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I

i
74-19,781
ALFARO, Manuel Rios, Jr., 1938A STUDY OF THE ATTITUDES AND TASK ASSIGNMENTS
OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN AND NON-MEXICAN -AMERICAN
TEACHER-AIDES IN THE MICHIGAN MIGRANT
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM.
Michigan State University, Ph.D., 1974
Education, curriculum development

U n iv e rs ity M ic ro film s , A XEROX C o m p a n y , A n n A rb o r, M ic h ig a n

A STUDY OF THE ATTITUDES AND TASK ASSIGNMENTS OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN
AND NON-MEXICAN-AMERICAN TEACHER-AIDES IN THE
MICHIGAN MIGRANT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
By
Manuel R. A lf a r o , J r .

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan S tate U n iv e rs ity
in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t o f the requirements
f o r the degree o f

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department o f Elementary and Special Education
1973

ABSTRACT

A STUDY OF THE ATTITUDES AND TASK ASSIGNMENTS OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN
AND NON-MEXICAN-AMERICAN TEACHER-AIDES IN THE
MICHIGAN MIGRANT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
By
Manuel R. A lf a r o , J r .

The purpose of th is study was to measure the a t tit u d e s o f
teach er-aid es toward the migrant educational program and to determine
the ex te n t to which these a tt itu d e s are r e la te d to the te a c h e r-te a c h e raide in t e r a c tio n during the d uration o f the migrant program.

S p e c if i­

c a l l y , th is study, which was comparative and d e s c rip tiv e in n atu re,
sought to analyze the a t t itu d e s o f Mexican-American and non-MexicanAmerican teacher-aides toward the migrant educational program and the
ex te n t to which these a t titu d e s are re la te d to te a c h e r-te a c h e r-a id e
i n te r a c t i on.
Three instrum ents, the Personal Data Form and the Pre- and PostMigrant Teacher-Aide Test were used to gather the data fo r th is study.
The Personal Data Form was used to obtain personal inform ation items
about the migrant teacher-aides and the classroom teacher.

The p r e - t e s t

sought to obtain an assessment o f a t titu d e s o f the migrant teacheraides toward the migrant educational program and t h e i r expectations
o f t h e i r duties and r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s .

The p o s t-te s t attempted to

Manuel R. A l f a r o , J r .
analyze the change o f teacher-aides* a ttitu d e s toward the migrant pro­
gram and expectations o f t h e i r duties and r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s as a r e s u lt
o f t h e i r experience in the summer migrant program.
The c o lle c te d data on seventy teacher-aides and t h i r t y - f i v e
teachers in the summer migrant program was s t a t i s t i c a l l y analyzed on
the CDC 6500 computer at Michigan S tate U n iv e rs ity .
The find in g s o f the study were as fo llo w s :
1.

The a ttitu d e s o f Mexican-American teacher-aides toward the

migrant educational program did not d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y from those o f
non-Mexi can-Ameri can tea ch er-ai des.
2.

The a ttitu d e s o f teacher-aides toward the migrant educa­

tio n a l program were not s i g n i f i c a n t l y a ffe c te d by the fo llo w in g v a r i ­
ables :

3.

a.

M a r ita l status

b.

Educational grade le v e ls

c.

P rio r migratory work experience

d.

P rio r teach er-aid e experience

Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teachers did not

assign tasks to migrant teacher-aides on the basis o f t h e i r eth n ic
background.
4.

The type o f task assigned by the teacher did not s i g n i f i ­

ca n tly a f f e c t the a ttitu d e s o f the teacher-aides toward the migrant
educational program.
5.

There was no s i g n i f i c a n t change in te a c h e r-a id e s ' a ttitu d e s

from the beginning to the ending o f the migrant educational program.
6.

There was a p o s itiv e re la tio n s h ip between a t t i t u d e gain

scores and type o f task assigned.

DEDICATION

To my c h ild re n , C r is t in a y Ricardo

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply a p p re c ia tiv e to Dr. Dale Alam, chairman o f the
committee, f o r his encouragement, support, and d ir e c tio n in my doctoral
program and d is s e r ta tio n .

A sincere thank you is extended to Dr. Robert

L. Green, Dr. Howard W. Hickey, and Dr. W alter F. Johnson f o r t h e i r
support and assistance as members o f the committee.
Appreciation is also extended to Dr. John H. Schweitzer fo r his
assistance w ith analysis o f the data.
F i n a l l y , to my p arents, el Seffor y Sefiora Manuel A lfa r o f o r
making the innumerable s a c r ific e s during try e a r ly years in school and
undergraduate stu d ie s, necessary f o r the completion o f my education.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

PAGE

Chapter I
Introd uctio n .............................................................................................................

