AN bNVESTIGATlON OF THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
CURRiCLBLUM AND THE MENTAL HEALTH OF
CW : EMPLKLA'HONS FOR ADMENISTRATION

Mfufiobmvodl‘hb.
MECHIGAN RATE UNNERSITYI
Calvin Ross
19591

_..-

w M W \

3‘.

/__.

.r—

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

An Investigation of the Relationship Between the
Elementary School Curriculum and the Mental Health of
Children: Implications for Administration

presented by

Colvin Ross

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Pl1.D. degree in Administrative and
Educ tional Services

.14». ”/36

Major professor

Date November 2, 1959

O~169

 

LIBRARY

Michigan State
University

 

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND THE MENTAL
HEALTH OF CHILDREN: IMPLICATIONS

FOR ADMINISTRATION

by

Colvin Ross

AN ABSTRACT

Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies
of Michigan State University of Agriculture and
Applied Science in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Administration and Educational Services

 

 

Approved: :z1,:2g£§1

2
COLVIN ROSS ABSTRACT

Mental health is a problem of national concern and
its development, in children, is a basic objective of
public education.

The purpose of this study was to determine the rela—
tionship between the elementary school curriculum and the
mental health of children. The curriculum was defined as
the experiences of learners, what they undergo, feel and
react to, under the guidance of the school.

The hypotheses were stated in a given direction
indicating that a positive relationship exists between:

(1) the elementary school curriculum and the mental health
of children, (2) the elementary school curriculum and the
attitudes of teachers toward children, and (3) the atti-
tudes of individual teachers and the mental health of their
students. Teachers' attitudes were measured for it was a
basic assumption that teachers influence the curriculum in
their rooms.

The methodology required the selecting of schools
from nine counties in central Michigan, which were repre-
sentative of schools in a larger area, in this case, the
state of Michigan. It was necessary to control as many
variables as possible that could influence the elementary
curriculum in the schools. The variables that were con—
trolled were: (1) the size of the school systems, (2)

the state equalized assessed valuation per pupil, (3) the

enrollment of the elementary school, (A) the school

3
COLVIN ROSS ABSTRACT

organization, (5) the socio-economic level of the community,
(6) the socio-economic level of the students' parents, (7)
the location of the community, (8) the size of the com—
munity, (9) the education level of the community, and (10)
the administrative staff of the school system. This data
was obtained from the State Department of Public Instruction
in Michigan.

The procedure involved the development of an instru—
ment that would differentiate between a good elementary
school curriculum, and a poor elementary school curriculum
in terms of mental health. The literature and research in
the area of mental health and education provided a basis
for the selection and qualification of the items. They were
then submitted to a group of colleagues and qualified
individuals in the field of mental hygiene and education
for examination. A questionnaire was devised which was
answered, in the selected schools, during an interview with
the administrator. The investigator also visited the class-
rooms in the selected schools.

From the selected schools in the nine county area,
two schools were selected by the questionnaire that repre-
sented the extremes in elementary curricula. Within these
schools all the teachers were tested on the Minnesota
Teacher Education Inventory to determine their attitudes

toward children. The children in one fourth, fifth, and

4
COLVIN ROSS ABSTRACT
sixth grade in each school were tested on the California
Test of Personality to determine their mental health as
defined in the study.

The findings indicated that the mental health of

children in the two curricula were different at a level of
significance of .025. The attitudes of teachers in the
two schools differed at a level of significance of .025.
The relationship between the individual teachers and their
students did not relate significantly. The study indicated
that a positive relationship does exist between the elemen-
tary school curriculum and the mental health of children.

From the conclusions which can be drawn, there is
indication that from a similar sample of schools, teachers,
and children, there would exist a positive relationship
between the elementary school curriculum and the attitudes
of teachers and the mental health of children.

The conclusions for school administration could only
be based on the assumption, which is not proven here, that
a causal relationship exists. If this is proven in further
studies, school administrators will have to re-appraise the
means of evaluation, promotion, and provision for individual
differences.

The basic recommendations for further exploratory
study are: to collaborate the findings made here, repeat

the study with different instruments, attempt the study

with more information as to the total environment of the
children, and finally to attempt to determine if a causal
relationship does exist between certain experiences within

the elementary school curriculum and the mental health of

Children.

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND THE MENTAL
HEALTH OF CHILDREN: IMPLICATIONS

FOR ADMINISTRATION

by

Colvin Ross

A THESIS

Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of
Michigan State University of Agriculture and
Applied Science in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Administration and Educational Services

1959

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thinking in retrospect over the past several years
calls forth the encouragement and kindnesses extended when
they were most needed; counseling and common sense advice
which were the gifts of many different people. The writer
shall remember, with lasting gratitude, that it was this
unwritten component which made the study possible.

The writer wishes to express appreciation to members
of his doctoral committee, Dr. John R. Hurley, Dr. Clinton
T. Cobb, Dr. Harry W. Sundwall, and especially to Dr.
William H. Roe, chairman.

Finally, the writer wishes to express his gratitude
to his wife, without whose understanding and encouragement

this study would never have been completed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . .
LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . .
LIST OF CHARTS . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER
I. THE PROBLEM:
Introduction. . . . .
Assumptions

II.

III.

Statement of the problem.
Hypotheses . . . .
Importance of the study
Limitations of the study.

Definition of terms .

Methodology
Summary . . . .
REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . .

Educational and psychological research

Psychoanalytical literature.

ITS NATURE AND IMPORTANCE.

Recognized authorities in mental health.

Summary . . . . . .

METHODOLOGY .

The sample .
The questionnaire

The schools . .

PAGE

ii

vi

H

\OKOCDH

10
IO
ll
13
13
14
15
21
23
27
28
28
33
77

CHAPTER
Testing instruments. . . . . . .
Test administration. . . . . . .
IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA. . . . . . . . .
Statistical method . . . . . . .
The data and findings . . . . .
Analysis of data. . . . . . .
V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary. . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusions . . . . . . . . .
Implications for administration. . .
Recommendations for further study .
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iv

PAGE
95
101
104
104
106
113
115
115
117
118
118
119
124

TABLE

I.

II.
III.

IV.

VII.

VIII.

LIST OF TABLES

Teachers' Scores on the MTAI. . . . .

t Ratio between Teachers' Scores on the MTAI

Children's Total Scores on the California
Test of Personality. . . . . . .
t Ratio between Children's Scores on the
California Test of Personality . .
Teachers' Individual Scores and Their
Children's Mean Score . . . . . .
t Ratio between Fourth Grade Children's
Scores of the California Test of
Personality . . . . . . . . .
t Ratio between Fifth Grade Children's
Scores on the California Test of
Personality . . . . . . . . .
t Ratio between Sixth Grade Children's
Scores on the California Test of

Personality . . . . . . . . .

PAGE

107

107

109

110

110

110

111

112

LIST OF CHARTS

CHART PAGE
I. Schedule for the Evaluation of the Mental
Hygiene Program of an Elementary School . 67
II. Some Inquiries Helpful in Appraising Mental
Health in a School . . . . . . . . 69

III. Questionnaire for Elementary Principal . . 74

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM: ITS NATURE AND IMPORTANCE

Introduction

 

The basic purpose of school administration is to
facilitate learning in terms of the educational objectives
of the school. Although these objectives have not been
stated on a formalized national level, they have been
expressed by many educational groups throughout our history
and have won general acceptance. One of the most recent
examples of educational objectives was stated by the White
House Conference on Education of November 28 to December 1,
1955.1 They stated that the schools should develop:

1. Fundamental skills of communication, arithmetic,
and mathematics;

Appreciation for our democratic heritage;
Civic rights and responsibilities;

Respect and appreciation for human values;
Ability to think and evaluate constructively;
Effective work habits and self—discipline;

. Social competency;

CDK'JOUTJI’UUI'D

Ethical behavior;

 

1The Report of the White House Conference on Education,

Washington, D. C.,—November 28 to December 1, 1935, Circular
0.373163 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1956),p.1.

 

 

 

 

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Intellectual curiosity;

Esthetic appreciation;

Physical and mental health;

Wise use of time;

Understanding of the physical world, and;
Awareness of our relationship with the world

community.2

An illustration of how objectives are stated by an

individual Class Four school district in Michigan is

presented to demonstrate how they are stated on a local

level.

They were obtained from the Superintendent of the

East Grand Rapids School System in East Grand Rapids,

Michigan.

The objectives of our schools shall be:

Tb teach the basic 1aws<1fphysica1and mental
health, and encourage practice until they become
habits.

To provide instruction and practical experience
in the development of attitudes and ideals which
produce responsible citizens.

To provide instruction and training which will
develop an understanding and appreciation of the
functions and problems of the home, and family.
To provide instruction and experience in the
fundamental tools of learning, until efficiency
in their use is acquired.

To provide adequate foundations for whatever
additional training is necessary to enter the
desired vocation.

To provide a personal, educational and vocational
guidance program which will meet the needs of

all students.

To provide situations which stimulate the growth
of character, through all instruction and activities.

 

2Ibld.

8. To provide opportunities for self—expression
and creative activities which will stimulate
participation in worthwhile leisure activities.

9. To provide a program which will encourage an
understanding and appreciation of the world in
which we live and the heritage that is ours.

10. To provide wherever possible opportunities for
cooperative planning, working together, and
evaluating all educational experiences.

To achieve the general objectives that have been
presented, the school curriculum should be a facility
conducive to physical and mental health of children and
provide the children opportunity to gain information and
to learn skills for developing this physical and mental
health. This study focuses upon the curriculum as it
relates to mental health, for in fulfilling its basic
purpose, one educational objective is often overlooked by
school administration--that of developing and promoting
the mental health of children.

The statistics are readily available to demonstrate
the scope of the mental health problem in the United States.
These are briefly and well stated in a cumulative report
published under the auspices of the Social Science Research
Center of the Graduate School of the University of
3

Minnesota.

Mental illness can be likened to an iceberg, in
which the readily observable part of the mass (those

 

3Dale C. Cameron and Nancy K. Kjenaas,'"Mental Illness:
The Nations Gravest Health Hazard," Society's Stake In Mental
Health, A Report Prepared by the Social Science ReseEFch
Center of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota
(Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota, 1957),
pp. 10-11.

 

who are hospitalized) makes up only a small part of
the total. Although it is an impressive fact that
persons with mental illness occupy 54 per cent of
the 1,342,508 hospital beds in the country, this
figure reflects only a small fraction of the total
incidence of such illnesses according to the report.

As evidence of the size of the hidden part of the
iceberg, it has been estimated that at least 50 per
cent of patients who come to the average physician's
office have a chief complaint based on mental or
emotional problems. The report, referring to a survey
made in Baltimore, stated, "it is now estimated that
one in ten Americans suffer today from some form of
major or minor mental illness;" This can be only an
estimate, since methods of identifying mentally 111
persons aside from those actually receiving psychiatric
treatment are necessarily imperfect. It is also esti-
mated that one in every sixteen Americans now living
either have already been or will at some time in the
future be a patient in a mental hospital.

In terms of the effect on human lives, the available
figures which can only reflect the more intangible
forms involved are startling enough. For example,
the average length of stay for patients entering the
nation’s mental hospitals is variously calculated at
from eight to twelve years. The disruption of normal
life patterns of the patients alone is enormous.

When this is coupled with the difficulties faced by
the families of mentally ill persons and the loss to
the community, the effects defy measurement.

Most tangible of all the evidences of the gravity
of mental illness as a health problem is, of course,
the cost to the nation in monetary terms. As of
January, 1957, it was calculated that the direct cost
of mental illness in the United States exceeds four
billion dollars yearly. Of this, about one billion
dollars goes to operate the public and Veterans
Administration mental hospitals. More than two billion
dollars of this cost was accounted for by loss in
potential earnings of patients during their hospital—
ization, and the other one billion dollars includes
compensation and pension payments, public assistance,
and new co struction of facilities for care and
treatment.

 

4
Ibid., p. 10.

More recent figures in Science Digest indicate about

 

seventeen million Americans are suffering from a mental or
emotional disorder; and of these, 750,000 are patients in
mental hospitals. The National Association for Mental
Health had a gloomy prediction that 425,000 more people
would require hospitalization for mental ills during 1958.
Fortunately, seven out of ten of these patients, the associa—
tion estimated, would experience partial or total recovery
if their hospital was well equipped, well staffed, and
provided adequate treatment.5

The statistics on mental illness, however, give only
a partial picture. Countless individuals who will never be
hospitalized or treated for mental illness will live their
entire lives at less than normal efficiency because of
tensions, frustrations, abnormal fears, and other personality
defects.

As evidence for the above paragraph, Drs. Leo Srole
and Thomas S. Langner of Cornell University Medical Center
conducted a survey of one residential section of Manhattan
which the doctors called "Midtown;" Midtown had a population
of 175,000. The investigators first made a census of
patients, counting all those receiving treatment privately
or in psychiatric clinics or mental hospitals. This rate

of patients under treatment has been assumed by physicians

 

5"What's On Your Mind?," Science Digest, 14:23,
April, 1958.

 

and the public to indicate therumber of persons who are
mentally ill.
But then they went on to interview a probability
sample of 1,660 persons between 20 and 59 years of age.
Two psychiatrists made an evaluation of the mental health
of these persons. The number of untreated mentally dis-
turbed, they found, far outnumber those getting psychiatric
care. The number of patients, the Cornell doctors conclude,
bears no regular, nor even approximate relationship to the
prevalence of mental disturbance.6
To relate the mental health problem to children in
our society, the writer refers to a recent three year
research project undertaken by Columbia University's Depart-
ment of Psychiatry, in which 2,540,888 children or about 10
per cent of the country's public school population were
involved.7
These were the significant findings: (a) 10 per cent
of the sample were emotionally disturbed, the range of
such disturbances varied from 60. to .06 per cent in
various schools; (b) in 80 per cent of the schools
mental hygiene problems were not discussed in the
classroom; (0) in 85 per cent of the schools where
mental hygiene problems were discussed, there were
no staff personnel trained in mental hygiene; (d)
17 per cent of the schools reported they had no

mental hygiene services of any kind. All of the
forty-eight states were represented.

 

6"Untreated Mentally Ill Far Outnumber Patients,“
Science News Letter, 72:152, September 7, 1957.

 

7Murray Illson,‘"10% of Pupils in Nation's Schools
AreuFound Emotionally Disturbed," New York Times, February 22,
195 .

 

Dr. David Abrahamsen who directed the study,
asserted that unless parents, children, and teachers
could be taught to live with each other in harmonious
relationships and to accept each other as individuals,
we will never be able to make even a dent in the growing
problem of mental illness and delinquency., Only
through an integrated synthesis of mental hygiene with
the curriculum of the three R's can the educational
process as well as the personality growth of the pupils
be enhanced. The schools will have to accept respon-
sibility for assisting children in integrating the
aspects of feeling-doing-thinking, an thereby create
the basis for adequate mental health.

An adjustment survey of third and sixth grade children
in the public schools of Miami County, Ohio, found 19.1 per
cent of the children maladjusted to a serious degree. The
prevalence of maladjustment was higher among sixth graders
(20.8 per cent) than among third graders (17.8 per cent).9

Roger's study of 1,524 pupils in grades one to six
of the Columbus, Ohio, elementary schools found that 12 per
cent of the children were seriously maladjusted, and 30
per cent more were poorly adjusted. It was noted also that
23 per cent of the children were reading a year below
capacity, 22 per cent were too bright for their grades, and
23 per cent were too dull to be benefited by schooling.lo

Mental health surveys of children in other sections
of the country tend to support the general data on maladjust-

ment found in the Ohio studies. For instance, Snyder's

 

81bid.

9Lou1s Kaplan, Mental Health and Human Relations 12
Education (New York: Harper and Brothers, Inc., 1959), pp.
55-56.

10Ibid., p. 55.

8
study of elementary school children in New Jersey concluded
that 44 per cent of the 829 children examined were "problem
children:" In Oregon, the Mental Health Association esti-
mated that 15 per cent of the chikiren in the third grade,
and 21 per cent of the children in the fifth grade were
emotionally damaged. In New York, the State Youth Commission
studied 5,795 children in grades three through six, using
tests of intelligence, school achievement records, a check
list of behavior patterns, personality evaluations, and
sociometric devices. It was found that 17 per cent of the
children examined showed some symptoms which suggested the
possibility of serious social breakdown or personal unhappi-

11
ness in adult life.

Assumptions

 

In preparing this study the writer made these basic
assumptions: (a) the development of mental health is a basic
objective of the public schools; (b) the mental health of
children is developed, in part, by their experiences with
the school program; (c) school administration is responsible
for the curricular experiences related to mental health
with the school; (d) the teacher determines and influences
many of the curricular experiences related to mental health

in her classroom.

 

11
Ibid., p. 56.

Statement of the Problem

 

The problem is to determine the relationship between
specific curricular experiences and provisions for mental
health within an elementary school, and the mental health
of children.

Abasic sub-problem is to determine the relationship
between specific curricular experiences and provisions for
mental health within an elementary school, and the attitudes
of teachers toward children.

Another sub-problem is to determine the relationship
between a teacher's attitude toward children and the mental

health of the children involved.

Hypotheses

 

The first hypothesis is that a positive relationship
exists between a school's curricular experiences and
provisions for mental health and the mental health of the
pupils.

The second hypothesis is that a positive relationship
exists between a school's curricular experiences and
provisions for mental health and the attitudes of teachers
toward children.

A third hypothesis is that a positive relationship
exists between the attitudes of teachers toward children

and the mental health of children.

10

Importance of the Study

 

The school is recognized as one of the major social
institutions of our society. Many mental hygienists, psy-
chologists, and psychiatrists contend, along with the
writer, that certain experiences which children encounter
in this social institution are detrimental to mental health.
This study is an experimental exploration into the relation-
ship of some of these experiences to children.

If the study can establish a positive relationship
between the curriculum and the mental health of children,
then the school could look within its own curriculum to
determine which experiences significantly effect mental
health. The school could then attempt to eliminate those
experiences which are detrimental, and improve those which

are beneficial to mental health.

Limitations of the Study

 

The study is limited to selected elementary schools
in Class Four school districts, in a nine-county area in
Michigan which operate K-12 programs.

The study is limited by the test used to measure the
mental health of children at this age level. The California
Test of Personality is, however, one of the best instruments
available at this time to explore the area. The evidence
will be presented in Chapter III.

