . . . . SELECTION OF THE TESTING INSTRUMENTS . . . . DATA GATHERING, PROCESSING, AND ANALYSIS . . FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VOCATIONAL AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS COMPARED . . . . . . . . . VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREA CHARACTERISTICS COMPARED . . . . . . . . . STUDENTS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTIES COMPARED TO NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS ON SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS. . . . . . . . . . HOMOGENEITY OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS WITHIN EACH VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY . . . . . . . . . INFLUENCE OF VOCATIONAL CLASSES ON STUDENTS' SELF -CONCEPTS o o o o o o o o o o o o o I 0 EFFECTS OF SEX, PLACE OF RESIDENCE, INTELLIGENCE, GRADE POINT AVERAGE, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC LEVEL ON SELF-CONCEPT SCORES . . . . . . . . . . SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CONCLUSIONS 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 PAGE 52 52 58 63 65 72 77 77 93 105 122 131 136 143 143 154 CHAPTER PAGE RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 IMPLICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 APPENDICES O O O I O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O O O O 176 III I if) LU An. ’1) U) LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Summary of Utah's Major Industries by Percent Of of Persons Employed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 2. Summary of Numbers of Students Enrolled in Vocational Classes by Vocational Specialty . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 3. Summary Of Sample Schools Classified by Geographic Location and Size of Student Body . . . . . . . . . . . 60 4. Number of Students Sampled by Educational Class . . . . . 61 5. Summary Of Student Absences in the Sample Schools During Testing Period by Educational Class . . . . . . 72 6. Summary of Reasons Student Questionnaires Were Not Used in Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 7. Mean and Standard Deviation Scores For Eight Variables Comparing Vocational With Non-Vocational Utah High School Seniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 8. An Analysis Of Variance of Intelligence Mean Scores for Utah High School Senior Vocational and Non- Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 9. An Analysis of Variance of Academic Achievement MEan Scores for Utah High School Senior Vocational and Non- Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 vi 11. A: | - . I I” . ‘ n L-. 1“ . .. ‘ A .. V 3- (I) HI k, I'll TABLE PAGE 10. An Analysis of Variance Of Socio-Economic Status Mean Scores for Utah High School Senior Vocational and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 11. An Analysis of Variance of Self-Concept of Academic Ability Mean Scores for Utah High School Senior Vocational and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . ... 85 12. An Analysis of Covariance of Self-Concept Of Academic Ability Mean Scores When Controlling Intelligence, Academic Achievement, and Socio-Economic Status for Utah High School Senior Vocational and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 13. An Analysis of Variance of Self-Concept of Vocational Ability Mean Scores for Utah High School Senior Vocational and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . 88 14. An Analysis of Covariance of Self-Concept of Vocational Ability khan Scores When Controlling Intelligence, Academic Achievement, and Socio-Economic Status for Utah High School Senior Vocational and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9O 15. An Analysis of Variance Of Perceived Parents', Perceived Friends', and Perceived Teachers' Concepts Of Academic Ability Mean Scores When Comparing Vocational and Non-Vocational Utah High School Seniors . . . . . . . . 91 16. Summary of Means and Standard Deviations of Intelligence Scores Comparing Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . 94 vii §‘. ! .1 | i". W. e n1. «)4 TABLE PAGE 17. An Analysis of Variance of Intelligence Mean Scores for Utah High School Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 18. Summary of Means and Standard Deviations of Grade Point Averages When Comparing Vocational Specialty Areas . . 95 19. An Analysis of Variance Of Grade Point Average Mean Scores for Utah High School Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 20. Summary of Means and Standard Deviations of Socio- Economic Scores When Comparing Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 97 21. An Analysis of Variance Of Socio-Economic Status Mean Scores for Utah High School Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 22. Summary of Means and Standard Deviations of Self- Concept of Academic Ability Scores Comparing Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 23. An Analysis of Variance of Self-Concept Of Academic Ability Mean Scores for Utah Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 24. An Analysiscfi'Covariance of Self-Concept of Academic Ability Mean Scores for Utah Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas Where Intelligence, Academic Achievement, and Socio-Economic Status Variables are Controlled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 viii TABLE PAGE 25. Summary of Means and Standard Deviations Of Self- Concept of Vocational Ability Scores Comparing Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 26. An Analysis Of Variance of Self-Concept of Vocational Ability Mean Scores for Utah Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 27. An Analysis of Covariance of Self-Concept of Vocational Ability Mean Scores for Utah Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas Where Intelligence, Academic Achievement, and Socio-Economics Status Variables are Controlled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 28. Summary Of Means of Students' Perceived Self-Concept Scores When Comparing VOcational Specialty Areas . . . 102 29. An Analysis of Variance Of Perceived Parents', Perceived Friends', and Perceived Teachers' Concepts of Academic Ability Mean Scores for Utah High School Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 30. An Analysis of Covariance of Perceived Parents', Perceived Friends', and Perceived Teachers' Concepts Of Academic Ability Mean Scores for Utah High School Seniors Enrolled in Vocational Specialty Areas When Intelligence, Academic Achievement, and Socio- Economic Status Variables are Controlled . . . . . . . 104 ix J I ‘A O . . a. I ha .‘I v: A . A at o Q o n .1. . .. ... . .. 1“ ... t... .i. Hue ,hJ a... \zIJ .23 TABLE PAGE 38. An Analysis Of Variance Of Selected Variable Mean Scores for Utah High School Senior Agriculture and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . 113 39. An Analysis of Covariance of Selected Self-Concept Mean Scores When Controlling Intelligence, Academic Achievement, and Socio-Economic Status for Senior Utah High School Agriculture and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 40. Mean and Standard Deviation Scores for Eight Variables Comparing Hone Economics Enrollees With Non-Vocational Utah High School Seniors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 41. An Analysis of Variance of Selected Variable Mean Scores for Utah High School Senior Home Economics and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 42. An Analysis of Covariance of Selected Self-Concept Mean Scores When Controlling Intelligence, Academic Achievement, and Socio-Economic Status for Utah High School Senior Home Economics and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 43. Means and Standard Deviation Scores for Eight Variables Comparing Senior Trade and Industry Enrollees With Non-Vocational Utah High School Seniors . . . . . . . . 118 44. An Analysis Of Variance of Selected Variable Mean Scores for Utah High School Senior Trade and Industry Seniors and Non-Vocational Students . . . . . . . . . . 119 xi 1 I _ A .n.. ”O p . A r. . ... _ ... T. H. I.” F.\~ i A” I.“ Ab In” In!“ I.“ . ...— o . a o n t n s o n a u _ o~ a ..F u q pl v Q. ..de n. s Al/S 541d . I‘. 1.. o a . w .6 .\J .\J .J .‘a p\.. TABLE PAGE 45. An Analysis of Covariance of Selected Self-Concept Mean Scores When Controlling Intelligence, Academic Achieve- ment, and Socio-Economic Status for Utah High School Senior Trade and Industry and Non-Vocational Students 120 46. Summary of Dimensions and Directions Each Vocational Specialty Area Departs Significantly When Compared to the Control Group ,. . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . 121 47. An Analysis of Variance Of Distributive Education Utah High School Senior Variable Scores Across Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 48. An Analysis of Variance of Office Education Utah High School Senior Variable Scores Across Schools . . . 124 49. Summary of Office Education Student Variable Mean Scores Across Seven Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 50. A Rank-Order Of Schools on Office Education Scores of Significant Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 51. An Analysis Of Variance of Agriculture Education Utah High School Senior Variable Scores Across Schools . . . 127 52. An Analysiscf Variance Of Home Economics Utah High School Senior Variable Scores Across Schools . . . . . 128 53. Summary of Home Economics Students Variable Mean Scores Across Seven Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 54. A Rank-Order of Schools on Home Economics Scores of Significant Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 xii F“ -4” .. m . 0‘5 . . (a n. T 0‘. ;F“ Q 0 o .\a cad PI» I I c. a .‘a A v o‘d '0 pi: TABLE PAGE 55. An Analysis of Variance of Trade and Industry Utah High School Senior Variable Scores Across Schools . . . 130 56. An Analysis of Variance Test Of Significance Blocking Out the Variables Sex and Place of Residence for SCVA Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 57. An Analysis of Variance Test of Significance Blocking Out the Variable Sex and Place of Residence for SCAA Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 58. Summary of the Effects of the Variables Sex and Place of Residence on Utah High School Senior Self-Concept Measures Using Analysis Of Variance Statistical Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 59. Summary Of the Effects of the Variable Sex on Utah High School Vocational Seniors' Self-Concept Scores . . 138 60. The Influence of the Variables Intelligence, Grade Point Average, and SociO-Economic Status When Controlled as Presented in Each Section Of Chapter IV 0 O O O O O O C O O O O O O O O O O O I 0 O O O O C 14 1 xiii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Utah School Districts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 2. Distribution of Intelligence Scores for Vocational and Non-Vocational Utah High School Seniors . . . . . . 8O 3. Distribution of Grade Point Averages for Vocational and Non-Vocational Utah High School Seniors . . . . . . 82 4. Distribution of SES Scores for Vocational and Non-Vocational Utah High School Students .. . . . . . . 84 5. Distribution of Self-Concept of Academic Ability Scores for Vocational and Non-Vocational Utah High School Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 6. Distribution of Self-Concept of Vocational Ability Scores for Vocational and Non-Vocational Utah High School Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 xiv ,nau‘v—o .vv!‘ nus-... w- LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A DOCUMENTS RELATING TO ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STUDY LETTER OF EXPLANATION TO SUPERINTENDENTS LETTER THANKING SUPERINTENDENTS . . . . . B DOCUMENTS USED TO SECURE DATA QUESTIONNAIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GENERAL SELF-CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC ABILITY. SELF-CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL ABILITY . . . PERCEIVED PARENTAL RATING . . . . . . . . PERCEIVED FRIENDS' RATING . . . . . . . . PERCEIVED TEACHERS' RATING . . . . . . . C SUPPORTING DATA SUMMARY OF GUTTMAN SCALE DATA FOR WAMHOFF SELF-CONCEPT 0F VOCATIONAL ABILITY . . "T" TEST OF ACTUAL AND REPORTED GRADE POINT AVERAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . XV PAGE 176 178 180 183 184 186 187 188 190 193 Y_,, .1. ... s. r, v. e . I .1. .t v. .. . ... E a Pu L. S C en ... 5 .t .C 3 Q. . . a. t v. 3 f a. )s .. ... ..u A. C .5 C :a a e :. ..t .t a“ v. a. ...» t .t -7. e 7. ya a“ v. a: .7 ... .. A: at e. u. : C‘ A . I . .... a T e t I. ..H.. a: 1L 2.» J; a a rt .6 q . .3 2r. .3 i. O . pt a ..l (H... a: I‘m CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Interest in Students as individual learners appears to have gained considerable momentum as a focus of educational action.1 This focus is a reversal of the "content” emphasis temporarily Spurred by the advent of the Russian Sputnik.2 Educational priorities Of this century have been directed to students pg£_§g, as Opposed to a subject-matter approach. Several factors have operated, in the past as well as currently, to stimulate a theoretical and structural change in favor Of the individual student. There appear to be at least seven important forces suggesting that this student focus is more than a temporary interlude. The seven factors are: (1) Student Demands. A sharp increase in student protests within the public school system has occurred.3 High school students have followed the lead of their college counterparts and have been adamantly vocal that educators make the system more relevant to their ‘ 1Gordon Edmund, "Introduction" to American Educational Research Association, Review of Educational Research: Education for Socially Disadvantaged Children, Vol. 40, NO. 1 (February, 1970), p. 11. 2Lawrence A. Cremin, The Transformation of the School, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1961): P..347.. 3K. A. Erickson, gab, ACTIVISMAin Secondary SchOolsz; Analysis g, and Recommendations,’Bureau OT EducatiBn Research and'ScieHce;”0611egé 8f Educatioh1(Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon, 1969). n‘ ’5 \v ,---- I: ‘earc 2::er t :e: d‘, ‘9‘ .2 V s a: a: cl we PL 2 needs and interests. Educators have responded by appointing students to various faculty committees and in many ways have met student demands. A pronounced shift in educational philosophy concerning the roles Of Students in the educational process has taken place. (2) Racial Conflicts. Race relations and economic problems Of minority ethnic groups in the nation have spurred interest in individuals. A study of such groups, and individual adjustment within these groups, has attracted the interest of the nation's scholars. The present educational task is to search, find, and develop individual talent within these groups in order to achieve education's goal of equal educational opportunity.4 America is striving to achieve this goal, and an educational system with new dimensions is bound tO evolve. (3) Legal Rights. As the nation- alistic spirit of minority and ethnic groups has increased, individuals have begun to fight for their legal rights. The courts have been challenged to enforce legislation regarding civil rights.5 The govern- ment has been coaxed and threatened to administer contracts in favor of the disadvantaged and to intercede in their issues and causes. These legal maneuvers have accelerated national awareness of the importance of the individual. A structural change has resulted within societal 4James S. Coleman, Equality Of Educational Opportunity, U. S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Superintendent of Documents, Catalogue NO. FSS-238-38001 (Washington: Government Printing Office,1966L SCoretta Scott King, My Life With Martin Luther King, Jr.(New York: AVON BOoks, 1969), p. 273. NOTE: This book is one of many that documents the struggle of the blacks in challenging the courts to enforce local and national governments to honor the constitutional rights of black people. The Voting Rights Bill signed in August 6, 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mean nothing unless they are enforced. _ r ea. .a' _,. s ,...~ “. ,-p~ ‘_-.ub" ... .i‘..AA"- .nv“ —\u i.— . .... ... L k . *‘ aCCrx. 3 institutions with interest in individuals as its base. (4) Position Of Educational Theorists. In his book Of readings, Seigel suggested that learning theorists are now building learning models with the individual as the central focus. He concluded: . . that all of the contributors reject the reactive-passive learner model (Of learning), that is, the learner is a person to whom something is done and that . . . all of the chapters tend to emphasize the individual learner. Classes do not learn; students learn.6 Bloom, also, pointed out that 95 percent of all Students can achieve a set of educational objectives in any course if the right teaching Strategies are employed and if time is allowed to vary rather than be held as a constant.7 These theorists are basically calling for the restructuring of the educational system in behalf of individuals rather than the masses. (5) Curriculum Planner Actions. Educators have designed special curricula to more fully meet the needs Of various types of students. Special education programs for students classified as disadvantaged, as well as the proliferation of education course Offerings on the basis of student interests, are the most obvious results of the individual interest approach in the public schools. Educational practice has swung SO far to meet individual needs that it is unlikely that its direction will be abandoned in the near future. (6) Administrative Actions. The key word in educational jargon of the 1970's is ”accountability." This concept has emphasized that every student should ¥ 6Lawrence Seigel, Instruction: Some Contemporary Viewpoints, (San Francisco:’ Chandler Publishing Company, 1967), p. 320. 7Benjamin S. Bloom, "Learning for Mastery," Evaluation Comment, Center for the Study of Evaluation Of Instructional Programs, University of California, Los Angeles, Californiag'Vol. 1, NO. 2 (May, 1968). n... . C c . a . wt . t e s . A n. .< . . u . r. a. . c ..c A. on. L. E n. - .. . .. c. a «by Q» . a. e a «u V A Pk 55 Vt . .. C. -A p. .. fl. . .C re . a: .s I o a: \ . N . a.” .I. p ..v .\ "x. o . .1. . \— . ‘y H. y —\ pi. . ,. .c. . o .c. . . . u. n -. Is .. a «L ..,\ . Pk .‘ a I». .I,‘ .. ... .L . . ... A . or» I. I» v. .. . at _ . a t .4 a e .V. 5. G. . . o .- .. . ... . I. Te v . . . . .. A v . At. .1 1 . . D... . n u v o o . . . nan :- r. . .o o e . or. ... N r. as; r,» - u .5 u .v. .\\ A 4 be educationally successful. Administrators are responding with techniques for making the school environment more flexible to meet the needs of each student. Modular scheduling is an attempt to modify the lock-step class period concept currently in vogue in most schools. Individual study techniques, team teaching arrangements, physical removal Of school walls, the inclusion of individual-study carrels, computer- assisted instruction, and programmed learning are but a few techniques adopted by administrators to meet the pressures of critics to individual- ize instruction. (7) Prediction of Academic Performance. Taxpayers frequently have turned down educational requests for more money while, at the same time, demanded that educators be more efficient with the money already allocated. One technique investigated to meet the challenge Of efficiency is prediction Of academic performance. Lavin suggested that prediction of academic success is a promising procedure to improve educational efficiency since screening and diagnosing student problems can save inappropriate educational effort.8 Each of the above forces have been influential in compelling edu- cators to develop stronger interest in individual learners rather than being content with the wholesale treatment of students in groups. Consistent with the above forces, educational psychologists have formulated theories to meet the needs of students as individuals. Two important theorists interested in students ES£.§E are Glaser and De Cecco. These two wrfiers, particularly, underscored the importance Of knowing the student before instruction begins. 8David E. Lavin, The Prediction of Academic Performance (New York: Russell Sage'Foundation, 1956).. 5 Glaser (1962) developed a teaching model in which an assessment of "entering characteristics" was the second important stage, and this step preceded the formulation and implementation of the instructional process. His complete model follows:9 Performance Assessment Entering Instructional Behavior; Procedures —T— De Cecco also dis 1a ed an interest in "enterin characteristics" P Y 8 Instructional Objectives and gave a functional definition of the term: Entering behavior describes the student's level before instruction begins. It refers to what he has previously learned, his intellectual ability and developmental state, his motivational state, and certain social and cultural determinants of his learning ability.10 Many other educational theorists have been cognizant of the need to investigate various learner characteristics before an instructional system is formulated. Learner characteristics are an important input to the planning of any educational curriculum. The above model is adamant that collecting knowledge about a student is not merely an undertaking completed once and then abandoned, but is a continuous process. Educational administrative practice has long reflected the above theorists' position. For a number of decades, formal data have been collected about selected student characteristics. Some of the more important scores gathered included: intelligence, aptitudes, interests, 9John P. De Cecco, The Psychology of Learning and Instruction: Educational Psychology (New Jersey: Prenticeauall, 1968), pp. 11-12. 101—1311': po‘120' t ‘ . ,I dd... .. .... .. ,. o». "I >c." ‘,.V- .- .— ....‘~-‘ :P‘ ‘5'.- -..— .L.'— ’A -- 5‘ '6 ‘ ---~n " .. . n v — ‘ QC . . At. Q~ Tun I. «.5 his PK 5» .b .5. V A QII.‘ .