1

Need f o r the S t u d y .......................................................................................... 4
Purpose o f the S t u d y ...................................................................................... 5
Statement o f Research Questions
......................................................... 5
L im ita tio n s o f the Study .......................................................................... 6
D e fin it io n o f Terms ................................................................................... 7
Overview ............................................................................................................. 9
Chapter I I
Review o f the L i t a t u r e ........................................................................................ 10
I n t r o d u c t i o n ..................................................................................................... 10
Review o f the L i t e r a t u r e ........................................................................... 13
B ic u ltu ra lis m and E m p a t h y ....................................................................... 16
C u ltu ra l C o n flic t in E d u c a t io n .............................................................. 18
Chapter I I I
Design and M e th o d o lo g y........................................................................................ 28
I n t r o d u c t i o n ......................................
28
S e ttin g o f the Migrant Educational P ro g ra m ....................................28
Statement o f Research Q u e s t i o n s ..........................................................32
Population and S a m p l e ................................................................................33
Procedures Used in the C o lle c tio n o f D a t a .................................... 36
I n s t r u m e n t a t i o n ............................................................................................ 37
Personal data f o r m ............................................................................... 38
P r e - t e s t ..................................................................................................... 38
P o s t - t e s t .................................................................................................39
S t a t i s t i c a l A n a l y s i s ....................................................................................40
Chapter IV
Presentation and Analysis o f D a t a .............................................................. 43
I n t r o d u c t i o n ..................................................................................................... 43
Testing o f Q u e s t io n s ....................................................................................43
S u m m a ry .............................................................................................................. 51

CHAPTER

PAGE

Chapter V
Summary, Conclusions, Im p lic a tio n s , and Recommendations

. . . .53

S u m m a ry .......................................................................................................................53
Purpose o f the S t u d y .................................................................................... 53
L im ita tio n s o f the S t u d y ........................................................................... 53
Review o f the L i t e r a t u r e ........................................................................... 54
Design o f the S t u d y .................................................................................... 55
Findings o f the S t u d y ................................................................................56
C o n c l u s i o n s .............................................................................................................. 58
I m p l i c a t i o n s .............................................................................................................. 59
Recom m endations..................................................................................................... 60
B i b li o g r a p h y .......................................................................................................................63
A p p en d ice s........................................................................................................................... 69

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE

PAGE

Table I .

A ttitu d e s o f Mexican-American and nonMexi can-Ameri can Teacher-Aides Toward
the Migrant Educational Program ........................................ 43

Table I I .

A ttitu d e s o f S in g le , Married and Other
Teacher-Aides Toward the Migrant
Educational Program .................................................................. 44

Table I I I .

A ttitu d e s o f Teacher-Aides o f D if f e r in g
Educational Levels Toward the M igrant
Educational Program .................................................................. 46

Table IV.

A tt it u d e o f Teacher-Aides With D i f f e r e n t
Levels o f M igrato ry Work Experience ............................... 45

Table V.

A ttitu d e s o f Teacher-Aides w ith D i f f e r e n t
Levels o f Teacher-Aide Experience ...................................

Table V I-A .

Type o f Tasks Assigned by Non-MexicanAmerican Teachers to Mexican-American
and non-Mexican-American Teacher-Aides

47

...................... 48

Table V I-B .

Type o f Tasks Assigned by Mexican-American
Teachers to Mexican-American and nonMexi can-Ameri can Teacher-Aides
........................................ 49

Table V I I .

C o rre la tio n Between P o s t-te s t A ttitu d e
Scores and P o s t-te s t Task Scores ...................................

Table V I I I - A .
Table V I I I - B .

50

Pre- and P o s t-te s t A ttitu d e Scores
o f the T e a c h e r - A i d e s ..............................

50

C o rre la tio n Between A ttitu d e Gain Scores
and P o s t-te s t Task Scores ..........................

51

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Each summer approximately f ifty -th o u s a n d migrant a g r ic u lt u r a l
workers and t h e i r fa m ilie s e n te r the S tate o f Michigan to harvest i t s
seasonal c r o p s . A n accurate and p recise count o f the number o f
workers who e n te r the s ta te has never been obtained because o f the
transciency o f the migrant population.

The migrant a g r ic u lt u r a l

labor force in the s ta te is predominantly Mexican-American, account­
ing f o r 80 percent o f the t o t a l migrant lab o r fo rc e ; the o ther
20 percent is comprised o f southern whites and

blacks.^

P r io r to the a u th o riz a tio n o f P.L. 89-750^ o f the Elementary
and Secondary Act ( E .S .E .A .) o f 1965,^ the education o f m igrant
students was n on -ex is ten t during the summer and very lim ite d during
the re g u la r school y e a r.

As George E. Haney re p o rte d , "Migrant

a g r ic u lt u r a l workers are o fte n described as America's fo rg o tten

United Migrant Opportunity I n c . , a n o n - p r o f it agency
funded by T i t l e I I I o f the Economic Opportunity Act o f 1964.
2
Richard Santos, "Migrant and Social Services in Michigan:
A Report on the 1970 M igrant S it u a t io n ," Michigan S ta te U n iv e r s ity ,
School o f Labor and In d u s t r ia l R e la tio n s , p. 2.
O

Elementary and Secondary Act o f 1965. To strengthen and
improve educational q u a lit y and o p p o rtu n itie s in the n a tio n 's
elementary and secondary schools.
4
P.L. 89-750 authorized funds to the s ta te departments of
education f o r planning and/or organizing statew ide programs fo r
migrant c h ild re n .
1

people and t h e i r c h ild re n are re fe r re d to as the most e d u c a tio n a lly
C

deprived group o f c h ild re n in our n a t io n ." 3
Haney f u r t h e r stated t h a t , "migrant students e n te r school
l a t e , t h e i r attendance is poor, t h e i r progress is slow, they drop out
e a r ly ; consequently t h e i r i l l i t e r a c y is high."*’

The migrant student

is a t a f r i g h t f u l disadvantage because classes are taught in English
by teachers who n e ith e r understand nor accept him.