The criteria and instrument for the final selecting

of schools in which the testing takes place was limited to

11
the knowledge and experience of the writer, the literature
in the field, and the knowledge and experiences of a group
of mental hygienists and educators who reviewed the instru—
ment.

It is recognized that the home, church, and community
influence the mental health of the children and that the
school is only partially responsible for the total develop—

ment of the child.

Definition of Terms

 

Mental health. Mental health is integrated growth

 

and realistic harmony within oneself, in relation to one's
environment. Growth in this concept refers to self-
actualizing, involving a healthy concept of self.

The above definition is derived from definitions of
Fritz Redl and William Wattenberg,9 Caroline Tryon,lo

M. Brewster Smith,ll Norman Fenton,l2 Marie Jahoda,l3

 

9F. Redl and W. W. Wattenberg, Mental Hygiene in
Teaching (New York: Harcourt, Brace Co., 1951), pp. 168-169.

 

lOCaroline Tryon, "Some Conditions of Good Mental
Health," Fostering Mental Health in Our Schools, 1950 Year-
book, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
(Wasflington, D. C.: National Education Association, 1950),
pp. -11.

 

 

llM. Brewster Smith, "Optima of Mental Health,"
Psychiatry, 13:503-10, November, 1950.

 

12Norman Fenton, Mental Hygiene in School Practice
(California: Stanford University Press, 1943), pp. 3—4.

13Marie Jahoda, "The Meaning Of Psychological Health,"

 

 

12
William Ragan,14 and one article by William A. Scott in

the Psychological Bulletin of February 1958, entitled,

 

'"Research Definitions of Mental Health and Mental Illness,"
a summary work of many mental health authors.

The above definition is also consistent with the
definition of a group of educators and physicians who stated:
Mental health in its broadest sense has come to mean the
measure of a person‘s ability to shape his environment, to
adjust to life as he has to face it and to do so with a
reasonable amount of satisfaction, success, efficiency, and

happiness.15

Curriculum. Curriculum is defined as all the experi-

 

ences of children for which the school assumes responsibility,
or stated more fully: curriculum is the experiences of
learners, what they undergo, feel, and react to, under the

guidance of the school.

Attitudes of teachers. Attitudes of teachers refer to

 

the attitudes as measured by the Minnesota Teacher Attitude

Inventory. They include: (1) Moral status. Adult-child

 

 

Social Casework, 34:353—354, October, 1953.
14

William B. Ragan, Modern Elementary Curriculum (New
York: The Dryden Press, 1953), pp. 56457.

1
5Mental Hygiene in the Classroom, A Report of the

Joint Committee of HealEE Problems in Education of the
National Education Association and the American Medical
Association (Washington, D. 0.: National Education Associ-
ation, 1950), p. 9.

 

 

 

 

l3

relations essentially characterized by adult recognition or
non-recognition of child or pupil as an individual with his

own inherent rights. (2) Discipline. Problems of conduct

 

in the classroom and elsewhere, and the methods employed in

dealing with them. (3) Child knowledge. Principles of child

 

development and behavior ordinarily included in such subjects
fields as educational psychology, child psychology, and

mental hygiene. (4) Educational principles. Educational

 

principles and practices not directly relating to child

development and behavior. (5) Personal reactions pf teacher.

 

Statements directly relating to the teacher's personal
disposition--her likes and dislikes, and sources of irri-

tation.

Methodology

 

The methodology will be discussed in detail in
Chapter III. It describes how the sample was selected, the
rationale of the questionnaire, the questionnaire, the
schools in which the tests were administered, and the
administration of the tests.

The statistical method is described in Chapter IV.

Summary

This chapter has provided the introduction to the
problem, the social milieu of the problem in our country,
assumptions, the problem, hypotheses, limitations, and
definitions. The following chapters elaborate on all the

above.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Much has been written concerning the etiology of
mental illness and many studies have been undertaken to
correlate mental illness with some social psychological
factor. Studies of mental illness which have their origin
in childhood school experiences are, however, not frequent
in the literature. This situation may exist because of the
difficulty of defining a mentally ill child.

Another reason for the lack of material concerning

the school age child is presented by Murphy, Murphy, and

Newcomb.

The biases which have shaped the development of
research on elementary school children have been
largely formed by the needs of teachers who are
handling large groups of children and need to find
some general safe principles for such wide application
as to be usable with most children in any normal
school set up. Consequently, there is a heavy emphasis
on the study of groups and generalizations about groups
of children, at the expense on the one hand, of under-
standing individual children and, on the other, of 1
knowledge of the effects of institutions on children.

Arthur J. Bachrach's dissertation, An Analysis 9:

Research in Mental Hygiene and Its Implications for

 

 

lGardner Murphy, Lois B. Murphy, and Theodore M.
Newcomb, Experimental Social Psychology (New York: Harper
and Brothers, Inc., 1932), p. 621.

15

Educational Practice encompasses, very thoroughly, the mental

 

health research up to 1952.2 His chapter on the "School and
Mental Hygiene? however, is significantly limited in research.
This is very understandable if one considers for a moment
what is involved in conducting such research. To conduct an
experiment concerning a specific school experience as it
relates to mental health would require such an artificial
setting that the results would be highly questionable. The
teachers would have to play roles and the students would
have to be highly controlled. The experiment could only

try to improve mental health for it could never be set up

to destroy mental health. To conduct an experiment in
relating the school's influence to mental health would have
to be done in already existing situations, and without the
knowledge of any of the participants. This is what the

author has attempted to do.

Educational and Psychological Research

 

A recent significant experimental study is that of

Fleming in which he sought to determine how deeply a mental

hygiene approach to education could influence children.3

 

2Arthur J. Bachrach,'"An Analysis of Research in Mental
Hygiene and Its Implications for Educational Practice"
(unpublished Doctor‘s thesis, The University of Florida,
1952 .

3R. S. Fleming, "The Effects of an In-Service Program
on Children with Symptoms of Psychosomatic Illness," The
Journal of Educational Sociology, 24: 394-405, March, 1951.

 

16

He selected twenty-six children inrfine elementary class-
rooms who were identified by a physician as having psy-
chosomatic disturbances. These youngsters were compared
with twelve other children with psychosomatic symptoms
found in three other classrooms. The eXperimental group of
twenty-six was taught by teachers who emphasized warm,
friendly, helpful, relaxed relationships. The teachers
in the comparison group continued to emphasize the fulfill-
ment of subject matter requirements and made no special
effort to meet the emotional needs of children. At the
close of this experiment, a marked reduction in frequency
of psychosomatic symptoms was found in the experimental
group, and there was a significant improvement in school
attendance. The control group, on the other hand, showed
no improvement in the frequency or intensity of psychoso-
matic symptoms, and attendance became worse during this
period.“

The now classical experiments of Lewin, Lippitt, and
White with groups of ten-year old boys have shown how group
atmosphere influences individual behavior. Observations
were made of the reactions of boys to an authoritarian, a

democratic, and a laissez-faire group climate.5

 

ulbid.

5Kurt Lewin, Ronald Lippitt, and Ralph K. White,
“Patterns of Aggressive Behavior in Experimentally Created
'Social Climates'," Journal of Social Psychology, 10:271-
299, May, 1939.

 

17

It was found that in an authoritarian atmosphere
the boys showed aggressive domination toward one
another, or they became submissive and apathetic.
They had little interest in their work, and displayed
forty times more overt hostility toward one another
than did the boys in the democratic group.

In the democratic groups there was a moderate
amount of aggression, but most of it was friendly.
The boys made constructive suggestions to one another,
had satisfying social relations, a high interest in
their work, assumed individual responsibility, and
were able to work in the absence of the leader.

The laissez-faire groups, where complete freedom
was allowed caused the boys literally to run wild.
Little work was accomplished, there was much aggres-
sion, play, and silliness, and a great deal of
confusion and insecurity.

While it is unwise to make sweeping generalizations
from these experiments, a few conclusions are warranted.
One is that authoritarian discipline will reduce mis-
behavior in the classroom at the cost of reducing
interest in achievement and increasing latent or
active aggression. Another implication is that a
democratic classroom atmosphere may be more noisy
than an authoritarian classroom, but there will be
more constructive group activity, more cooperation
among the children, and greater potential f%r the
development of self—control by individuals.

Theories and empirical findings concerning the social
psychological correlate of mental illness are summarized in
a review prepared for the Survey Research Center at the
University of Michigan.7 The purpose of this report was to
critically review theories and research from two levels of
analysis-~the environmental-demographic and the inter—

personal. The study explored such correlates as the

 

6Ibid.

7William A. Scott, "Social Psychological Correlates
of Mental Illness and Mental Health," Psychological Bulletin,

55:65-85, March, 1958.

 

18
incident of mental disorders to the occurrence of major
social events, urban—rural differences, intracity differ-
ences, racial and ethnic differences, sex differences, and
socio-economic status. In reviewing a number of studies
and theories concerning the relation of sociological factors
to mental health, Schneider observed that nearly all their
hypotheses could be subsumed under a small number of
categories. Mental disturbance was seen variously as
stemming from (a) the individual's inability to meet role
demands, (b) membership in some underprivileged group, (c)

a forced abrupt transition from one social situation to
another, (d) disorganization of a social system, (e)
inability to attain social acceptance, (f) subjective or
objective mobility in the class structure, (g) incompatible
values, and (h) social isolation. These were the factors
and studies discussed under inter-personal correlates of
mental health.

In the summary of this report, if we assume what has

w

yet t be demonstrated, that social maladjustment will

—.——‘

 

eventuate in mental disturbance diagnosable by other
criteria, it is possible to speculate regarding a possible
correspondence between some of the demographic-environmenta1
correlates and some of the interpersonal correlates of
mental illness. Specifically, we may interpret certain
empirical relations in the former category in terms of

concepts utilized in the latter. It is possible for example,

19
to regard major cultural events, such as war, depression,
and technological advancement as having potential effects
on the society's mental health through the wide-spread role
dislocations and disruption of primary group ties which
accompany them. Similarly, it is possible to seek explan-
ations for the geographic, socio-economic, race, and sex
differences in rates of mental illness in certain inter—
personal characteristics of the ecological and demographic
situations. Possibly relevant dimensions of the inter-
actional processes have been suggested: social isolation,
the degree of involvement of individuals within a particular
social system, and differences in socialization procedures
employed by various groups.

Such interpretations as these are speculative and

 

 

 

vaguely formulated at present. It is by no means clear

 

that the interpersonal level of analysis is the most
appropriate level at which to seek explanations of mental
disorder.

It is significant to discuss two other experiments
which relate to the child and his school experience. These
two experiments are mentioned in all of the books reviewed
by this author concerning mental hygiene in education.

The first, concerns teachers' perceptions of malad—

justment. This study conducted by Wickman, of teacher's

 

81bid.

2O
attitudes toward child behavior indicates that teachers may
unwittingly contribute to the maladjustment of children by
being concerned more with aggressive youngsters than with
those who are withdrawn or submissive. Wickman demonstrated
that teachers are more disturbed by children whose behavior
disrupts the smooth operation of the classroom than they are
by quiet, complacent, withdrawn youngsters who cause no
trouble. These reactions are significant when it is learned
that clinicians consider the behavior of the good, obedient,
withdrawn child more prognostic of serious maladjustment
than that of the troublesome child.9

The second study analyses pupils awareness of desired
qualities in teachers. Witty, through a radio contest in
which 33,000 children in grades one through twelve were
aked to write on the subject,'"The Teacher Who Helped Me
Most," found the qualities mentioned most frequently as
characteristic of the best-liked teachers were: (1) cooper—
ative, democratic attitude; (2) kindliness and consideration

for the individual; and (3) patience.lo

 

9E. K. Wickman, Teachers and Behavior Problems (New
York: The Commonwealth Fund, 1951); a digest of Children's
Behavior and Teachers' Attitudes (New York: The Common-
wealth Fund: 1928).

 

 

 

 

10Paul A. Witty, "An Analysis of the Personality Traits
of the Effective Teacher," Journal pf Educational Research,

40:662-671, May, 1947.

 

21

Psychoanalytical Literature

 

In reviewing the literature it was necessary to
include the interpretations of some of the great psycho-
analysts. Freud, for example, made some important contri-
butions.11 Freud's point was that these unconscious feelings
can enslave the individual in that they can block his very
potential to achieve and, if too serious, can cause a
variety of neurotic behavior or prolonged mental and
physical illness.

There are some important implications here for public
education and for the teacher. As stated by Raebeck:

In the first place, it becomes clear that the child
must be helped to recognize and contend with the
negative feelings of hate, rage, and fear that
frustration produces. Secondly, it becomes incumbent
upon the teacher to set up comfortable living situa—
tions of interest and challenge and to avoid those
situations which produce fear, frustration, guilt, and
anxiety within the child. Thirdly, school activities
should emerge largely as the result of patient
planning and mutual understanding. Reason suggests
that when school performance is produced through
threats to social position, fear of failure, fear
of punishment and loss of love, frustration is great
and strong negative feelings are created. Such
feelings are usually repressed and the child can leave
school with emotional blocks that actually reduce
physical, emotional, and intellectual sensitivity. A
reservoir of unconscious aggression may be created
which, at the very least, increases the individual's
fear and uncertainty of himself and others.

In short, when the child is unable to meet the
demands of society without developing and repressing
strong negative feelings, the teacher is in a unique

 

11A. A. Brill (ed.), The Basic Writings 9: Sigmund
Freud (New York: Modern Library, Inc., 1938).

 

22
position to: (1) help the child to understand the
normalcy of his feelings; (2) encourage the child to
understand the nature of his frustrations; (3) aid
him in reducing the unconscious pressure of negagive
feelings through individually creative outlets.

Alfred Adler had profound insight and conviction as
to the relationship and role of the school and mental health.
Adler's broad understanding of psychiatry as a social task
led him early in his career to become interested in
prophylasix. tHe reasoned that adult maladjustment could be
reduced most effectively if the early mistaken outlook of
the child could be corrected: While it would not be possible
to reach each child through his parents, this could be
accomplished through the teachers in the schools-—the school
is placed between the family and life in society. It has
the opportunity of correcting the mistaken styles of life
formed under family upbringing, and the responsibility of
preparing the child's adjustment to social life so that he
will play his individual role harmoniously in the orchestral
pattern of society-~an educator's most important task, one
might almost say his holy duty, is to see to it that no
child is discouraged at school, and that a child who enters
school already discouraged regains his self-confidence

through his school and his teacher. This goes hand-in-hand

with the vocation of the educator, for education is

 

12Charles Raebeck, "Psychoanalysis and the Public
School," Phi Delta Kappan, 38:288-289, April, 1957.

 

possible only with children who look hopefully and joy—

1
fully upon the future.

Recognized Authorities in Mental Health

 

The final step is to review the literature of the
present day mental hygienists in relation to our subject.
Herbert A. Carroll, a psychologist, writing in the field
of mental hygiene has this to say about the role of the
school in the life of a child.

It is axiomatic that an individual's behavior patterns
are to a considerable extent the products of the
several environments in which he has lived. During

his childhood years, his family, his school, and his
community mold his character, shape his personality,
and lay the foundations for his future. If the family,
the school, and the community do their work well, his
chances for a successful and happy life are greatly
enhanced; if they do their work badly, his personality
may be so warped that satisfaction in adult life will
be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. The
family plays its most important role during the
individual's pre-school years. Most of what he knows
at the age of five or six had been learned from the
family circle. At this time, in our culture, the school
takes over, and for several years exerts a vital influ-
ence on the impressionable human being for whose devel-
opment it shares responsibility with the parents.

It is no longer considered that the sole responsibi-
lity of the school is to ”train the mind.“ For a long
time now, considerable stress has been placed upon the
importance of physical health and physical development.
Supervised play, athletic contests, and other forms
of physical education constitute an important part of
the school's activities. It is recognized, also, that
the social needs of children must be met. There has
been, however, a hesitancy on the part of the school
to accept responsibility for the mental health of

 

l3Heinz L. Ansbacher and Rowena R. Ansbacher, The
Individual Psychology 9: Alfred Adler (New York: Basic
Books, Inc., 1956), pp. 399-400.

 

 

24

children entrusted to its care. Because of inade-
quate attenflon to the emotional needs of children,
the school has contributed to thecbvelopment of
behavior disorders. It is partly responsible for
the high frequency of mental disease in this country.

Redl and Wattenberg contribute the following con-
cerning the relationship between school and mental health.

Schools are institutions set up by society to help
the young acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes
needed in adult living. As far as children are con-
cerned, the main business of living in school is
learned in one form or another. Most expect and want
to master reading, other language arts, and number
skills. They enjoy making things and expressing them-
selves through various artistic media. They expect
to acquire interesting knowledge aboutthe world in
which they live. In addition, they take more or less
delight in developing new ways of thinking and of
getting along with people.

In the mental and emotional economy of youth, learning
is a central theme. Its relation to mental health is
deep and pervasive. On the one hand, success in school
canlxeand often is emotionally strengthening. For the/-
same reason, poorly managed learning situations which
create difficulties can damage a child's stability.

The relationship between learning and mental health
is a two-way street. Just as the school's efficiency
in enabling a child to master his environment affects
mental health, so a child's mental health alters his
ability to learn. Others, though fewer in number, may
compensate for otherwise unsatisfactory living by
investing an unusually high proportion of energy in
school learning.

Lingren wrote on the cultural influence on mental
health that there are disintegrative conditions and influ-

ences which are a function of the cultural and social

 

ll‘LHerbert A. Carroll, Mental Hygiene, The Dynamics of
Adjustment (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1956), pp. 287—288.

 

 

 

15Fritz Redl and William W. Wattenberg, Mental Hygiene
%n Te$ching (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1951),

 

25
atmosphere of which the school is a part and which, there~

fore, are inescapable. Inasmuch as the school is the
instrument of society, it is bound to inculcate those
values and standards which are part of the culture, often

without regard to whether they have an integrative or dis-

integrative effect on mental health.16

Ambrose and Miel discussing the relationship between
school environment and feelings felt that school experiences
inevitably involve children in a great deal of emotion.17

The process of learning to live in a world with
others is accompanied by conflicts and struggles.
When children move into new contacts and are intro-
duced to a wider social world, there are necessarily
moments of sorrow and despair, and moments of joy
and exhilaration. The very presence of other children,
the social tools and skills which must be mastered,
force a reappraisal of self and a restructuring of
one‘s image of self. At best, the process of main-
taining a view of one's self as adequate and competent
produces its share of feelings, both troublesome and
satisfying. At worst, the experiences at school may
shatter what was previously a rather satisfactory
self-picture leaving a child confused and uncertain.
Neither teachers nor children can avoid feeling
angry or discouraged at times. As children interact with
each other, they are bound to quarrel, have misunder-
standings, and say ugly things, though the next moment,
they may be thoughtful and sympathetic toward the
very people whom they have just abused. Children will
discover that they cannot do somethings that others
can do, that they must give up some of their ways,
that they must share time, space, possession, and
even the teacher. Some plans will be thwarted; some
ideas criticized; some faults corrected. At times, a

 

16Henry Clay Lindgren, Mental Health in Education (New
York: Henry Holt and Company, 1954), p. 390.