‘H‘ It 3 t . C a... At Q~ Cy ols s n “1.; bk 2. . t 4? ‘ a :5 .1 . .6 In L .. .Lw 1%. .t A ‘ t V 6 prior academic achievement, socio-economic level, aspirations, and creativity. Also, the chronological age grade system (grades 1-12) has been consistently adhered to, which attempts to assure that students have the needed prerequisites for a particular level of study. Teaching practices within the classroom have also portrayed the need to recognize students as individual learners. Grouping procedures, enrichuent units, and individual study techniques are but a sample of classroom teaching techniques designed to benefit individuals. All the above practices reflect a concern for the state of the learner pg£_§g and are an important input to the process of formulating and modifying school curricula. Each concept mentioned has contributed to making education relevant to the student's interests, ability, and readiness. This study investigates one of the social, environmental, and personal determiners of individual behavior. Brookover,11 Coleman, 12 Rosenthal, 13 and others postulate that individualized interpretation of the social environment is a determiner of a student's ability and willing- ness to respond to the current educational structure. They hypothesize that the unique interpretation an individual makes of social and cultural factors are, in part, an explanation for the relatively poor academic 11William B. Brookover, Self-Conceptgof Ability and School Achieve- ment I. II. 111., Human Learning Research Institute,(East Lansing, Michigan: ‘Michighantate University, 1967). 12Coleman, loc. cit. 13Robert Rosenthal, g£_§l,, "Changing Children's I.Q. by Changing Teachers' Expectations," Chapter for M. G. Gottsegen, gt al., (Eds.) Professional School Psychology, Vol. III (New York: Grune and Stratton, 1961). ..n-o ' L a . ' 1 n: ‘i'u‘ ‘ ."“‘v-, t v v... ‘_ “ exp? -.-._~ '1’ \C ’.r-_ .\_. \~ A "a? ..M“ x I‘. ‘Q. .. ‘t: :i. "‘: "u“ L In. ¥~:J'"\~‘ “Qt achievement of whole groups of students,e.g.,the ghetto black. To test their theories, Brookover and others have devised instruments to assess the effect of environmental social-cultural factors that influence an individual's behavior. These instruments are measures of ”self-concept." STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Description and analysis of the relationships, directions, and differences between dimensions of selected self-concepts and other variables as disclosed by vocational and non—vocational students was the central problem of this study. Emphasis was given to likenesses and differences between vocational and non-vocational students involving two components of environmental importance to student performance; namely, self-concept of academic ability and self-concept of vocational ability. Other characteristics such as intelligence, socio-economic status, place of residence (rural--urban), academic achievement, and sex were important variables compared. Seven hypotheses have been formulated to give the study specificity: H1: There will be a significant difference between vocational and non-vocational students' mean scores of intelligence, academic achieve- ment, and socio-economic status. H2: There will be a significant difference between vocational and non-vocational students' mean scores of academic ability, self-concept of vocational ability, perceived parental evaluation of academic ability, perceived friends' evaluation of academic ability, and perceived teachers' evaluation of academic ability. This significant difference will hold firm when the variables of intelligence, academic achievement, and socio- economic status are controlled. I I Q ..., . . ., _ V. a . .. . . _ ... .. ... n». C; v} 0 fl ...t ..I.. ..L 3 3 "H“ v . 5 U” C U“ . . . . . . a... U” I t 0 t C hf. n r ; ...... .l C . . . a a” a. .t a: at e .‘a .a a e r t t s ... u . .3 . a e .. a L” y... .d n ha «K .1 xi CL ..a .4. u u u n a . 9 . o: a .fiL 0 n’l e ... 3:. C a s u. .u .. .. .. -.z v. .» .Hv ... .RJ u.- .. r: O has ... a: .2 .2 ... ”O 3: a 3. . . J. ..I as rL man .3 ms 8 H3: Significant differences exist among vocational students' measures of self-concepts when using sex, intelligence, socio-economic status, place of residence, and grade point average as treatment effects. H4: Students participating in a vocational class exhibit an enhanced self-concept of vocational ability. H5 Significant differences in self-concept, intelligence, school achievement, and socio-economic status scores will exist when comparing students in each vocational speciality (distributive education, office education, agriculture education, home economics, and trade and industry) with non-vocational students under circumstances where intelligence, grade point average, and socio-economic status variables are controlled. H6: Significant differences in all variable scores (intelligence, academic achievement, socio-economic status, self-concept of academic ability, self-concept of vocational ability, perceived parents' evalua- tion of academic ability, perceived friends' evaluation of academic ability, and perceived teachers' evaluation of academic ability) exist when comparing vocational specialities across each of the sample schools. H7: The measures of self-concept of academic ability and self- concept of vocational ability measure separate dimensions of self-concept. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The broad objectives of this study were to: (1) gain information regarding the characteristics of students who have enrolled in a Utah vocational class, (2) supply research data to an emerging theory of self-concept, and (3) draw inference from the data collected to educa- tional administrative teaching practice. ,, ‘qen' " _‘_H .‘s— \ '11‘CCRce1’ ~lOnal 1‘." '\ 9 The specific objectives to be achieved in this study can best be stated in the format of relationships to be investigated. The following relationship questions are Specific problems to be researched: (1) Does a statistical relationship exist between vocational and non-vocational students with reSpect to the variables intelligence, academic achieve- ment, and socio-economic status? (2) Does a statistical relationship exist between vocational and non-vocational students with respect to the variables self-concept of academic ability, self-concept of vocational ability, perceived parents' evaluations of academic ability, perceived teachers' evaluations of academic ability, and perceived friends' evaluations of academic ability? Do the variables of place of residence, sex, socio-economic status, and intelligence enhance this relationship? If there is a difference between vocational and non-vocational students with regard to the self-concept variables, do the background variables explain the difference? (3) Does a statistical relationship exist between the variables self-concept of academic ability measures and self-concept of vocational ability measures? SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This study can be important in at least four ways to the general field of education. Knofiledge of the Vocational Student Little empirical data exist relative to the question: Who are the vocational education students? The 1968 Amendments to the 1963 Vocational Education Act put great stress on expansion of vocational education to serve greater numbers of youth, but inadvertently raised ‘ K ta tC S .36 55 0f the 71 under a a lower 5 6, TE: ..-ugn’ 33-: refs: ‘» A«rica has g.... Q\ .1 991ie$ h a ECentl: 10 questions: (a) Who is vocational education now serving? (b) Why is the vocational student enrolled in the vocational class? (c) Are there unique characteristics about the vocational student? and (d) Is it possible for educators to predict who the vocational student will be? There are at least two important reasons to study characteristics of vocational students. The first reason is to assure that instructional' content and strategy is truly relevant to student needs, interests, and aspirations. Vocational educators have long proclaimed that "vocational education meets the needs and interests of the students," but does it? The review of literature reveals relatively little specific research completed in the area of vocational student characteristics. As mentioned before, measures of self-concept will allow an objective analysis of the student's motivational set that will give aid to teachers, counselors, and administrators in the formulation of Specific instructional programs. The second reason is to assure equal educational opportunity. The practice of establishing special "tracks" within the school system has come under attack since, it is claimed, that practice denies equal educational opportunity to all students. The public school system in America has always been viewed as a structure whereby any person, regard- less of the social position of his parents, can gain upward mobility from a lower status up to a higher social status if he has the ability and applies himself.14 Recently, certain educational practices have been attacked as violating the concept of equality in education. For example, the 14David K. Cohan, ”Immigrants and the Schools," Review of Educational Research, Vol. 40, No. 1 (February, 1970). To 11» 63C. .. ..\~ 'T‘ A n; e lsuer s. V . - «4. A.» a: p u. I'- . ..l- ‘.‘l ~nq ‘5" ‘5‘ .1 J. -5. . . fl. bi- ~.. I. . ‘ ‘a-sa‘ ‘5‘ P it‘hih ECIS a“- . . ...- :9 5‘ Vs V Self. 13 men: ey u‘ .«k .5. Cute ar 3: .3~‘ “a 11 tracking system, often used in the nation's schools, is accused of being an educational practice denying equality in education. In the Washington, D. C. judgment, the school board's educational practice of tracking was declared unconstitutional on the grounds that the system does not offer equal opportunity of education to all students; and, as a result, Judge Skelly Wright (1967) ordered the school board to abandon the practice.15 The evidence used to support the judgment showed that the tracking system fed on unequal social environments rather than on some innate student ability, as was claimed by the school board.16 It was found that students of the lower tracks were predominantly the low socio-economic and Negro students. The academic expectation of the school climate was low; and, therefore, it was concluded that the student achievement level was low. This system, then, clearly discriminated against certain groups of students and did not afford them equal opportunity of education. Brookover and others have been critical of the vocational education system, viewing it as one of the tracks and, therefore, not offering a reasonable academic "press" to permit equal opportunity of education for students exposed to that track.17 Social environmental factors are hypothesized to be the determiners (as in the Skelly Wright decision) of low self-concept of academic ability and, therefore, low academic achievement. One purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the magnitude and direction of vocational students' self-perceptions. 15William B. Brookover and Edsel C. Erickson, Sociological Foundation of Educability, First Draft to be Published by Allyn E. Bacon,iChapter IV., pp. 2-8. 16Ibid. 17Ibid. Chapter IV., p. 8. I I ... ' g Q -\~ A J' O‘KVJQJ 'y...‘ .. ~ ' P ‘ ‘1 'I' 6"" “ H. full. “*3" mnti that VOC ati c jixnsions r‘l 12 The Social-Psyghological Construct of Self-Concept Brookover's self-concept studies deal with the student's self- concept of academic ability. However, he also stresses that individuals have many self-concepts.18 This study will investigate another area of concept of self, namely, the self-concept of vocational ability. The use of this measure will add to the information (theory and practice) of the construct self-concept. Study_of "Across the Board" Vocational Education Past research in vocational education has tended to concentrate on the individual Specialty areas. Generally, specialty has come first and the broad field second. There are, however, common problems that can be organized on a functional basis; and these problems transcend each specialty area boundary. The quantity and quality of research applicable across specialty areas of vocational education must be given greatly increased emphasis. As evidence of this need, consider the fact that the 1968 Amendments to the 1963 Vocational Education Act did not specif- ically mention specialty areas at all, but allocated funds for "across the board" problems.19 Congress has pointed the way, and it is imperative that vocational educators respond. This study investigates selected dimensions of the broad field of vocational education. 18William B. Brookover, gt 31., "Self-Concept and Student Role Achievement," (paper presented at the American Education Research Associate Meeting, Los Angeles, February, 1969), p. 2. 19Public Law 90-576, 90th Congress, H. R. 18366, Amendments to the Vocational Education Act of 1963. 13 Application of Social Science Theories to Education There is a need for educators to form closer ties with concepts, theories, principles, and practices of the social and physical sciences. This statement, however simplistic, needs to be made; it is inefficient for each discipline to initiate research that another discipline has previously investigated. Each discipline has a backlog of information that could possibly be used by another. Studies to utilize social science theories are needed in education--particularly vocational educa- tion. Clinical psychologists, and more recently sociologists, have used self-concept theory to bring about behavioral change. Behavioral change is also the direct responsibility of the educator. This study takes the sociological and psychological construct of self-concept and applies it to an educational setting. TERMS USED IN THIS STUDY The definitions that follow are imposed on the study by the research? er, but each has been used previously or assumed by some group. The self-concept definitions are taken from Brookover's or Wamhoff's Study quoted often in this research document. The definitions relating to vocational education are drawn from observation of practices undertaken by the State Board of Education within the State of Utah, i.e., students enrolling in a vocational class are counted as vocational students. Achievement: A measure of a student's past success in school as assized by his grade point average. The grade point average is that reported by the school on the report card which is calculated on the ‘ ' : xv” "55:5 0- h ' A‘ . N‘H-l-‘~ , v55, ‘ Dk's‘aul aac 14 basis of grades given by teachers for each course on his total school program. Agriculture Student: A student enrolled in a senior agriculture class designed to prepare workers in agriculture production and closely related career fields Distributive Education Student: A student enrolled in a senior distributive education or marketing class designed to prepare workers at the job entry level for the field of marketing, retailing, sales, or other distribution industries. Home Economics Student: A student enrolled in a senior home economics class designed to prepare students for various homemaking or related career roles. Non-Vocational Student: A student enrolled in a regular academic program and not presently, or in previous years, associated with a vocational class; those enrolled in an English or social studies class. Offige Educagign Student: A student enrolled in a senior shorthand or transcription class designed to prepare the student for office tasks and responsibilities in the business community. Perceived Friends' Evaluation of Academic Ability: A student's perception of his friends' evaluation of his ability to achieve in school in relation to other students. (PFAA) Perceiyed Parents' Evaluation of Academic Ability: A student's perception of his parents' evaluation of his ability to achieve in school in relation to other students. (PPAA) Perceived Teachers' Evaluation of Academic Ability: A student's perception of his teachers' evaluation of his ability to achieve in school in relation to other students. (PTAA) bile v A :5 c:_-_m:‘ 233:0 315 VL‘“ .- 0"“ . v ‘_,.e. ...V‘ .u a F; pk fie n lonal . rogeneo I v . ts --t n the i --ona1 Cational ..' ,1“ ~§ACL -e 15 Rural Student: A student who resides in a community of 5,000 individuals or less and whose economic base is chiefly agriculture. This community must not be a suburb to an urban center. Self-Congept of Academic Ability: The evaluation a person makes of himself with regard to his ability to achieve in academic tasks in general, especially as compared with others. (SCAA) Self-Concept of Vocational Ability: An evaluation a person makes of himself with respect to his ability to achieve in occupational tasks as compared to others. (SCVA) Socio-Economic Status: A measure of the father's (or head of the household) occupational level as estimated by the Duncan Scale. (SES) Trade and Ipdustry Student: A student enrolled in a senior automotive class designed to prepare students for employment in the automobile repair field. Vocational Class: A high school class labeled agriculture, distri- bution, home economics, office, or trade and industry. For the purpose of this study, the definition includes only shorthand-transcription classes within the office education area and only automotive classes within the trade and industry specialty. Vocational Education: Programs, services, or activities related to vocational or technical training or retraining provided under the Vocational Education Act of 1963 as amended, 20 USC 1241e1391. Vocational Education--the Broad Field: A macro perspective of vocational education which extends beyond the traditional boundaries of agriculture, distribution, home economics, office, or trade and industry areas to the broad concept of preparing youth or adults for work in the heterogeneous array of occupations that exist in the labor market. ...... C! .‘ “JPHOIted b 16 The "broad" approach emphasizes the study of problems, functions, or procedures that are common to all vocational education rather than concentrating on any one vocational Specialty area. Vocational Student: A student enrolled in one or more classes in Utah public schools eligible for reimbursement with Federal funds in the areas of office, distributive, trade and industry, home economics, or agriculture education. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY Underlying the study are the following basic assumptions: 1. Student test performance on the dependent variables represents a valid index of the important components to learning and to choosing a career. However, learning and choosing a career are not restricted to only these components. 2. Self-concept of ability is phenomenological--i.e., known to the subject. This assumption makes possible the use of a self-report instrument rather than projective techniques. This assumption is supported by Wylie.20 3. The student has been truthful and accurate in his responses to the self-concept questions. 4. A self-concept of ability is a functionally limiting factor-- that is, a positive or high self-concept is necessary but not sufficient 20Ruth C. Wylie, The Self-Concgpt: A Critical Surveygof Pertinent Research Literature (Lincoln: UniverSity of Nebraska Press, 1961), pp. 319-20. the Study c. BrOOL. 21 c vi ii fl 17 for a corresponding behavior exhibited by the student. This is the same assumption made in the Brookover studies and applies to this study.21 LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITATIONS The limitations and delimitations that are important to the interpretation of the study include: 1. Students may exhibit mixed motives for enrolling in vocational classes; and, therefore, a homogeneous group of career-oriented pupils are not assembled for study. 2. Measures of prior academic achievement of students were limited to the student's grade point average in raw form. 3. The Duncan Index Measure of Socio-Economic Status is not sensitive enough to differentiate between occupational positions within the agriculture.industry. This lack of sensitivity did appear to hamper the study of the variables place of residence and socio-economic status in this project. ZlBrookover, 23.31., Self-Concept of Ability and School Achievement, III. 41:; In t manic a: research here in 1 fl) Stddies wj Pa . ”Gatlonal hf . '1 emetic: Y'ariabIES CHAPTER II A REVIEW OF LITERATURE In the past decade studies of self-concept have greatly increased numerically. The following review of literature contains a synopsis of research completed in the area of self-concept. An exhaustive review herein is not pretended, but rather a selective treatment of only those studies with relevance to the context of this Specific research effort is presented. In particular, this chapter is organized around the following classifications: (l) Self-Concept Theory, (2) Self-Concept of Vocational Ability, (3) Self-Concept of Sub-Groups Within the General Population, (4) A Study of Vocational Students as a Sub-Group Within the General Stu- dent Population, (5) Modification of Self-Concept, (6) Self-Concept Instru- ments, and (7) Study Variables. The classifications of "Self-Concept Theory" and "Self-Concept of Vocational Ability" were included to give the reader the background information necessary to understand the frame of reference of the main variables of the study. The classifications "Self-Concept of Sub-Groups in the General Population" and "Study of Vocational Students" were prepared to illustrate the value of studying vocational students as a group. Each hypothesis (Chapter I) makes the assumption that this group is worthy of study. The classification "Modification of Self-Concept" was submitted since this study investigates the direction of self-concept change when comparing vocational and non-vocational students. 18 , . ”“'*"e:e~ . ' J ~ - n . -_ .4 Reader IEferrei t. 19 Hypothesis 4 suggests that the vocational program is influential in modifying self-concept. The classifications "Instruments Used to Assess Self-Concepts" and "Important Study Variables" were prepared to supply pertinent data for the study design. These two are basic to all hypotheses except number 4. SELF-CONCEPT THEORY Readers desiring a complete review of self-concept theory are referred to Mead,1 Wylie,2 or Brookover.3 This selective review is limited to Studies dealing with the three important factors of: (l) the formation of the self-concept, (2) the components of a person's self- concept, and (3) the relationship of self-concept to behavior. These three factors appear to be most relevant in communicating the basic elements of self-concept theory. Formation of a Person's Concept of Self This self-concept Study is based on the symbolic interactionist theory of George Mead which is summarized in the following quotation: I have pointed out then, that there are two general stages in the full development of the self. At the first of these stages, the individual's self is constituted simply by an organization of the particular attributes of other individuals towards themselves and towards one another in the specific social acts in which he participates with them. But at the second stage in the full development of the individual's self, that self is constituted not only 1George Herbert Mead, Mind,_Self, and Society (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1934), 2Wylie, Passim. 3Brookover, gt 31., Self-Concept of Ability in School Achievement, II. < -.- n' vn~ :1. - be.t~~:. I . 1" nf‘. 4...- e no .