Thomas P. C a rte r

re fle c te d on th is idea:
Teachers are not u n lik e o ther m id dle-class c i t i z e n s . They
almost u n iv e rs a lly see t h e i r ro le and th a t o f the school to be
one o f encouraging the poor and fo re ig n to become f u l l - f l e d g e d
m iddle-class Americans. They genuinely and w i l l i n g l y d es ire
to help Mexican-Americans, but they d o n 't n ec es sarily l i k e them
o r l i k e o r accept them as they a r e . 7
Haney also suggested t h a t , "One o f the c r i t i c a l problems
concerning the education o f m igratory c h ild re n is to provide teachers
who understand the c u ltu r a l backgrounds, socio-economic and educa­
tio n a l needs o f such c h ild re n ."®
The migrant student r e a liz e d th a t the educational programs
were s p e c i f i c a l l y designed f o r in s tru c tio n in E n g lish , grossly
neglecting those who cannot speak or understand the English language.
He found him self in an educational environment which was t o t a l l y

® George E. Haney, Selected State Programs in Migrant Educa­
tio n , U.S. Department o f H e a lth , Education and W elfare, U.S. Government P rin tin g O f f ic e , Washington, 1963, p. 1.
6 Haney, op. c i t . , p. 1.
7 Thomas P. C a rte r, Mexican-Americans in School: A H isto ry
o f Educational Neqlect (New York: Colleqe Entrance Examination
Board, 1970), p. 112.
® Haney, i b i d . , p. 15.

foreign to him.

Neil W. Sherman supports t h i s statement:

"Sometimes

the c h ild (m igrant) comes to school, but develops a d i s l i k e f o r the
whole pro cedu re.. . . I f he doesn't understand En glish , he does not even
know why he is pushed from one place to an o th e r

1,9

In December 1966, the Congress authorized funding f o r migrant
educational programs under the provisions o f T i t l e I , E .S .E .A . (1 9 6 5 ).
An amendment (P .L . 89-750) delegated the r e s p o n s ib ilit y f o r planning
and/or organizing o f migrant programs to the s ta te educational
agencies.

Under the A c t, the Michigan Department o f Education (M .D .E .)

in cooperation w ith the local school d i s t r i c t s began to develop and
implement migrant educational programs in the summer o f 1966.

The

M.D.E. re a liz e d the importance and necessity o f the tea c h e r-a id e
component in migrant education.

The tea c h e r-a id e occupies an

invalu ab le p o s itio n between the teacher and the migrant students in
the classroom.

The tea c h e r-a id e is able to a s s is t the teacher w ith

the in s tru c tio n o f the migrant students, and also perform perfunctory
d uties in the classroom to allow the teacher to spend more time in
in s tru c tin g the migrant students.
Due to the lack o f Mexican-American teachers in Michigan to
teach in the migrant educational programs, the M.D.E. encouraged the
local migrant programs to h ir e Mexican-Americans as te a c h e r-a id e s .
The Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e , aside from being able to perform
the duties and r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s o f a re g u la r te a c h e r -a id e , would

9 N eil W. Sherman, "Learning on the Move—A Guide to Migrant
Education," Adams S ta te College Workshops on Curriculum f o r M igrato ry
C h ild re n , Colorado S tate Department of Education, 1969, p. 19.

f a c i l i t a t e communication between the teacher and those migrant
students who are u n fa m ilia r w ith the English language.
The te a c h e r-a id e component o f the migrant program has been in
existence fo r seven y e a rs , 1966-1973.

During th a t length o f tim e ,

however, no systematic study has been conducted to analyze the
a t tit u d e s and behavior o f the te a c h e r-a id e s .

In order to insure

maximum e ffe c tiv e n e s s o f the tea ch er-aid es in the migrant educational
program, an analysis o f the a t t it u d e s o f the tea ch er-aid es towards
the program is e s s e n tia l.
Need f o r the Study
Since the inception o f the Michigan Migrant Education Program
in the summer o f 1966, th ere has been a steady increase o f te a c h e raides in the program.

This increase in the number o f teach er-aid es

has re fle c te d the ethnic composition o f migrant students.

The main

reasons f o r expansion o f the te a c h e r-a id e program has been the
increase of students in the migrant program, and to a llo w the teacher
to spend more time with the development o f the le a rn in g and c o g n itiv e
processes of the migrant student.
The present r a t i o o f teacher to tea ch er“aide in the migrant
classroom is 1 to 3.

A t o t a l o f 600 tea ch er-aid es were employed by

the Michigan Migrant Educational Program in the summer o f 1972.
Because the Michigan M igrant Education Program is unique and
new and only re c e n tly has th e re been an emphasis on using teach eraides in the classroom, th ere is a paucity o f research about teach eraides.

There is very l i t t l e

research which addresses i t s e l f to the

effe ctive n e ss o f the migrant te a c h e r-a id e in the classroom or the
a ttitu d e s o f the te a c h e r-a id e toward the migrant program.

A ttitu d e s

5

o f classroom teachers may have a d ir e c t r e la t io n s h ip w ith the p er­
formance o f the teach er-aid es in the classroom.

Teacher-aides

performance in the classroom may be improved o r s t i f l e d as they
in t e r p r e t the a ttitu d e s o f t h e i r classroom teachers.

Since the

teacher-aides are placed in an in s tru c to rs h ip p o s itio n under the
supervision o f a teach er, t h e i r a t titu d e s in the classroom must also
be taken in to account in the o v e r a ll performance o f the student.
T h e re fo re , i t is es se n tia l th a t the a t t it u d e s o f the Mexican-American
and non-Mexican-American teach er-aid es be assessed in order to a s s is t
the t o t a l educational process o f the migrant student.
Purpose o f the Study
The purpose o f th is study was to measure the a t tit u d e s of
teacher-aides toward the migrant educational program and the e x te n t
to which these a tt it u d e s are re la te d to the te a c h e r/te a c h e r-a id e
in te ra c tio n s during the duration o f the m igrant program.
Statement o f Research Questions
The fo llo w in g research questions were used to a s c e rta in
whether a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip e x is ts between te a c h e r-a id e s '
background, as measured by the Personal Data Form.