 

 

17Edna Ambrose and Alice Miel, Children‘s Social
Learning (Washington, D. 0.: AssociatIOn for Supervision

 

26

child will become discouraged when he does not live
up to his own expectahons, when he feels he has
failed to live up to the eXpectations of others or
when others do not respond as he expected they would.
Some may hurt deeply because they find no status in
the school groug or because they are not achieving
useful skills.l

An interesting opinion is expressed by Dorothy Rogers
in her analyses of the importance of the elementary school
years in emotional development.19

The outlines of personality are defined early. It
is generally accepted that the behavior of the child
is more easily modified than that of the adult, and
that as a person grows older his behavior becomes
increasingly resistant to change. Hence it is essen-
tial from the very beginning that the child should be
inculcated with attitudes and behaviors conducive to
good mental health--at the elementary school level
behavior is modifiable, but efforts to effect improve—
ment must be appropriate to the child involved——
another reason that the elementary school years are
crucial is that the child at that stage is deeply
affected by his experience. It is erroneous to think
of this period as emotionally latent. We usually
think of children in the primary grades as unpreturbed
and smiling-—the'"perpetually—happy—child fallacy."

A great proportion of mental illness is believed to
be preventable; and treatment of mild maladjustments
in elementary school may forestall chronic, severe
disorders later. The teacher is the only adult at
hand, in most cases, who has formal training in the
study of children's problems. Let it not be forgotten,
however, that the school may contribute to a child‘s
maladjustments as well as prevent them. Although he
gains in independence at school, he also feels the
pressure of greater responsibilities. In the class-
room he must prove himself as a person in order to
find his place in the group.

 

and Curriculum Development, a Department of the National
Education Association, 1958), p. 79.

18Ibid.

19Dorothy Rogers, Mental Hygiene in Elementary Edu-
cation (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1957), pp. 14-15.

 

27

In addition, the educative process as it often
functions involves many hazards to mental health,
such as may be involved in competitive evaluation and
in disciplinary techniques. Finally, the elementary
school is important as a factor in mental health
because it is the only agency outside the home that
touches all of the children of all the people. In
fact, a considerable fraction of each child's day is
spent in the classroom, but the total impact of the
school on the child's personality is even greater than
the fact would seem to indicate. These are critical
years for the child whether his problems be chiefly
those of home or of school. If there are conflicts in
the home, the child brings their emotional effects to
school the teacher is in a position to help the child,
and if she fails him, the chances are that he will
not get assistance anywhere. Therefore, even though
the problem did not originate in the school, the
teacher with a mental-hygiene orientation will mani-
pulate the child's school experiences so as to further
his general adjustment.2O

A further review of literature will be included in
Chapter III to substantiate the choice of items used in
the structured interview questionnaire for selecting the

schools in which the experiment was conducted.

Summary

The review of the literature has presented significant
research and literature associated with the basic hypotheses
of the study.

The literature was limited to observations, psycho-
analytical theory and interpretations, logic, and experience.
They all indicate the relatedness of the curriculum of the
school to the child. The difficulty has been to substan-
tiate the literature in the field of mental health with

scientific research.

#

2Olbid.

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

The Sample

 

It is accepted as a physical impossibility to obtain
data from all the schools in the universe. It was not only
feasible but necessary to select a sample of schools which
were representative for a specified universe. The sampling
technique, employed scientifically, gives results which are
as reliable as results of surveying a whole universe. It
was necessary, therefore, to define the universe and the
sample in which the testing of the hypotheses would occur.

The universe that was selected was located in the
central portion of the lower penninsular of Michigan. It
included a nine county area. The counties were: Barry,
Calhoun, Eaton, Jackson, Ingham, Ionia, Livingston,
Shiawassee, and Washtenaw. These counties wane selected as
they were located within a fifty mile radius from the origin
of the study and it was physically possible to visit the
schools in this area. It included school systems which
operated an educational program from kindergarten through
the twelfth grade.

To be able to generalize from the investigation

required that the samplebe representative of Michigan's

29
schools and that the schools be controlled in as many
variables as possible, with the exception of the elementary
school curriculum.

The following basic criteria was established for
controlling variables in the study:
1. Size

State equalized valuation per pupil

Enrollment in elementary school
Organization

Socio-economic level of community
Location of community

Size of community

Education level of community

\0 CID-4 OxUl 4:00 TD

Administrative staff

The data on the schools in Michigan was taken from
the records of the Michigan State Department of Public
Instruction for the years 1957—1958. The size of the school
was limited to fourth class school districts. According to
a law a fourth class school district must contain over
75 children between the ages of five and twenty years and
a total population of less than 10,000.1 A school that
would be representative of Michigan schools would be in this

size school district.

 

1w. Ray Smittle and John Darbee, A Digest 93 Michigan
School Law (Clawson, Michigan: Oakland Education Press,

1957), 57—3-

30

The median for state equalized valuation per pupil
at the time of this study was nine to ten thousand dollars.
The schools in this study had a range of between $4,000 and
$22,000; a ratio of better than five to one. This could
mean that one school could provide five times the financial
support, based on the same tax rate. Quite obviously this
could influence the curriculum and the attitudes of teachers.

To find the representative school in terms of this
criteria a minimum and a maximum tax base was established.
The minimum was $7,500 per pupil and the maximum was $12,500.
This range included the majority of schools in the sample,
and eliminated the extremes. By applying the criteria of
state equalized valuation thirty-seven school districts
remained from fifty-one fourth class school districts in
the specified universe.

In order to test a Sufficient number of children and
teachers the writer selected elementary schools that
operated at least two sections for each grade level, this
would involve a minimum of fourteen teachers and an approxi-
mate enrollment of 420 to 450 children. This was considered
to be a minimum elementary enrollment and staff. The
enrollmentfactor began to cut the thirty—seven school
districts down to twenty—six; eleven of the school districts
had between 358 and 653 children in their total program of

K-12.

31

The next controlling factor was organization of the
schools. The study necessitated having a kindergarten
through six grade program under one roof; functioning in
one general environment, under one general curriculum and
providing contact with the same general curricular experi-
ences and provisions for mental health. Six districts had
the proper enrollments but had primary units functioning in
one area of the district, or various grades in other
buildings on the same locale, or with still other grades
located in the high school building. This dispersed distri-
bution of children and the lack:cd‘organizational.structure
in one building eliminated seven more school districts from
the study.

From the remaining ninteen school districts three
operated elementary programs that were too large to be
successfully representative of the elementary schools in
fourth class districts.

One system was finally eliminated because it made use
of college students who undertook their practice teaching
in the system, and would add to the complexity of the
teachers' attitudes, by such a situation.

Fifteen schools were selected in which the investi—
gator wastD make his subjective observation of the curricu-
lum in action, and obtain an interview with the school
administrator in order to gather the necessary answers

to the items on the investigator's questionnaire and begin

32
to establish the dichotomy in curricular experiences and
provisions for mental health.

Within the fifteen schools it was necessary to elimi—
nate two more in that they were both suburban communities.
In spite of their average tax valuation they had a higher
socio—economic class of citizens than the remaining schools
and the factor was constantly being controlled as much as
possible in this study.

One more district was eliminated because of its being
a college town, and the investigator did not want the child—
ren of faculty members to unduly raise the educational
level of the homes from which the children came.

One other school was eliminated in that it came from
a community that was considerably larger than all the
remaining districts and as such the community could offer
many more educational services and opportunities.

Eleven schools were equated as to administrative
staff, and only those with a full time principal were con-
sidered. A11 eleven schools met this requirement and were
investigated for purposes of this study. .

All eleven schools cooperated in what they understood
to be an educational survey of curricula, facilities, and
services. This approach was necessary in order to not
disturb the natural curricula in the schools. It was felt
by the examiner that schools do not fear surveys as much
as they would fear investigations, evaluations, or com-

parisons. It was not the purpose of the investigator

33

to threaten any of the administrators or teachers.

The Questionnaire

 

A basic assumption implied throughout the study has
been that the investigator could determine qualitatively
and quantitatively the curricular experiences and provisions
for mental health functioning in an elementary school. It
was further assumed that the information could be obtained
by observing the curriculum in action, and by a structured
interview with the administrator's consent. It thus became
necessary to construct a questionnaire which would determine
the presence or absence of curricular experiences and
provisions for mental health.

The items had to consist of the school experiences
which the research and the literature determined to be
detrimental or beneficial to the mental health of children.

The questions were determined on the following bases:

1. The literature and research in mental health as

it relates to the school.

2. Submitting the items to a group of mental

hygienists and educators qualified in their field.

3. The author's own experience in working with

children on the primary and intermediate level.

In Chapter II it was explained that a further review
of the literature would be necessary in order to establish
the criteria for the selection of the various items in the

questionnaire.

34
This review which follows may be considered represen—
tative of the current thinking in the field of mental
hygiene in education. Their general agreement will become
apparent as their concepts of good and bad mental health

experiences are discussed.

Herbert A. Carroll. Carroll's chapter on "The School"

 

illustrates his experiences and convictions on the following
problem areas:2

1. Scholastic achievement. The need for achievement
is strong in every school child. The mental hygiene point
of view requires that this need be satisfied, and it can be
satisfied only when the scholastic goals set for him are
within his reach. Instead of being concerned primarily
with maintaining high standards, the school should be con-
cerned with the vital problem of helping each student, at
his own level, to increase his knowledge, to develop
emotional stability, and to maintain his self—respect.

2. Grades. Since most of our schools make use of
grades, it is necessary to consider the question of hygienic
and unhygienic attitudes toward them. Teachers and pupils
alike should take the point of View that grades are given
for two practical reasons: (1) as an index to the quality
of the work done; (2) as a basis for promotion.

The first of these reasons is subject to many qualifi-

cations. A grade in a single subject is by no means an

 

2Carroll, op. cit., pp. 288-295.

35

accurate evaluation of the quality of the work done by the
pupil. An average of a large number of grades is more
reliable but still far from exact. The problem of the
validity and reliability of grades has been carefully studied
during the last quarter of a century. Investigators agree
that the tests which are customarily used to measure the
degree to which the student has achieved the objectives of
the course are, on the whole, remarkably low in validity;
that is, they do not measure what they purport to measure.
The situation with respect to reliability is even worse;
the grades givelon an essay examination in history, for
example, depend to a considerable degree upon who rates
the paper and when he rates it.

If grades must be given as a basis for promotion,
then a simple "passing"and "incomplete" plan provides the
best system. If the school is convinced that in addition
to this it needs to have abasis for awarding of honors
and scholarships, then a five-point system, A, B, C, D,
and incomplete, is acceptable. The percentage system should
never be used, for it rests on the false assumption that
grades are so exact that a teacher can differentiate between
an eighty-nine and ninety and that there is a goal of
absolute perfection--1OO per cent-ethat students should
aim at. Obviously no pupil can do perfect work in a course;
obviously the teacher himself does not know the material

perfectly. Moreover, it is undesirable from the mental

36
hygiene point of view for children to be taught to think
in perfectionistic terms. Achievement in the classroom is
always relative.

Grades, especially numerical grades, tend to stimulate
competition. It is undesirable, both educationally and
psychologically, for a child to feel that his principle
reason for studying hard is that he may defeat someone else.
Every school has observed examples of bitter competition
for honors.

From the mental hygiene point of View, failure is
bad enough; failure accompanied by punishment for failing
is even worse. The best stimulate for good work is success.
The more often a child is successful, the better he will do,
Therefore, the school should so plan its program that each
child can experience a series of academic successes. This
can be done only by taking his abilities into account and
by encouraging him to set scholastic goals which are well
within his reach. Failure is always at leasttemporarily
disintegrating; persistent failure usually leads to serious
behavior disorders. Success is a constructive experience;
continued success usually leads to integration and to self-
confidence.

3. Discipline. The causes of misconduct, insofar
as classroom conditions are concerned, are not hard to
identify. Every child needs to succeed. Denied the

opportunity to satisfy his need for scholastic achievement

37

he strikes out against his environment. Adjustment of the
course content to the abilities of the children being
taught would solve many disciplinary problem.

The relationship between teacher and pupil should be
such that the child is made to feel emotionally secure.
She should resort to disciplinary measures only when such
steps have to be taken for the good of the group. She
should never use fear as a technique of control. To make
a child feel emotionally insecure is to create, not

eliminate, behavior problems.3

Redland Wattenberg. Redl and Wattenberg provide
A

 

additional measurable criteria:

1. Report cards, grades, and marks. The worst part
of teaching for many conscientious people is the assignment
of grades or marks, especially when these go home on report
cards. If grades are based on any objective system, they
are psychologically unfair. If the system is founded on
relationship between individual capacity and performance,
it seems to breed a different species of injustice.5

The whole process of assigning grades is so filled

with possibilities for increasing emotional conflict among

 

3Ibid.

”Redl and Wattenberg, op. cit., p. 197.

5Ibid.

38
children as well as teachers that it remains a bugaboo. As
the fatal day approaches, evidences of insecurity mount;
young people become extra good, apple-polishing increases,
and anxiety is openly displayed. The defensiveness of
teachers breaks out in a rash of symptoms ranging from
case—hardened insouciance to nervous indigestion.

Before leaving this problem-laden topic there is one
fallacy which should be exploded. In some schools, systems
are set up on the assumption that young people experience
success and failure in school only on the day report cards
are given out or promotions are announced. Some such
arrangements may be called "no—failure" systems. The term
is absolute nonsense. Feelings about school work are built
solidly as a result of day—to—day experience. It is boot-
less to tell a child who knows he gets most problems wrong
that he is doing satisfactory work. The unpleasantness
and repeated frustrations do not disappear without trace
just because the report card bears an S or a B or some other
mystic symbol.

Is there a better way than marks and report cards for
schools to perform their evaluating function? The answer
iS'"Yes;" A number of schools rely upon parent-teacher
conferences to communicate information about the young
people. In these, planning for young people takes precedence
over rendering verdicts about them. That is as it should be.

This can only work well when the staff is given adequate

39

time and there is a good basis of parent-teacher co-

operation.6

Henry Clay Lindgren. Lindgren describes the school's
7

 

influence in mental health under the following topics:
1. Disintegrative Influences in Education:

a. Conformity. One of these factors is the
emphasis and insistence on conformity and the submission
which is characteristic of the emotional climate of many
schools. This often has the effect of discouraging original—
ity and independence in the thought and action. To be sure,
a certain degree of conformity is necessary in all social
situations, otherwise groups lack cohesion and purpose and
are unable to operate effectively. When conformity becomes
an end in itself instead of the means to an end, when it
becomes a central value in the child's personality, there is
a dying out of the capacity for originality and the desire
for self—direction.

b. Reward and Punishment. Some children who are
subjected to situations of this sort over the years come
to believe that the rewards of learning are not the pleasure

and satisfaction of practicing a new skill or discovering

 

6Ibid., pp. 331-334.

7Lindgren, op. cit., pp. 390-397.

40
a new bit of information but are instead the praise of the
teacher. Or, even more commonly, children come to feel that
learning is something one does to avoid punishment or
criticism. In effect, an over-emphasis on the reward—and-
punishment aspects of the educational situation produces a
distortion which causes students to substitute a rather
hallow and insubstantial type of goal for the deeper satis-
factions that result from greater personal adequacy--such
things as improved relations with others, greater skill in
dealing with the problems of one's environment, greater
effectivenessixlself-expression, and the like.

0. Competition. There is no quarrel here with
the friendly sort of competition which often helps to
stimulate interests in the classroom. What we are concerned
with is a situation that causes children to subordinate all
other considerations in favor of an intense drive to get
the best marks. In the worst of the competitive situations,
children no longer care about what they 1earn--whether it
is useful, whether it is worth remembering over the summer
vacation, whether it helps make the world around them more
understandable--their only concern is to defeat each other.

Another effect of the over-emphasis on competition
is that it makes students too fearful of failure. Preoccupa-
tion with failure induces an unrealistic and somewhat
neurotic orientation of life. In the first place, a certain

amount of failure is inevitable in life. Ofttimes the

41
overly competitive person is so afraid of failure that he
tries to cover up or deny to himself the fact that he has
failed. Or he might indulge in self-condemnation and self-
recrimination for not having lived up to his expectations.
In the second p1ace,fai1ure can be a useful experience in
learning. The emotionally mature person is one who can
accept the fact that he has failed, analyze and appraise the
situation, and determine what he should do next. The overly
competitive person is often so overcome by anxiety or the
inability to accept the reality of his failure that he is
unable to profit from his experience.

d. The Organizational Structure of the School.

(1) Communication. One of the chief prob—
lems is the difficulty which children experience in trying
to communicate with adults and vice versa. We should be
aware that the organization of the classroom makes it easy
for the teacher to talk to the class but not for the class
to talk to the teacher.

(2) Autocratic Tradition. The organizational
structure of the schools prescribed by convention and tradi-
tion is one which is best suited for the distribution of
power in an autocratic atmosphere. It is an arrangement
that makes it easy for one person to make most of the
decisions on behalf of the staff and the students. This
type of organization may seem desirable for purposes of
economy and efficiency, but-it makes the development of

democratic practices a difficult one.

42

(3) Unreality of the Curriculum. One of the
most difficult problems which schools must face is that of
developing a curriculum which has reality and life for
children. What happens all too often is that children fail
to see any connection between what they study in school and
life in the world outside. Merely because the connection
between the curriculum and life is obvious to an adult does
not mean that it is obvious to a child. After a while,
children get the idea that nothing that the school teaches
is of any practical use, and that the curriculum is a series
of uninteresting tasks which do not bear any real relation—
ship to each other.