- a-~hon L- k. (f) 20 by an organization of these particular individual attributes, but also by an organization of the social attitudes of the generalized other, or the social group as a whole to which he belongs.4 Mead emphasized, then, that an individual's concept of self forms through an internal perception of other's reactions to him. An individual's self-concept is formed not only through the inter- action of one or two people, but also with his adjustment to the social force of the enlarged society. Hodgkins explicitly pointed to the in- fluence of social values and group norms in the developmental process of one's self-concept. Self-concepts develop consistent with the meaning of experiences interpreted in the context of values and beliefs learned from primary reference groups. They provide the frame of reference within which one's self is perceived.5 Sebeson's views Showed Similarity with the above authors that self-concept is environmentally induced, not an inherited trait. She postulated that self-concept development within the individual begins to develop as a person's perceptive powers develop. The self-concept of an individual is viewed as a developmental phenomena resulting from the dynamic interaction between the individual and his environment. It is generally accepted that the self-concept as a precept is not present at birth, but begins to develop gradually as perceptive powers develop.6 4George Herbert Mead, Mind, Self, and Society (Chicago: Thd Univer- ’sity of Chicago Press).1934), p. 158, cited bleonald Nels Omahi-gelffipfl.5_ Congegt‘qfigggpupgtional Ability and Related CharaCteristics in co unity CollegefOCChpational Academic'StUdents (Michigan State Univ}; 1971), p: 4. 5Benjamin A. Hodgkins and Robert G. Stakenas, "A Study of Self- Concepts of Negro and White Youth in Segregated Environments," Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 38 (Fall, 1969), pp. 370—77. 6R. F. Bodwin, ”The Relationship Between Immature Self-Concept and Certain Educational Disabilities," Dissertation Abstracts,1l959, No. 59-1,645, cited by LUGiflle-SebeSon; "SeTfRCbncept'ahd Reading Disabili- ties," The Reading Teacher; Vol..23, No. 5 (February, 1970), pp..460-63. .9‘ :1 k‘ii ' A 0AA. 4 -.ns~." . e. -... :3 . . all «an 16 a 7‘“. 5 ‘— ... 21 Elements of Self-Concept What are the elements of self-concept? Sebeson postulated that self-concept has three dimensions: (1) liking for oneself, (2) satis— faction with one's attainment, and (3) feelings of personal appreciation for others.7 Self-Concept and Behavior The struggle to use the above theoretical posture as a functional guide in interpreting and predicting human behavior is most difficult and, consequently, is being studied by many researchers. In a major review of self-concept studies, Caplin offered these views regarding the effect of self-concept toward learning: (1) the learner proceeds, interprets, accepts, resists, or rejects what he meets in school in the light of the self-system he has within him; (2) substantive evidence indicates a relationship between self-concept and academic achievement; (3) self-concept is more important as a determiner of learning efficiency than learning experiences in the formation of self-concept.8 He presented evidence that while the causal factors are difficult to determine, it would appear that self-concept is precedent and a determiner of the learning level and achievement. Brookover also concluded, "Research indicates that other's evaluation affects the student's concept of his academic ability and thus sets limits on his school achievement. . . ."9 7Ibid., pp. 460-64. 8Morris D. Caplin, "The Relationship Between Self-Concept and Academic Achievement," The Journal of Experimental Education, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Spring, 1969), pp. 13el6. 9Brookover, g£_§l,, Self-Concept of Abilityjin School Achievement, I I, pp. 147. 22 However, both writers indicated that daily interaction in the social world does form and alter one's self-concept. It is not a case of "either/or" but of bOth,i.e., self-concept does determine behavior, and conversely, behavior does determine self-concept. Kubiniec, likewise, was definite of the relationship between self- concept and behavior. She supported the notion that self-concept theory is important to the prediction of observable behavior in individuals. . . .the results support the predictive value of the self- concept which maintains that an individual's behavior is affected by his perception of himself and his environ- ment . . . provides evidence that propositions from self- concept theory can predict observable behavior.10 SELF-CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL ABILITY The research and literature indicate that individuals do not hold one self-concept in a global sense, but, in fact, have many self- concepts. In his longitudinal study, Brookover not only studied a student's general self-concept of academic ability, but also studied self-concept in specific courses such as social studies and mathematics. It is consistent with this approach that a person has a self-concept of his abilities as a handiman, cook, musician, athlete, spouse, and other major facets of his life which, of course, include his vocation. It follows that a person's performance in each of these roles will depend largely upon his concept of self in that role. 10Cathleen M. Kubiniec, "The Relative Efficacy of Various DiuenSions of the Self-Concept in Predicting Academic Achievement," American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3 (May, 1970), pp. 321-334. Career faction of fiatsevera firee cate; :arezts , :e sekcts a c identifie s C v Ifiar‘ Mr... S (I) Ever) BELL ’ SHfCtlQn ; liiivid J81 ' A Hill. ‘6‘ EDI-k c 23 Career selection and a person's performance in that career is a b,11 suggested function of his concept of self. Brookover and Gottlie that several factors were involved. These factors were classified in three categories: (1) Self-identification (capabilities, interests, preferences), (2) Definition of reality (the individual's perception of others, career opportunities, and other factors important to the occupa- tion), and (3) Reciprocal relations with significant persons (obligations and rights of reciprocal relations with significant others such as parents, teachers, or friends). This posture indicates that a person selects a career and performs in that career on the basis of how he identifies with and perceives himself in his occupation. Oman's12 study agreed with the theory of occupational self-concept and quoted many of the early theorists such as Ginzberg, Lazarfeld, Super, Beuhler, and others who supported the contention that career selection and occupational performance may indeed be a function of an individual's concept of self. SELF-CONCEPT OF SUB-GROUPS WITHIN THE GENERAL POPULATION Self-concept is gaining credibility among the nation's scholars, and it is only natural that various sub-groups in the population should be tested and studied in light of self-concept. Researchers are seeking explanations for possible behavioral patterns exhibited by many of these 11Wilbur Brookover and David Gottlieb, A Sociology of Education, (New York: American Book Company, 1964), p. 361. 12Ronald Nels Oman, The Self-Concgpt of Occupational Ability and Re- lated Characteristics in Community College Occupational and Academic Stu- dents, Doctoral Dissertation, Nflchigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1971, pp. 23-31. rcgps. *' ("1 3'7; is the} cczcept of wife range 1c; 'rOSS \ 'J' ) X0. 6‘, 24 groups. Why have not the black ghetto students excelled in school work? Why is there a tendency for some youth toward delinquency? Perhaps a concept of self explains in part the reason for this behavior. A very wide range of student groups have been studied. Culey13 investigated the self-concept of adopted versus non-adopted children. Bachar14 was interested in the deaf child's self-concept in two different settings, i.e., the residential and non-residential. DeMeritt15 investigated the effects of drugs upon a person's self-concept. Brodis16 studied the influence of governmental welfare support upon a child's self-concept. Curtis17 and M'cClenney18 thought that differences in motor skills and physical fitness would make a difference in a person's l3James Leland Culey, "A Study of Self-Concept, Self-Acceptance, and Ideal Self of Adopted and Non-Adopted Adolescent Children," Dissertation Abstracts, University of South Dakota, 1970, No. 71-12,636. 14James Robert Bachar, "Self-Concept of Academic Ability and Academic Performance Among Deaf Adolescent Children in Residential and Non- Residential Schools," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Pittsburg, 1969, No. 70-13,786. 15Mary Walter DeMeritt, "Differences in the Self-Concept of Drug Abuse, Non-Users, and the Former Users of Narcotics, and of Non- Narcotic Drugs," Dissertation Abstracts, Arizona State University, 1970, No. 70-17,420. 16Nellie Adams Brodis, "Parent-Child Relationships and Self-Concept as Related to Differential Academic Achievement of Adolescent Siblings in Father-Absent Families," Dissertation Abstracts, Cornell University, 1969, No. 69-20,968. l7Bruce Richard Curtis, "Differences in Self-Concept and Performance of a Gross Motor Task," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Illinois, 1968, No. 69-20,673. 18Nelson McClenney, "A Comparison of Personality Characteristics, Self-Concepts, and Academic Aptitude of Selected College Men Classified According to Performance on a Test of Physical Fitness," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Georgia, No. 69-15,775. ..... 25 self-concept. Crawford19 hoped for an explanation of institutional deliquents' anti-social behavior in the concept of self. Garvey,20 along with many other researchers, studied self-concept and the success of student teachers. And, too numerous to mention, are the number of studies that have investigated the relationship of self-concept to the disadvantaged and racial ethnic group norms. In summary, there is substantial evidence to convince many researchers that self-concept is a plausible concept in analyzing and diagnosing various human problems. THE STUDY OF VOCATIONAL STUDENTS AS A SUB-GROUP WITHIN THE GENERAL STUDENT POPULATION A study of vocational students as a sub-group within the general school population is consistent with the study of other student sub- groups mentioned above. Vocational students have been branded "dummies" enrolled in a program for "other people's kids.” Who are the vocational students, and why have they chosen these courses? A study of the characteristics of these Students is required. Researchers have barely begun investigation of student character- istics. The investigation, thus far, is sketchy and incomplete but is showing signs of growth and maturity. 19Edward E. Crawford, "Self-Concept, Self-Acceptance, and Affinity for Core Culture Values Among Institutionalized Delinquents," Disserta- tion Abstracts,'The Catholic University of America, 1969, Nd..69=19,735.. 20Reba Garvey, "Self-Concept and Success in Student Teaching," Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Fall, 1970), pp. 357-61. I ._—1 3"?" Sch- - . ..-- , 12:2ers‘ s. :atl'ers 3r 26 High School Vocational Students' Characteristics Kay's21 study was characteristic of many studies of secondary vocational students. Most collect little more than demographic data, which for Kay's Study included sex, age, grade level, choice of vocational programs, marital and family status, course load, and student plans. This is a purely descriptive study with few implications for program development or administrative and counselor interpretation. However, studies have been completed at the secondary level that attempt to analyze specific aspects of a student's self-concept of his vocational ability. George22 investigated the vocational aspirations of Negro male high school seniors. He concluded that the adolescents' and fathers' self-concepts and the congruency between the self-concepts of the fathers and the sons were all major variables influencing the vocational aspirations of Negro males. A comparison of vocational high school students with those attending a regular high school was made by Pugh.23 He found that after four months the two groups differed in self-concept and found that the vocational students possessed an enhanced concept of self. Bell24 21Evelyn R. Kay, Vocational Education: Characteristics of Teachers and Students, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Order No. E80073 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1969). 22Flavil H. George, "The Relationship of the Self-Concept, Ideal Self-Concept, Values, and Parental Self-Concept to the Vocational Aspiration of Adolescent Negro Males," Dissertation Abstracts, North Texas State University, 1969, No; 70-9,130. 23Dwight Allen Pugh, "Comparison of Changes Over a Period of Time in the Self-Concept of Students Enrolled in Vocational and Non-Vocational Curricula," Dissertation Abstracts, Ohio University, 1969, pr. 69-19,872. 24Norman Darel Bell, "The Relationship of Occupational Choice to Ego Identity and Self-Concept," Dissertation Abstracts, Utah State University, 1969, No: 7042,426. ' 27 offered a possible explanation for Pugh's results. He selected 320 senior vocational high school students and tested them on a number of variables. He observed that the level of vocational commitment of senior high school boys tended to be dependent on the length of time the choice was considered, the amount of feedback and discussion with the parents concerning the choice, and the father's occupation. Post-Secondaty Level By far the most significant amount of work regarding the Study of student characteristics, particularly the vocational self-concept, has been completed at the post-secondary level. These institutions provide an ideal setting for investigation of vocational students' characteristics since many post-secondary programs are specifically designed to produce competent workers in various occupational fields. Students at this level typically have a firmer career goal commitment than do their high school counterparts. Further, a heterogeneous array of characteristics is displayed by students at this level due to the post-secondary institution's "open door" policy. In a far-reaching study, Stewart25 compared Hawaiian, Idahoan, and Californian occupational Students on a number of different variables. His study rationale was built on the following points: (1) there are few hard data about the characteristics of students who enter vocational curricula, (2) vocational courses frequently serve as "dumping grounds for students who cannot hope to pursue a college curriculum," (3) academic 25Lawrence H. Stewart, Study of Certain Characteristics of Students and Graduates of Occupation-Centered Curricula (University of California at Berkeley, 1968) U. S.‘Départment of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education, Contract No. OE 685072, ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, pp. 5-6. .L, . 0v I‘" A ' n .h-...' vacational 32‘: a 50318: 28 ability of students enrolled in technical and trade courses is lower, on the average, than a four-year college student, (4) the range of ability on the occupational-centered curricula is about as great as that of the college and university groups, (5) there is a social-economic bias in the choice of vocational courses--re1atively more students are from the low status background in vocational courses than in others, and (6) students in the occupational curricula tend to have common characteristics. The central purpose was to gather data about students' career selection problems at a post-secondary level. The data were to be used in counseling students and to provide them with insight to themselves. It was found that when comparing vocational versus non- vocational students, there was a Sharp difference in measures of interest but a somewhat lesser difference in personality scores. Another significant study relating to career selection problems was conducted at the junior collegiate level by Abe and Holland.26 These researchers studied over 12,000 college freshmen from 31 institu- tions on 43 different variables. For each vocation selected, the means and standard deviations were computed for 117 student characteristics. Descriptions of students seeking different vocations were made. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) students seek vocations which are appropriate for their interests, values, and special talents, (2) voca- tional decisions depend upon many student characteristics, (3) there is probably a close association between the choice of subject major and the 26Clifford Abe and John L. Holland, Students with Different Vocational Choices: A Description of College Freshmen, (Iowa City: American College Testing Program,‘June,'1965);‘ERIC,TClearinghouse, The Center of VOCational and Technical Education, Order No. ED.013457. \- 0“" C; :tifi In M. H’“T-S I I I I ill I... . d v . \_ ‘ e .. e . . n e n . C r. t D. 3. r r l r a . .r.. C e d e e e C .9. C .1 .D t t r r t t e a; a C. C t a.» n a a P» C C. C. O ..n .. . S e e a e 11 a a n. J A}. h. In... . e e a... .ne 3 :4 vi Y. a: ule Flo CL «A. e .... C. 3 2. ~ 2 a a C C 3 .C .. . ml. PL 5. f. e t .1 Lvu L .. .E FEJ « u .n .. C. .1. Y. «\J .3 .3 C as 1\J a 7s he the. 1:: 29 choice of vocation. The most important outcome from this study was the identification of student characteristics with certain occupational fields. These have predictive and diagnostic qualities and are useful to students, counselors, and administrators. In Minnesota, Pucel and Nelson27 conducted a similar study called MINI-SCORE or Minnesota Student Characteristics and Occupationally Related Education. It was a six-year project funded by the U. S. Office of Education. Its prime purpose was to identify useful criteria for counselors, student selection committees, and administrators of post- high school vocational-technical schools to aid in their choice of specific vocational-technical curricula. They investigated the commonal- ities between groups enrolled in different vocational programs with respect to interests, aptitudes, job needs, and personality factors. Student profiles for each of the 18 curricula were constructed using standard scores. The study Showed that students can be grouped by similar personal characteristics and matched to jobs utilizing those characteristics. It was possible also to cluster jobs based on those characteristics. This approach is helpful in the counseling procedure because it allows the student to identify several different jobs within a cluster compatible to his aptitudes and interests. Thus far, over 20,000 cases have been analyzed and tested; and a follow-up study is underway. 27David J. Pucel and Howard F. Nelson, Projgpt Mini-Score: Some Preliminary Implications for Vocational Guidance (University of Minnesota, 1968» ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 025658. relations? the Perce; PEOPLE in 30 The above data Show that there is considerable interest in studying general student characteristics firstly and characteristics that are particularly relevant to students in occupational programs secondly. Curriculum development will benefit from the meaningful use of identi- fied student characteristics. Many scholars are becoming interested in Students' vocational self- concepts as a separate and specific study. Tuckman28 determined the extent to which students in community college occupational programs develop a heightened self-awareness and a heightened occupational aware- ness when compared to Students who have had different experiences. Wamhoff studied the self-concept of vocational ability of community college students. He recorded the following findings: (1) A substantial relationship was found to exist between the self-evaluation variables and the perceptions of others regarding occupational ability for both males and females; (2) Parents are the most frequently listed significant people in determining vocational careers; (3) The self-concept of voca- tional ability did not differ between vocational and non-vocational Students, but there was a significant difference in their self-concept of academic ability.29 Oman's work supported much of Wamhoff's results and he recorded: (1) Parents are most often named as the most significant other person influencing occupational choice; (2) The occupation self-concept was 28Bruce W. Tuckman, The Study of the Role of the Community Collgge in the Develppment of Self— and Occupational-Concgpts, Interim Report, (Rdtgers University, P968), ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational amd Tachnical Education, Order No. ED 027012. 29Carroll H. Wamhoff, "Self-Concept of Vocational Ability, Its Relation to Selected Factors and Creative Elements," Dissertation Abstracts. Michigan State University, 1969, No. 69-20,950. . 4‘§.‘.- .. v.4 s..- ‘It C ~. ‘Lfit" V'I—\A .- :ent, (.3) :eeales, b Fare: :10331 CO; iztereStS ‘3'") Ville n SICUQd 1 l .. p u Uq‘l "‘1‘ I \"tEr 31 partly related to how the person perceived the important people around him and their feelings about his occupation; (3) The three background factors of the study-~socio-economic level, previous occupational train- ing, and previous occupational experience--did not relate to any of the creative element factors. It is clear from this study that academic students: (a) enjoyed higher perceived values of others' ratings of them, (b) felt that significant others expected higher occupational achieve- ment, (c) had higher occupational self-concepts. The two groups did not differ on occupational aspirations. Males exhibited higher scores than females, but the socio-economic level groups did not differ.30 Foreman31 investigated the extent to which students, during voca- tional counseling, over or underestimate their measured needs and interests in the areas of vocational identity (high, intermediate, and low) when measures of self-esteem and defense self-esteem were and were not controlled. Self-esteem and defense self-esteem, as measured here, showed little, if any, independence in their relationship with differ- ences between estimated and measured needs and interests. MODIFICATION OF SELF-CONCEPT One problem under investigation in this study is the identification of the influence made by vocational classes upon Students' self-concepts. 3OOman, op. cit., pp. 130-32. 