They were also

used to determine the exten t to which the a t t it u d e s o f the te a c h e raides toward the migrant program are a ffe c te d by the teachers'
a ttitu d e s toward the program (as measured by the M igrant Teacheraides Pre- and P o s t-T e s t).
(1)
Does the Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e have a
more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the migrant educational
program than the non-Mexican-American teach er-aid e?

6

(2 )
Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t r e la t io n s h ip between
the te a c h e r-a id e s ' m a rita l status and the a tt it u d e s they
hold toward the migrant educational program?
(3)
Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip between
the te a c h e r-a id e s ' educational le v e l and the a t t it u d e s
they hold toward the migrant educational program?
(4 )
Do tea ch er-aid es who have had m igratory
a g r ic u lt u r a l work experience have a more p o s it iv e a t t i t u d e
towards the migrant educational program?
(5 )
Does the te a c h e r-a id e who has had p r i o r te a c h e raide experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e towards the
migrant educational program than the te a c h e r-a id e w ith ou t
te a c h e r-a id e experience?
(6A)
Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the
type o f tasks assigned by the Anglo teacher to the MexicanAmerican and non-Mexican-American teach er-aid e?
(6B)
Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the
type o f tasks assigned by the Mexican-American teacher to
the Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teach er-aid e?
(7 )
Does the type o f task assigned by the teacher
a f f e c t the a t titu d e s o f the tea ch er-aid es towards the
program?
(8A)
Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the change
in te a c h e r-a id e s ' a t t it u d e s from the beginning to the ending
o f the migrant program?
(8B)
Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t r e la tio n s h ip between
a t t i t u d e gain scores and type o f tasks assigned?
L im ita tio n s o f the Study
The l im it a t io n s o f the study are as fo llo w s :
1.

This study is lim ite d to the summer m igrant educational

program in Michigan.
2.

The study is concerned only w ith the an a ly s is o f the

a ttitu d e s of Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teachers
toward the migrant educational program and the e x te n t to which t h e i r
a ttitu d e s are a ffe c te d by the teacher and te a c h e r-a id e i n t e r a c t io n .

7

3.

The study makes no attempt to analyze the a t t it u d e s o f the

teacher towards the te a c h e r-a id e .
4.

The study makes no attempt to analyze the a t t it u d e s o f the

migrant students towards t h e i r teachers and/or te a c h e r-a id e s .
5.

Mo attempt is made to p o s tu late ideal teacher and teach er-

aide a t t i t u d e s .

No attempt is made to p o s tu late an ideal migrant

education program.

Mo attempt is made to p o s tu la te an ideal te a c h e r/

tea ch er-aid e composition f o r classroom in s t r u c t io n .
D e fin it io n o f Terms
Mexican-American:

An in d iv id u a l who can tra c e his h erita g e

to Mexico.
Chicano:

Truncated form o f Mexicano, today w ith overtones

o f eth n ic nationalism and a c tiv is m .
Teacher-aide:

N o n -c e r tifie d personnel engaged in complement­

ing and/or re in fo rc in g in s tru c tio n under the supervision o f a
c e r t i f i e d classroom teacher.
S tate education agency:

The agency p r im a r ily responsible f o r

the supervision o f public elementary and secondary schools in the
s ta te .
B ilin g u a l person:

An in d iv id u a l who is f l u e n t in both the

Spanish and English language.
Demographic v a r ia b le :
an in d iv id u a l

S p e c ific personal c h a r a c t e r is tic s o f

( i . e . , sex, age, educational l e v e l , ethnic background,

e tc .)
Migrant students:

Children o f m igratory a g r ic u lt u r a l workers

who have moved w ith t h e i r fa m ilie s from one school to another during

8

the past ye ar fo r the worker's purpose o f seeking o r acq uirin g
employment in a g r ic u lt u r e , inclu d in g re la te d food processing
fa c ilitie s .

This includes m igratory ch ild re n whose parents work in

canneries.
Public Law 90-247:

"For purpose o f t h is subsection, w ith the

concurrence o f his paren ts, a m igratory c h ild o f m igratory a g r i c u l ­
tu ra l workers shall be deemed to continue to be such a c h ild f o r a
p e rio d , not in excess o f f i v e ye a rs , during which he resides in the
area served by the agency carrying on a program or a p r o je c t under
th is subsection."
Public Law 89-10:

To provide programs and p ro je cts (in c lu d in g

the a c q u is itio n o f equipment and, where necessary, the construction
of school f a c i l i t i e s ) which (a ) are designed to meet the special educa­
tio n a l needs o f e d u c a tio n a lly deprived c h ild re n in school attendance
areas hav tig high concentrations o f c h ild re n from low-income fa m ilie s
and (b) are o f s u f f i c i e n t s i z e , scope, and q u a li t y to give reasonable
promise o f su b sta n tial progress toward meeting those needs.

Two or

more local educational agencies may en te r in to agreements, a t t h e i r
o p tio n , fo r carryin g out j o i n t l y operated programs and p ro je c ts under
th is t i t l e .
A tt it u d e :

10

Refers to an emotional stereo typ e.