(4) Examinations and Marks. Mostteachers
agree that our present systems of grading leave much to be
desired, but they also agree that we have not found accept-
able substitutes for grades. One of the reasons for this
difficulty is that our grading system is suited to an
educational organization which emphasizes competition, often
to the detriment of learning. If competition were no problem,
grading would be much less of a problem. If grades were
merely the evaluations of learning, devoid of any emotional
considerations, they would present no real difficulties,
but as long as an A is an honor, a reward, and a designation
of high status, and an F is a disgrace, a penalty, and a
designation of low status,tensions and anxieties are in-
evitable.8

8

 

Ibid.

——

43
2. Integrative Influences in Education.

a. Satisfying Need to Learn. One of the more
specific contributions which the modern school makes toward
the mental health of children is the opportunity it provides
for satisfying their normal curiosity, their natural desire
to learn more about themselves and their environment.

b. Meeting the Need to Participate with Others.
The chief value of a social nature that the school has for
children lies in the opportunities it provides for children
to learn how to cooperate, cope, and even compete with a
variety of adults and children.

0. Learning Social Norms and Customs. By
participating in a social situation removed from that of
his family, the child is enabled to have a dual experience
in learning how to deal with the problems of life. At
school he learns the ways that society has developed for
dealing with such problems.

Participating in group experiences with other
children also helps to "socialize" the child. He learns to
share, plan cooperatively, lead and follow, and to parti-
cipate in group decision making. And the more opportunity
his school provides for experiences of this sort under
competent guidance, the better he will learn these social
skills.

He also learns to cope with some difficult prob-

lems. Not only will some of the values and standards he

44
learned at home come into conflict with the norms of his
peer group, but there is also likely to be differences
among the several peer groups with whom he associates,
not to mention the disparities between the standards of
the student world and the world of teachers and other adults.
Learning to socialize means, in part, being able to maintain
a satisfactory balance betweenleing an individual and being
a member of the family group, the peer group, and the
larger group that is the school.

d.' Learning to be Self-Directive. Although there
is much progress to be made by the schools in this regard,
the very fact that the school presents the child with a new
experience which he must meet largely on his own means
that he must develop some resources for independence and
self—reliance. And although the school tends to provide
ready-made solutions for many if not most of the problems
it presents to children, there are still situations, parti—
cularly in the informal aspects of the curriculum, that give
children opportunities to work out solutions for themselves.
Some schools give children more opportunities to work out
solutions than others; some teachers do more with this
than others.9

e. The Curriculum and the Extra-Curriculum.

(1) Student Government. At its best, student

government can be a way of enabling children (particularly

 

9Ibid., pp. 415—419.

45
at the secondary school level) to participate in the oper-
atbn of their school, to help make policy, and to help
enforce rules of their own making. At its best, student
government can build morale and cohesiveness, can give
students a sense of identity with the school, can make the
school psychologically attractive. All of these factors
are important both from the standpoint of good mental health
and the learning of subject matter.10

(2) Willingness to Experiment with the
Curriculum. Another factor that has helped to make the
atmosphere of the school more conducive to mental health
has been the willingness of some administrators and teachers
to try experimental educational programs that in some cases
are radical departures from traditional curricula.11

(3) Guidance Services. We should be aware
that many schools have already developed facilities which
have done much to individualize the relations of the school
with the child. One of the most important phases of this
development has been the growth in the number of trained
school psychologists, counselors, and guidance workers. In
schools where there is an effective guidance program, child-
ren do not feel so alone with their problems. They know

that they have some place to go for help. To be sure, they

 

10Ibid., p. 422.

*—

llIbid., p. Men.

A6
have always been able to take their problems to their
teachers, and probably Just as many children go to their
teachers as ever before, but there are many children who
have difficulty in communicating with a teacher. Perhaps
it is that the teacher is too much like a parent; the
teacher, as we have said, is an authority figure--he can
punish and reward. The counselor is more a neutral figure;
one can talk things over with him and preserve one's
privacy. Often teachers simply do not have the time to see
all the students who would like to see them; one of the big
advantages of a well-organized guidance program is that
there are people who have time to meet with children
individually. We mention him here because he makes a large
contribution to those educational situations that are
helping children to develop in ways that are healthy and
emotionally mature.

(A) Special Education. Schools in increasing
numbers are making provisions for children with special
problems-~mentally retarded, hard of hearing, cerebral
palsied, and so forth. Community after community is coming
to realize that it must provide special education for those
who need special handling. The important motive where such
programs have been organized seems to be the recognition
by the community that it has a responsibility to all
children, not merely to those who are able to benefit from

the conventional sChool situation.l2

 

lerid., pp. 436-437.

“7

Dorothy Rogers. Dorothy Rogers in her chapter on

 

“Persistent Classroom Problems: Problems of Method,"
discusses mental health experiences related to certain
methods or techniques in the elementary school.13

1. Extrinsic Motivation.

a. Free time. Better pupils are sometimes
rewarded with free time or extra play while weaker children
are required to do work in which they are deficient. The
slower student, feeling that he has been penalized, cannot
approach remedial work in the spirit of doing his best.

b. Appointment as leader or monitor. Another
way of rewarding satisfactory work is by appointing a child
as a group leader or monitor. All children should have
opportunities for this type of recognition and leadership
training.

A 0. Honor roll. The honor roll still adorns the
wall of many a classroom and the names of the same children
appear on it over and over. The very name "honor roll" seems
to imply that the children whose names do not appear there
are "without honor." Moreover, this is still another
situation in which bright children anxiously compete against
each other while duller children know they have no chance.

d. Exhibiting work. The incentive value of dis-

playing children‘s work depends on the way the procedure is

 

l3Rogers, op. cit., pp. 238—244.

48
used. If the teacher's aim is to impress visitors she will
consistently put up the work of the best pupils. Children
who have nothing on display are crushed when their parents
visit the school and, on looking around the room, ask their
child the inevitable question, "Which is yours?"

e. Gold stars. The use of stars is a type of
motivation particularly pleasing to small children. Although
this technique has the basic weaknesses of most forms of
extrinsic motivation, it may be of some positive value.
Unlike honor rolls stars are not publicly exhibited. Their
usage may be abused, however, so that children will cheat
to get them. The temptation may be largely removed by
permitting the child to participate in evaluating his own
work to decide when a star has been earned.

2. Evaluation.

a. Report cards as instruments of evaluation.
First of all, how effective are report cards in measuring
progress toward goals? If a child is given a C in reading
for two consecutive months does it mean that his progress is
simply average for the class? If his grade in reading
improves from C to B does it signify improvement in all the
processes involved in reading, some of them, or simply in
attitude toward reading?

The diagnostic aim suffers badly where report
cards are concerned. A letter grade is compounded of so

many variables such as skills, attitudes, understandings,

49
or any combination thereof, that one has no idea where
weaknesses and strengths lie. The key on the report card
indicates that'"D" meanS'"Poor;" Johnny thinks: "I am
doing poorly; I should improve. What can I do?" Actually,
Johnny may be performing quite creditably for him and the
grade may merely signify that his achievement is below the
average of the class.

Is there much likelihood that Johnny's D will
spur him to greater achievement? Perhaps it will if Johnny
usually makes higher grades because then he knows it is
possible. But if the D is his customary mark, he simply
learns to think of himself as too dull to do anything worth—
while. ‘"I'm just dumb, I guess” Johnny shrugs. He identi—
fies his performance with himself and comes to view himself
as an inadequate person.

What of report cards as a means of comparing one's
abilities with others? It is a valid conclusion that the
child who makes low grades in mathematics has less ability
than the average? No, because poor performance is often

linked to poor instruction. Even if teaching is effective

1 i

and grading isckflua'on the curve,’ relative potential is
still not clear. Does a median position in reading refer
to speed, or comprehension, or what? Besides, may not a
class fail to represent a typical segment of the total
school population of that age? Mary skipped a grade and

found it easier to lead the more advanced class than the

50
one she came from because fewer bright children were among
her new classmates. It will do the child harm anyway to
know his relative performance unless he is guided to see
its implications in proper perspective. Inferior achieve—
ment can lead to feelings of defeatism.

Nor do report cards assist the child to learn about
himself and define his goals. It would seem safe to assume
that the child who makes all A's in history has special
insight into the subject. Not always: the criterion of
achievement may be simply the memorization of facts. Dora
made A's in art because she was able to create carbon copies
of objects; was that art? Report cards can never be inter-
preted except in the broader context of a teacher's
philosophy and standards.

Do report cards assist the child to develop habits
of self—evaluation? Rarely does the child participate at
all in this type of evaluation. Even if he were asked what
grade he should receive how should he be expected to know?
The experts in education themselves are confused about what
symbols should represent.

Since the card is devised by the educators them-
selves, it should certainly serve to adapt instruction to
the needs of the child. The child may benefit slightly
from the fact that the teacher must think briefly of every
child‘s performance in the course of making out cards.

However, performance should be measured continuously and

51
not merely at stated intervals if experiences are to relate
to needs.

Where the teacher-pupil relationship is concerned,
report cards often have a devastating effect. Teachers are
often thought of aS‘"giving grades." A poor grade becomes
a symbol of reprimand or disapproval and thus generates
antagonism. Thereby rapport needed for effective instruction
suffers. Even the teacher may come to think of herself as

“"giving grades. To keep the support of certain influential
persons in the community, teachers may give their children
higher grades. Naturally, self-respect suffers and guilt
feelings are created. Even very conscientious teachers
manipulate grades in order to encourage children who are
handicapped or have suffered some other misfortune. But
what of the children whose psychological needs the teacher
has not fathomed?’

High grades may indeed strengthen egos and in some
cases create a closer teacher—pupil relaflon. But cannot
sounder means be used to achieve the same ends? The feeling
of approval gained by brighter children is hardly worth the
emotional hazard to others. Besides, a student who makes a
B when aspiring to an A often suffers more than the child
who always makes D's.

The function that report cards are believed prim-

arily to serve is that of reporting to parents. Interview

any parent and you will learn how vague are his interpretation

52
of grades. The key found on the card may serve simply to
confuse the issue. '"A" signifies "excellent" so the child
making A's is praised and rewarded. Yet bright children
often make high grades‘"with both hands tied behind them."
The A actually encourages laziness because if it can be
obtained without effort, why bother? Another child of
lesser ability may work even harder and receive a low grade
that is identified with “laziness." His parents shake their
heads and tell him that he could do better.

Even if a child has loafed on the job punishment
by parents will rarely effect improvement. The soundest
approach is in helping the child to define suitable goals
and showing how he can make progress toward them.

Yet the parent can hardly be blamed for taking
action, even if it is wrong. Otherwise, why was the card
sent home at all? Parents should be informed of the best
way to interpret and utilize the information found on these
instruments. For example, parents have a tendency to com-
pare their chfld's grades with those of others. Educators
should help their patrons realize that children of different
abilities should not be expected to perform on the same level.

In order that children of less ability be freed
of undue home pressures some schools use a dual marking
system giving one grade for effort and another for achieve-
ment. Theoretically, the child is to be praised or blamed

according to the amount of effort made regardless of

53
accomplishment. But exactly what is implied by effort and

how may it be measured? Some children work unobtrusively
and quietly while others make a production of everything
they do. A child with little energy may require great
effort simply to remain awake. An unhappy child may find
it very difficult to concentrate on anything at all except
himself.lu

3. Course-of—Study Requirements and Grade-Level
Expectancies. The problems of satisfying course-of-study
requirements and meeting grade-level expectancies are
allied. In either case external pressures may compel the
teacher to sacrifice children's needs to the reality of
externally imposed requirements.

a. Course-of-study requirements. A third grade
teacher feels that she is expected to teach third grade
work because that is the way her grade is designated. No
matter that she gives an achievement test and discovers
that some of the children are on the first grade level in
ability to read. A third grade reader is placed in their
hands. There are those who can read on the usual fifth
grade level, but a third grade reader is likewise placed
in their hands.

There will never be a situation when every child
who comes to the third grade will be on the same level in

every subject. Besides, if personal and social maturity

 

14Ibid.

54
are taken into account the child will often fail to be in
the correct grade for his academic achievements. Finally,
to make the situation still more complicated, a program
adapted to the interests of the children as well as to their
academic needs is not likely to fit neatly into a prescribed
course of study.

b. Grade—level expectancies. An allied problem
is that of pressure to bring children up to national norms
for a grade, despite factors in the local situation that
make such a goal impractical.

4. Promotion and Retention.

a. Hazards of retention as traditionally prac-
tices. ‘"Repeating" a grade usually means just that--
repeating the same old tasks, whether or not they were
learned previously, in the same old way. Because the
practice carries with it the implication of failure, the
self-esteem of both parent and child is threatened. Parents
often feel that retention of their child is a reflection
upon their own intelligence or their skill in rearing the
child. They may project the blame onto the child thus
increasing his feelings of failure or they may become
hostile toward the teacher, thus making cooperation dif-
ficult.

The child suffers most. He may become the victim
of odious sibling comparison because he is the only one in

the family who was ever "kept back;" '"I don't know what's

55

‘ a father states testily; "your sister

the matter with you,‘
always makes out all right." The child also feels left out
because he cannot move along with his friends. But most of
all he suffers because he feels like a failure.

b. Evidence from research. The summary that
Sumption and Phillips made of the most recent research on
this topic includes these points: there is no evidence that
retention in a grade significantly accelerates a slow
learning rate, nor does it assure subject mastery; likewise,
non-promotion practices do not effect an increase in grade—
achievement averages in individual groups or reduce the
range of achievement there; finally, there is no proof that
such practices improve the retained pupil's morale or per—
sonality adjustment.

In fact, the contrary proved to be true in a study
of 416 children, including 139 slow learners, from five
elementary schools in Wallingford, Connecticut. These
pupils were selected from each grade level from first
through eighth. Nonpromoted children were found to experi—
ence difficulty in social relationships due to their greater
size and strength and more mature play interests. They were
cut off during the school day from their preferred companions
who were in the upper grades. It is not surprising that
these children developed anti-social behavior and an unsat-

isfactory attitude toward school.15

 

fl

l5Ibid., pp. 247-250.

56
5. Grouping.

a. Grouping within a grade. Some individuals
advocate homogeneous ability grouping-—on the basis that
otherwise differences are too extreme. The pupils of
greatest ability may lose interest through having to spend
much of their time listening to the contributions of the
children of weakest ability. The very dull might grow
discouraged at the wide gap that exists between themselves
and the brightest.

b. Others oppose ability grouping. While the
children may be considerably alike in ability or character-
istics, they will vary widely in other traits. Second,
the formation of groups on the basis of a single variable
is a direct contradiction of the "whole child" philosophy.
Third, the emphasis is on educational objectives rather
than on child needs. Lastly, the children themselves may
be sensitive to being placed in special groups.

c. Grouping within a classroom. There should
not be only a single grouping on the basis of pver-all
ability. Instead one should think of different groups for
different purposes. Groups may also be formed in terms of
Special interests.16

6. Competition. It is not competition so much as

competition in disproportionate amounts that hurts a child.

 

16
Ibid., pp. 252-253.

57

If he competes he may be taught to compete in ways that are
inevitable anyhow, such as in finding a role in the group.
He can accept failure in competition if he also has his
share of successes. Therefore, it behooves the teacher to
help the child to select proper goals.

Furthermore, the ravages of competition are more
severe where the insecure child is concerned. A child who
feels adequate and loved does not have to get "first place"
to satisfy his ego because his ego is adequate already.

Again, competitive situations must be counter-
balanced by plenty of situations involving group cooper-
ation which will involve cooperative group planning, sharing
of effort and responsibility, of credit and of blame. It
is also often suggested that children learn to measure their
own progress and develop the habit of competing with them-
selves; but even here a caution is in order. An individual
may set standards too high for himself and drive himself
too hard.

7. Homework.

a. Possible ill effects of homework. All con-
cerned in the educative process--teacher, parents, and
children--pay a price for the questionable advantages of
homework. It is a nuisance for teachers to check papers
prepared at home, yet they realize that the assignments
will be of little benefit unless they do. Nor can they

ever be quite sure how much of the work was done by the

58
child and how much by his parents and friends, so that it is
useless to base remedial work on the results.

Parent-child relations are affected, too. Parents
are engaged in a constant battle with the child to "do his
homework;" Often the parent in desperation, does the work
himself, or at least, gives assistance. When Junior reports
that the teacher did not like the way the problem was worked,
the parent is forced to project the blame on the teacher and
say she does not really know how to teach.

The children suffer most. The greatest penalty
is in devoting to homework time that they need for recreation.
They recognize the futility of much of this busy work and
resent it.

b. Evidence from research. Research concerning
the value of homework at the elementary school level may be
summarized as follows: (1) homework seems to have little
effect on a pupil's progress in school either in his own
grade or later in high school; (2) voluntary homework has
about as many values as compulsory homework; and (3) the
benefits of homework are too small to offset the disadvan-
tages, especially in poor homes. In an article in the Mew

York Times Magazine, Benjamine Fine cites much experimental

 

evidence on both the elementary and secondary school levels

to show that formal homework assignments are of dubious

1?

value.

 

l7Ibid., pp. 252-257.

59

Harold W. Bernard. Bernard discusses questionable

18

practices in the school situation.

 

1. Grades. When schools abandon uniform grading—-
there are now hopeful trends in that direction-~we shall
see pupils who are gaining in confidence, feelings of worth,
and personal security. They will come to realize that they
have a contribution to make in the school and in life, even
though it is not identical with that of their classmates
who sit in adjacent seats. Schools will be more lifelike
when the "salary schedule" allows each child a chance to
accomplish in his unique way.

Not the least serious criticism of the grading
system is its unreliability. Study after study has shown
that two different teachers do not give the same grade for
objectively determined equivalence of achievement in
academic accomplishment. There is considerable difference
between the grading standards of various schools. The same
paper graded by different teachers may, and has, received
scores running the full gamut of the grading scale. Even
the same paper graded by the same teacher at different
times does not always receive the same score. The unreli-
ability of grading should count as reason enough for regarding

it as a questionable practice--to say nothing of the effect

 

18

Harold W. Bernard, Mental Hygiene for Classroom
Teachers (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 19527, pp.

233-253.

 

60
which it has on those who are at the receiving end of this
unjust practice. The fact is that success in any line of
activity depends, to a degree, upon the ability to get
along with others and to make good impressions. What is
needed, in the author's opinion, is not a repudiation of
the subjective element in grading but a recognition of it
that will allow the teacher to use it constructively.