31Milton E. Foreman, Self-Esteem, Defense Positive and Perceptual Accuracy in Vocational Choice (Washington, D.C.: 'American Personnel and Guidance Association, April, 1968), ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 626655. Basic m 01 rd re. a: 5 an inhi' x enhance ::be a vs at liters I r— I (h "1 F! C) 9 l n 32 Basic to studies measuring self-concept is the underlying assumption that if a person possesses a low self-concept, and this low self-concept is an inhibiting factor to adequate performance, then ways must be found to enhance that low self-concept. Perhaps vocational classes will prove to be a valuable technique to enhance students' concepts of self. There are literally hundreds of studies now being conducted or have been con- ducted during the last five years attempting to discover ways that a person's self-concept can be improved. It is possible to review all these studies,but the scope of this chapter only allows a review of a limited number in an attempt to display the types of strategies employed to modify a student's self-concept. Short-Term CounselingtSessions A number of studies have investigated the effect of short-term counseling sessions upon a student's self-concept. The results were inconclusive. Scofield's32 reSults showed individual counseling did significantly improve self-concept when compared with regular counseling sessions, and it was recommended that individual counseling be used rather than the regular sessions. Allen's33 findings supported Scofield's. Allen discovered that in a short-term group session where cognitive structuring and verbal reinforcement was effectively 32Robert Eugene Scofield, "The Comparative Effect of a Short- Term Group, Individual, and Regular Counseling on Self-Concept,” Dissertation Abstracts, Lehi University, 1969, No. 70-I,744. 33Harry Albert Allen, "The Use of Cognitive Structuring and Verbal Reinforcement of Positive Self-Reference Statements Within A Short- Term Group Therapy Session to Enhance Self-Concept," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Arkansas, 1971, No. 71-19,532. . a”. p‘l‘fi'ld L .11....ue - i D v'nzf Ga? ...}- r ‘- n r." ..i _, ~Hr~ a ~v \ v-AAL 1 L, y _ d: v . Cu. 54. H 0 ' ‘ ‘1 ‘er-Ia‘fi is ~ki.gy'. II In vpa., ”1.. A.CDIL V‘-. J‘Rebt CE the Se? HIE Enih'e: ECJStCn’ 33 manipulated, self-concept did improve. But, Ginn's34 findings showed that participation in his counseling practicum did not significantly change the self-concepts of the participants. Group Counseling Techniques There have been several attempts to alter students' self-concepts using a group counseling technique, but most reported no success. The use of an expert in a group session did not seem to enhance self-concept of school abilities reported Shailer.3S Hugo36 concluded that no signif- icant difference was found in the expressed self-concept of the students in this session. Axmaker37 and Gold38 found the same negative results. Behgtson39 discovered contrary findings when he compared results of the 34Robert John Ginn, "A Q-Sort Study of a Counseling Practicum on the Self-Concept of Selected Group of Counselors-In-Preparation at the University of Houston," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Houston, 1969, No. 69-13,332. 35Thomas Shailer, An Experimental Approach: The Enhancement of Self-Concept of Junior High School Students Through Group Sessions, Feb. 1964, ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 031524. 36Mirim Jean Hugo, "The Effect of Group Counseling on Self-Concepts and Behavior of Elementary School Children," Dissertation Abstracts, Ohio University, 1969, No. 70-4,739. 37Larry William Axmaker, ”The Effect of Group Counseling on the Self- Concept on the Mbtivation to Achieve and on the Proportion of Drop-outs Among Unselected Community College Students at Southwestern Community College," Dissertation Abstracts, Oregon State University, 1970, No. 70-5,l63. 38Robert Donald Gold, "Alteration of the Self-Concept in Attitudes Towards Others Using Group Behavior Modification Techniques," Dissertation Abstracts, Arizona State University, 1971, No. 71-9,9698. 39Wayne Roger Bengtson, "Comparison of Student Self-Concepts in Student Counselor Settings," Dissertation Abstracts, University of North Colorado, 1970, No. 71-4,754. ~rreec13r irividga. In 5. 7' . 52.143th tinselin; the select :zzber of Sens: V :hzfl» ..... sing S ffiiitiVit. hep N0. 410315 is a Resu: famine," "‘ 71-230 34 proceedings of group counseling sessions and individual counseling sessions and found that group counseling produced a significantly more positive self-concept as compared to students who met with counselors individually. In summary, the evidence from many reports showed that student self-concepts were not changed by a group counseling technique. Many authors mentioned, however, that there were severalibntervening variables which distort study results;.suCh as, the capability of the director of counseling, the sensitivity of instruments that measure self-concept, the selections of Students, the matching of student characteristics, the number of sessions conducted, and the length of each session. Sensitivity Trainipg:Sessions Sensitivity training has long been proclaimed as an instrument for changing students' behavior. TWo studies reviewed addressed themselves to this technique. Elbert40 and Smith41 found that the use of video tape feedback and sensitivity training was effective in producing changes in some areas of self-concept and self-actualization, but for most dimensions there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups. 40Eugene Elbert, "Changes in Self-Concept, Self-Actualization, Through Interpersonal Relations as a Result of Video Feedback and Sensitivity Training," Dissertation Abstracts, Utah State University, 1969, No. 70-11,285. 41Osler Paul Smith, "Changes in Self-Actualization and Self-Concept as a Result of the Use of a Visual Feedback in Marathon Sensitivity Training," Dissertation Abstracts, East Texas State University, 1970, No. 71-230. kflararan islaie C I / 44» Hear~ an; . It Acazee 35 Educational Administrative Arrangements It is not surprising that those who promote and operate Special administrative programs in our educational society also have attempted to Show that their programs, do in fact, modify a person's self-concept. MicNamara42 used a pretest-posttest design for 180 Negro Headstart children in Dade County. The Headstart sample performed significantly better on tests measuring social skills, language skills, and self-concepts. Compensatory education programs also Show significant gains in self- concept scores. Both Stevens43 and Owen44 reported significant positive change in the self-concepts of students as a result of these programs. A special class placement arrangement was tested by Schurr4S with positive results. He found that this arrangement did improve the child's self-concept of ability. M'onson,46 likewise, showed that adult males in 42J. Regis McNamara, Evaluation of the Effects of Headstart Experience in the Area of Self-Concept, Social Skills, and Lapguage Skills (Miami, Florida: Dade County Board of Public Construction, July, 1968), ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 028832. 43Roe Stevens, "Changes in Self-Concept Resulting From Participation in College Compensatory Education Programs as Measured by the Edwards Personality Inventory," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Akron, 1970, No. 71-16,286. 44Henry D. Olsen, The Effect of Compensatory Education Upon the Others, and Academic Significant Others of Black and White Pre-Collgge Students, February, 1971, ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Tech- nical Education, Order No. ED 047075. 45Kenton T. Schurr and Wilbur B. Brookover, Effect of Special Class Placement on the Self-Concept-of-Ability of the Educable Mentally Retarded Child,(Miéhigan State UhiverSity, 1967), Officé of Edhcation, IJ.'ST Department of Health, Education, and welfare, ERIC; Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 027658. 46Marvin Ralph Menson, "The Self-Concept Change of Male Adults Enrolled in an M;D.T.A. Agra-Business Training Program," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Nebraska, 1969, No. 69-22,289. 36 a Manpower Development Training Act Program indicated significant changes in self-concepts during the time that they were enrolled in the training program. But, Herskovitz47 concluded that vocational rehabili- tation programs produced no positive changes in self-concepts of partici- pating students. Within Class Techniques Another approach used by educators to improve self-concept was to vary the environment in the classroom from autocratic to democratic, from passive-receiver to active-performer, or from traditional-didactic to experimental-discovery method of teaching. Again the results were mixed, with three researchers reporting that self-concept did increase with the change of environment and three researchers reporting that there was no change. Bouchardl+8 utilized a teacher interaction method for five weeks and concluded that students' self-concepts were significantly improved in the experimental groups but relatively little change was indicated in the control groups. He proclaimed the value of utilizing peer group inter- action as a method of improving students' self-concepts. Dwyer49 investigated the change in self-concept using three teachers' classes, 47Schreiber Herskovitz, "Effects of Educational-Vocation Rehabili- tation Program Upon the Self-Concept of Disadvantaged Youth," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Pennsylvania, 1969, No. 69-21,638. 48Richard Preston Bouchard, "Experiments in Students' Self-Concept Change Through Teacher Interaction," Dissertation Abstracts, St. Louis University, 1970, Order No. 71-21,271. 49F. O. Terreca Dwyer, "An Exploratory Study to Investigate the Influence of the Program of Primary Prevention Upon Self-Concept in the Effect of Self-Conception Academic Readiness," Dissertation Abstracts, Boston University, School of Education, 1968, No. 69-7,851. L,‘ .c': -‘.V i . ' 4v bug‘u’l‘e: ICE C . a ... n. 5“ e V. 6 .9L .... ... s Je CITE pr: \. Q AAHW at. 37 one utilizing an authoritarian approach and two using the permissive approach. She concluded that while there was no significant difference in the change of self-concept between the classes, within each of the three groups there was improvement. She concluded, also, that permissive teachers had a greater influence upon self-concept in children of low intelligence, children with low parental acceptance, and children of middle socio-economic class. KilloughSO supported the above results by observing that an abrupt change in educational environment such as moving children from a traditional self-contained classroom to a non-graded team-taught learning laboratory was effective. There were Significant differences between the experimental and control groups using a pretest and posttest. Jennings51 utilized a two-hour block time arrangement in a regular core program but found the self-concept did not change. Likewise, Dethmers52 concluded that when comparing children in two types of pro- grams, one innovative and the other traditional, self-concept gains consistently occurred more frequently in the traditional instructional program. Boyko53 also found no change. 50Curtis Banion Killough, ”Investigation of the Effects of Abrupt Change in Educational Environment Upon the Reported Self-Concept of Third Grade Pupils," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Southern Mississippi, 1968, No. 69-4,698. 51Wayne Bertrand Jennings, "Development of the Self-Concept in the Core ProgramJ'Dissertation Abstracts, University of Minnesota, 1968, No. 69-l,512. 52Claer Dethmers, "Self-Concept, Value Orientation and Achievement Level of Lower Class Elementary School Children in Two Types of Educa- tional Programs," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Minnesota, 1968, No. 69-ll,38l. 53William Boyko, "Effect of Methodology on the Self-Concepts of Students," Dissertation Abstracts, University of the Pacific, 1970, No. 70-ll,28l. a. . all. _A‘ .U . . n.» ‘l -. ... ... h. .u .3 .... ..H .. ... .C . . .h . .. .1 .3 . . .au ... ... a.» 2 ... .. . . ~ Q. .3 nlu 2: e... .. 2 H... ~‘b b .. . . t u . J I r. \ vi Ye a .7« 0 C e S h» e M, ... 2: 0 FL ;L .2 v... r a: m We .. .2 he at .1 he» .. . 0 1.5». N. s P Uh“ S P|v .3 [Y thQ H 38 A Remedial ReadingiTechnigue Remedial reading seems to hold high promise in producing positive changes in self-concept of students. Leffingwell54 conducted Special classes for naval recruits using taped interviews, discussion periods, and tests. He observed noticeable gains in self-esteem in most students having Successful experiences in the reading program. Smith55 Showed that the personal interaction method in reading proved superior to other methods in developing higher self-concepts. Schultheis56 used a bibliotherapy technique effectively. This method encouraged the student to identify with story book characters in order to gain insight into himself and to improve his self-concept. The Use of Video Tapp Recording Biles57 used televised instruction in one experimental class and a regular lecture-discussion approach in the other. She concluded that no significant difference in self-concept occurred between the two groups, but showed that there was a change of self-concept within the televised 54Hirum Cyril Leffingwell, "Changes in Self-Concepts in Poorly- Reading Naval Recruits During a Remedial Reading Program," Dissertation Abstracts, United States International University, 1969, No. 69-19,843. 55Phyllis W. Smith, Self-Contppt Gain Scores in Reading Efficiency Terminal Ratios as a Function of Specialized Reading_InStruction or Personal Interaction (Paper Presented at the International Reading Association Conference, Boston, Mass., 1968L ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 025375. 56Sister Miriam Schultheis, Building a Better Self-Concept Through Story Book Guidance (Paper Presented at the Language Arts and Reading Conference, Boston State University, 1970),ERIC, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 044251. 57Fay Reifsnyder Biles, "Self-Concept Change in College Freshman Women in a Basic Physical Education Course Using Two Methods of Instruc- tion," Dissertation Abstracts, Ohio State University, 1968, No. 69-4,847. :f explc selecte: 39 instructional group. She concluded that the use of instructional television appeared to be as effective as traditional methods to effect self-concept changes in college freshman women enrolled in basic physical 58 claimed that due to the short duration of education courses. Fischer her study, the increase in positive concept of self could not be general- ized to the total self-concept theory and suggested that a great amount of exploratory video tape experimentation should be conducted. Ezell59 selected 36 men possessing a correct free-style swimming stroke, tested their self-concepts, and then divided them into matching groups. One experimental group received post-performance feedback while the other received none. He concluded that the application of correct or incorrect post-performance feedback does not assert a Significant influence upon self-concept. Camping Technique Another technique appearing to have some promise in improving self- concept is the camping experience. Krieger6O showed that participation in an organized camp increased self-concept and strongly decreased poorly adjusted behavior. Thus, a well-run, organized camp contributed to a positive self-concept change and hence to personal growth. 58Shirley A. Lamb Fischer, "A Comparative Study of the Effects of Modified Teaching Methods on the Openness of Self-Concept," Dissertation Abstracts, The University of Southern Mississippi, 1969, No. 69-20,150. 59Melvin Haskell Ezell, Jr., "Comparative Effects of Correct and Incorrect Post-Performance Feedback Upon the College Men'Exhibitinngigh 9nd Low Self-Concepts," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Tennessee, 1969, No. 70-2,107. ‘60William Krieger, ”The Effects of the Organized Camping Experience in Self-Concept Change ianelation to Three Variables: Age,.Sex; and Observable BehaviOr Change," Dissertation Abstracts, New Mexico University, 1969, No. 69-20,936. 40 In a four-week camp environment with educable mentally retarded adolescents, Townsend61 found that the campers showed a greater immediate gain in general academic self-concept than the control group but that it was temporary and did not carry over to the second semester. Contrary results with the camping experience were gained by Alexander,62 who found that there was no significant change between the experimental and control groups. Other Techniques Other types of administrative procedures seem to bring varied results. The use of adult males to interact with institutionalized mentally retarded boys was tried by Ghannad.63 The results showed no Significant difference, but the identification did have a positive influence~upon the boys' self-concepts. Schleicher64 concluded that his findings failed to support the thesis that a six-week parental educational program could effect significant positive changes of self-concept, behavior, and academic achievement in students. 61David Townsend, "The Effects of Physical Skills and Academic Self-Concepts on General Self-Concepts and Academic Achievement in a summ9r Camp Environment," Dissertation Abstracts, Michigan State University, 1969, No. 69-20,936. 62Albert Andria Alexander, "Effects of Residential Camping Experience On the Self-Concept of Boys From Low Income Families," Dissertation fltractg. Boston University School of Education, 1969, No. 7o-12,149. 63H- Iloza Ghannad, "The Effects of Planned Interaction of Adult Males With InStxitutionalized Mentally Retarded Boys Upon Their Sex-Roles Identificaition and Self-Concept," Dissertation Abstracts, Brigham Young Universityg 1968, No. 69-3,518. S Gaxilfla Walter Schleicher, The Effects of Parent Education on the '5flétikfllggpt, Achievementtiand Behavior of Educable Mentally Retarded Wdolescents.(Virginia University, 1969), ERIC,"‘Olea"ringhouSe, e Genre-f of Vocational and Technical Education, Order.No. ED 047280. ‘4-—-:cf d_,.,.-, —————- Cu . _ "NC 1-1 ““V L.A - I A. ‘~ .. S22- \ .2:- Can be. 41 DiscuSsion of Studies of Change in Self-Concept In summary, this review underscores the fact that our understanding of the use of the construct self-concept is at an early stage of develop- ment. The above studies seem to indicate the following problems in attempting to change self-concept: (1) Experimental Design. Many studies are poorly designed with no attempt to control intervening variables, (2) Program Quality. It is most difficult to assess the quality of an experimental program designed to produce self-concept improvement. This inability may account for the different findings resulting from use of similar techniques, (3) Generalizable Conclusions. An insufficient amount of consistent work with various types of students,(e.g., the mentally retarded, low socio-economic, etc.) precludes drawing any generalizable conclusions, (4) Time. Length of experimental program seems to be important in attempting to change self-concept. Longitudinal studies have proven more successful than those of minimal length, (5) Age. Pbre success in enhancing self-concept is found with younger children than witji older groups, (6) Individual Interest. Experimental programs that‘work;with participants as important individuals appear to have a greater chance of successfully changing self-concept than using group techniques, (7) Permanence of Change. Permanency of the self-concept Change. as result of these programs, has been ignored. Only one study reviewed aittempts to examine the stability of the self-concept gain, (8) TYPES (Of Self-Concept. Individuals have different types of self- Concepts, :yet most studies deal with the global measure rather than Specificmeasures of some particular sub-element. A more comprehensive coordinated study is needed before self-concept c ' ' an become a.functional dev1ce for educational change. l x. r. . . t , ‘ — — _ — 42 SELF-CONCEPT INSTRUMENTS Instrumentation in the self-concept field is an acute problem. No analysis of the relative merits of different self-concept test instruments being used has been made. Zirkel65 sums the reflection of many students of self-concept: (1) There is a lack of precision in the instruments developed to measure self-concept, (2) The instruments measure different constructs, while the same constructs are measured by different instru- ments, (3) Little information is known regarding any instrument, (4) Many instruments lack validity, reliability, or standardization, (5) The most frequently used formats for self-concept measures are rating scales, open-ended questions, the adjective check list, the semantic differential, and the Q-sort; while some non-verbal instruments have been developed. Some measures reported discrepancies between the real self and ideal self; others used a counselor rating compared to a student rating, while others used a direct report technique. Therefore, it is impossible to objectively select a preferred approach for lack of data. At the present time, there are at least five instruments frequently used to measure a Student's self-concept. Qpppersmith Self-Esteem Inventoty This test uses 42 statements in which a student rates each statement "1ike me" or "unlike me". The 42 items are divided into three subscores as; follows: Twenty-six items relate to self, eight items relate to the Sc3cial-self, and eight items relate to the school-self. A good reference ‘ 65Perry A. Zirkel, "Self-Concept and the Disadvantaged of Ethnic Gr13up Membership and Mixture," Connecticut State Department of Education, IQ£§_Review of Educational Research, Vol. 41, No. 3 (June, 1971), p. 217. “1'.-."- J fl 3211212 Ere a t 61 :his instrett‘ aseries of t .1115 101” -.. . 3 Differential Piers~lrlarris The Pier ccacept score (3) intellect attributes, ( faction. The \I 66Perry “I G‘M‘ Membertl 67Kubinit 68RQme in a Suburbs: "1'16 State 1 p n. L 69Gavle I AEP'~'TC‘EL)tior \r w 70Hodgki. 43 giving greater test detail is found in Zirkel.66 Many studies have used this instrument as the measure of self-concept. The Osgood Semantic Differential The Osgood Semantic Differential is designed for students to rate a series of bi-polar adjective scales. For example, the meaning dimension might be activity and the bi-polar adjective scale would be active-passive, excited-calm, complex-simple, tense-relaxed. Kubiniec,67 Philips,68 Livingston,69 and Hodgkins70 all have used an Osgood Semantic Differential approach. Piers-Harris Self-Concept Inventory (Scale) The Piers-Harris Self-Concept Inventory generates a global self- concept score and six subscores. The six subfactors are: (l) behavior, (2) intellectual and school status, (3) physical appearance and attributes, (4) anxiety, (5) popularity, and (6) happiness and satis- faction. There are 80 items in total with 18 items relating to the 66Perry A. Zirkel and Gnanaraj E. Moses, "Self-Concept in Ethnic Group Membership Among Public School Students," The American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2_(March, 1971), pp. 255-56. 