A g eneralized

reactio n fo r or ag ain st a s p e c ific psychological o b je c t.
Spanish-speaking:

An in d iv id u a l who can tra c e his h e rita g e

to any Latin country.

^
(Chicago:

L. Thurston and E.-1. Chave, The Measurement o f A t titu d e
The U n iv e rs ity o f Chicago Press, l’929y.

9

Anglo:

Short f o r Anglo-American; in the Southwest designating

a l l non-Mexican descent Americans.
Menial Task:

A c t i v i t i e s which are not in s tr u c tio n o rie n te d .

E l i t i s t Task:

A c t i v i t i e s which are in s tru c tio n o rie n te d .

Overview
Chapter I presents the in tr o d u c tio n , the statement o f the
problem, the r a t io n a le f o r the study, the l i m i t a t i o n s , the auestions
to be in v e s tig a te d , d e f i n i t i o n o f terms, and an overview o f the
thesi s .
Chapter I I is a review o f research and l i t e r a t u r e p e rtin e n t
to empathy, b ic u lt u r a lis m , and a t titu d e s o f teachers.
Chapter I I I

is a d e s c rip tio n o f the methodology and

procedures o f the study.

I t also includes inform ation on instrumen­

t a t io n and the s t a t i s t i c a l procedure used in the an a ly sis o f the
data.
Chapter IV contains the research data and re s u lts o f the
analysis o f the d ata.
Chapter V is a summary o f the r e s u l t s , conclusions, and
recommendations o f the study.

CHAPTER I I
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Introduction
The widespread u t i l i z a t i o n o f teacher-aides in the classroom
is a phenomenon th a t has come about in the 1960s.

The implementation

o f the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) o f 1964 and the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) o f 1965 are the two fe d e ra l l e g i s l a t i v e
b i l l s most responsible f o r the increasing use o f te a c h e r-a id e s .

These

two acts provided funds to local school d i s t r i c t s f o r the employment
of teacher-aides in the classroom.
The dramatic increase o f teach er-aid es in the classroom was
documented by the National Education A s so cia tio n 's (NEA) Research
D ivisio n in th ree national studies and sm aller surveys in Indiana and
C a lif o r n ia .

These studies reported t h a t from 1965-66, the school

d i s t r i c t s surveyed showed a 57 percent increase in the number of
paraprofessionals from 29,995 to 40,295.^

An NEA Research D iv is io n

sample survey o f the n a tio n 's public school teachers in the spring
o f 1969 revealed t h a t one teacher in fo u r had the support o f a

^ "Teacher Aides in Public Schools," National Education
Association Research B u l l e t i n , SLVI, 6 (May 19 67 ), pp. 30 -33 , as well
as S L V II, 1 (March 1970 ), pp. 11-12; Teacher Aides: A Status Report
(Terre Haute: School o f Education, Indiana S ta te U n iv e rs ity , 1968);
and " C a lifo r n ia Teachers A sso ciatio n, Teacher Aides in C a lif o r n ia
Schools and School D i s t r i c t s , 1966-67," Research B u l l e t i n , 206
(Burlingame, 1967).

in

11

teach er-aid e in the classroom.

This is an increase o f o n e -th ird over

school year 1966-67 when 19 percent o f the n a tio n 's teachers reported
such assistance.
Due to the recent acceptance o f the te a c h e r-a id e concept by
the public school system, th ere is a dearth o f p e rtin e n t and r e l i a b l e
inform ation on t h is to p ic .

Alexander, in his a r t i c l e "What Teacher-

Aides Can— And Cannot— Do," stated th a t n e a rly h a l f o f a l l

teacher-

aide programs now operating in la rg e public schools are less than
three years o ld .

In a sample o f la rg e school d i s t r i c t s i t was found

th a t 40 percent o f a l l

tea ch er-aid e programs were s ta rte d in the

1965-66 school year and 36 percent began between 1960 and 1964.
Because o f t h i s , the fu n c tio n of teach er-aid es in our educational
system is i l l - d e f i n e d .

An a r t i c l e which explores the use o f

a u x i l i a r y personnel and what they mean to the teacher noted th a t
"Mo fig u re s are y e t a v a ila b le on the number o f school systems using
aides:

however, the a v a i l a b i l i t y o f fe d e ra l and s ta te funds, founda­

tio n funds, and local d i s t r i c t money has increased the number of
teacher-aides in the p ublic schools o f th is country to an estimated
100, 000—

Dunnan also commented on the f a c t th a t "no surveys have

been made to t r y to determine the exten t to which paraprofessionals

^ "Teacher Aides in Public Schools," NEA Research B u lle t in
(March 1970), p. 11.
■j

Ken S. Alexander, "What Teacher Aides Can— And Cannot--Do,"
Michigan Association School Board (January 19 70 ), p. 16.
^ " A u x ilia r y Personnel— What They Mean to the Teacher and His
Professional A s so cia tio n ," Washington Education (November 19 66 ), p. 1.

12
and teacher a id e s , paid and v o lu n te e r, are used in the schools
C

throughout the United S ta te s .'
Federal l e g i s l a t i o n f o r funding o f migrant education programs
occurred in December 1966, one y e ar a f t e r the a u th o r iz a tio n o f the
EOA and ESEA.

Because migrant programs in the United States are also

unique and new, th ere is l i t t l e
migrant tea c h e r-a id e s .

in the l i t e r a t u r e t h a t is r e la te d to

Since th is study w i l l attem pt to in v e s tig a te

possible d i f f e r e n t a t titu d e s o f Mexican-American teach er-aid es when
compared to non-Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e s , the in v e s tig a to r
elected to research l i t e r a t u r e re la te d to the phenomena under
in v e s tig a tio n .