The foregoing does not state, nor does it mean,
that examinations and tests have no place in the educational
scheme. What it implies is that such devices are only a
part, not the entire medium or the end, of educational pro-
cedures. Tests and examinations have a constructive role
to play in functional education, but their use--or rather,
their misuse-~1eads to the logical question, "What is that
use?"

Several techniques are being used for experiments
in evaluation. One minor revision is to grade accomplish—
ment in terms of ability rather than by personal comparisons.
Thus, an S (for satisfactory) may be given to one student
who is doing the work in a mediocre fashion, because his
ability is low while another student who has the same
accomplishment is given a U (unsatisfactory) because he
has high potential, and another receives a C (commendable)
for the same work, because he is working under definite
and known handicaps. This system provides a workable
basis for the wise use of informal and standardized exami—

nations, but it also considers the child in terms of his

61
physical health and home background. Other dissenters from
the grading and marking viewpoint are in favor of discarding
formal letter and numerical designations and substituting
conferences of various sorts.

The objective of all grading systems should
desirably be to promote growth on the part of the pupil.
This objective is perhaps nowhere better served than in the
use of pupil self-appraisal. This plan calls for a detailed
statement of the various aims, objectives, and desired out-
comes of the learning situation. The aims are made clear
to the students at the beginning of the term--in many
places the students have participated in the formation of
the objectives—fthen each student is given the chance,
periodically, to evaluate his own progress toward the
attainment of the goals. In the meantime, the teacher will
have evaluated the student in terms of the same objectives.
If there is any discrepancy between the two evaluations,
teacher and pupil get together to discover the reasons for
the differences. This serves to clarify any misunderstandings
and thus has the effect of making for a more wholesome
classroom atmosphere.

Now the tendency is to broaden the base and make
use of the mediums inherent in the concept of evaluation.
Anecdotal records; representative bits of work; health
histories; the results of periodic intelligence tests and

achievement tests; reactions to the responses made on

62
personality inventories; teacher-teacher, teacher—pupil,
and teacher—parent conferences-—a11 these become a part
of the broadened concept.

2. Nonpromotion. An argument against the idea of
block promotion is that students who are not prepared for
the work of the next class will hold that class back.
Statistics show that this, too, is a misconception. Studies
indicate that from 70 to 90 per cent of the pupils who are
given trial promotions make good in the next grade-—this,
in subject centered schools.

Effective pupil guidance will avert much of the
prevailing practice of failing, but where mistakes are made
it seems unwise to place the whole burden on the student.
If conditions conducive to mental health are to prevail in
our schools, the negative threat of failure must be
replaced by more positive lures to educational achievement.

3. Homework. Closely alfled to the threat of failure
is the necessity for the student doing homework in order to
complete the work of his grade or class.

In the first place, homework assignments are
likely to magnify rather than to reduce the range of indivi—
dual differences in academic achievement. The youngster
who is having difficulty in keeping up with his peers is
also likely to be the one whose home influences are dis-

tracting.

63

In the second place, young people, including those
of high school age, need to have time for play and social
development. School attendance should not demand of the
student a monastic devotion to academic pursuits. He should
be encouraged, especially during the winter months, to play
and exercise in the open air. Since mental health involves
the mental, physical, emotional, and social life of the
individual, the mental phase should not be allowed or
encouraged to take more than its fair share of time.

In the third place, homework is likely to create
a poor learning situation, both in school and at home.
Those who know they can do their work easily at home are
likely to make little use of their study time in school,
thus forming poor work habits when work should be given first
place, and tending, besides, to prevent those who cannot
work profitably at home from finishing their work at school.

4. Authoritarianism. There are several explanations

as to why authoritarianism is harmful to mental health. One
is that it limits the opportunity to practice the habit of
independent thought. Pupils cannotlearn how to think when
what they are to think is dictated to them. Another is
that it obviously restricts the opportunity for independent
action, which we have seen is a fundamental human need.
Freedom to grow, practice in standing on one's own feet is
a prime requisite to the development of healthy feelings of

psychological security. Protection by authority tends to

64
make for false feelings of security. Empirical and experi—
mental data indicate that dictatorial procedures tend to
stir up an attitude of resentment, thus inhibiting the
development of harmonious relationships.

a. Restriction of freedom. There are many ways
in which the restriction of freedom is manifest in the
typical school. Among these may be listed (1) a concept of
class routine in which sitting in chairs or at desks for
the whole period is expected and sometimes enforced; (2) a
set curriculum, which restricts the freedom of the pupils to
exercise self-direction; (3) school rules and regulations
which students have had no part in formulating; (4) the
teacher's fear that, if he allows spontaneous activity, the
class will get out of hand; (5) the relative lack of
opportunity to choose and pursue activities which are out-
side the realm of traditionally conceived educational sub-
jects; and (6) lack of freedom to pursue knowledge beyond

the bounds of tests and references.

D. B. Klein. Another source of reference is sub—
20

 

mitted by Klein.

1. Failure. Failure in school work with its atten-

dant expression of disapproval and disappointment by the

 

19Ibid.

20D. B. Klein, Mental Hygiene, A Survey of Personality
Disorders and Mental Health (New York: Henry Holt and

Company, 1956), pp. 584-585.

 

 

 

65
teacher often induces the youngster to feel that "teacher
doesn't like me;" It is but a short step from the con-
viction of being disliked to the feeling of being rejected.
One of the crucial mental hygiene opportunities for the
teacher is to guide the youngster in wise ways of facing
the fact of failure. Individual morale is largely contin-
gent on the possession of healthy techniques of adjusting
to failure and a good teacher is one who can help the
child develop such techniques.

The mental hygienist is concerned about the prob-
lem of academic failure because of its possible damage to
the victim's personality. It frequently provokes frus-
tration of the serious kind--the kind which means loss of
self—confidence and threat to one‘s self-esteem. In the
language of the psychoanalyst, it means superego trouble,
or possibly a disguised Oedipus complex, considering how
fathers react to poor report cards. The disciple of Alfred
Adler will view it as the basis for what he labels an
'"inferiority complex;" Precisely what descriptive label
is employed is not important. What is important is to
understand what school failure may mean to a sensitive
child—-and to some not so sensitive.

Shame and self~respect cannot dwell in the same
psychological household and morale goes to smash when self-
respect crumbles. This is what makes school failure a

mental hygiene problem.21

 

21Ibid.

_

66

2. Grades. All parties involved—~teacher, pupil,
and parents-~are thus placing too much emphasis on the
significance of academic grades. Both the elation pro—
duced by high grades as well as the humiliation precipitated
by low ones may be too extreme in view of the reliability of
the marks themselves as well as the uncertainty as to their
precise implications. In some instances it is altogether
possible for a student to receive an "A" in a course even
though the study involved has failed to produce a change in
his attitudes, to increase his body of factual knowledge,
or to furnish him with new insights or new techniques. The
course may involve little more than a rehash-—sometimes
under a different name-~of material he has already absorbed
in previous courses. On the other hand, another student,
who completes thesame course with a "C" may have made
relatively more educational progress as a consequence of
broadened intellectual horizons than the "A" student.
Despite his "C" grade, he may thus have gotten more out of
the course than many whose grades were higher.22

Two evaluation forms illustrate how another individ-
ual and one national agency assess a local school program
in terms of mental health. These provided samples for the

investigator. (See Charts I and II)

 

22
Ibid., pp. 615-6160

67

CHART I

SCHEDULE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE MENTAL HYGIENE
PROGRAM OF AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL1

Key for rating: A--Excellent; B--Good; C--Fair; D-—Poor;
E--Very inadequate

Enter Ratings
Below

 

I. Does the organization and conduct of the
school contribute to the wholesome person—
ality adjustment of teachers and pupils?

 

a) To what degree are special efforts
made to understand the needs of in-
dividual pupils through the employment
of counselors and other uidance
specialists who use: (1 tests of l 2
academic aptitude, (2) measurement of
educational achievement, (3) study of 3 4
social history, (4) personal inter—
views, (5) physical examinations? . . 5

b) How much is done by way of remedial
instruction in (1) reading, (2) arith- l
metic, (3) speech, (4) study skills, 3
(5) other fields? . . . . . . . 5

 

4th)

 

c) Does the health program stress preven—
tive as well as therapeutic aspects of
pupil well-being? . . . . . .

 

d) To what degree are happy,spontaneous,
and constructive recreational experi—
ences provided for all pupils? . . .

 

e) To what extent was the system of
evaluation (1) developed through
faculty participation, (2) understood 1 2
by the faculty, and (3) understood and
accepted by the pupils? . . . . . 3

f) In the promotion of pupils, to what
extent is their physical, emotional,
and social status considered as well
as their academic achievement? .

 

 

1M. E. Bennett, "Some Aspects of Mental Hygiene in the
Administration of an Elementary School" (unpublished Master's
thesis, Stanford University, 1942), 89 pp.

CHART I (continued)

g) Does the special education pro ram

make adequate provision for l the
superior, (2) the retarded, 3 the
physically handicapped, and 4 the
socially maladjusted? . . . . .

As for records: (How adequate are
pupil records? (2) How freely are they
available for the use of teachers?

How well is the school equipped (1) to
give individual guidance? (2) to
employ the guidance conference to give
teachers a better understanding of the
pupils? . . . . . . .

68

Enter Ratings

 

 

 

Below
1 2
3 4
l 2

 

69

CHART II
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLSl

SOME INQUIRES HELPFUL IN APPRAISING
MENTAL HEALTH IN A SCHOOL

PROGRAM:

1.

What kind of respect is accorded the learning that
comes by way of activities?

For instance

Fine Arts Music Industrial Arts
Rhythms & Dancing Dramatics Physical Education

A. Are they fully respected?

B. Are they reserved for those with special talent?
Is there any taint of exploitation of the young
people involved? Is there too much "perfection
seeking"?

C. How much time is assigned to them in the school
program? At what time of the day?

D. Does the school plant reveal the results of the
shop and the studio?

How important in the school life are such activities as

Student Councils and Committees Student Religious
Discussion Groups Activities
Clubs Community Work or "Work Time"

The chance to express one's self creatively-—whether in
the arts or in other activities--enables young people to
rid themselves of stresses and strains, to graping with
problems, and to express strong feelings in a way that
is acceptable and health-giving. Is this understood

and is this understanding used to advantage?

Are these activities related to the academic work and
to each other or are they carried on in compartments?
In other words, to what are these activities relevant?

 

1National Council of Independent School, Committee on

Educational Practices, Boston, Massachusetts, 1952.

70

Is the mastery of the tools of learning so treated that
these tools become elements of security in a child's
life?

In the various studies is meaning an objective--for
example, the applicability to current issues outside the
school? Does such work help the student to understand
and face his changing world?

GUIDANCE:

l.

9.

Is there an adviser to whom each child can turn, or who,
on proper occasions, would turn to his advisee?

Is such adviser a counsellor who sits less as judge
and disciplinary agent and more as the person to whom
the boy or girl can talk?

Is there a pooling of insights by the adults who deal
with each child to the point of a shared approach?

Are environmental factors studied and interpreted?

Is the testing system used as one kind of evidence
rather than as a categorizer of children, a measure of
teaching, or an end in itself?

Is there true regard for all kinds of gifts and degrees
of success-~for the achievements of those limited in
academic, creative or athletic ability as well as those
gifted in these ways?

Is the marking and report system a teacher's or parent's
weapon, or is it a medium of learning and teaching and
guidance?

Is there capable guidance of staff members in the
understanding of young people?

What is the relationship between the school and available
psychologists and psychiatrists?

ATMOSPHERE:

 

l.

2.

Do the children have a sense of belonging, each one to
something in which he is a responsible participant?

Does the school belong to the students in the sense
that they know its activities would not go on unless
individuals and groups played their parts?

71

3. Is there a good understanding of the relative part to
be played at different ages and stages by student
initiative and teacher direction?

4. Do teachers learn as they teach—-and do they know that
teaching is a learning process for them?

5. Is there such genuineness in all relationships that
both acceptance and constructive criticism of others
and of one's self are possible and natural?

APPROACHES:

 

1. Children only learn deeply and fully that which they
are ready to accept. Is the invitation to, and the
expectation from, a child based, therefore, on a
knowledge of his readiness and his ability?

2. Does the routine which cares for behavior of individuals
within the classroom or within the school take into
account that behavior is much more than contribution or
infraction; that behavior is evidence of what a pupil
is inside and where he is, emotionally and on the ladder
of growth and learning?

3. Is the teacher-pupil relationship sentimental, exclu-
sively academic and disciplinary, or is it essentially
a positive, contributing friendship?

4. Is sarcasm distinguished from constructive criticism
and firmness and honesty?

5. Are teachers in the habit of examining their own
motivation, and is dislike of a child examined as a
luxury which teachers should not afford?

GENERAL:

1. Listen to the noises in a school. There are differences,
and these differences are more in quality than in volume.

2. Is sufficient leeway allowed both within the classroom
and without for pupils to fumble and make mistakes?
The permitted area for mistakes might include room for
those trials and errors which could be experiments of
learning and for some errors which, on reflection,
promote the student's knowledge of himself?

3. Are there goals and standards definite enough to provide
for pupils a good degree of security.

72

Does the school unfold a life sufficiently vital to
contain, for the pupil, a vision of full and satisfying
years ahead, a life which affords ample scope for his
next years as he sees them?

 

Is there contemplation of the needs of both boys and
girls and of the meaning of the sexes to each other?

Is there a common understanding through actual school
experience of such phases of life as: independence,
freedom, interdependence, responsibility, discipline,
structure, and self-discipline?

Does the school aid and encourage parents to grow as
parents? Is there a natural, honest, and constructive
cooperation between home and school?

Is the recognition of spiritual values a significant
force in the life of the school?

73

It was from the basic tenets expressed in the litera-
ture and research that the investigator developed his ques-
tionnaire (Chart III). As was mentioned previously, the
items were then reviewed by qualified personnel.

Items 1, 2, and 33 gathered general information on
the school and checked the data furnished by the State
Department of Public Instruction.

Items 3, 4, 11, and 12 were included to determine the
extent and the role that services played in the school
based on the statements of Lindgren.23

Items 5 through 10 were based on the statements and
research agreed to by all the authors, each of whom consid—
ered methods of evaluation and pupil progress directly
related to mental health.

Items 13 and 14 referred to Lindgren's concern for

4
conformity, reward, and punishment;2 Bernard's discussion

25 26

of authoritarianism; and Carroll's comments on discipline.
These items were also recommended by one of the qualified
individuals who reviewed the questionnaire.

Items 15 through 19 are based on the discussion of
27

Lindgren concerning communication and were also recommended

by an individual from the group who reviewed the questionnaire.

 

2
3Lindgren, op. cit., pp. 390-397. 2"Ibid.

25Bernard, op. cit., pp. 233-243.

26Carroll, op. cit., pp. 288-295.

27Lindgren, op. cit., pp. 390-397.

10.

ll.

74

CHART III
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL

How many teachers on the staff?

 

How many children currently enrolled?

 

Does the school have the services of a visiting

teacher?

 

(a) How does she function?

 

Does the school have the services of a child guidance

clinic?

 

What type of cumulative records are kept on the

students?

 

 

(a) Where are they located?

 

 

How is pupil progress reported to parents?

 

 

What is the basis for measuring pupil progress?

How many children were not promoted last year?

 

What is the basis for non-promotion?

 

 

What is the operational procedure followed when a child

is not going tobe promoted?

 

How much is done in way of remedial instruction,reading'

study skills, etc.?

 

l2.

13.

l4.

l5.
l6.

17.

18.
19.

20.
21.

22.

23.

24.
25.

75
CHART III (continued)
What is done in special education for the gifted,
retarded, physically handicapped, socially maladjusted

etc.?

 

 

How often are children referred to you for disciplining?

 

(a) How are these children disciplined?

 

 

What is the procedure for handling absences?

 

 

(a) For handling tardiness?#

 

Do parents often visit the classrooms?

 

How many times has the school used resource people

from the community this year?_¥

 

How many school programs or exhibits were presented for

the public during the year?

 

How many field trips were taken during the year?
Have you ever been invited into a classroom as a

resource person by a teacher?

 

Do the children have recess?

 

Do the children have art?

 

Do the children have music?

Does the school have an elementary band or orchestra?

Do the children have gym?

 

Do the teachers assign homework?

 

76
CHART III (continued)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26. Do the children have a student council?
27. What activities did the student council sponsor this
year?
28. Do the students have a newspaper?
(a) How often is it published?
29. What kind of audio visual equipment is available?
30. Does the school have a library?
(a) How is it used?
31. Are both 5th grades working on the same subject now?___
32. Does the school sponsor any recreational activities
outside of the school gym class?
33. How would you describe the socio-economic level of the
parents of your students?
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
OBSERVATION OF CURRICULUM IN ACTION
1. Activity in classroom. ‘#
2. Activity in halls.
3. Seating.
4. Student displays in halls and rooms.
5. Condition of building.

 

77

Items 20 through 24 and 26 through 32 determine the
scope and flexibility of the curriculum as was expressed
by Lindgren28 and Rogers.29

The observation of the curriculum in action added
information which was also considered significant by
Lindgren30 and Rogers.31

Item 5 in this section was included for controlling
the physical environments in which the curricula were
functioning.

The two evaluating charts also furnished direct data

for selection of the items.

The Schools

 

All of the eleven schools were visited by the investi—
gator. An interview was conducted with the administrator
and the questionnaire answered. Ninety per cent of the
classrooms were visited in every school to observe the
curriculum as it was actually functioning. From the con-
trol group of eleven schools two were selected, the one
which offered the best curricular experiences and provisions

for mental health and that which offered the poorest. The

 

28Ibid.

29Rogers, op. cit., pp. 238-244.

30Lindgren, op. cit., pp. 390-397.

31Rogers, op. cit., pp. 238-244.

78
two schools were controlled as much as possible in every
factor except the one which the investigator wished to
examine, that of curricular experiences and provisions for
mental health.

Only the two schools, which represented the poorest
and best curriculum in terms of mental health, were
selected in which to administer the tests. To establish
statistical significant difference between the mental
health of the children, it was necessary to use the
extremes within the sample. By selecting more schools,
more variables would have been uncontrolled. The emphasis
was placed on the control of the sample not the size.

These schools were actually functioning entities and could
not be controlled as tightly as in a desirable experimental
situation.