67Kubiniec, loc. cit. 68Romeo Eldridge Philips, "Self-Concept in Student Activities in a Suburban Detroit, Michigan High School," Dissertation Abstracts, WaYDe State University, 1967, No. 68-2;105. 69Gayle Borden Livingston, "A Correlational Analysis of Modes 0f Perception in Judgment and Measures of Self-Concept," Dissertation 駧trracts, Washington State University, 1971, No: 71‘18,5781 70Hodgkins and Stakenas, loc. cit. ._ l _' 52.1ch S 56 it Piers-He: hinessee Se This St :rx;ces sc: Llel’L‘l’fflC: The Br7~ éihty data \ 'ISharOt vCTFIJarative I hildren Us: £35320: T \w’ L 7 7-Rober: l.. aerage Intt 335131 Appr: A»: “tattles AF 5‘, . '- 44 Student's self. Lord,71 Farls,72 Felker,74 and many others have used the Piers-Harris Instrument for measuring self-concept. Tennessee Self-Concept Scale This Scale determines a total self—concept score and, in addition, produces scores for 15 factors. The following researchers have used this instrument: Healey,75 Christian,76 and Queen.77 Brookover Instrument The Brookover instrument was selected for this study since relia- bility data are provided and because it generates the needed self-concept 71Sharon Burmeister Lord, "Self- -Concept of Appalachian Children: A Comparative Study of Economically Poor and Economically Advantaged Children Using the Piers-Harris Self- -Concept Inventory," Dissertation Abstracts, Indiana University, 1971, Nol~7lll4,463l 72Robert James Farls, "The High and Low Achievement of Intellectually Average Intermediate Grade Students Related to the Self-Concept and Social Approval," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Pittsburg, 1967, No. 67-12,388. 73Harold Wendell Lang, "Relationship of the Self-Concept of Fifth- Grade Negro Students with Their Knowledge of Negro Leaders and Events," Dissertation Abstracts, North Texas State University, 1970, No. 71-8,680. 74Donald W. Felker, Self-Concept, Divergent ThinkingtAbilities, and .Attitudes About Creativity and Problem Solving (Lafayette, Indiana: Pufdue'Univérsity; 1971), ERIC, Clearihghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 047347. 75Gary William Healey, "Self-Concept: Comparison of Negro-Anglo- and Spanish American Students Across Ethnic, Sex, and Social Economic Variables," Dissertation Abstracts, New Mexico State University, 1969, No. 70-l,231. 76Quentin Adris Christian, "The Relationship Between Physical Fitness and Self-Concept," Dissertation Abstracts, East Texas State University, 1969 . No. 69-21,165. 77Renee Queen, "A Study of the Relationship Between the Self- -Concepts and IEthnocentricism of Student Teachers and Their Teaching Behavior, " Qfiflisggtation Abstracts, New York University, 1969, No. 69 -21, 221. :flies in a 7 at given in The rev htk of tons imnnclusive reexazine ti variables. Intpattern dass? Many influence st Variabl me those of hi \ Sweet a Girls were 5 K311116619 C CL‘nttol for 45 values in a minimum testing time period. The details of this instrument are given in Chapter III under instrumentation. STUDY VARIABLES The review of self--concept literature has revealed that there is a lack of consistent research design and that generally study results are inconclusive. One weakness noted is that many researchers have neglected to examine the relationship of self-concept to various independent variables. Does student self-concept differ with intelligence, achieve- ment patterns, ethnic or racial identification, sex, school, or social class? Many researchers have hypothesized that these variables do influence study results and that they should be controlled. Variables of particular importance and interest to this researcher are those of sex, intelligence, academic achievement, and social class. Sex Sweet and Nuttal78 controlled for the sex variable in their study. Girls were significantly higher on ideal self-concept than were boys. Kubiniec79 criticized many early research efforts for failing to control for the sex variable in the study of self-concept. Long, Ziller, and Henderson80 claimed that it is important to control for sex, n 78Phyllis R. Sweet and Ronald L. Nuttal, "The Effects of a Tracking SYSI:em on Student Satisfaction and Achievement," The American Educational B£§<=arch Journal, Vol. 8, No. 3 (May,'l97l), pp. 511-20. 79Kubiniec, loc. cit. " 80Barbara H. Long, Robert C. Ziller, and Edmund H. Henderson, DEVVElopmental Changes in the Self-Concept During Adolescence," School m, Vol. 76, No. 2 (June, 1968), pp."210-30. ~‘ the SIJCE' 292.”le that tenet and se self-concept Wile t :entrolled f 46 particularly in the adolescence years, because the developmental stages of the student and the environmental expectations of different sex roles require that they be studied separately. Intelligence Butcher81 found a close relationship between intelligence and self- concept. Gillman82 and Schwarz83 showed Similar results between intelli- gence and self-concept. Contrary results showing no relationship between self-concept and intelligence were found by Knight84 and Lambeth.8S While the results are not conclusive, many definitive studies have controlled for intelligence in the investigation of self-concept. 81Donald George Butcher, "Study of the Relationship of Student Self-Concept to Academic Achievement in Six High Achieving Elementary Schools," Dissertation Abstracts, Michigan State University, 1967, No. 68-7,872. 82Geneva B. Gillman Butcher, "The Relationship Between Self-Concept, Intellectual Ability, Achievement, and Manifest Anxiety Among Selected Groups of Spanish-Surname Migrant Students in New Mexico, ERIC, June 1969, Clearinghouse, The Center of Vocational and Technical Education, Order No. ED 029723. 83Mary Elizabeth Field Schwarz, "The Effect of Teacher Approval on the Self-Concept and Achievement of Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Children: Case Studies of Seven Children and Seven Teachers," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Nebraska Teachers College, 1967, No. 67-9,839. 84Octavia Bowers Knight, ”The Self-Concept of Educable Mentally Retarded Children in Special and Regular Classes," Dissertation Abstracts, University of North Carolina, 1967, No. 68-6,744. 85Hosea DeWood Lambeth, Jr., "Self-Concept of Mentally Retarded (Hfiflldren in Relation to Educational Placement and Developmental Varieflfles," Dissertation Abstracts, University of North Carolina, 1966 , No. 67-5,345. ,. a‘f n»‘-’“ n I 6 Le i O. . J. D. a. QC flu .: 2.”. .2 ‘. “his. I In Fl... A. e O .3 LL. .5 a.» .VL 55 D 9 D: at 9 0 . Ll. . a... S ..L M! Q. .l 5.. .. a r In. D. A... 47 Kubiniec,86 Brookover,87 Johnson,88 Harding,89 and others controlled the intelligence variable. Academic Achievement A number of researchers have found direct relationships between self-concept and academic achievement. Gay90 found that self-concept is influenced more by grade point average than by intelligence. Caplin91 concluded that self-concept is higher with higher achievement. Hayes92 discovered that there was a significant relationship between self-concept of arithmetic ability and the student's achievement. Ozehosky93 studied 86Kubiniec, loc. cit. 87Brookover, _t__l,, Self-Concept of Ability in School Achievement ALLI- 88Alex Alfred Johnson, III, A Study of the Relationship Between Nonpromotion and Male Student's Self-Concept of Academic Ability_and His Perceived Parental, Friends; and Teachers'Evaluation of His Academic Ability, Doctoral Dissertation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1967. 89Kenneth L. Harding, Comparative Study of Caucasian Male High School Students Who Stay in School and Those Who Drop Out, Doctoral Dissertation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1966. 90Cleveland Johnson Gay, "Academic Achievement and Intelligence Among Negro Eighth Grade Students as a Function of Self-Concept," Dissertation Abstracts, North Texas State University, 1966, No. 66-6,409. 91Caplin, loc. cit. 92Edward John Hayes, "The Relationship Between Self-Concept of Arithmetic Ability and Arithmetic Achievement in the Selective Group of Sixth Grade Students," Dissertation Abstracts, Michigan State University, 1967, No. 68-4,150. 93Richard John Ozehosky, "Children's Self-Concept and Kindergarten Achievement," Dissertation Abstracts, St. Johns University, 1967, No. 67-11,4SO. ”O 33.. v ,—~. :- .. I. . . e f‘ h c .1 a E A y e 15... hr w» Ad .... 3: Ga .1 vi e .. a L .. ..-. “it. a»: ‘ a .p u T 0 v”... t C» C» «\x ll h\» v... . . E D Cl 48 kindergarten children and found a positive relationship between achieve- ment and self-concept, even at that age. Pascal94 also found a signifi- cant relationship between self—concept and academic achievement. Achieve- ment, reported Carroll,95 is a dynamic factor in differences found in children's self-concepts. While there is little evidence of conflicting results, Butcher96 is a case in point. He found no overwhelming evidence to prove a close relationship between self-concept and achievement. Socio-Economic Status (SES) Binder97 was adamant that socio-economic status was significantly related to self-concept at the ninth grade level but not at the twelfth grade level. Densley98 discovered that students from low socio-economic levels tend to have a lower self-concept than their counterparts having higher socio-economic level backgrounds. Green and Rohwer, Jr.99 94Billy J. Pascal, "The Role of Self-Concept and Achievement," The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 37 (Fall, 1968), pp. 392-96. 95Rebecca Evans Carroll, "A Comparative Study of the Self-Perceptions of Fifth-Grade Boys and Girls as Learners," Dissertation Abstracts, University of Maryland, 1966, No. 67-2,366. 96Butcher, loc. cit. 97Dorothy Margaret Binder, "The Relationship Among Self-Expectations, Self-Concept, and Academic Achievement," Dissertation Abstracts, Univer- sity of Wisconsin, 1965, No. 65-14,853. 98Kenneth Gordon Densley, "Determining Discrepancies that Might Exist Between Aptitude, Self-Concept, and Measured Aptitude," Dissertation Abstracts, Utah State University, 1967, No. 68-2,559. 99Richard B. Green and William D. Rohwer, Jr., "SES Differences on Learning and Ability Tests in Black Children," American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 8, No. 4 (1971), pp. 601-09. reverted 49 reported a strong positive relationship between socio-economic status and a long-term school learning measure. Carroll100 found contrary results with no significant relationship between self-concept and socio- economic status. SUMMARY OF CHAPTER This review of literature has summarized pertinent studies related to the construct of self—concept with specific reference to the topics of: Self‘Concept Theory, Self-Concept of Vocational Ability, Self-Concept of SuvaroupS~Within the General Population, A Study of Vochtional Stu- dents as a Sub-Group Within the General Student Population, Modification of Self-Concept, Self-Concept Instruments, and Study Variables. Self‘Concept Theory Data show that a concept of self forms through social interaction with others. Social norms and mores influence this developmental process. Self-concept has three dimensions: liking for oneself, satisfaction with one's attainment, and feelings of personal appreciation for others. A person's self-concept enhances or inhibits his behavior or performance in our society. Several authors have demonstrated that a positive relationship exists between a person's self-concept and his achievement in the academic domain. Self:ppncept_of Vocational Ability Individuals do not hold one self—concept in a global sense, but, IOOCarroll, 10c. cit. in fact, h career sel Studies be A St Jr Eating 0th: researcher: Slidents I ‘ :0 VOcéltior wile thes: finch may 1 V hap~ ‘bil’e wo ,"EIP stUde] n_‘ 313: a low germfmance p SO in fact, have many self-concepts. Particularly important is a person's career selection and performance in his occupational role. Several studies have shown a positive relationship between one's self-concept and his selection of and performance in a career. Self -Concept of Sub-Groups Within the General Population Researchers are applying the construct of self-concept to study var ious students within the educational environment. Deaf children, drug users, welfare support children, motor skill deficient children, de 1 inquent children, and many others have all been subject to this imve stigation. A StudLof Vocational Students as a Sub-Group Within the General Population A study of vocational students is consistent with studies investi- gat ing other sub-groups in the general student population. In particular, researchers were quoted having investigated secondary.and post-secondary Students' characteristics. Specifically, student characteristics relating to Vocational programs, career choice, and aspiration were selected. Whi 1e these studies are important, many are weak in research methodology, which may contribute to their inconclusive results. The most compre- hetlSive work has been done at the post-secondary level in an attempt to be 1P students' in their career selections. MID\(1~:.L£1.Cat ion of Sélf -Concept The ultimate reason for studying student self-concept is the hope t hat a low self-concept inhibiting performance may eventually be e Ill-1 anced. An enhanced self-concept increases the quality of student p O o O eI‘formance. Studies reviewed demonstrate several different techniques n \r .r-v v.-- 51 to enhance self-concept are possible. Most results are not conclusive and, in fact, rather conflicting. Self-Concept Instruments Five instruments for measuring self-concept were reviewed. There was a definite lack of data to compare the relative merits of the instruments. Study: Variable 8 Those intervening variables discovered to be important for control purposes were sex, academic achievement, intelligence, and socio- economic status. Evidence is given that these variables do, in fact, relate positively and significantly to self-concept. g# fefitu mfits are 0 '3 [1‘3 ir CHAPTER III RESEARCH PROCEDURES Five main procedural tasks were undertaken: (1) Defining the Setting and Identification of the Population; (2) Choice of Sampling Techniques; (3) Classification of the Variables; (4) Selection of the Testing Instruments; and (5) Data Gathering, Processing, and Analysis. DEFINING THE RESEARCH SETTING AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE STUDY POPULATION The Setting The setting of this study was the State of Utah. As background, features about Utah's population, economy, and educational accomplish- ments are given and deemed important since characteristics of children are often reflections of characteristics of their parents and/or other environmental factors. The State of Utah is mainly an urban state. It has a population of 1,059,273 individuals dichotomized into two main groups: (1) an urban population of 876,344 people, and (2) a rural population of 182,929 people. Approximately 127,000 persons are classified as handicapped in the state.1 1Utah State Board of Vocational-Technical Education, Urban and Rural Disadvantaged and Handicapped Population (Salt Lake City, Utah: State Department of Public Instruction, 1970). 52 \ C h:- ~ 53 Most of Utah's citizens live in urban centers. The Wasatch Front, the counties of Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, and Weber, is the place of residence for 77.3 percent of the people; yet these counties comprise only 4.3 percent of the state's total acreage.2 Workers in the state--383,500 persons--are employed in a hetero- geneous array of industries. Utah's major industries and percentages of employment are depicted in Table 1. TABLE 1 SUMMARY OF UTAH'S MAJOR INDUSTRIES BY PERCENT OF PERSONS EMPLOYED State Industries % of Persons Employed Government 26 Wholesale and Retail Trades 17 Manufacturing 13 Services and Miscellaneous 12 Transportation and Public Utilities 6 Contract Construction 4 Agriculture 4 Finance, Insurance, Real Estate 3 Mining 2 Miscellaneous 13 Total 100 2Jack R. Ockey, "County Population Estimates for Utah, 1969," Economic and Utah Business Review, Vol. 29, No. 11 (November, 1969). 3Utah State Board of Vocational-Technical Education, 1969-1970 State Plans, Part I, II, III (Salt Lake City, Utah: State Department of Public Instruction), p. 231. AU nhL 54 Evidence that Utahns are strong supporters of their educational system is found in their willingness to carry a substantial tax burden. While Utah ranks fortieth in per capita personal income in the nation and is thirtieth in revenue from state and local taxes, it is second in per capita expenditures for higher education.4 Utah's students perform strongly on measures of academic achieve- ment. They rank above national norms in scholastic achievement as judged by standardized tests in all subjects except language and reading} They also rank ninth in the nation in percentage of registrants passing the Armed Forces Qualification Test.S Only within the last few years has vocational education in Utah received substantial recognition from influential people. Recently, the Governor's Office, the Board for Higher Education, the Vocational Board, the Vocational Advisory Council, and many service groups have been cam- paigning for greater financial and moral support for vocational education. Their goal is to pursuade more students to enroll in vocational education. Their case rests chiefly with job availability and the high market demand for qualified employees. Eighty percent of jobs in the state of Utah require less than a four-year baccalaureate degree.6 4Utah Conference on Higher Education, U. C. H. E. Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 3 (February, 1972). 5Utah State Board of Education, How Good are Utah Public Schools? (Salt Lake City, Utah: State Department of Public Instruction, 1971), pp. v-vi. 6Utah State Advisory Council for Vocational-Technical Education, But What About Utah's Vital 801?, The 1970 Annual Report (Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Board of Education, January, 1971). 55 Of the 84,283 secondary (9-12) school students in Utah, there are 52,574 enrolled in a course described as vocational education. Enroll- ments of vocational education in the state appear in Table 2. TABLE 2 SUMMARY OF NUMBERS OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL CLASSES IN UTAH BY VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY .6” ———"—v Vocational Specialty No. of Students Enrolled Agriculture 5,581 Distribution 1,583 Health Occupations 182 Home Economics, Useful (home related) 20,511 Home Economics, Gainful (work related) 419 Office 17,610 Technology (Industrial) 13 Trade and Industry 6,725 Total 52,574 7 The data above show that the largest block of students counted as vocational students was home economics (useful). Some persons, of course, question the "vocational" nature of the home economics classes since the main emphasis is on homemaking rather than gainful employment skills. The second largest block of students counted as vocational 7Utah State Board of Education, op. cit., p. 51. _.,A :r..: .. fl .. r-Wk ..,c .\u .3: a: c. Ubji affer :14“ xv- \ » 56 students was the office education group. Again, the vocational goal of many of these students could be questioned since beginning typewriting and shorthand students were included on the roles while many of these students probably have a personal use objective rather than vocational objective. Also, until objective evidence is found to the contrary, there is a strong suSpicion that many students counted in the agriculture, distributive,-and trade and industry specialty areas would not qualify as being career oriented. There exists, then, some evidence that the large count of students enrolled in vocational education in Utah is due in part to the liberal interpretation of the definition of vocational education. Some type of vocational education offering is available in every county. A map of school districts within the state that offer vocational subjects is found on the following page. The map reveals that: (1) 16 high schools offered five vocational specialties; (2) 52 high schools offered four vocational specialties; (3) 15 high schools offered three vocational specialties; (4) two high schools offered two vocational Specialties; and (5) no high school offered only one vocational specialty. Identification of the Population The subjects under investigation consisted of students enrolled in the senior year of the Utah public high schools, 1971-72, most of whom live in urban areas. The total high school population was divided into two main sub-groups: (1) Vocational Students. A vocational student was one enrolled in a public school class designated as agriculture (Agr.), distributive education (D.E.), home economics (H6. Ec.), office education (O.E.), or technical and industrial (T&I). (2) Non-Vocational Students. 57 UTAH SCHOOL DISTRICTS Logan 0 . (D o . v.5. Programs: T &I. AG, HoEc, BE, DE Box Elder CaChe Rich . v.5. Programs: T & I, AG, HoEc, BE ‘ . . v.15. Programs: T & I, HoEc. BE, DE r 0V.E. Programs: T & I, Hot-2c, BE 08 0V.E. Programs: T & I, HoEc, an a V.E. Programs: HoEc, BE avis . N0 mmit ,5, Sa akg . South Daggett Tooele 0 Summit ta 1 . Park Cit O O JoFdan Duchesne o ' ' lpi . Was ch . Nebo. —* . O Tintic Iuab. anwte Carbon ' o Millard 3°“. ‘* npete . Emery Grand ,0 O Sev1er O O o ’ O 0 Beaver 0 Piute Wayne ’ 0 Iron Garfield San Juan 0 o I m ' 0 Washington 0 Kane 0 " E‘I ‘7 A non-vos ‘n SOC aSbci attro 5: schaols i offered. lcentizie (2) Etude 58 A non-vocational student was one enrolled in a regular academic program not associated with a vocational class. CHOICE OF SAMPLING TECHNIQUES SeVen Utah high schools were selected as the sample for this study. In choosing specific high schools and students, four recognized sampling procedures were employed:8 Cluster Sampling Technique. A cluster sampling technique was used as the first sampling procedure at two stages of the study. (1) School selection. All senior high schools in Utah were categorized by number of vocational specialties offered. Those schools offering at least four vocational specialties were identified; then specific schools selected by a random sampling technique. (2) Student selection. Classes of students were used rather than individ- uals. Since the study population was so large, the cluster procedure was invoked to save the researcher time, expense, travel, administrative effort, and to minimize disruption to school classes. Stratified Sampling_Technique Students were stratified on the basis of (1) curriculum specialty, i.e., five vocational specialties and either senior English or social Studies classes as the control group, and (2) place of residence. This technique was employed to enable inference to be made to the general Student population and its sub-populations. k 8Allan Stuart, Basic Ideas of Scientific Sampling (New York: 'Hafrmer Publishing Company, 1968). 