The review o f the l i t e r a t u r e addresses i t s e l f to

behavioral fa c to rs which i m p l i c i t l y an d /o r e x p l i c i t l y have a s i g n i f i ­
cant e f f e c t on a t t i t u d i n a l formation and/or m o d ific a tio n .

T h e re fo re ,

the review o f the l i t e r a t u r e focuses on the fo llo w in g to p ics :
1.

Teacher a t t i t u d e and behavior— the manner in which these

are perceived by those in d iv id u a ls (students and te a c h e r-a id e s ) under
the teach er's supervision.
2.

Empathy and b ic u lt u r a lis m — the importance and necessity

fo r a teacher to be empathetic to students and te a c h e r-a id e s , and the
value o f the te a c h e r's respect f o r o th e r c u ltu r e s .
3.

D isc rim in ato ry p ractices in the classroom --to document

some p r e ju d ic ia l and d is c rim in a to ry p rac tice s against Mexican-American
students by teachers and a d m in is tra to rs.
A discussion o f the above topics is intended to provide
in s ig h t into the possible causes o f a t t i t u d i n a l formation and
5

Donald W. Dunnan, "Paraprofessionals in the P ublic Schools,"
A u x ilia r y Personnel (A p ril 1969), p. 12.

13

a t t i t u d i n a l change o f the Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e s .

The events

and find in g s t h a t w i l l be discussed may a s s is t in understanding
possible d iffe re n c e s in a tt it u d e s between Mexican-American and nonMexican-American teach er-aid es toward the migrant educational program.
Review of the L it e r a tu r e
The educational environment created in the migrant educational
classroom is h ig h ly dependent on the re la tio n s h ip between the teacher
and the te a c h e r-a id e s .

As ind icated by Shank and McElroy "fundamental

to e f f i c i e n t use o f teach er-aid es is a c o rd ia l re la tio n s h ip between
the teacher and the aid e serving w ith her."®
The teacher is the supervisor o f the te a c h e r-a id e .

This

teacher and te a c h e r-a id e r e la tio n s h ip is c l e a r l y stated by the
Michigan Department o f Education in i t s p o lic y regarding U t i l i z a t i o n
of N o n -C e rtific a te d Persons in Elementary and Secondary Schools.

The

p o lic y states th a t " a ll n o n - c e r tif ic a t e d personnel engaged in
complementing, supplementing or re in fo rc in g in s tr u c tio n s h a ll be
under the meaningful d ir e c t io n and supervision o f a c e r t i f i e d c la s s 7
room te a c h e r."
T h e re fo re , the teacher is in a p o s itio n to provide
leadership and d ir e c tio n to the teach er-aid es in the classroom.

The

Wayne County Interm ediate School D i s t r i c t in a Paraprofessional
Train in g Model expanded on t h is :
experiences in the classroom.

" ___the teacher designs the learn in g

When the classroom door clo se s, the

® Paul C. Shank and Wayne McElroy, The Paraprofessionals
(Midland, Michigan:
Pendell Publishing Company, 1 9 7 0 ), p. 2.
^ " U t i l i z a t i o n o f N o n -C e rtifie d Persons in Elementary and
Secondary Schools," S tate o f Michigan, Department o f Education,
September 26, 1972, p. 2.

14
teacher determines what the c h ild re n are to do.

The paraprofessionals

(te a c h e r-a id e s ) operate a t the d is c r e tio n o f the teacher under the
g
d ir e c t supervision o f the te a c h e r."
Hence the te a c h e r's e x p l i c i t
and i m p l i c i t behavior in the classroom are c r i t i c a l fa c to rs in the
formation o f c e r ta in a t t it u d e s o f te a c h e r-a id e s .
In a study conducted by E. Paul Torrance, an attempt was made
to determine what has more in fluen ce on a t t i t u d e s — the "actual"
a ttitu d e s o f teachers or the a t titu d e s which pupils perceive teachers
q
to hold.
The fin d in g s o f the study concluded t h a t although teachers
said the " r ig h t words" and pupils say t h a t they perceive t h e i r
teachers as having fav o rab le a t t i t u d e s , the te a c h e r’ s "re al a t t itu d e "
is l i k e l y to "show through" and to a f f e c t behavior and emotional
re a c tio n s .
Although much is known about the psychological e f f e c ts o f
teachers' perceptions and appraisals o f t h e i r students, researchers
have not examined the s p e c ific behavior through which these personal
views are expressed.

A study conducted by Melvin L. Silberman

examines the exten t to which teachers' a t t it u d e s toward t h e i r
students are revealed and manifested in the te a c h e rs ’ classroom
b e h a v io r . ^

Four a t tit u d e s held by teachers toward t h e i r students

were id e n t i f i e d by the author from an a n a ly sis o f teachers'

® Paraprofessional T rain in g Model, Wayne County Interm ediate
School D i s t r i c t (July 19 70 ), p. 1.
^ E. Paul Torrance, "Teacher A ttitu d e s and Pupil Percep tio n,"
The Journal o f Teacher Education, XI (March 1960), p. 97.
Melvin L. Silberman, "Behavioral Expression o f Teacher's
A ttitu d e s Toward Elementary School Students," Journal o f Educational
Psychology. Vol. 60, No. 5 (1 9 6 9 ), pp. 402-407.