In addition to the controls already used in selecting
the eleven schools, these school systems could be equated
on the following basis:

1. located in the same county and had the same

county educational facilities availabe.

2. located in towns of the same approximate size,

one had a population of 400 and the other 600.

3. located off main highway arteries.

4. the same size in area, one encompassing 98 square

miles the other 100 square miles.

5. equal in terms of state equalized valuation

79
behind each child, one had $12,355 per child

and the other had $12,704 per child.

6. the same size in total enrollment K-12 one had an
enrollment of 753 and the other an enrollment of
851.

7. equal as to training of their elementary adminis—
trators, both had Master's degrees.

8. equal as to the training of their elementary
teachers, none had Master's degrees and two in
each school were working for Bachelor degrees.

9. equal as to age of elementary administrators,
and both had risen from the ranks of their
present school system and had at least ten years
of teaching experience in the system prior to
their appointment as administrators.

10. equal as to average age of teachers on the
elementary staff, but the poorer school might
have had a slightly younger staff based on the
observation of the investigator.

For purposes of this study it was important to
recognize that none of the eleven schools evaluated would
represent the worst possible curriculum for mental health
or the best possible curriculum for mental health in the
state, or even the nine county area. The study, by con—
trolling as many variables that might influence the
curriculum, outside of the school, eliminated the big

differences in program that could have existed.

80

In answer to the items on the questionnaire, two
schools represented a wider range than any other schools
in the investigation. The rooms and halls and general
activities were also visibly different to the investigator
who visited the better school five times and the poorer
school eight times. For purpose of this study the good
school will be referred to as school A and the poor school
as school B.

School A had a staff of 12 teachers and an enrollment
of 475 children; a teacher-pupil ratio of approximately
40 to 1. In school B there was a staff of 16 teachers and
an enrollment of 525 children; a ratio of approximately
33 to 1.

School A had a poorer teacher—pupil ratio in spite
of the better mental health curriculum. This was not con-
sidered a factor in the questionnaire but might lead to an
indication that a lower teacher ratio does not necessarily
mean a better program.

Neither school had a visiting teacher or the services
of a child guidance clinic.

Concerning cumulative records, school A attempted to
obtain slightly more information by administering the SBA
Mental Tests on alternate years and the Reading Tests
Associated with Ginn Readers. School B had administered the
California Test of Mental Maturity from time to time with no

set pattern or apparent reason. Both schools kept the CA

81
39‘s, a standard attendance and grade record required by
law in the state of Michigan.

Very little use was made of the records in either
case and they were kept in the principals' offices.

Copies of report cards were obtained from both
schools to determine to some extent the attitude toward
marks and what was considered important to mark by the
school systems.

School A did not use report cards in kindergarten.
The teacher wrote an informal letter to the parent indi-
cating general adjustment and total growth.

In grades one to three a key of O--Outstanding,
S—-Satisfactory, I--Improving, U--Unsatisfactory, and
T--Tries, but does not meet standards, was used in the
subject areas. In the areas of work and social habits
a check mark was used to indicate habits that needed
attention. The card was 5" x 8" and consisted of four
pages. An area on the back page was available for remarks
by teacher or parent.

In grades four through six the marks were: A——Excel—
lent, B--Good, C-—Fair, D--Poor, and E——Failure, for the
subject matter areas.

The remaining part of the card was identical with the
other card except for the addition of a few work and social
habits. The children had a total of four marking periods.

On the front of the Primary card was written:

82

Dear Parents:

This report is sent that you may know how your child
is progressing. It attempts to show his individual
and social growth in the skills that the child needs
to learn in order to adjust himself to everyday living.
The statements in this report do not compare your chikl
with any other child. Our purpose is to point out the
progress he is making and the help he needs in order
to become the person he is capable of becoming.

Your Early Elementary Teachers

On the front of the Intermediate card was written:
NOTE TO PARENTS:——This report is sent that you may
know how your child is progressing. It attempts to
show his growth in the work of the grade, including
the development of the qualities that are important
in good citizenship. We suggest that you visit the
school for conferences with the principal and teacher
to discuss the progress of your child.

Your Superintendent

In School B the card was 3" x 5-1/4" and consisted of
four pages. One card was used in all graded, K-6. The
method of grading was: A--Excellent, B—-Good, C--Fair,
D--Passable, E--Not Passing, and were used in the subject
areas called Skills. In the area of growth in attitudes
and behavior, called abilities the grades H--High rating,
S-—Satisfactory, W--Weak, and U--Unsatisfactory, were used.

The teacher had one three-inch line on which to write
comments for each marking period. The children were graded
six times each year.

On the back of the card was written:

83

To the Parents:

This report is a careful attempt to enlist your aid
in the education of your children. The permanent grades
go on their permanent record cards. The diagnostic
grades show why the pupil received his permanent grades
and enables you to give some attention to the weak
points of your children. You are always welcome to
confer with the teachers as to how you might help your
children.

What was still more significant was what they were

graded on in each school.

In school A the report card appeared as follows for

the first three grades:

SUBJECTS
LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading
Recalls material read
Reads aloud well for grade
Shows interest in learning to read better

Language

Shows interest in poems and stories
Has ability to express himself well

Handwriting

Does letters well
Works neatly

Spelling

Can spell words needed
Is able to spell in regular lessons

SOCIAL STUDIES & SCIENCE
Shares information and mat‘l with others

Helps in planning and discussions
Shows real interest

84

ARITHMETIC

Is learning fundamental processes
Is able to think through a problem

GENERAL
Child doing best he can
Child not quite doing his best
Teacher and parent should confer
WORK AND SOCIAL HABITS
WORK HABITS (Effort)
Listens to and follows directions
Begins and finishes work on time
Works independently
Works neatly
SOCIAL HABITS (Conduct)
Is courteous and considerate
Cooperates well
Respects public and private property
In grades four through six the card appeared as
follows:
SUBJECTS
LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading
English (spoken and written)
Handwriting
Spelling
ARITHMETIC
UNIT WORK (Inc. Geog., His., Sci.)
ART
MUSIC

HEALTH

85
WORK AND SOCIAL HABITS
WORK HABITS (Effort)
Works to best of ability
Uses time, energy, and materials well
Completes work started
Works independently when necessary
Is self-reliant
SOCIAL HABITS (Conduct)
IS courteous
Uses self control
Pays attention
Is dependable
Respects rights of others
Cooperates with others
In school B the report card was as follows:
SKILLS
ARITHMETIC

Knows number facts
Solves thought problems

READING
Read for understanding
Read for pleasure
Read for information

LANGUAGE

Expresses thoughts orally
Expresses thoughts in writing

HANDWRITING
SPELLING
HISTORY
GEOGRAPHY
GENERAL SCIENCE

HYGIENE

86
ART
MUSIC
ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR
ABILITIES

Shows self-control

Takes part in class activities

Cares for property

Is neat and orderly

Unclean objects out of mouth

Makes good use of his time

IS thoughtful of others

Works independently

Cooperates with all teachers

Cooperates with other children

Given attention to instructions

Sings with the group

Is friendly and fair in games

The philosophy of two different attitudes toward
children were reflected in the report cards sent home to
parents. School A had a much broader approach to the
evaluation than school B.

When asked the basis for marks, school A measured the
child against his own capacity for growth in lower grades
and partly against a class average in the intermediate
grades. In school B the child was measured against his
own abilities after meeting "certain standards," these
were not defined.

In School A the policy and expressed attitude toward
non-promotion was significantly different than that of
School B, with "not more than ten," being retained the

previous year and fewer being retained this year. The

basis for non-promotion was a cumulation of evaluation of

87
social, emotional, and academic growth. The parents were
notified two marking periods before the end of the year,
and usually came in to help in the final decision. The
administrator expressed little faith in retention.

School B failed sixteen children in the first grade
last year and at least two in all the other grades including
kindergarten or a total of at least twenty—eight children.
This procedure occurred every year according to the admin—
istrator. This was the highest number of failures of any
school visited. The basis for non-promotion was, "they
don't appear ready." Contact was made with the parents
and if they came in this was welcomed if they did not no
other effort was made.

In regard to a remedial instruction program neither
school took responsibility. School B did have a speech
correctionist twice a week for one-half of a day each time.

No program in special education existed in either
system.

Teachers in school A as well as school B adapted the
subject matter to individual needs as best they could. In
school A the teachers cooperated with each other. A good
first grade phonics teacher accepted a group of second
graders in addition to her own, when she taught phonics.

The administrators were asked how often they had child-
ren referred to them for discipline. In school A the admin-

istrator said approximately one child every two weeks. The

88
investigator did not see this occur. This administrator
scolded the children and on occasion used a paddle. School
B administrator said, "teachers did their own disciplining,

" In the number of visits

but on occasion he paddled some.
at the school, the investigator had witnessed a child being
sent to the administrator on six out of the eight trips.
Paddling was used as a means of discipline in all the
schools visited.

No parents visited the classrooms, unless by request
in either school.

School A used local resource people in the classrooms
throughout the year. For example they had a pilot talk on
weather maps, the Conservation Officer, and German and
Iranian exchange students.

School B did not use local resource people.

In school A the principal would discuss her trips,
such as the one to California for the principal's meeting,
with the children, and write an article about it for the
school paper.

School B's principal did not visit the classrooms as
a resource person.

School A had a very active student council. Its
purpose was stated in the constitution:

The purpose of this group shall be to promote fellow-
ship and cooperation among students, to provide means
for the students to take part in the school program,
and to help our teachers with student activities and

to make our school a better place in which to live
and to learn.

89

They ran a store that sold school supplies and
peanuts before school in the morning and afternoon and
during recess. They had a sales tax license issued in
their name.

The student council consisted of two elected repre-
sentatives from each intermediate grade room and by one
represented from each primary grade room.

The investigator witnessed the election of officers
for the student council. Every child from grade one through
sixth voted. In the intermediate grades they received
ballots and voted at voting booths. In the primary grades
the candidates went to all the rooms and appointees of the
student council showed the children in which box to place
their "X" as another appointee held his hand over the can—
didates' head.

The student council sponsored an annual talent Show
and selected the acts. They had at least three money
raising projects during the year, one included the handling
of the annual elementary school pictures, another was the
placing of booths at the annual high school carnival. They
also sponsored two dances during the year, for children
in the elementary school only. They had circle dancing and
square dancing, with instruction, mixed in with waltzes and
rock and roll. One was held at Christmas time, the other
around Valentine's Day. Attendance was excellent according

to the administrator. With the money the children had

9O
landscaped the school grounds and were buying small decora-
tive picket fences.

School B had no student council.

Both schools had annual Christmas programs, and
School B had an operetta.

Recess was twice a day for grades one through five
and twice a day for grade six on two days only. The sixth
grade had physical education three times a week in school A.

School B had recess twice a day for the primary grades
only. Grades four through six had recess once a day.

The art program in School A was handled by the individ-
ual teachers. Two teachers in the building were more
talented in this area than the other members of the staff.
They regularly changed rooms with other teachers in order
to give art instruction. Evidence of an art program
appeared throughout the building.

In school B the art program was left to the discretion
of the room teacher. The rooms gave little evidence of much
time spent in the area. Art was done when all other tasks
were completed.

School A did not have a music teacher. Twice a week
for a half hour, they took part in a music class originating
on the University of Michigan Campus and piped into their
rooms over a public address system. A private dance teacher
came once a week to give lessons during the school day.

School B had a music teacher three days a week. The

principal said, "They Spent too much time on music."

91

School A provided for the teacher to take their class
into thenmltipurpose room once a week for gym in the first
five grades. The sixth grade had benefit of a coach three
times a week.

School B had no gym for the primary grades. In the
intermediate grades they had gym one—half hour every day.

School A had a newspaper with articles submitted by
any student in the school. The student council used the
paper as a medium of communication, as well as an adminis-
trator or teacher. It was published every nine weeks.

School B had no newspaper.

Band lessons were given once a week to any child who
wanted them in school A.

Band lessons were given to children in fifth and
sixth grades once a week in school B.

Concerning the procedure of handling absences and
tardinesses, in school A a child's word was acceptable for
a short period of absence or being tardy. In school B a
written note was the only thing accepted as an excuse.
Tardiness was not a real problem at either School because
most of the children came by buses.

In School A field trips were a regular part of the
curriculum. The sixth grade had gone to Cinerama on money
raised by the class. The entire school attended the Ann
Arbor Music Festival. Many of the rooms had visited the
capital and zoo in Lansing and the museum in East Lansing.

The earlier grades visited farms and the community.

92

In School B field trips were not a part of the regular
program. The administrator could not remember where they
had gone this year, but was sure two or three rooms had
taken a trip close by.

School A had superior audio—visual equipment, much of
which was purchased by the student council. It consisted of
a motion picture projector, two film strip projectors,and
three phonographs.

School B had a film strip projector, and three phono-
graphs. I

In both schools homework was assigned. In School A
the purpose was to broaden the children's interest, not
drill as was the case in school B.

No recreational activities were sponsored outside of
the school day by either school.

School A did not have a library room. Each teacher
had $100 to spend on books for her room during the year.

The books were kept on mobile carts and were moved from
room to room periodically.

School B had the best library available in any of the
schools visited. The children visited it once every two
weeks. The library was used in conjunction with the com-
munity and had been donated by a philanthropist years ago.

Both administrators felt that their children came

from lower middle-class families.

93

The investigator visited every room in the two
buildings. In school A there appeared a variety of activi-
ties in almost all the classrooms. Many projects were
visible and the walls were covered with pictures and plants.
Live animals were kept in three rooms.

The seats in the rooms were movable and many children
sat in groups of their own choosing.

In the halls there were hundreds of blooming plants
in tin cans and pots. The hall was covered with pictures
and stories written by the various classrooms. Posters
requesting votes for candidates in the coming election were
everywhere in a neat and orderly fashion. The school was
not untidy. The School was a beehive of purposeful
activity. During recess periods the children could buy
milk from vending machines in the halls.

In school A the teachers were very friendly, the
writer was welcomed into all the rooms and the teachers
were very anxious to tell of classroom projects. Many of
the rooms had their own student government and every in-
dividual had some responsibility in the room. They were
continually giving the writer copies of projects from
their classes. They told of the field trips they were
going on, and how they related this to class activities.

School B also had movable seats but all were arranged
in rows. The activity in the rooms was restricted and all

the children were working on the same assignments.

94

In school B there were no pictures in the halls and
no activity except at recess.

None of the teachers had any student government
activities in their rooms.

The teachers did not discuss their projects or class
when the writer visited their rooms.

The administrators in the two schools represented
the two extremes in the selected sample.

The administrator in School A was delighted with the
fact that anyone would want to visit the school and test
the teachers and children. The administrator was con-
stantly telling the attributes of the staff. The adminis-
trator furnished the writer with a copy of the student
council constitution, and various projects of the school.
The administrator showed every room in the school without
being requested.

The administrator in school B did not Show any
enthusiasm for the investigator studying the school. The
administrator voluntered no information, and never mentioned
a member of his staff. The administrator would not have
allowed the staff to take a test if its purpose was to
determine intelligence or knowledge. The administrator
cooperated only enough to show professional courtesy. The

investigator had to ask to see each classroom.

95

Testing Instruments

 

The Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory was admin-
istered to the teachers to determine if the school's cur—
ricula were related to teacher attitudes toward children,
the second hypothesis. A teacher who could score high on
this test would provide curricular experiences conducive
to mental health, a teacher who would score low on this
test would provide curricular experiences detrimental to
mental health. The test was selected for it was designed
by its authors that a teacher ranking at the high end of the
scale should be able to maintain a state of harmonious
relations with his pupils characterized by mutual affection
and sympathetic understanding. The pupils should like the
teacher and enjoy school work. The teacher should like the
children and enjoy teaching. Situations requiring disciplin—
ary action should rarely occur. The teacher and pupils
should work together in a social atmosphere of cooperative
endeavor, of intense interest in the work of the day, and
with a feeling of security growing from a permissive atmos-
phere of freedom to think, act, and speak one's mind with
mutual respect for the feelings, rights, and abilities of
others. Inadequacies and shortcomings in both teacher and
pupils should be admitted frankly as something to be over-
come, not ridiculed. Abilities and strengths should be
recognized and used to the utmost for the benefit of the

group. A sense of proportion involving humor, justice, and

96

honesty is essential. Group solidarity resulting from
common goals, common understandings, common efforts,
common difficulties, and common achievements should
characterize the class.

At the other extreme of the scale is the teacher who
attempts to dominate the classroom. He may be successful
and rule with an iron hand, creating an atmosphere of
tension, fear, and submission; or he may be successful and
become nervous, fearful, and distraught in a classroom
characterized by frustration, restlessness, in-attention,
lack of respect, and numerous disciplinary problems. In
either case both teacher and pupils dislike school work;
there is a feeling of mutual distrust and hostility. Both
teacher and pupils attempt to hide their inadequacies from
each other. Ridicule, sarcasm, and sharp—tempered remarks
are common. The teacher tends to think interms of his
status, the correctness of the position he takes on class-
room matters, and the subject matter to be covered rather
than in terms of what the pupil needs, feels, knows, and
can do.32

Norms have been established for experienced elementary
teachers in systems with fewer than twenty—one teachers and
with four years training. This would describe the group

with which this study dealt.

 

32Walter W. Cook, Carroll H. Leeds, and Robert Callis,
Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory (New York: The Psycho-
logical Corporation), p. 3.

 

97
Chapter IV presents the norms for this group and the

evidence, in terms of scores, that the test was effective

as used in the investigation.

Construction and validation of MTAI, Form A. In the

 

selection of the 150 items for Form A, the published form

of the Inventory, six factors were considered: (1) the

 

discriminating power of the item, (2) the extent to which
item responses are influenced by professional education
courses, (3) the extent to which item responses are influ-
enced by teaching experience, (4) the extent to which the
content of the item duplicates that of another item, (5)
the clearness of the statement, and (6) the consistency

of the response patterns of the superior and inferior
teachers.

0f the 150 items in Form A, 129 were taken from Experi—
mental Form X-164 which had already been validated, giving
a validity coefficient of .60 when correlated with three
outside criteria of teacher-pupil rapport. The other 21
items were taken from Experimental Form X—239.