59 Random Samplinngechnigue A random sampling procedure was used to select specific schools from those offering four or more vocational programs. Each school was assigned a number; then with a table of random numbers, seven schools were identified. The senior English or social studies classes were selected from the schools identified by random process. Then, an interview was held with the principal of the schools to determine which two classes of either senior English or social studies would represent the non-vocational students. Care was taken to identify classes enrolling students with a heterogeneous array of characteristics. Where the control classes con- tained one or more students enrolled in a vocational class, those stu- dents were eliminated from the class for analysis purposes. A consistent use of either English or social studies classes was not made since schools were not consistent in graduation requirements for the senior year. In some schools English was required, while in others social studies was the required course at the senior level. Non-Random Sampling The study required at least one school to be classified as rural, so a jury technique was adopted. The jury, comprised of vocational teacher-educators and state department specialists, reviewed all schools selected and classified them rural or urban. Two schools were designated rural; five urban. Subsequent interviews with principals of the seven selected schools proved that only one could accurately be classified rural. This school supplied the data for the statistical purposes of this study. .... -q|.. .... y .. ... .,......1....¢. 60 The above sampling procedures enabled the researcher to infer study results derived from seven schools to the state vocational student popu- lation of like characteristics. Since the sample was randomly selected from schools offering four or more vocational specialties, inference can be drawn only to those schools. Since the sampled classes of two of the vocational areas, office and trade and industry, were limited to specific classes within the specialty, inference can only be made to these classes, i.e., office education shorthand-transcription and trade and industry automotives. Descriptidnvof Spedifichchbdls Selected The schools selected were representative of all geographic areas in the Utah public school system. Table 3 shows that one school, sampling 115 students, was a large city school; four schools, sampling 440 students, were medium sized schools--two located in small towns (consolidated schools) and two located in cities; two schools, sampling 139 students, were from small communities located in sparsely populated areas of Utah. TABLE 3 SUMMARY OF SAMPLE SCHOOLS CLASSIFIED BY GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION AND SIZE OF STUDENT BODY SCHOOL SIZE OF SCHOOL LOCATION SCHOOL 1 City Large xxx 2 Town Medium xx 3 Town Small x 4 Town Small x 5 City Medium xx 6 Town Medium xx 7 City Medium xx xxx 1500 students or more (grades 10-12) xx 600 - 1499 students (grades 10-12) x less than 600 students(grades 9-12) Descrivti —--"—'— The sentative each sch: H SCHOOL Tote Alt the foli math)“ U The day in-g three sc 61 Description of Classes Sampled The selected classes to be studied within each school were repre- sentative of classes in the state. Table 4 shows classes selected from each school with the numbers of students classified by educational class. TABLE 4 NUMBER OF STUDENTS SAMPLED BY EDUCATIONAL CLASS EDUCATIONAL CLASS SCHOOL SCHOOL LOCATION DE OE AGR HO EC T&I ENG&HIST TOTAL 1 City 42 26 8 . 13 17 ' 9 115 2 Town 17 28 27 9 16 10 107 3 Town -- 17 15 13 ll 8 64 4 Town 7 9 13 28 5 13 75 5 City 26 42 -- 24 l9 16 127 6 Town 15 18 12 19 18 20 102 7 City 14 19 20 15 -- 16 84 Total 121 159 95 121 ’ 86 92 674 Although the sampling procedures used ensure a representative sample, the following brief description of each vocational class provides infor- mation useful to the generalizability of this study. The agriculture classes sampled were all full year, one period per day in-school classes. None were cooperative on~the~job dlasses, bUt three schools utilized the project method extensively. .One school, re' 1793 ful Ope 62 for example, constructed and marketed a farm products storage building as All but one class studied farm production units. The its main project. lawn and garden units. Five other class concentrated on horticulture, classes Sponsored Future Farmers of America chapters. The distributive education classes sampled were all full year, one period daily, cooperative method classes. The students had one period released time each day for on-the-job experience supervised by a teacher- cxaordinator. The content taught within the class was oriented to the reetailing industry. Three schools sponsored a Distributive Education Clubs of America chapter. All home economics classes sampled were full year classes with four Lls:ir1g a two-hour block and three using a one~period per day format. Tilee content taught within the classes was homemaking skills except for Three schools sponsored one , which used a child care training program. Filtztlre Homemakers of America chapters. Of the seven office education classes selected, five were full yfiéi]: , one period per day in-school classes. The sixth class utilized a ftllLIL. year, two-hour block. The seventh class utilized a full year co- operative on-the-job phase with one period per day released time super- "1-E=£arum. When staff members had completed scoring all instruments and tli'z-lnsferring the scores to computer forms, a check was made on each Sltaff neuter's results. All obvious differences between staff members' 1tabulations were examined and discussed. 76 Scoring the pilot test papers proved to be a useful training procedure. As scoring procedures began, there were numerous differences between staff members; but as scoring progressed, the problems diminished. Scorers were encouraged to ask for clarification of questions. When scoring of the pilot study was completed, the research staff applied the same procedure to the study data. (5) Computer Key Punching. Following entry of data on computer laboratory data coding forms, an experienced key punch operator punched the computer cards. (6) The Computer Run. An experienced statistician and computer operator at Utah State University then supervised the running of the program through the University com- puter. Statistical Analysis The statistical model used for this study was an analysis of 'variance randomized block design, utilizing treatment effects, i.e., ‘vocational and non-vocational group. The basic assumption of this ciesign is that all variations within treatments are due to random \Iariations within the groups. The main task was to test to see if the variable scores were similar in each group. If they proved : similar then there was no significant difference between groups. An analysis of covariance was used to adjust the mean scores (£18 in H2 and H5) to control for variables that may have an influence L1Pon the dependent variables. A correlation matrix was used to identify relationships between a1 1 variables . CHAPTER IV FINDINGS The study findings are presented in the following seven sections: (1) Vocational and Non-Vocational Student Characteristics Compared; (2) Vocational Specialty Area Characteristics Compared; (3) Students Enrolled in Vocational Specialties Compared to Non-Vocational Students; (4) Homegeneity Within Each Vocational Specialty Class; (5) Influence of Vocational Classes on Student's Self-Concepts; (6) Importance of the Independent Variables; and (7) Self-Concepts Compared. VOCATIONAL AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS COMPARED In overview, the data presented in this section reveal that there ‘WEIewremarkably few differences in selected measures of student characteristics that would differentiate the Utah vocational student from the non-vocational student. From a macro perSpective, the two grouPs of students were more similar than they were different. Data 111 TFables 7-15 and Figures 2-6 indicate that only on the variable of academic achievement did non-vocational students score significantly higher than the vocational group; and vocational students scored higher t'*311 their non-vocational counterparts on the one variable of vocational Self-concept. On the dimensions of intelligence, socio-economic status, self-concept of academic ability and the perceived parents', perceived 77 78 friends', and perceived teachers' concepts of academic ability, these two groups were not significantly different. However, non-vocational students' scores were quantitatively higher in most dimensions than vocational students' scores, but none of these differences were statis- tically significant. Table 7 shows that the non-vocational students' mean scores were higher than the vocational students' mean scores on most variables but that the variability of the values was greater for the non-vocational group than for the vocational group. TABLE 7 MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION SCORES FOR EIGHT VARIABLES COMPARING VOCATIONAL WITH NON-VOCATIONAL UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS MEANS' “ESTANDARD DEVIATION VARIABLES voc. NON-VOC‘ voc ' NONBVOC’. Intelligence 81.37. 84.67 I L .89. .9 2.23 . GPA 2.89 3.08 .27. . .67 . SES 42.75 47.71 ' 1.03 2.58 . SCAA 28.33 29.15 .20. .51 SCVA 31.71 31.26 ' .18.‘ .45 . PPAA 19.76 20.16 .15. .38 . PFAA 18.84 19:37 .14.' .34 PTAA 18.73 19.00 .15." .38 . 79 Using the analysis of variance for the test of significance with no variables controlled, and an analysis of covariance where the variables intelligence, grade point average, and socio-economic status are con- trolled, details illustrating the relationships between the two treatment groups are presented variable by variable. Intelligence Table 8 shows that when vocational seniors and non-vocational seniors were compared on the variable intelligence, no significant dif- ference was found at an alpha level of .05, even though the non-vocational group scores were considerably higher. TABLE 8 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF INTELLIGENCE MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VOCATIONAL AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 634 275,020.20 Between 1 546.40 546.40 1.26 Within 633 274,473.80 433.61 A frequency polygon (Figure 2) graphically shows that the non- vocational group possessed higher intelbigeqcu scores as exhibited by n higher‘penked and slightly skewed to the right grnnh line. 8O HQCOHquO>IGOZXIIIIXIIIIxIII HNGOHHQUO> O O mmonmm doomom muHm mIZOZ az< A mom mmmoom MUZNUHAAMHZH mo ZOHHDmHMHmHQ N MMDUHm mucowfiaaouaH 304 mNH mHH moH mm mm mm me mm me mm mm mH m l A \\ a .u I- \ . J» \x...x\ / k\ / . \. / \ J» . \. 0H ma 0N mm on Percentage of Students in Each Interval (D (7 81 Academic Achievement Grade point average reported by the students was the measure selected to gauge students' academic achievement. Table 9 demonstrates that when Utah senior vocational students' grade point averages were compared with non-vocational students' grade point averages, there was a significant difference. The non-vocational group was significantly higher than the vocational. TABLE 9 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VOCATIONAL AND NONfVOCATIONAL STUDENTS SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 634 24,822.67, Between 1 289.36 289.36 7.47* Within 633 24,533.31 38.76 *significant alpha .05 A frequency polygon (Figure 3) graphiCnlly illustrates the significant difference between the two student groups on the variable academic achievement. .82. ammo“umoo>nSOZaanaxnnauxuaun Hmcowumoo> o o mmonmm Hoomum mem mIZOZ 92¢ A mom mmu< HZHom mn< udaom opmuo ucwpsum mm.m mn.m mm.m mm.m m~.m m¢.N mn.~ mm.~ mm.~.-m~.~ mm.H mm.H mm.H mm.a rs, my; .1, \/ \.. x-- \./{\ , \\ /. Boa mH.H mm. ‘ 0H ma om N Percentage of Students in Each Interval 83 Socio-Economic Status (SES) Duncan Index scores were used to measure socio-economic status. Table 10 reveals that when Utah senior vocational students were compared with non-vocational seniors on the variable socio-economic status, there was a higher but not significant difference (alpha .05) in favor of the non-vocational group. TABLE 10 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VOCATIONAL AND NONfiVOCATIONAL STUDENTS SOURCE DF 88 MS F Total 634 368,903.50 Between 1 1,850.43 1,850.43 3.19 Within 633 367,053.10 579.86 A frequency polygon (Figure 4) graphically portrays the difficulty in describing differences in socio-economic status for these two groups. 84 Hugo“umoo>ucoZuuuuxununxnnJu Hmcoflumoo> -o o mHZMQDHm Hoomom :UHm mIZOZ Qz< A mom mmmoom mam mo ZCHHDQHMHmHo e mMDUHm swam mamom mam cmoaao mes ma mm we we mm as mm AN ma m IIIXn/l \\ . x , a , if a \f . / e z x x. /e x . \ x \ I c \ 1 Jr/ 4 77.. OH ma ON mm om Percentage of Students in Each Interval .... (......lr Swish”. L.“ 85 Self-Concept of Academic Ability (SCAA) Brookover's instrument was used to acquire data for students' self-concepts of academic ability. Table 11 shows the relationship between groups when Utah senior vocational students were compared with non-vocational seniors on the variable of self-concept of academic ability. A higher but non-significant difference (alpha .05) was found in favor of non-vocational students. TABLE 11 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SELF-CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC ABILITY MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VOCATIONAL AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS SOURCE DF SS MB F Total 634 14,212.54 Between 1 50.60 50.60 2.26 Within 633 14,161.93 22.37 A frequency polygon (Figure .5) graphically illustrates how closely matched the two groupsrnme on the self-concept of academic ability dimension. 86 HNCOHUGUO>ICOZIIIINIIIIXIIII HNCOHUNOO> O O mhzmnbfim Hoomom muHm :49: AIZOZ Gz< A mom mmmoom VHHAHQ< UHZmascoztuutxnunnxuuut choHumoo> O mezmnbem Hoomom mUHm m1ZOZ 92¢ A mom mmmoom VHHAHm< A mo HmmOZOUnmAMm mo ZOHHDmHMHmHQ o mMDUHm swam monoom kuwawn< chowumoo> uaoocootMHom 30A m.am m.Nm m.mm m.mm m.Hm m.m~ m.NN m.mN m.m~ m.H~ m.¢H m.NH m.m~ I. Willa v«l/x \ /\x\ / . \T \A - I If \x\ \ . .Ix . \ x \x / \ x . ax /. J o ”& CH ma om mm N Percentage of Students in Each Interval 90 TABLE 14 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF SELF-CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL ABILITY MEAN SCORES WHEN CONTROLLING INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VOCATIONAL AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS SOURCE DF MS ADJ. F Groups 1 70.75 4.45* Between 4 249.53 15.68 Within 629 15.92 *significant alpha Perceived Parentsi, Friends', and Teachers' Concepts of Self (PFAA) PFAA, PTAA) Brookover's instruments were used to collect data for these three self-concept measures. Table 15, demonstrates that‘wheh”vocational students were compared to non-vocational, no significant difference was found. Summary of Comparison of Vocational and Non-Vocational Student Charac- teristics Hypothesis 1, following, was rejected. There will be a significant difference between vocational and non-vocational students' mean scores of intelligence, academic achievement, and socio-economic status. 91 TABLE 15 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF PERCEIVED PARENTS', PERCEIVED FRIENDS', AND PERCEIVED TEACHERS' CONCEPTS OF ACADEMIC ABILITY MEAN SCORES WHEN COMPARING VOCATIONAL AND NON- VOCATIONAL UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS CRITERIA SOURCE DF SS MS F Perceived Total 634 7,832.07 Parents Between 1 12.12 12.12 .98 Within 633 7,819.95 12.35 Perceived Total 634 6,492.23 Friends Between 1 20.82 20.82 2.04 Within 633 6,471.42 10.22 Perceived Total 634 7,880.43 Teachers Between 1 5.33 5.33 .43 Within 633 7,875.10 12.44 92 Hypothesis 2, following, was also rejected. There will be a significant difference between vocational and non-vocational students' mean scores of acadeuuc ability, self-concept of vocational ability, perceived parental evaluation of academic ability, perceived friends' evaluation of academic ability. This significant dif- ference will hold firnnwhen the variables of intelligence, academic achievement, and socio-economic status are controlled. Most resultstsho'wed similarity when comparing Utah vocational and non- vocational students on the variables of intelligence, socio-economic status, self-concept of academic ability, and their perceptions of parents', friends', and teachers' feelings of their academic abilities. Non-vocational students scored significantly higher than their vocational peers on the variable of academic achievement. Vocational students, on the other hand, scored significantly higher on self-concept of vocational ability. These results are in direct conflict with Wamhoff's.1 He found significant differences in Junior College vocational and non-vocational students on their self-concepts of academic ability, but no significant difference on their self-concepts of vocational ability. However, the results support the Oman2 study, which found significant differences on self-concept of vocational ability, but no significant difference on self-concept of academic ability when comparing the two groups at the Junior College level. 1Carroll H. Wamhoff, "Self-Concept of Occupational Ability and Relation to Selected Factors and Creative Elements," Dissertation Abstracts, Michigan State University, 1969, No. 69-20,950. 2Ronald Nelé Oman, Seldeoncept of Occupational Ability and Related Characteristics in Community College Occupational Academic Students, Doctoral Dissertation, Michigan State University, 1971, pp. 23- 31. 93 VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREA CHARACTERISTICS COMPARED The cause of so little significant difference between the two groups was puzzling. State vocational educators have complained that they have the "dummy" kids and that administrators and counselors have used their programs as a "dumping ground." Yet, the facts of the last section showed little difference between the two groups. Why? A possible explanation of the few significant differences found in the last section, when comparing the vocational and non-vocational groups on each of the seven main variables, rests with the fact that there exists a greater degree of difference within the vocational group than exists between the vocational and non-vocational groups. There is a significant difference when comparing means of the vocational specialties (DE, OE, AGR, HO EC, T&I) on every variable except the perceived self-concept variables. Intelligence A wide range of means and standard deviations of the intelligence variable was anticipated when Specialty areas were compared one to another; however, its extent was startling. The range of intelligence mean scores and standard deviations for each vocational specialty are shown in Table 16. The scores of agriculture and distributive education students were on the low end of the mean value continum, while office education and trade and industry students' socres were on the high end. Trade and industry and agriculture students portrayed higher standard deviation values. 94 TABLE 16 SUMMARY OF MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE SCORES COMPARING VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS VOC SPECIALTY MEANS SD DE 76.60 .1.90 OE 89.52 1.64 AGR 75.02 2.13 HO EC 80.00 1.95 T&I 85.65 2.24 Overall 81.97 The analysis of variance detail in Table 17 reveals that this difference was significant (alpha .05). Academic Achievement The means and standard deviations of students' grade point averages for each vocational specialty area are documented in Table 18. Again, office education students scored high, but in this case, trade and industry students' scores switched from high to low, with agri- culture and distributive education scores falling close to the low. Home economics student scores are close to the overall mean. 95 TABLE 17 AN ANALYSIS FOR VARIANCE OF INTELLIGENCE MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS DF SS MS F 547 241,310.50 Between 4 17,940.16 4,485.04 10.90* 543 223,370.30 411.36 *significant alpha .05 TABLE 18 SUMMARY OF MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS 0F GRADE POINT AVERAGES WHEN COMPARING VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS VOC SPECIALTY MEANS SD DE 2.73 .54 OE 3.25 .46 AGR 2.65 .60 HO EC 3.00 .56 .63 T&I 2.60 Overall 2.89 96 The analysis of variance detail of Table 19 shows that these differencesvnme statistically significant. TABLE 19 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF GRADE POINT AVERAGE MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS ——~¢..a--a SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 547 216350 Between 4 38.65 9.66 29.50* Within 543 177.85 .33 *significant alpha .05 Socio-Economic Status The means and standard deviations of students' socio-economic status scores classified by vocational specialty are given in Table 20. ' Agriculture students* trad low socio-economic scores while distributive and office students possessed the higher values. Home economics and trade and industry student socio-economic scoresvune grouped fairly high. The analysis of variance detail of Table 21 shows that SES value differences between vocational specialtiesfiere significant. *In retrospect the Duncan Index does not appear sensitive enough to register adequately the socio-economic level of persons working in the agriculture industry. 97 TABLE 20 SUMMARY OF MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC SCORES WHEN COMPARING VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS VOC SPECIALTY MEANS SD DE 45.94 2.26 OE 45.97 1.95 AGR 32.29 2.53 HO EC 44.85 2.32 T&I 41.13 2.66 Overall 42.75 TABLE 21 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 546 330,203.20 Between 4 13,405.06 3,351.26. 5.74* Within 543 316,798.20 583.42 *significant alpha .05 98 Self-concept of Academic Ability A wide range in means and standard deviations of self-concept of academic ability scores existed when comparing vocational specialties as shown in Table 22. Office education students' mean scores were highest, trade and industry Students' scores were lowest, and all Other vocational classes were grouped near the overall mean. TABLE 22 SUMMARY OF MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF SELF-CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC ABILITY SCORES COMPARING VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS VOC SPECIALTY MEANS SD DE 28.36 .43 OE 30.02 .37 AGR 27.08 .48 HO EC 28.23 .44 T&I 26.65 .50 Overall 28.33 The analysis of variance detail of Table 23 indicates that these differences were significant . Table 24 portrays that the difference in self-concept of academic ability between specialty areas was still significant when controlling variables of intelligence, academic achievement, and socio-economic status. 