15

d escrip tio n o f t h e i r students.

These a t tit u d e s were attachment,

concern, in d iff e r e n c e , and r e j e c t i o n .

The method u t i l i z e d in the

study was divided in to three phases:

teacher in te rv ie w s , classroom

observation, and student in te rv ie w s .

Three main fin d in g s emerged

from th is study:

( 1 ) a t titu d e s are g e n e ra lly revealed in teachers'

a c tio n s , in s p ite o f many forces operating to contain t h e i r
expression; ( 2 ) d i f f e r e n t a t t it u d e s are tra n s la te d in to ac tio n in
d i f f e r e n t ways, so th a t teachers give some o f t h e i r a t t it u d e s c le a r e r
expression than they give others; and (3 ) the students who receive
them are aware o f most behavioral expressions o f t h e i r tea ch er's
a ttitu d e .

In a d d itio n , many such behaviors aimed a t in d iv id u a l

students are also v i s i b l e to o ther students in the c la s s .

Although

research o f th is n a tu re , using teach er-aid es as S 's , has not been
conducted, i t may be expected th a t teacher-aides and students share
s im ila r perceptions o f teachers.

Considering the nature o f the

teach er-aid e ro le and the subordinate r e la t io n s h ip w ith the te a c h e r,
i t is possible t h a t the manner in which tea ch er-aid es perceive t h e i r
teachers may in flu e n ce t h e i r a t t i t u d e s , or a t m inim al, the method in
which they perform in the classroom.
Some researchers b e lie v e th a t a t tit u d e s o f in d iv id u a ls are
strongly influenced by the perceptions o f " s i g n i f ic a n t o th e rs ."
Wilbur Brookover theo rizes th a t each person in so c ie ty learns c e r ta in
types o f behavior from s ig n i f i c a n t o t h e r s . ^

According to Brookover,

the person learns the kinds o f behavior t h a t he considers appropriate

^ W ilbur B. Brookover, "Some Social Psychological Conceptions
o f Classroom Learning," School and S o c ie ty , XXCVII (1 9 5 9 ), pp. 84-87.

fo r himself and the appropriateness o f t h is behavior is defined fo r
him through the i n t e r n a liz a t io n s o f the expectation o f o thers.

An

extension o f the s i g n i f i c a n t others theory is th a t the person also
takes the a t t i t u d e o f s ig n i f i c a n t others and reacts according to how
he thinks his s i g n i f i c a n t others view him.
B icu ltu ralism and Empathy
The Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e may have more empathy with
students in the migrant educational program than the non-MexicanAmerican te a c h e r-a id e .

This is p rim a rily because the m a jo r ity o f the

students in the program are Mexican-American and in most instances
the Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e has gone through a s im ila r migrant
l i f e experience s o c ia lly and/or economically.

Kroeber defines

empathy as "a p o s itiv e form o f s e n s i t i v i t y — , the a b i l i t y to
appreciate how another person f e e l s . "

12

Defining empathy, Zderad

states th at i t "im plies th a t I experience in myself t h a t which is
experienced by the other person and hence t h a t in t h is experience
he and I are one."

13

Therefo re, when two in d iv id u a ls have had a

s im ila r experience, th ere is a s e n s i t i v i t y towards the fe e lin g and
caring fo r each o ther which may provide a common base f o r understand­
ing by two in d iv id u a ls .
U l i b a r r i also stressed the value o f and need f o r b i c u l t u r a l ism f o r understanding in the classroom.

A teacher must be b ic u lt u r a l

^ J.C . Kroeber, "The Coping Functions o f the Ego Mechanisms,
The Study o f L iv e s , ed. R.W. White (New York: Atherton Press, 1963),
pp. 520-521.
^ L o retta Therese Zderad, A Concept o f Empathy (published
Ph.D. d is s e r t a tio n , German Town U n iv e rs ity , 19 58 ), p.

which U l i b a r r i defined as "

one who knows the ro les to be played in

each c u ltu r e and understands and appreciates the intended value o f
each r o l e . " ^

Cordova states th a t a synthesis in the p e rs o n a lity and

the educational endeavors o f Spanish-American students can best be
a rriv e d a t through b ic u ltu r a lis m .

15

U l i b a r r i f u r t h e r stated th a t

teachers " ...s h o u ld be empathetic to the so c io -c u ltu re s o f the
c h ild re n ; to know them in t h e i r t o t a l i t y in order to help them
develop broader horizons and g re a te r f u n c t io n a l it y f o r the socioc u ltu r e in which they w i l l be required to o p e ra te ."

1 fi

Teachers must

r e a l i z e the special ta le n ts and special a t t r ib u t e s o f MexicanAmericans and learn to c a p i t a l i z e on them.

In order to function

adequately in an Anglo s o c ie ty , Mexican-American students do not have
to be turned in to " l i t t l e Anglos."

Teachers must f u r t h e r r e a l i z e and

act on the assumption t h a t there are good aspects in MexicanAmerican c u ltu r e and t h a t these students can fu nctio n adequately, i f
not b e t t e r , i f they can r e t a in these as p a rt o f t h e i r h e rita g e .
B ic u ltu ra lis m would mean a merger o f the t r a d i t i o n a l aspects w ith the
compatible aspects o f the dominant s o c ie ty .

I t would also mean an

increase in s e l f - r e s p e c t , s e lf-c o n fid e n c e , and the f e e lin g o f s e l f worth on the p a rt o f the students.