Three measures of discriminating power were available
for each of the items in Form X—l64, and two measures were
available for all items in Form X-239. These measures were
available for all items in Form X-239. These measures were:‘
(1) Chi-Square, indicating the power of each item to dis-
criminate between the original 100 superior and 100 inferior

teachers, (2) the significance of the difference between the

98
per cent of responses of the superior and inferior teachers
for each of the five categories of each item, and (3) for
those items in Form X-l64, an internal consistency measure
of discrimination based on the upper and lower 20 per cent
of the random group of 4-—6 grade teachers. All of these
measures were considered. One hundred thirty of the items
have at least two response categories (SA, A, U, D, and SD)
for which the difference in percentage of responses of the
two criterion groups was significant at the five per cent
level. The other twenty items have at least one response
category for which the difference was significant at the
given per cent level.

AS a further check on validity, and using the items
in final form, two studies were undertaken. The first one
was in South Carolina in 1951 (Greenville, Spartanburg, and
Anderson), the second in Missouri in 1951 (Mexico, Boonville,
Fulton, and Jefferson City). The original validation study
in 1946 had been in the schools of northwestern Pennsylvania
and northeastern Ohio. It canbe said that the communities
represented in all studies were industrial and agricultural
regions, mercantile areas, and wealthy residential districts.
The schools represented the average in educational philosophy
and practice, neither extremely progressivenor ultracon-

servative.33

 

3
Ibid., pp. 13-14.

99

The three measures used as outside criteria against
which the MTAI was correlated were: principals'ratings,
experts ratings, and pupils' ratings. In the South Carolina
Study these ratings established a composite validity coef—
ficient of .63. In the Missouri Study they had a composite
validity coefficient of.46.34

The California Test of Personality for intermediate
grades Form AA was used to determine the mental health of
the children.

The test was selected for it is organized around the
concept of life adjustment as a balance between personal
and social adjustment. Personal adjustment isbased on
feelings of personal security, and social adjustment on
feelings of social security, both basic tenets in the
definition of mental health presented in Chapter I. The
test covers the two broad areas of personal adjustment and
social adjustment. Included under personal adjustment are:
self-reliance, sense of personal worth, sense of personal
freedom, feeling of belonging, with-drawing tendencies,
and nervous symptoms. Under the area of social adjustment
are: social standards, social skills, anti-social tenden-
cies, family relations, school relations, and community
relations. The test gives evidences of how children feel,
think, and act regarding a wide variety of situations which

vitally affect them as individuals or as members of a group.

 

3"Ibid., p. 14.

100

One of the major criticisms of the California Test
of Personality was the classification and sub—dividing of
the 144 items on the test. The total score was used in
the study for it was determined, according to definition of
mental health as presented in Chapter I, that personal and
social adjustment could not be separated. It was also
noted that the coefficients of reliability between the two
social adjustment components, computed by the Kuder-
Richardson formula on the Elementarylevel were .94.35

36

Taylor and Combs, provided evidence on the validity
of the test. It had long been held by workers in this
field that well-adjusted people can accept more self-
damaging statements or criticisms than the poorly adjusted.
They had 168 sixth-grade children check on a list such
damaging-to—self statements as were true about themselves.
Pupils were informed that the results of the check list
would remain anonymous.

This same group of children were tested with the
California Test of Personality and divided into two groups,

the upper 50 per cent (better adjusted) and the lower 50

 

35Louis P. Thorpe, Willis W. Clark, and Ernest W.
Tregs, California Test of Personality (Los Angeles: calif-
ornia Test Bureau, 19537: p.34.

 

 

36Charles Taylor and Arthur W. Combs, "Self-Acce tance
and Adjustment," Journal of Consulting Psychology, 16: 9-91,
April, 1952.

 

101
per cent (poorer adjusted). The test revealed a statis-
ticaDy significant difference in favor of the better-
adjusted group; that is, the better-adjusted half of the
class checked a statistically significant larger number of
self—damaging statements than the more poorly adjusted half.

The Educational Research Bulletin of the New York
City Schools carries this statement regarding the California
Test of Personality: ‘"This procedure (inventories organized
so pupils can answer questions by themselves) which is
followed in the California Test of Personality is perhaps
the most diagnostic of any test of this type."37

Syracuse University found that the California Test of
Personality correlated more closely with clinical findings
than any other personality test.38

The norms for the elementary level were derived from
4,562 pupils in grades four to eight, inclusive, in schools

in Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, and

California.39

Test Administration

 

The California Test of Personality was administered

to one room of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in

 

37Summarygf Investigations, Number One, California
Test of Persanality Reported by the Editorial Staff (Los
Angeles: California Test Bureau, 1950), p. 5.

 

38Ibid.

39Thorpe, Clark, and Tregs, op. cit., p. 27.

102
each school, a total of 180 children. The elementary
principals selected the rooms in which the tests were to
be given. The tests were given during the middle of the
week in both schools one-half hour after lunch. The tests
were administered on bright spring days in both situations.

The children provided the following information on
the cover of the test booklet:

(a) grade

(b) sex

(0) age

(d) father's or guardian's occupation

Special effort was made to relax the testing situation.
The investigator administered all the tests.

The Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory was given
after school in the middle of the week.

In school A all the teachers cooperated very quickly
and two teachers expressed a desire to participate. On the
afternoon of the test two of the teachers apologized to the
investigator for previous engagements they had planned, but
expressed a willingness to cooperate, and were both picked
up on another trip.

The atmosphere in the classroom used for testing was
relaxed and the teachers took the test with no visible
qualms. Occasionally during the test one of the teachers
would make a humorous remark. Upon completion of the test

they were curious as to what was going to happen with the

103
data and visited concerning schools, the community, and the
study.

In school B the testing situation was very tense, the
teachers came into the room and began their test with very
little talking. Only ten of the sixteen teachers appeared.
During the test not a single word was spoken. Ten of the
teachers handed in their papers without saying a word.

They watched each other to see how their peers were pro-
gressing.

The investigator returned to the school to pick up
the other six teachers and administered three more tests.

It was necessary to tell the principal that the investigator
would keep coming back until all the teachers were tested
before the last three would cooperate. On one occasion

the principal said he would call back and had forgotten

when the investigator called back an hour later. These
teachers did not want to cooperate. Three more trips were

necessary to complete the testing of teachers.

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS OF DATA

Statistical Method

 

The statistical formula which best fitted the purpose
and design of the investigation was the one—tailed t test.
The one-tailed t test was used because the hypotheses had
been stated in a given direction.

The basic assumption underlying the one-tailed t test
is that it tests a null hypothesis. When located on an
appropriate statistical table (table of t) this measure
indicates a level of confidence for rejection of a null
hypothesis. To prove that a difference is statistically
significant the null hypothesis has to be rejected. It
is important to recognize that rejection of a null hypothesis
does not necessarily prove the superiority of one curriculum
over another. It only discounts the likelihood that the
differences were obtained by chance.

39

The formula used was:

 

 

T = X1 - X2
Sp "fl + 1
N1 N2

 

39Wilfrid J. Dixon and Frank J. Massey, Jr., Intro-
duction to Statistical Analysis (New York: McGraw—HIIIIBook

Company,—I957), p. 121.

 

105

The purpose of the formula was to determine, on the
average, which is the mean, if there existed any statistical
difference between the two populations of teachers and the
two populations of children. The study was not interested
in a comparison of the two groups as an end in itself, but
only as they were representative of all teachers and all
children who might exist under these two types of elementary
curriculums.

The use of the mean fulfills two factors that are
important in the selection of a statistic: (1) It is
unbiased, which means on the average it gives the "right"
answer, and (2) It is efficient which means it gives values
which are concentrated more closely about the right values
than values from any other statistic.LLO

The t test assumes the scores to follow a normal
curve of distribution. It is difficult to plot the curve
of these scores because of the limited number in the popu-
lation sample of teachers. Based on the established norms
of the test as presented in the manual of the test, these
scores would fall into a pattern of normal distribution
when considering all teachers. The mean fOr experienced
elementary teachers with four years of training, in a
system with fewer than twenty-one teachers, is thirty-seven

with a standard deviation of 39.4 points.

 

"01bid., p. 74.

106

The t test may be used for comparing two means when
the variances are unknown. Implied within the t test, how-
ever, is a measure of the variances. The results of a one-
tailed t test are of greater significance when the variance
between the two populations are equal. By use of the pooled
mean-square estimate of variance, it was determined that
there were no statistical differences between the variances
of the two population samples. The formula used was:

2 2
2 2X1i2 -(X}%—ii + Zlc2i2 "LX319—

Sp =

 

N1 + N2 - 2
For purposes of this study the .05 level of signifi-
cance was selected. Any findings that are expressed as
being significant in this study have attained the .05 level

of confidence.

The Data and Findings

 

The above formula was applied to the score obtained
by the two groups of teachers on the Minnesota Teacher Atti-
tude Inventory, Table I.

The results of the t test indicated that there was a
significant difference between the two samples of teachers'
scores, Table II.

One teacher in school B was omitted from the sample
in that he had taken the test on two previous occasions and
had had the theory underlying the construction of the test
explained to him in detail. His score did not represent an

extreme in school B.

107

TABLE I

IEACHERS' SCORES ON THE MTAI

 

 

School A School B

-21 -31
8 -28
16 -26
23 -17
27 e l
31 5
38 6
45 2O
51 24
7O 29
86 3O
97 34
36

44

69

 

The mean for school A was 39.25.
The mean for school B was 12.9

TABLE II

t RATIO BETWEEN TEACHERS' SCORES ON THE MTAI

 

 

School Mean t

 

A 39.25
B 12.9

2.18

 

108

The t test was applied to the two groups of children's
total scores on the California Test of Personality. One
hundred eighty children were tested, Table III.

The mean for children's scores in school A was 107.7.

The mean for children's scores in school B was 101.4.

The results of the t tests indicate that the children's
scores on the California Test of Personality were signifi-
cantly different, Table IV. The estimate of variances
showed that the variances between the two samples of child-
ren were equal.

The standard deviation for elementary school children
based on the established norms was sixteen. The norms were
given in relation to percentiles and a score between 111
and 117 would be included in the fifty percentile.

In the six rooms in which the children were tested a
record was kept of the teachers' scores to determine if
the particular teacher's score would show a relationship
to her children's scores, Table V. The teachers had been
'with the childrenfbr eight months.

The teachers and their particular score had been
identified without their knowledge.

The relationship between individual teachers' scores
and the mean score of the children with whom they had
worked was significant only in the fifth grade. In the
fourth grade, Table VI indicates that the children's mean

score was significantly higher on the California Test of

109

TABLE III

CHILDREN'S TOTAL SCORES ON THE CALIFORNIA TEST
OF PERSONALITY

 

Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6

 

School A School B School A School B School A School B

 

69 60 72 60 76 72
77 61 88 74 77 84
79 63 89 75 81 87
80 65 97 78 83 88
80 67 106 80 84 89
82 69 107 81 84 90
85 80 107 81 88 92
85 83 108 85 91 94
88 83 109 85 92 95
92 86 109 93 97 95
95 92 109 94 100 96
95 93 110 101 104 96
97 96 110 102 106 96
101 98 110 106 108 97
104 101 111 107 108 100
104 102 111 109 112 102
104 103 111 113 112 104
105 103 113 118 118 109
107 109 116 118 119 111
107 110 116 120 119 113
109 110 117 121 122 113
110 112 118 123 125 116
113 116 118 127 126 117
113 120 120 131 132 118
115 125 121 135 134 120
115 130 126 136 120
116 131 127 120
122 132 127 122
123 133 128 126
126 128 128
126 133 130
126 134 134
130 137
135

136

110
TABLE IV

t RATIO BETWEEN CHILDREN'S SCORES ON THE
CALIFORNIA TEST OF PERSONALITY

 

 

 

 

 

School Mean t
A 107.7
2.31
B 101.4
TABLE V

IEACHERS' INDIVIDUAL SCORES AND
THEIR CHILDREN'S MEAN SCORE

 

 

 

 

 

Grade Teachers' Scores Children's Mean Score
School A School B School A School B
4 27 44 104.3 97.7
5 86 5 113.2 100.7
6 51 ~31 105.2 105.4
TABLE VI

t RATIO BETWEEN FOURTH GRADE CHILDREN'S SCORES OF
THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF PERSONALITY

 

 

School Mean t

 

A 104.3

B 97.7

 

 

111
Personality in school A, but Table V indicates that the
teacher in school B had a better score by seventeen points.

In the fifth grade school A had statistically signifi-
cant different scores, Table VII. These two rooms represented
the widest range of teachers' and children's scores. In only
this most extreme case does the data tend to support the
hypothesis that the teacher's attitude is related to the

mental health of her students.

TABLE VII

t RATIO BETWEEN FIFTH GRADE CHILDREN'S SCORES ON
THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF PERSONALITY

 

L #X x
‘r

 

School Mean t
A 113.2
2.78
B 100.7

 

 

In the sixth grade the teacher in school A again
scored higher than the teacher in school B, Table V. The
children did not show any significant difference on their
mean score, Table VIII.

As mentioned previously, an attempt to appraise the
variable of the children's environment outside the school
was made when the investigator asked the occupation of
the fathers. There is substantial evidence to indicate
the best single indicator of social class in American

society is occupation. Occupation is highly correlated

TABLE VIII

t RATIO BETWEEN SIXTH GRADE CHILDREN'S SCORES ON
THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF PERSONALITY

 

 

 

School Mean

A 105.2
-.004

B 105.4

 

112

with socio-economic status. The data concerning the occu-

pations of the fathers are presented below.

These children

came from similar socio-economic levels, predominately from

the lower levels.

Occupations

 

Professional and semi-
professional workers

Proprietors, managers, and
officials, except farm

Clerical and sales
Craftsmen and foremen
Farmers

Protective-service workers
Operatives

Service worker

Laborers

School A School B

 

37

10
18

11

34

113

Analysis of Data

 

The data on the teachers indicated that the sample
of teachers in school A had significantly higher average
scores on the MTAI than the sample of teachers in school B.
The mean, according to the established norms, is thirty-
seven. The teachers in school A averaged slightly higher.
The teachers in school B were obvervably lower.

The data on the sample of children indicated that the
children in school A had significantly higher average scores
on the California Test of Personality. Both samples of
children scored below the established norms for all children.
The fact that these children were from a predominately rural
area and a lower socio-economic class may have influenced
the scores.

The data did not indicate a relationship between
individual teacher's scores and their children's scores
and in the sixth grade the children actually had lower
scores. The investigator wanted to determine what had
happened in this situation. His investigation revealed
that in school A, the room tested had all the children that
represented the bottom two-thirds of the sixth grade in
terms of academic achievement. The top one-third had been
put in a combination room of Sixth and seventh grade stu—
dents. This may have given the test scores in school A the
negative slant. In school B there were two rooms of sixth

grade students and some selection had occurred. The

114
investigator had been given the better room in which to test.
School B had a man teacher in their other sixth grade room
and he had been given most of the problem children. The
administrator felt he could handle them better. Consequently
the investigator could have tested the poorer selection of
children in school A and the better selection in school B.
This may indicate the resiliency of children to individual

teachers, but not to the school's total curriculum.

3'4". 11 r

. . .141.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary

The problem. The problem was to determine whether a

 

positive relationship existed between curricular experiences
and provisions for mental health and the mental health of
children. The additional relationships between curricular
experiences and provisions for mental health and teachers'
attitudes, and between individual teachers and their children
were also investigated. Curricular experiences referred to
all the experiences which affect the child in his total

growth in the school.

The methodology. The methodology involved a selection

 

of schools from a nine county area in central Michigan. The
schools selected from this area represented a statistical
average school based on the criteria established in the
study and the data from the Michigan State Department of
Public Instruction for the year 1957-1958. The schools
selected were controlled on as many variables as was possible
in actual operating elementary school Situations.

A questionnaire was developed from the research and

literature in the field of mental health and education.

116
Particular experiences were referred to in the literature
and research as being detrimental or beneficial to mental
health. It was on the basis of these specific experiences
that the items were constructed. The items were evaluated
by collegues and qualified individuals in the field of
mental health and education. The items were also reviewed
in light of the investigator's own experience.

An interview was arranged with all the administrators
in the schools that were selected in the nine county area.
The questionnaire was answered in the course of the inter-
view. The rooms in the schools were visited and observations
pertaining to the questionnaire were recorded.

The two schools selected had much in common with many
schools except that in the situation judged good, pupil
evaluation was on a much broader base, there were minimum
retentions, it was outstanding in the student government
activities, and the curriculum included a broader variety
of activities. The poor school, on the other hand, had
the higher rate of retentions, limited activities for the
students outside of the subject areas, and the curriculum
provided lesser variety. These two Schools represented the
extreme positions in the selected sample.

The children were tested for mental health as measured
by the California Test of Personality and the entire faculty
of the two schools were tested on the Minnesota Teacher

Attitude Inventory to determine attitudes toward children.

118

Implications for Administration

 

The implications for administration could only be
made if a causal relationship between the mental health of
children and the curriculum is assumed. This study does
not provide that evidence. If further studies support
this relationship and can eventually Show a causal rela-
tionship, school administrators will have to re-appraise
their methods of evaluating and promoting pupils and
providing for individual differences, in terms of their

effect on the mental health of children.

Recommendations for Further Study

 

This study was an exploration into the relationship
of the elementary school curriculum and the mental health
of children.

There exists the need for further study to collaborate
the findings made here.

There exists the need for another study of this nature
with different measuring instruments for teachers and
children.

Further study should be made by more accurately
measuring the total environment of the children.

Finally, an attempt should be made to determine if a
causal relationship does exist between certain experiences
within the elementary school curriculum and the mental

health of children.

117

The findings. The findings indicated that in these

 

two selected schools the children's scores differed signifi-
cantly, and that a positive relationship existed between the
curriculums and mental health.

The findings on the teachers' scores indicated that
these two selected samples differed significantly, and a
positive relationship existed between the curriculum and
teachers' attitudes.

The findings on the relationships between individual
teachers and their children did not prove to be significant

in the three grades tested.

Conclusions

 

The data in this study indicate that there will be
differences in attitudes of teachers corresponding to dif-
ferences of extreme schools in terms of curricular experi-
ences and provisions for mental health. The children will
have better mental health in school curriculms with our-
ricular experiences and provisions for mental health than
those which do not appear to be conducive to mental health.

From this exploratory study there appears the need
for additional research. There is a need for a repetition
of this study with another sample of schools, teachers,

and children.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Ansbacher, Heinz L. and Rowena R. Ansbacher. The Individual
Psychology of Alfred Adler. New York: Basic Books,
Inc., 1956.