99 TABLE 23 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SELF-CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC ABILITY MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH SENIORS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 547 120,048.80 Between 4 813.26 203.32 9.87* Within 543 11,191.61 20.61 *significant alpha 105 TABLE 24 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF SELF-CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC ABILITY MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH SENIORS ENROLLED IN V0: CATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS WHERE INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC'ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIOjECONOMIC STATUS VARIABLES ARE CONTROLLED SOURCE DF MS ADJ. F Total 4 "31.26 2.62* Between 4 ‘ 1,188.79 99.55 Within 539 11.94 *significant alpha .05 I I. . 3"th ‘ ... 100 Self-Concept of Vocational Abilipy Unlike the other tests of significance in this section, Table 25 reports that the mean and standard deviation measures for self-concept of academic ability over each vocational specialty area were similar when no variables were controlled. TABLE 25 SUMMARY OF MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF SELF-CONCEPT OF'VOCATIONAL ABILITY SCORES COMPARING VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS VOC SPECIALTY MEANS SD DE 32.30 .39 OE 31.85 .34 AGR 32.12 .44 HO EC 30.97 .40 T&I 31.13 .46 Overall 31.71 Table 26 shows no significant difference between the vocational Specialties in self-concept of vocational ability scores. When, however, the means were adjusted for the variables intelligence, grade point average, and socio-economic status, the test of significance became significant (Table 27). There was a difference in self-concept of 101 vocational ability scores when students were compared by vocational specialties with the above mentioned variables controlled. TABLE 26 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SELF-CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL ABILITY MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH SENIORS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREASi SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 547 9,593.29 Between 4 143.77 35.94 2.06 Within 543 9,449.51 17.40 TABLE 27 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF SELF-CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL ABILITY MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH SENIORS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS‘ WHERE INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS VARIABLES ARE CONTROLLED ...; SOURCE DF MS ADJ . F Total 4 41.89 2.64* Between 4 220.29 13.86 Within 539 15.90 *significant alpha .05 102 Perceived Parents', Friends', and Teachers' Concgpts of Self The perceived evaluations of parents', friends', and teachers' were treated together in the one table because the results were Similar. Table 28 illustrates that office education students had the highest mean scores, trade and industry students had the lowest mean scores, and that the other class scores were scattered between the two extremes. TABLE 28 SUMMARY OF MEANS OF STUDENTS' PERCEIVED SELF-CONCEPT SCORES WHEN COMPARING VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS VOC SELF-CONCEPT MEASURES SPECIALTY PPAA PFAA PTAA DE 19.63 18.64 18.54 OE 20.19 20.12 19.75 AGR 18.97 18.03 18.08 HO EC 19.82 18.95 18.97 T&I 18.59 17.48 17.51 Overall 19.76 18.84 18.73 An analysis of variance, having no variables controlled, documents the fact that a significant difference existed on all the three self- concept variables when comparing vocational and non-vocational students as shown in Table 29. 103 TABLE 29 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF PERCEIVED PARENTS', PERCEIVED FRIENDS', AND PERCEIVED TEACHERS' CONCEPTS OF ACADEMIC ABILITY MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS CRITERIA SOURCE DF SS MS F PPAA Total 547 6,722.20 Between 4 374.50 93.63 8.01* Within 543 6,347.71 11.69 PFAA Total 547 5,391.12 Between 3 470.17 117.54 12.97* Within 543 4,921.02 9.06 PTAA Total 547 6,643.10 Between 3 330.39 82.60 7.11* Within 543 6,312.71 11.63 *significant alpha .05 However, the score differences became non-significant when these three self-concept measures were adjusted for intelligence, socio- economic status, and grade point average as shown in Table 30. 104 TABLE 30 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF PERCEIVED PARENTS', PERCEIVED FRIENDS', AND PERCEIVED TEACHERS' CONCEPTS OF ACADEMIC ABILITY MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS WHEN INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS VARIABLES ARE CONTROLLED CRITERIA SOURCE DF MS ADJ. F PPAA Treatment 4 10.36 1.27 Between 4 490.86 60.35 Within 539 8 13 PPFA Treatment 4 11.55 1.87 Between 4 399.32 64.76 Within 539 6.17 PPTA Treatment 4 12.98 1.67 Between 4 531.57 68.44 Within 539 7.77 105 Apparently students of the vocational Specialties were not significantly different in the way they perceivedtunv"iuportant others" view their academic abilities when these independent variables were controlled. Summary of Vocational Specialty Students Compared The vocational classes in Utah were not homogeneous. Charac- teristicswmreidifferent when comparing students across vocational specialty classes. The student scores of intelligence, academic achieve- ment, socio-economic status, self-concept of academic ability, and self- concept of vocational ability were all significantly different when the various vocational classes were compared. STUDENTS ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL SPECIALTIES COMPARED TO NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS ON SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS The previous section has demonstrated that vocational specialty classes were significantly different on most variables, but insufficient information about the dimensions of that difference was given. How do each of the specialty areas compare with the control group? Which variables are significant and which are not? The purpose of this section is to supply the dimensionality of this difference. Distributive Education Evidence that Utah distributive education students were more homogeneous (standard deviation scores) than their non-vocational peers but significantly lower than their non-vocational peers on the dimensions of intelligence and grade point average is given in Table 31 and Table 32. 106 TABLE 31 MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION SCORES FOR EIGHT VARIABLES COMPARING DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION ENROLLEES WITH NON-VOCATIONAL UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS MEANS . STANDARD DEVIATIONS VARIABLES DE NON-VOC DE NON-VOC Intelligence 76.60 . 84.67. 1.90 2.23 GPA 2.73 3.08 .54 .67 SES 45.94 47.71 2.26 2.58 SCAA 28.36 29.15 .43 .51 SCVA 32.30 31.26 .39 .45 PPAA 19.63 20.16 .34 .38 PFAA 18.64 19.37 .30 .34 PTAA 18.54 19.00 .35 .38 Distributive education students also scored lower on all factors except self-concept of vocational ability than their non-vocational counterparts; however, the differences were not statistically significant. When the factors intelligence, academic achievement, and socio- economic status were controlled, Table 33 shows that the variable of vocational ability became statistically significant. 107 TABLE 32 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SELECTED VARIABLE MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION AND‘NON4VOCATIONALISTUDENTS CRITERIA SOURCE DF SS MS F Intelli- Total 200 73,188.39 gence Between 1 3,213.62 3,213.62 9.14* Within 199 69,974.77 351.63 GPA Total 200 72.53 Between 1 6.22 6.22 18.66* Within 199 66.31 .33 SES Total 200 '104,339.70 Between 1 155.30 155.30 .29 Within 199 104,184.40 523.54 SCAA Total 200 4,574.09 Between 1 30.78 30.78 1.35 Within 199 4,543.31 22.83 SCVA Total 200 3,689.52 Between 1 52.74 52.74 2.89 Within 199 3,636.78 18.28 PPAA Total 200 2,554.10 Between 1 13.83 13.83 1.08 Within 199 2,540.27 12.77 PFAA Total 200 2,038.60 Between 1 26.11 26.11 2.58 Within 199 2,012.48 10.11 PTAA Total 200 2,722.55 Between 1 10.27 10.27 .75 Within 199 2,712.28 13.63 *significant alpha .05 108 TABLE 3 3 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF SELECTED SELF-CONCEPT MEAN SCORES WHEN CONTROLLING INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS VARIABLE SOURCE DF MS ADJ. F SCAA Treatment 1 .46.83 3.11 Between 4 402.16 26.72 Within 195 15.05 £6625. """"" v1.3.3.6; """"" I """" i553; """"""" 9321'" Between 4 54.86 3.13 Within 195 17.52 1313;; """"" £25.63; """"" i """"" £5.25 """""" 5.75"" Between 4 190.18 20.84 With1n 195 9 13 13%;}. """"" EQQEQQE """"" I """"" §T6§"""""".'§é"" Between 4 116.31 14.66 Within 195 7.93 13%;; """"" {4.25.152 """"" i """"" SIS; """""" 537" Between 4 176.10 17.10 Within 195 10.30 *significant alpha .05 109 Office Education Table 34 shows Utah office education students were more homogeneous (standard deviation scores) and scored significantly higher than their non-vocational peers in intelligence and academic achievement. TABLE 34 MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION SCORES FOR EIGHT VARIABLES COMPARING OFFICE EDUCATION ENROLLEES WITH NON- VOCATIONAL UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS MEANS STANDARD DEVIATIONS VARIABLES OE NON-VOC OE NON-VOC Intelligence 89.52 84.67 1.64 2.23 GPA 3.25 3.08 .46 .67 SES 45.97 47.71 1.95 2.58 SCAA 30.02 29.15 .37 .51 SCVA 31.85 31.26 .34 .45 PPAA 20.19 20.16 .25 .38 PFAA 20.12 19.37 .25 .34 PTAA 19.75 19.00 .25 .38 Office education students also scored higher on all other dimensions except socio-economic status, but the differences were not significant. TableITS Shows that only on the variables of intelligence and academic achievement were the differences significant. AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SELECTED VARIABLE MEAN SCORES AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS 110 TABLE 35 FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR OFFICE EDUCATION CRITERIA SOURCE DF SS MS F Intelli- Total 239 79.795.46 gence Between 1 1,307.96 1,307.96 .97* Within 238 78,487.50 329.78 GPA Total 239 68.96 Between 1 1.52 1.52 .38* Within 238 67.44 .28 SES Total 239 130,577.14 Between 1 167.68 167.68 .31 Within 238 130,409.70 547.94 SCAA Total 239 4,460.00 Between 1 42.00 42.00 .26 Within 238 4,418.00 15.65 SCVA Total 239 3,743.46 Between 1 19.00 19.00 .21 Within 238 3,724.46 15.65 PPAA Total 239 2,487.46 Between 1 31.00 31.00 .00 Within 238 2,456.47 10.32 PFAA Total 239 2,330.60 Between 1 31.73 31.73 .28 Within 238 2,298.87 9.66 PTAA Total 239 2,381.87 Between 1 31.33 31.33 .17 Within 238 2,350.56 9.88 *significant alpha .05 111 Table 36 indicates that controlling for intelligence, grade point average, and socio-economic status made no significant difference to self-concept scores when comparing office education students with non-vocational students. TABLE 36 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF SELECTED SELF-CONCEPT MEAN SCORES WHEN CONTROLLING INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR OFFICE EDUCATION AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS VARIABLE SOURCE DF MS ADJ . F SCAA Treatment 1 24.48 2.37 Between 4 499.77 48.35 Within 234 10.34 SCVA Treatment ' l 26.58 1.90 Between 4 112.00 8.00 Within 234 14.00 PPAA Treatment 1 15.90 2.80 Between 4 282.87 49.96 Within 234 5.67 PFAA Treatment 1 1.07 .16 Between 4 196.04 30.29 Within 234 6.47 PTAA Treatment 1 14.79 2.20 Between 4 193.67 28.76 Within 234 6.73 112 Agriculture Education Table 37 shows agriculture students were almost as heterogeneous (standard deviation scores) tnnzwere significantly lower than their non- vocational peers on all variables except self—concept of vocational abilit and erceived teachers' conce ts of academic abilit . Y P P Y TABLE 37 MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION SCORES FOR EIGHT VARIABLES COMPARING SENIOR AGRICULTURE EDUCATION ENROLLES WITH NON-VOCATIONAL UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS MEANS STANDARD DEVIATIONS VARIABLES AGR NON-VOC AGR NON-VOC Intelligence 75.02 84.67 .2.17 2.23 GPA 2.65 3.08 .60 .67 SES 32.29 47.71 2.53 2.58 SCAA 27.08 29.15 .48 .53 SCVA 32.12 31.26 .44 .45 PPAA 18.97 20.16 .37 .38 PFAA 18.03 19.37 .35 .35 PTAA 18.08 19.00 .38 .38 Table 38 illustrates that agriculture students scored significantly lower on the variables of intelligence, academic achievement, socio- economic status, self-concept of academic ability, and perceived parents' and friends' concepts of academic ability. 113 TABLE 38 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SELECTED VARIABLE MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR AGRICULTURE AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS CRITERIA SOURCE DF SS MS F Intelli- Total 177 79,848.59 . gence Between 1 4,137.30 4,137.30 9.62* Within 176 75,711.29 430.18 GPA Total 177 68.20 Between 1 8.48 8.48 25.00* Within 176 59.72 .34 SES Total 177 93,541.60 Between 1 10,585.21 10,585.21 22.46* Within 176 82,956.39 471.34 SCAA Total 177 4,576.56 Between 1 191.04 191.04 7.67* Within 176 4,385.52 24.92 SCVA Total 177 3,355.22 Between 1 32.63 32.63 1.73 Within 176 3,322.59 18.88 PPAA Total 177 2,260.05 Between 1 63.40 63.40 5.08* Within 176 2,196.65 12.48 PFAA Total 177 1,990.38 Between 1 79.25 79.25 7.30 Within 176 1,911.13 10.86 PTAA Total 177 2,352.36 Between 1 37.90 37.90 2.88 Within 176 2,314.46 13.15 *significant alpha .05 114 Table 39 illustrates that when an analysis of covariance was applied to the self-concept measures, self-concept of vocational ability scores for agricultural students were significantly greater than the scores of the non-vocational students; but self-concept of academic ability, per- ceived parents' and perceived friends' concepts of academic ability were non-significant. TABLE 39 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF SELECTED SELF-CONCEPT MEAN SCORES WHEN CONTROLLING INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS FOR SENIOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL AGRICULTURE AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS VARIABLE SOURCE DF MS ADJ. F SCAA Treatment 1 .44 2.85 Between 4 438.23 28.63 Within 172 15.31 SCVA Treatment 1 92.07 5.38* Between 4 94.46 5.32 Within 172 17.12 PPAA Treatment 1 1.76 21.42 Between 4 195.90 23.55 Within 172 8.22 PFAA Treatment 1 .61 7.90 Between 4 143.28 18.42 Within 172 7.78 PTAA Treatment 1 3.44 .40 Between 4 211.41 24.76 Within 172 8.54 *significant alpha .05 Home Economics 115 Utah home economics students, while classified as vocational, were virtually indistinguishable from non-vocational students on all dimensions. No significant differences were discovered when comparing the two groups. Table 40 demonstrates the similarity of the mean and standard deviation scores. TABLE 40 MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION SCORES FOR EIGHT VARIABLES COMPARING HOME ECONOMICS ENROLLEES WITH NON-VOCATIONAL UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS MEANS STANDARD DEVIATION VARIABLES HO EC NON-VOC HO EC NON-VOC Intelligence 80.00 34.67 1. 1.95 2.23 GPA 3.00 3.08 .56 .67 SES 44.85 47.71 2.32 2.58 SCAA 28.23 29.15 .44 .51 SCVA 30.97 31.26 .40 .45 PPAA 19.82 20.16 .35 .38 PFAA 18.95 19.37 .32 .34 PTAA 18.97 19.00 .35 .38 Table 41 shows that no variables were significantly different when comparing these two groups of students. 116 TABLE 41 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SELECTED VARIABLE MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR HOME ECONOMICS AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS CRITERIA SOURCE DF SS MS F Intelli- Total 194 88,526.69 gence Between 1 1,049.35 1,049.35 2.32 Within 193 87,477.33 453.25 GPA Total 194 73.33 Between 1 .35 .35 .94 Within 193 72.98 .38 SES Total 194 101,859.80 Between 1 394.35 394.35 .75 Within 193 101,465.40 SCAA Total 194 4,500.87 Between 1 40.60 40.60 1.76 Within 193 4,460.27 23.11 SCVA Total 194 3,189.95 Between 1 4.11 4.11 .25 Within 193 3,185.58 PPAA Total 194 2,506.87 Between 1 5.47 5.47 .42 Within 193 2,2501.4l 12.96 PFAA Total 194 2,237.26 Between 1 8.26 8.26 .72 Within 193 2,229.00 11.55 PTAA Total 194 2,546.95 Between 1 3.72 3.72 28.17 Within 193 2,546.92 13.20 117 The analysis of covariance in Table 42 shows that when comparing home economic students and non-vocational students, with variables intelligence, grade point average, and socio-economic status controlled, all self-concept scores remained non-Significant. TABLE 42 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF SELECTED SELF-CONCEPT MEAN SCORES WHEN CONTROLLING INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS, FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR HOME ECONOMICS AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS VARIABLES SOURCE DF MS ADJ. F SCAA Treatment 1 12.60 .98 Between 4 505.31 39.16 Within 189 12.90 SCVA Treatment 1 8.11 .57 Between 4 120.95 8.46 Within 189 14.30 PPAA Treatment 1 18.15 2.32 Between 4 255.15 32.57 Within 189 7.83 PFAA Treatment 1 9.23 1.19 Between 4 190.04 24.45 Within 189 7.77 PTAA Treatment 1 30.16 3.47 Between 4 226.42 26.07 Within 189 8.68 118 Trade and Industry Education Table 43 illustrates the somewhat greater variability but lower mean scores of Utah trade and industry students when compared to the non-vocational students on all but one of the selected variables-- intelligence. TABLE 43 MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATION SCORES FOR EIGHT VARIABLES. COMPARING SENIOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY ENROLLEES WITH NON-VOCATIONAL UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS MEANS STANDARD DEVIATION VARIABLES T&I NON-VOC T&I NON-VOC Intelligence 86.65 84.67 .2.24 2.23 GPA 2.60 3.08 .63 .67 SES 41.13 47.71 2.66 2.58 SCAA 26.65 29.15 .50 .51 SCVA 31.13 31.26 .46 .45 PPAA 18.59 20.16 .40 .38 PFAA 17.48 19.37 .40 .34 PTAA 17.51 19.00 .43 .38 Table 44 demonstrates icantly higher scores than significantly lower scores that trade and industry students had signif- the non-vocational group on intelligence, but on most other study variables. 119 TABLE 44 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF SELECTED VARIABLE MEAN SCORES FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR TRADE'AND INDUSTRY AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS CRITERIA SOURCE DF SS MS F Intelli- Total 168 77,576.59 gence Between 1 40.51 40.51 8.73* Within 167 77,536.08 464.29 GPA Total 168 67.45 Between 1 11.87 11.87 35.66* Within 167 55.58 .33 SES Total 168 83,858.18 Between 1 1.826.84 1,826.84 3.72 Within 167 83,031.34 491.21 SCAA Total 168 4,434.28 Between 1 264.48 264.48 10.59* Within 167 4,169.80 24.97 SCVA Total 168 2,665.16 Between 1 .72 .72 4.49* Within 167 2,664.44 15.95 PPAA Total 168 2,246.44 Between 1 104.79 104.79 8.17* Within 167 2,141.65 12.82 PFAA Total 168 2,021.82 Between 1 151.14 151.14 13.49* Within 167 1,870.68 11.20 PTAA Total 168 2,641.93 Between 1 93.44 93.44 6.12 Within 167 2,548.49 15.26 *significant alpha .05 120 When an analysis of covariance was applied to control for intelli- gence, academic achievement, and socio-economic status, all self-concept variables Showed non-significance as portrayed in Table 45. TABLE 45 AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE OF SELECTED SELF-CONCEPT MEAN SCORES WHEN CONTROLLING INTELLIGENCE, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS, FOR UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AND NON-VOCATIONAL STUDENTS VARIABLES SOURCE DF MS ADJ. F SCAA Treatment 1 25.34 1.76 Between 4 454.92 31.55 Within 163 14.42 SCVA Treatment 1 6.40 .43 Between 4 55.37 3.69 Within 163 14.99 PPAA Treatment 1 7.29 .88 Between 4 200.29 24.35 Within 163 8.22 PFAA Treatment 1 9.22 1.18 Between 4 150.16 19.27 Within 163 7.79 PTAA Treatment 1 7.64 .72 Between 4 202.18 .19 Within 163 10.67 121 Summary of Differences in Variable Scores Comparing Students Enrolled in Vocational Specialties with the Non-Vocational Control Group Hypothesis 5was rejected. Significant differences in self-concept, intelligence, school achievement, and socio-economic status scores will exist when comparing students in each vocational specialty (DE, OE, Agr, Ho Ec, and T&I) with non- vocational students under circumstances where intelli- gence, grade point average, and socio-economic status variables are controlled. While most students enrolled in vocational specialty classes were significantly different from non-vocational students when the groups were compared on selected measures, the home economics classes were not. Table 46 summarizes the source and direction of group differences documented in the last section. TABLE 46 SUMMARY OF DIMENSIONS AND DIRECTIONS EACH VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY AREA DEPARTS SIGNIFICANTLY WHEN COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP VOC VARIABLES SPECIALTY INTELLIGENCE GPA SES SCAA SCVA DE YesJ' Yes {I No No Ye ST OE Yesq‘ Yes ’1‘ No No No AGR Yeer Yest Yessb YesW YesT HO EC No No No No No T&I Yes 1‘ Yesd. No No No ’T‘Higher than mean JrLower than mean 122 The distributive education students appeared significantly lower than the non-vocational control group on the variables intelligence and academic achievement, but, on the other hand, appeared significantly higher on the variable self-concept of vocational ability. The office education students departed significantly in the positive direction from the control group on the dimensions of intelli- gence and academic ability. The agriculture students registered significantly lower mean score for the variables intelligence, academic achievement, socio- economic status, and self-concept of academic ability, but possessed significantly higher self-concept of vocational ability scores. The home economics students could not be distinguished from the non-vocational control group since no variable reported a significant departure. The trade and industry students possessed significantly higher intelligence, but exhibited Signficantly lower academic achievement mean scores . HOMOGENEITY OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS WITHIN EACH VOCATIONAL SPECIALTY There follow two important and persistent questions that demand an extensive and more close examination of the degree of homogeneity found to exist within each vocational specialty: Could we say that each vocational Specialty was composed of students exhibiting a homo- geneous array of characteristics? Were the distributive education, office education, agriculture, home economics, and trade and industry 123 students consistent in their characteristics from school to school? The next section of this study compares each vocational specialty by school for the eight major variables in direct answer to these questions. Distributive Education Distributive education enrollees displayed consistent student characteristics across schools. Table 47 shows that significant differences existed between schools when comparing selected variables except in the case of socio-economic status. TABLE 47 9 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF DISTRIBUTIVE EDUCATION UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VARIABLE SCORES ACROSS SCHOOLS VARIABLE SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 113 67,334.57 SES Between 5 12,445.00 2,489.00 4.90* Within 108 54,889.57 508.24 *significant alpha .05 Only significant variables reported. 124 Office Education Office education students did not diSplay consistent characteris— tics across schools. Significant differences were exhibited for the var- iables intelligence, academic achievement, socio-economic status, and self-concept of academic ability in Table 48. TABLE 48 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF OFFICE EDUCATION UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VARIABLE SCORES ACROSS SCHOOLS VARIABLE SOURCE DF SS MS F Intelli- Total 152 45,324.17 gence Between 6 73,419.36 1,223.66 4.70* Within 146 37,982.23 260.15 GPA Total 152 38.60 Between 6 4.52 .68 2.85* Within 146 34.55 .24 SES Total 152 93,559.90 Between 6 21,565.85 3,594.31 7.29* Within 146 71,994.05 493.11 SCAA Total 152 2,260.94 Between 6 241.81 40.30 2.91* Within 146 2,019.13 13.83 *significant alpha .05 Only significant results reported. 125 A table of means identifies the source of variance by school. Table 49 gives this information. TABLE 49 SUMMARY OF OFFICE EDUCATION STUDENT VARIABLE MEAN SCORES ACROSS SEVEN SCHOOLS SCHOOLS INT GPA SES SCAA 1 101.95 .3.44 48.11 . 32.32 2 93.50 3.00 37.11 28.33 3 89.19 3.30 52.28 30.39 4 75.56 2.86 46.11 28.00 5 80.71 3.43 32.24 28.89 6 84.92 3.19 32.14 29.57 7 93.69 3.29 65.65 30.92 Overall 89.52 3.25 45.97 30.02 14". For ease of interpretation, the data from the above table were converted to rank-order position in Table 50. The rank-order enables the reader to see at a glance that schools 1 and 7 were ranked consistently high, whereas schools 4 and 6 were ranked consistently low for most variables. 126 TABLE 50 A RANK-ORDER OF SCHOOLS ON OFFICE EDUCATION SCORES OF SIGNIFICANT VARIABLES SCHOOLS INT GPA SES SCAA 1 1 1 " 3 l 2 3 6 5 6 3 4 3 2 3 4 7 7 4 7 5 6 2 6 5 6 5 5 7 4 7 2 4 1 2 Agriculture Education Agriculture students displayed consistent characteristics across schools. No significant difference existed between schools when comparing selected variable scores except in the case of socio-economic status as shown in Table 51. Home Economics Home economics students did not display consistent characteristics across schools. Significant differences for the variables intelligence, grade point average, socio-economic status, self-concept of academic ability, self-concept of vocational ability, perceived friends' and 127 TABLE 51 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF AGRICULTURE EDUCATION UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VARIABLE SCORES ACROSS SCHOOLS VARIABLE SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 90 46,106.57 SES Between 5 17,805.44 3,561.09 10.70* Within 85 28,301.13 332.95 *significant alpha .05 Only significant results reported. perceived teachers' concepts of academic ability are exhibited in Table 52. A summary of variable mean scores, shown in Table 53 identifies the source of variance by school. To assist in interpretation, as with the office education data, the information from this table was converted to rank-order position in Table 54. The rank-order enables the reader to see at a glance that the results were not consistent from school to school. It appears that schools 4 and 7 ranked high, while schools 1, 2, and 3 ranked low. Some of the schools, i.e., school 5, have a wide discrepancy between classes within the school. 128 TABLE 52 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF HOME ECONOMICS UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VARIABLE SCORES ACROSS SCHOOLS VARIABLE SOURCE DF SS MS F Intelli- Total 107 54,314 00 gence Between 6 12,167 68 2,027 95 4.86* Within 101 42,146 32 417 29 GPA Total 107 44.14 Between 6 10.23 1.70 5.08* Within 101 33.91 .34 SES Total 107 64,615 63 Between 6 12,266 31 2,044 39 3.94* Within 101 52,349 32 518 31 SCAA Total 107 2,303.21 Between 6 302.21 50.37 2.54* Within 101 2,001 00 19.81 PFAA Total 107 1,148 77 Between 6 232 20 38.70 4.26* Within 101 916 56 9.07 PTAA Total 107 1,314.92 Between 6 164 78 27.46 2.41* Within 101 1,150 14 11.39 *significant alpha 105 Only significant variables reported. .129 TABLE 53 SUMMARY OF HOME ECONOMICS STUDENT VARIABLE MEAN SCORES ACROSS SEVEN SCHOOLS SCHOOLS INT GPA SES SCAA SCVA PFAA PTAA 1 61.00 3.02 24.87 27.67 30.78 18.22 18.44 2 66.23 2.36 56.08 24.85 28.92 15.69 16.69 3 74.30 2.99 26.69 27.69 29.00 18.08 18.62 4 90.79 3.26 46.11 30.18 33.00 20.50 20.32 5 87.53 2.81 57.67 27.53 30.07 19.47 18.13 6 74.21 2.91 46.63 27.89 30.63 18.95 18.74 7 90.82 3.46 49.18 29.91 32.55 19.86 20.64 Overall 80.00 2.99 44.85 28.23 30.97 18.95 18.97 TABLE 54 A RANK-ORDER OF SCHOOLS 0N HOME ECONOMICS SCORES OF SIGNIFICANT VARIABLES SCHOOLS INT GPA SES SCAA SCVA PFAA PTAA 71 .7 3 7 47 3 " 5 " 5 2 6 7 2 7 7 7 7 3 4 4 6 5 6 6 4 4 2 2 5 1 1 1 2 5 3 6 1 6 5 3 6 6 5 5 4 3 4 4 3 7 1 1 3 2 2 2 1 130 Trade and Industry Trade and industry students displayed consistent student characteristics across schools. Table 55 reveals that there was no significant difference between schools when comparing selected variable scores except in the case of socio-economic status. TABLE 55 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR VARIABLE SCORES ACROSS SCHOOLS VARIABLE SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 81 45,181.52. SES Between 5 13,463.42 2,692.68 6.45* Within 76 31,718.11 417.34 A *significant alpha .05 Only significant results reported. Summary of Homogeneity of Student Characteristics Existing Within the Vocational Specialties The distributive, agriculture, and trade and industry classes were homogeneous when comparing selected student traits across the seven schools. Office education and home economics classes, to the contrary, were heterogeneous in nature when comparing student traits acrtrss the seven schools. On the basis of these data, Hypothesis 6,’ following, was rejected. 131 Significant differences in all variable scores (intelligence, academic achievement, socio-economic status, self-concept of academic ability, self- concept of vocational ability, perceived parents' evaluation of academic ability, perceived friends' evaluation of academic ability, perceived teachers' evaluation of academic ability) exist when com- paring vocational Specialties across each of the sample schools. Significant differences on all variable scores did not exist across the sample schools for all vocational specialties. INFLUENCE OF VOCATIONAL CLASSES ON STUDENTS' SELF-CONCEPTS The review of literature, Chapter II, presented numerous planned J programs and activities explicitly designed to modify students' self- concepts. Some programs specifically determined the effect of their activities, e.g., Head Start, upon the participants' self-concepts; others did not. The question is: Can any determination be made, after-the-fact, without a pretest-posttest design, about the influence vocational classes have upon self-concept measures, strengths and directions? The data presented in this section show that Utah vocational classes probably have had some limited success enhancing self-concept of vocational ability and probably little, if any, upon self-concept of academic ability. Self-Concept of Vocational Ability The data have shown that students who enrolled in vocational classes possessed significantly higher self-concepts of vocational ability. Table 14, page 90, demonstrates that vocational students, as a group, possessed significantly higher self-concepts of vocational ability than did the non-vocational.group. Further, this difference 132 registered significant despite the lack of support from three of the five vocational Specialties. Table 33, page 103, shows that distributive students possessed a significantly higher self-concept of vocational ability. Likewise, Table 39, page 114, shows that agriculture students possessed a signifi- cantly higher self-concept of vocational ability. Table 46, page 121, summarizes the statistical findings of earlier tables and reveals that only distributive and agriculture students registered a significantly I“ higher self-concept of vocational ability; while office education, home economics, and trade and industry students recorded no significant , difference when compared to the non-vocational group. The data also demonstrated that the independent variables did not account for this enhanced level of self-concept of vocational ability: (1) Sex Factor. When the variable sex was block out, (statistically controlled) no effect on the self-concept of vocational ability was registered. Table 56.illustrates the analysis of variance when the sex factor was blocked out. (2) Place of Residence Factor. When the variable place of residence was blocked out, as shown also in Table 56, no significant change occurred in the self-concept of vocational ability scores. (3) Intelligence, Academic Achievement, and Socio- Economic Status Factors. A Pearson's Product Mbment Correlation Coefficient revealed little influence (low correlation) of the variables intelligence (r = .22) and socio-economic status (r = .08) on the self-concept of vocational ability values. The data have shown that vocational students did possess a significantly higher self-concept of vocational ability at a point in time and that the independent variables were not the source of the 133 TABLE 56 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE TEST OF SIGNIFICANCE BLOCKING OUT THE VARIABLES SEX AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE FOR SCVA VALUES SOURCE DF SS MS F H Total 244 4,454.80 Block 1 35.35 35.35 3.06 (Sex) Treatments 1 21.39 21.39 1.85 (R-U) Error 1 11.57 11.57 Sample 241 4,386.49 18.20 difference. What is the source of this enhanced self-concept of vocational ability? Perhaps, since the independent variables did not account for the difference and since one must logically expect a vocational class to enhance a student's self-concept of vocational ability, the vocatiOnal classes had some effect upon the level of the self-concept of vocational ability scores. It was easy to credit the vocational class for the enhanced self-concept of vocational ability, but it was impossible to substantiate the claim based on the data of this study. 134 Self-Concept of Academic Ability From the data, no evidence was available to document the influence of vocational classes on self-concept of academic ability values. Table 11, page 85, shows that there was no significant dif- ference when comparing vocational and non-vocational students. Table 46, page 121, also demonstrates that students enrolled in a voca- tional class did not possess enhanced self-concepts of academic ability. This table shows, however, that students enrolled in an agriculture class possessed a depreciated self-concept of academic ability. The extent to which the influence of the agriculture class can be blamed for this lack, after the fact, without pretest- posttest design data may be answered, in part, by the following data: (1) Sex Factor. When the variable sex was blocked out, as shown in Table 57, the significance of the variable did not change self-concept of academic ability. (2) Place of Residence Factor. When the variable place of residence was blocked out, also Table 57, the statistical significance of the variable self-concept of academic ability did not change. (3) Intelligence, Grade Point Average, and Socio-Economic Status Factors. A Pearson's Product Mement Correla- tion Coefficient revealed some influence. The variable intelligence correlated at the .44 level with self-concept of academic ability, while grade point average correlated at an even higher level, r = .64. Socio-economic status did not appear to make much impact since the r = .17. The correlation strength of self-concept of academic ability with intelligence and academic achievement was great enough to suggest that these variables did influence self-concept 135 TABLE 57 AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE TEST OF SIGNIFICANCE BLOCKING OUT THE VARIABLES SEX AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE FOR SCAA VALUES SOURCE DF SS MS F Total 244 5,253.28 Blocks 1 40.19 40.19 1:48 (Sex) Treatments 1 50.33 50.33 1.85 (R-U) Error 1 27.14 27.14 Sample 241 5,135.62 21.31 of academic ability scores. Due to the lack of other evidence, these faCtors may account for the depreciated SCAA scores rather than the agriculture class. ‘Hypothesis 4 Rejected Hypothesis 4 was rejected. Students participating in a vocational class exhibit an enhanced self-concept of vocational ability. This hypothesis was rejected because the study results showed that office education, home economics, and trade and industry students diri not possess enhanced self-concepts of vocational ability even tjuough distributive and agriculture students did possess significantly laigher self-concepts of vocational ability. 136 EFFECTS OF SEx, PLACE OF RESIDENCE, INTELLIGENCE, GRADE POINT AVERAGE, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC LEVEL ON SELF-CONCEPT SCORES The review of literature revealed how strongly many researchers feel about the influence of the variables sex, intelligence, academic achievement, socio-economic status, and place of residence upon self-concept. The purpose of this section is to identify the effects of these variables upon self-concept values in this study. Following is a detailed discussion of each individual variable. Sex When the variable sex was blocked out so that it no longer influenced self-concept values, a significant change occured in the perceived parents' and perceived friends' concepts of academic ability as shown in Table 58. There was no significant change in the other self-concept variables. Further, the influence of sex differences on vocational students' self-concepts is shown in Table 59. There was a significant difference on all self-concept variables but the self-concept of vocational ability variable. It can be assumed, therefore, that sex significantly influenced students' self-concept scores. While the data showed that the sex variable did significantly influence self-concept scores, this factor could not be fully controlled 111 this study because vocational education specialty programs are strructured on the basis of sex. Vocational classes are dichotomized rnale or female by vocational specialty, i.e., males tend to enroll in 137 TABLE 58 SUMMARY OF THE EFFECTS OF THE VARIABLES SEX AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE ON UTAH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR SELF-CONCEPT MEASURES USING ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE STATISTICAL TECHNIQUE VARIABLE SOURCE DF SS MS F SCAA Total 244 5,253.28 Blocks 1 40.19 40.19 1.48 (Sex) Treatments 1 50.33 50.33 1.85 (R-U) Error 1 27.14 27.14 Sample 241 5,135.62 21.31 SCVA Total 244 4,454.80 Blocks 1 35.35 35.35 3.06 (Sex) Treatments 1 21.39 21.39 1.35 (R-U) Error 1 11.57 11.57 Sample 241 4,386.49 18.20 PPAA Total 244 2,669.25 Blocks 1 33.33 33.33 10.53*(Sex) Treatments 1 2.01 2.01 .64 (R-U) Error 1 3.16 3.16 Sample 241 2,630.74 10.92 PFAA Total 244 2,398.11 Blocks 1 76.66 76.66 23.30*(Sex) Treatments 1 3.40 3.40 1.03 (R-U) Error 1 3.29 3.29 3.29 Sample 241 2,341.76 9.60 9.60 PTAA Total 244 3,121.17 Blocks 1 37.30 37.30 3.00 (Sex) Treatments 1 7.64 7.64 .62 (R-U) Error 1 12.44 12.44 Sample 241 3,063.78 12.71 *significant alpha .05 138 TABLE 59 SUMMARY OF THE EFFECTS OF THE VARIABLE SEX ON UTAH HIGH SCHOOL VOCATIONAL SENIORS' SELF-CONCEPT SCORES VARIABLE SOURCE DF SS MS F SCAA Total 547 12,004.88 Between 1 372.54, 372.54 17.49* Within 546 11,632.34 21.31 SCVA Total 547 9,593.29 Between 1 15.19 15.19 .87 Within 546 9,578.10 17.54 PPAA Total 547 6,722.20 Between 1 230.07 230.07 19.35* Within 546 6,492.13 11.89 PFAA Total 547 5,391.19 Between 1 351.31 351.31 38.06* Within 546 5,039.88 9.23 PTAA Total 547 6,643.10 Between 1 185.27 185.27 15.66* Within 546 6,457.83 11.83 *significant alpha . 139 agriculture education and trade and industry, while females choose to register in office education and home economics. The only class enrolling any portion of both sexes is distributive education. Place of Residence When the variable place of residence was blocked out from influencing self-concept values, there was no change in statistical significance for perceived parents', perceived friends', or perceived teachers' concepts of academic ability values. Table 58,clearly shows the insignificance of the self-concept values. Apparently, place of residence had no measured effect upon self-concept scores. Intelligence, Grade Point Average, and Socio-Economic Status The variables intelligence, grade point average, and socio- economic status were not reported separately since facts have shown that a significant difference occured in measures of self-concept when these variables were controlled. Table 60 synthesizes the data previously given for these three variables. Summary and Discussion Hypothesis 3 was accepted. Significant differences exist among vocational students' measures of self-concepts when using sex, intelligence, socio-economic status, place of residence, and grade point average as treatment effects. All variables in hypothesis 3, except place of residence, did influence self-concept scores. The data showed that controlling independent variables was most inmrortant in the study of self-concept. The variable sex proved to 140 have considerable influence on self-concept scores. The variables intelligence, academic achievement, and socio-economic status also were important since they altered several significant factors when controlled.. The place of residence factor was the only one that proved not important to this study. These data supported those researchers earlier identified who were concerned with the control of independent variables when studying self-concepts. The question of whether to control the independent variables has proven mute since the evidence of data suggest that all intervening variables be controlled. The identification of specific variables requiring control is of concern. Certainly this study showed that males and females should be studied separately and intelligence, academic achievement, and socio-economic status controlled. The Self-Concepts Compared As has been shown, many researchers agree that individuals possess many self-concepts rather than one overall self-concept. A comparison of the performance of the two main self -concept measures, self- concept of academic ability (SCAA) and self-concept of vocational ability (SCVA), supported this contention. These measures behaved quite differently with several statistical analyses. When vocational and non-vocational students were compared, the vocational group registered a significantly higher self-concept of vocational ability value than their non-vocational peers, but registered no difference on self-concept of academic ability (Table 14, page 90). 141 TABLE 60 THE INFLUENCE OF THE VARIABLES INTELLIGENCE, GRADE POINT AVERAGE, AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS WHEN CONTROLLED AS PRESENTED IN EACH SECTION OF CHAPTER IV WHEN CONTROLLING VARIABLE QUESTION TABLE INT, GPA, SES SCAA Voc vs Non-Voc #12.p. 87 no change Across Voc Spec #24 p. 99 no change DE Across Schools #33 p. 108 no change 0E Across Schools #36 p. 111 no change AGR Across Schools #39 p. 114 from s to ns HO EC Across Schools #42 p. 117 no change T&I Across Schools #45 p. 120 from s to ns SCVA Voc vs Non-Voc #14 p. 90 from us to s Across Voc Spec #26 p. 101 from ns to 8 DE Across Schools #33 p. 108 from us to 3 0E Across Schools #36 p. 111 no change AGR Across Schools #39 p. 114 from ns to s H0 EC Across Schools #42 p. 117 no change T&I Across Schools #45 p. 120 from s to us PPAA Voc vs Non-Voc #15 p. 91 no change PFAA Across Voc Spec #29 p. 103 from s to us PTAA DE Across Schools #33 p. 108 no change 0E Across Schools #36 p. 111 no change AGR Across Schools #39 p. 114 no change HO EC Across Schools #42 p. 117 no change T&I Across Schools #45 p. 120 from s to us This table is to read as follows: (example top line) For the variable SCAA, Table 12, page 87, where voca- tional students were compared with non-vocational stu- dents, there was no change in the significance of the question when the variables intelligence, academic achievement, and socio-economic status were controlled. 142 When the homogeneity of the vocational group was tested, both self-concept variables tested significant. The self-concept variables performed differently when each vocational specialty was compared with the control group. Distributive and agriculture classes reported significantly higher self-concept of vocational ability values, while agriculture reported significantly lower self-concept of academic ability mean scores with distributive education showing no difference (Table 46, page 121). If internal consistency of student characteristics is also measured for each vocational specialty, these self-concept variables behave differently. For example, the office education class across schools was significantly different on self-concept of academic ability values, but the result was not true for self-concept of vocational ability. The home economics classes reported significantly different values for both measures (Table 52, page 128). CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS This chapter summarizes the purposes and findings of the first, third, and fourth chapters and presents the conclusions of the investigation, with recommendations for further research and implications drawn from the data. SUMMARY The Problem The background focus of the study related to a broadly based (educational trend toward recognizing unique student characteristics as ifunctional determiners of academic programs. Contemporary pressures