 

 

 

Bernard, Harold W. Mental Hygiene for Classroom Teachers.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1952.

 

Brill, A. A. (editor). The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud.
New York: Modern Library, Inc., 1938.

 

 

Carroll, Herbert A. Mental Hygiene, The Dynamics of
Adjustment. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-
Hall, Inc., 1956.

 

 

Dixon, Wilfrid J. and Frank J. Massey, Jr. Introduction to
Statistical Analysis. New York: McGraw—Hill Book

Company, 1957.

 

 

Fenton, Norman. Mental Hygiene in School Practice.
California: Stanford University Press, 1943.

 

 

Kaplan, Louis. Mental Health and Human Relations in
Education. New York: Harper and Brothers, Inc., 1959.

 

 

 

Klein, D. B. Mental Hygiene, A Survey of Personality Dis-
orders and Mental Health. New York: Henry Holt and
Company, 1956.

 

 

 

Lindgren, Henry Clay. Mental Health in Education. New
York: Henry Holt and Company, 1954.

 

 

Murphy, Gardner, Lois B. Murphy, and Theodore M. Newcomb.
Experimental Social Psychology. New York: Harper
and Brothers, Inc., 1932.

 

Ragan, William B. Modern Elementary Curriculum. New York:
The Dryden Press, 1953.

 

Redl, Fritz and William W. Wattenberg. Mental Hygiene in
Teaching. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company,

1951’.”—

 

121

Rogers, Dorothy. Mental Hygiene in Elementary Education.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1957.

 

 

Periodicals

 

Fleming, R. S. '"The Effects of an In—Service Program on
Children With Symptoms of Psychosomatic Illness,"
The Journal of Educational Sociology, 24:394-405,
March, 1951.

 

 

Illson, Murray. ‘"10% of Pupils in Nation's Schools Are
Found Emotionally Disturbed," New York Times,
February 22, 1954.

 

Jahoda, Marie. "The Meaning of Psychological Health,"
Social Casework, 34:353-4, October, 1953.

 

Lewin, Kurt, Ronald Lippitt, and Ralph K. White. ‘"Patterns
of Aggressive Behavior in Experimentally Created
.Social Climates," Journal of Social Psychology,
10:271-299. May, 1939.

 

Raebeck, Charles. ‘"Psychoanalysis and the Public School,"
Phi Delta Kappan, 38:288-289, April, 1957.

 

Scott, William A. '"Social Psychological Correlates of
Mental Illness and Mental Health," Psychological
Bulletin, 55:65-85, March, 1958.

 

Smith, M. Brewster. '"Optima of Mental Health," Psychiatry,
13:503—510, November, 1950.

 

Taylor, Charles and Arthur W. Combs. "Self-Acceptance and
Adjustment," Journal of Consulting Psychology, 16:
89-91, April, 1952.

 

‘"The Ungraded Primary Class," Understanding the Child,
24:65, June, 1955-

 

"Untreated Mentally 111 Far Outnumber Patients," Science
News Letter, 72:152, September 7, 1957.

 

‘"What's On Your Mind?," Science D1885t: 14:23: April, 1958'

 

Witty, Paul A. '"An Analysis of the Personality Traits of
the Effective Teacher," Journal of Educational
Research, 40:662-671, May, 1947.

 

122

Reports and Bulletins

 

Ambrose, Edna and Alice Miel. Children's Social Learning.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Develop—
ment. Washington, D. C.: Department of the National
Education Association, 1958.

 

Cameron, Dale G. and Nancy K. Kjenaas. '"Mental Illness:
The Nation's Gravest Health Hazard," Society's
Stake 12 Mental Health. A Report Prepared by the
Social Science Research Center of the Graduate School
of the University of Minnesota. Minneapolis,
Minnesota: University of Minnesota, 1957.

 

 

Cook, Walter W., Carroll H. Leeds, and Robert Callis.
Minnesota Teacher Attitgdg Inventory. New York: The
PsyCROIOgical CorporatIon.

 

. Mental Hygiene 12 the Classroom. A Report of the
Joint Committee of Health Problems in Education of
the National Education Association and the American
Medical Association. Washington, D. C.: 1950.

 

 

National Council of Independent Schools. Some Inquiries
Helpful 12 Appraising Mental Health 12 2 School.
Committee on Educational Practices. Boston, Mass-
achusetts, 1952.

 

 

Smittle, W. Ray and John Darbee. A Digest 9§ Michigan
School Law. Clawson, Michigan: Oakland Education

Summary 92 Investigations, Number One. California Test of
Personality reported by the Editorial Staff. Los
Angeles: California Test Bureau, 1950.

 

 

The Report 93 the White House Conference 9Q Education.
Washington, D. C., November 28 to December 1, 1955,
Circular 0.373163. Washington, D. 0.: Government
Printing Office, 1956.

 

 

 

Thorpe, Louis P., Willis W. Clark, and Ernest W. Tregs.
California Test 93 Personality Manual. Los Angeles:
California Test Bureau.

 

 

Tryon, Caroline. "Some Conditions of Good Mental Health,"
Fostering Mental Health 12 our Schools. 1950 Year-
book; Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development. Washington, D. C.: National Education
Association, 1950.

 

 

123

Wickman, E. K. Teachers and Behavior Problems. New York:
The Commonwealth Fund, 1951.

 

. A Digest 2: Children's Behavior and Teachers'
Attitudes. New York: The Commonwealth Fund, 1928.

 

 

Unpublished Material

 

Bachrach, Arthur J. '"An Analysis of Research in Mental
Hygiene and Its Implications for Educational Practice,"
Unpublished Doctor's thesis, The University of
Florida, 1952.

Bennett, M. E. ‘"Some Aspects of Mental Hygiene in the
Administration of an Elementary School," Unpublished
Master's thesis, Stanford University, 1942.

APPENDIX

Elementary . 7.3532375: .

1953 Revision

Devised by

form AA.

California Test of Personality

LOUIS P. THORPE, WILLIS W. CLARK, AND ERNEST W. TIEGS

Do not write or mark on this booklet unless told to do so by the examiner.

 

 

 

 

(CIRCLE ONE)
Name Grade Boy Girl
LII? Flnt Middl.
Date of
School City Test
Month Day Your
Date of
" I I Pupil's Age Birth
Month Day You

INSTRUCTIONS TO PUPILS:

This booklet contains some questions which can be answered YES or NO YOur

answers will show what you usually think, how you usually feel, or what you
usually do about things. Work as fast as you can without making mistakes

DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO.

 

PUBLISHED BY CALIFORNIA TEST BUREAU— 5916 HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD— LOS ANGELES 28, CALIFORNIA

BRANCH OFFICES: NEW CUMBERLAND, PA.; MADISON WIS; DALLAS,

TEXAS—COPYRIGHT 1942-1953 BY CALIFORNIA TEST BUREAU—COPY-

RIGHT UNDER INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT UNION—ALI. RIGHTS RESERVED UNDER PAN- AMERICAN COPYRIGHT UNION— PRINTED IN U. S. A.

9.7654321

INSTRUCTIONS TO PUPILS

DO NOT WRITE OR MARK ON THIS TEST BOOKLET UNLESS TOLD TO DO SO BY THE EXAMINER.

You are to decide for each question whether the answer is YES or NO and mark it as you are told. The following

are two sample questions:

SAMPLES

A. Do you have a dog at home? YES NO

B. Can you ride a bicycle?

YES NO

DIRECTIONS FOR MARKING ANSWERS

ON ANSWER SHEETS

Make a heavy black mark under the word YES or NO
to show your answer. If you have a dog at home, you
would mark under the YES for question A as shown
below. If you cannot ride a bicycle, you would mark
under the NO for question 8 as shown below.

YES up

B

Remember, you mark under the word that shows your
answer. Now find Samples A and B on your answer
sheet and show your answer for each by marking YES
or NO. Do it now. Find answer row number I on your
answer sheet. Now wait until the examiner tells you to
begin.

 

ON TEST BOOKLETS

Draw a circle around the word YES or NO, whichever
shows your answer. If you have a dog at home, draw
a circle around the word YES in Sample A above; if
not, draw a circle around the word NO. Do it now.

If you can ride a bicycle, draw a circle around the
ward YES in Sample 8 above; if not, draw a circle
around the word NO. Do it now.

Now wait until the examiner tells you to begin.

 

After the examiner tells you to begin, go right on from one page to another until you have finished the test or are
told to stop. Work as fast as you can without making mistakes. Now look at item I on page 3. Ready, begin.

Page 2
CTP-E-AA

10.

11.

12.

SECTION I A

Do you usually keep at your
work until it is done?

Do you usually apologize when
you are wrong?

Do you help other boys and girls
have a good time at parties?

Do you usually believe what
other boys or girls tell you?

Is it easy for you to recite or
talk in class?

When you have some free time,
do you usually ask your parents
or teacher what to do?

Do you usually go to bed on
time, even when you wish to stay
up?

Is it hard to do your work when
someone blames you for some-
thing?

Can you often get boys and girls
to do what you want them to?

Do your parents or teachers
usually need to tell you to do
your work?

If you are a boy, do you talk to
new girls? If you are a girl, do
you talk to new boys ?

Would you rather plan your own
work than to have someone else
plan it for you?

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

RIGHT ON T0

NO.

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

*NO

THE NEXT COLUMN

 

 

7 Section IA
(number right)

 

 

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

SECTION I 8

Do your friends generally think
that your ideas are good?

Do people often do nice things
for you?

Do you wish that your father (or
mother) had a better job?

Are your friends and classmates
usually interested in the things
you do?

Do your classmates seem to
think that you are not a good
friend?

Do your friends and classmates
often want to help you?

Are you sometimes cheated when
you trade things?

Do your classmates and friends
usually feel that they know more
than you do?

Do your folks seem to think that
you are doing well?

Can you do most of the things
you try?

Do people often think that you
cannot do things very well?

Do most of your friends and
classmates think you are bright?

GO

  
  
 

RIGHT ON TO
THE NEXT PAGE

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

Section I 8
(number right)

 

25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.

34.

35.

36.

P 4 SCCEIOII E C
age (number right)
CTP-E-AA -

SECTION I C

Do you feel that your folks boss

you too much? YES
Are you allowed enough time to
play? YES

May you usually bring your
friends home when you want to? YES

Do others usually decide to
which parties you may go? YES

May you usually do what you
want to during your spare time? YES

Are you prevented from doing
most of the things you want to? YES

Do your folks often stop you from
going around with your friends? YES

Do you have a chance to see
many new things? YES

Are you given some spending
money? YES

Do your folks stOp you from
taking short walks with your
friends? YES

Are you punished for lots of little
things? YES

Do some people try to rule you
so much that you don’t like it? YES

GO RIGHT ON TO
THE NEXT COLLMN'

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

 

 

 

37.

38.

39.

41.

42.

43.

45.

46.

47.

48.

SECTION I D

Dp pets and animals make
friends with you easily?

Are you proud of your school?

Do your classmates think you
cannot do well in school?

Are you as well and strong as
most boys and girls?

Are your cousins, aunts, uncles,
or grandparents as nice as those
of most of your friends?

Are the members of your family
usually good to you?

Do you often think that nobody
likes you?

Do you feel that most of your
classmates are glad that you are
a member of the class?

Do you have just a few friends?

Do you often wish you had some
other parents?

Is it hard to find friends who

will keep your secrets?

Do the boys and girls usually
invite you to their parties?

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

FIGHT ON TO
GO 7H. m. as.

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

 

Section I 0
(number right)

 

51.

52.

.53.
_54.
55.

y 56.

57.

5 58.

t-. 5 9.

9 60.

I

/
Page 5
germ.“

SECTION I E

Have people often been so unfair
that you gave up?

Would you rather stay away
from most parties?

Does it make you shy to have
everyone look at you when you
enter a room?

Are you often greatly discour-
aged about many things that
are important to you?

Do your friends or your work
often make you worry?

Is your work often so hard that
you stop trying?

Are people often so unkind or

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

unfair that it makes you feel bad? YES

Do your friends or classmates
often say or do things that hurt
your feelings?

Do people often try to cheat
you or do mean things to you?

Are you often with people who
have so little interest in you
that you feel lonesome?

Are your studies or your life so
dull that you often think about
many other things?

Are people often mean or unfair
to you?

GO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NGHT ON T0

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

Section I E
(number right)

THE NEXT CCLLMN

 

L

 

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

68.

69.

70.

71.

72.

SECTION I F

Do you often have dizzy spells?
Do you often have bad dreams?

Do you often bite your finger-
nails?

Do you seem to have more head-
aches than most children?

Is it hard for you to keep from
being restless much of the time?

Do you often find you are not
hungry at meal time?

Do you catch cold easily?

Do you often feel tired before
noon?

Do you believe that you have
more bad dreams than most of
the boys and girls?

Do you often feel sick to your
stomach?

Do you often have sneezing
spells?

Do your eyes hurt often?

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

 

_ Section I F
(numberrigbtl

 

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.

84.

Page 6
CTP-E-AA

SECTION 2 A

Is it all right to cheat in a game
when the umpire is not looking?

Is it all right to disobey teachers
if you think they are not fair to
you?

Should one return things to
people who won’t return things
they borrow?

Is it all right to take things you
need if you have no money?

Is it necessary to ,thank those
who have helped you?

Do children need to obey their
fathers or mothers even when
their friends tell them not to?

If a person finds something, does
he have a right to keep it or sell
it?

Do boys and girls need to do
what their teachers say is right?

Should boys and girls ask their
parents for permission to do
things?

Should children be .nice to
people they don’t like?

Is it all right for children to cry
or whine when their parents
keep them home from a show?

When people get sick or. are in
trouble, is it usually their own
fault?

GO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

RIGHT ON T0

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

THE NEXT COLUMN

 

‘ Section 2 A
(number right)

 

 

85.

86.

87.

88.

89.

91.

92.

93.

94.

95.

SECTION 2 8

Do you let people know you are
right no matter what they say?

Do you try games at parties even

if you haven’t played them be-
fore?

Do you help new pupils to talk
to other children?

Does it make you feel angry
when you lose in games at
parties?

Do you usually help other boys
and girls have a good time?

Is it hard for you to talk to
people as soon as you meet them?

Do you usually act friendly to
people you do not like?

Do you often change your plans
in order to help people?

Do you usually forget the names
of people you meet?

Do the boys and girls seem to
think you are nice to them?

Do you usually keep from show-
ing your temper when you are

angry?

Do you talk to new children at
school?

GO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

RIGHT ON TO
THE NEXT PAGE

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

 

Section 2 8
(number right)

 

 

97.

98.

100.

101.

102.

103.

104.

105.

106.

107.

108.

Page 7
CTP-E-AA

SECTION 2 C

Do you like to scare or push
smaller boys and girls?

Have unfair people often said

YES

that you made trouble for them? YES

Do you often make friends or
classmates do things they don’t
want to?

Is it hard to make people re-
member how well you can do
things?

Do people often act so mean
that you have to be nasty to
them?

Do you often have to make a
“fuss” or “act up” to get what
you deserve?

Is anyone at school so mean
that you tear, or cut, or break
things?

Are people often so unfair that
you lose your temper?

Is someone at home so mean
that you often have to quarrel?

Do you sometimes need some-
thing so much that it is all right
to take it?

Do classmates often quarrel
with you?

Do people often ask you to do
such hard or foolish things that
you won’t do them?

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

GO RIGHT ON TO
THE NEXT COLUMN

Section 2 C
(number right)

 

 

 

 

109.

110.

111.

112.

113.

114.

115.

116.

117.

118.

119.

120.

SECTION 2 D

Do your folks seem to think
that you are just as good as
they are?

Do you have a hard time be-
cause it seems that your folks

YES

hardly ever have enough money? YES

Are you unhappy because your
folks do not care about the
things you like?

When your folks make you
mind are they usually nice to
you about it?

Do your folks often claim that
you are not as nice to them as
you should be?

Do you like both of your par-
ents about the same?

Do you feel that your folks
fuss at you instead of helping
you?

, Do you sometimes feel like run-

ning away from home?

Do you try to keep boys and
girls away from your home be-
cause it isn’t as nice as theirs?

Does it seem to you that your
folks at home often treat you
mean?

Do you feel that no one at home
loves you?

Do you feel that too many
people at home try to boss you?

GO

RIGHT ON TO
THE NEXT PAGE

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

 

- Section 2 a
(number right)

 

 

121.

122.

123.

124.

125.

126.

127.

128.

129.

130.

131.

132.

Page 8
CTP-E-M ,

SECTION 2 E

Do you think that the boys and
girls at school like you as well
as they should?

Do you think that the children
would be happier if the teacher
were not so strict?

Is it fun to do nice things for
some of the other boys or
girls?

Is school work so hard that you
are afraid you will fail?

Do your schoolmates seem to
think that you are nice to
them?

Does it seem to you that some
of the teachers “have it in for”
pupils?

Do many of the children get
along with the teacher much
better than you do?

Would you like to stay home
from school a lot if it were right
to do so?

Are most of the boys and girls
at school so bad that you try to
stay away from them?

Have you found that some of
the teachers do not like to be
with the boys and girls?

Do many of the other boys or
girls claim that they play games
more fairly than you do?

Are the boys and girls at school
usually nice to you?

GO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

RIGHT ON TO
THE NEXT COLUMN

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

.NO

 

Section 2 E
(number right)

I

 

 

133.

134.

135.

136.

137.

13 8.

139.

140.

141.

142.

143.

144.

SECTION 2 F

Do you visit many of the inter-

esting places near where you
live?

Do you think there are too few
interesting places near your
home?

Do you sometimes do things to
make the place in which you
live look nicer?

Do you ever help clean up
things near your home?

Do you take good care of your
own pets or help with other
people’s pets?

Do you sometimes help other
people?

Do you try to get your friends
to obey the laws?

Do you help children keep away
from places where they might
get sick?

Do you‘dislike many of the
people who live near your
home?

Is it all right to do what you
please if the police are not
around?

Does it make you glad to see
the people living near you get
along fine?

Would you like to have things
look better around your home?

NOW' WAIT FOR

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

 

STOP

Section 2 F
(number right)

FUR? HER INSTRUCTIONS

J

 

I TT.I I 6 f
/ ‘f I ’_f,-- If IL")

m 13mm...

 

 

 

 

IGNR STATEU

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