^ Horacio U l i b a r r i , B ilin g u a l Education: A Handbook f o r
Educators (D a lla s , Texas: Southern Methodist U n iv e r s it y , 19 71 ), p. 20.
Ignacio R. Cordova, "The Relationships o f A c c u ltu ra tio n ,
Achievement, and A lie n a tio n Among Spanish-American S ixth Grade Students,
Educating the Mexican-American, eds. Henry Sioux and W illia m S.
Hernandez-M (V a lle y Forge, Pa.: Judson Press, 1970), pp. 178-179.
U l i b a r r i , op. c i t .

18
C ultural C o n flic t in Education
The Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e is o fte n in a more
precarious p o s itio n than the non-Mexican-American co u n te rp art.

The

fa c t t h a t the aide is "Mexican" may prove to be a handicap in the
eyes o f the teacher.

Samora provides a h is t o r ic a l background o f

educational racism ag a in st the Mexican-America.
— the in t e n s it y o f racism was magnified by the i n f lu x o f
a la rg e number o f immigrants from Mexico in 1910 through 1930.
The Mexican immigrants who, g e n e ra lly speaking, were peasants,
r u r a l , uneducated, and o f lower socioeconomic status did not
have the t r a d i t i o n o f public education in t h e i r background.
The Mexican immigrants faced the same general problems o f
European immigrants to th is country but also encountered the
scourge o f d is c rim in a tio n and s e g r e g a t i o n . 17
Segregation in education f a c i l i t i e s have been w ell documented,
p a r t i c u l a r ly f o r the S tate o f Texas.

In many instances, th e re are

three separate public schools in Texas:
blacks, and one fo r w hites.

one f o r Mexicans, one f o r

Samora in d ic a te s th a t although d is c r im i­

nation was not so f la g r a n t in many areas o f New Mexico and Colorado,
many communities had t h e i r "Mexican rooms" f o r ye a rs .
segregation is on pseudopsychological grounds.

This

These communities

maintain th a t Spanish-speaking c h ild re n who come to school should be
placed in a room by themselves in order to learn English.

Studies by

Burma, Madsen, Landes, and Rubel in d ic a te co n clu s ive ly t h a t some
teachers as a r e s u lt of ignorance and i n s e n s i t i v i t y have d iscrim in ated

^ J u lia n Samora, "The Education o f the Spanish-Speaking in
the Southwest: An Analysis o f the 1960 Census M a t e r i a l , " Educating
the Mexican-American, eds. Henry Sioux and W illiam S. Hernandez-M
(V a lle y Forge, Pa.: Judson Press, 19 70 ), p. 82.

19

against the Mexican-Americans in the c l a s s r o o m . T h e in v e s tig a to r
believes th a t th e re is a "rub o f f " a f f e c t o f d is c rim in a to ry p ra c tic e
by the teacher ag a in s t the Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e s .
Jacobson's study in 1966 su b stan tiates the claim o f te a c h e r's
a t t i t u d i n a l d is c rim in a to ry p ra c tic e ag ain st Mexican-American
students.

19

The study involved two groups o f teachers who were asked

to rank a set o f unknown c h ild r e n 's photographs on t h e i r American or
Mexican appearance.

The teachers agreed h ig h ly on t h e i r rankings.

These same teachers were then asked to rank in the same manner photo­
graphs o f Mexican c h ild re n who were unknown to one group o f teachers
but were students in t h e i r schools.

There was l i t t l e

agreement.

The

teachers a t the school attended by Mexican c h ild re n saw those w ith
high I.Q .s as looking more American.

The s i g n i f i c a n t - c o r r e l a t i o n o f

I.Q . and appearance was present only where the I.Q . score was
a v a ila b le .

Apparently teachers agree in t h e i r perceptions o f

"Mexican-looking" u n t i l they know how a c h ild te s ts and then change
t h e i r perceptions.
C a rte r concluded th a t the Chicano youngster did not have a
lower s e lf-c o n c e p t but t h a t he was well aware o f the f a c t t h a t he was

^ 8 J.H. Burma, Spanish-speaking Groups in the United States
(Durham: Duke U n iv e rs ity Press, 1954). W. Madsen, The MexicanAmericans o f South Texas (New York: H o l t , Rinehart & Winston, 1965).
R. Landes, C ulture in American Education (New York: John W iley ,
1965). A .J. Rubel, Across the Tracks: Mexican-Americans in a Texas
C ity (A ustin: U n iv e rs ity o f Texas Press, 1966).
Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, "The Disadvantaged
C h ild ," Pygmalion in the Classroom (New York: H o lt , R in e h a rt, and
Winston, I n c . ) .

20

pf)

held in a lower regard by the school s t a f f . u

For example, the

teachers and a d m in is tra to rs tended to see the Chicano youngster as
i n f e r i o r to the Anglo and presumed th a t the Chicano c h ild went along
with t h e i r in te r p r e ta t io n s o f him.

A s im ila r study was conducted by

Anderson and Safer in two southwestern communities where Chicanos,
Ind ian s, and Anglos were in the system.

21

The researchers concluded

th a t school ad m in is tra to rs and teachers f e l t th a t the Chicano c h ild re n
are less capable o f achieving in school, meeting d e s ira b le goals, and
e v e n tu a lly becoming productive c i t i z e n s , when compared w ith t h e i r
Anglo peers.

Because o f the negative a tt it u d e s and expectations o f

the ad m in istrators and teach ers, Chicano c h ild re n saw themselves as
having less p o te n tia l than the Anglo and consequently the c h ild re n
did not achieve w ell in school, thus completing the cruel cycle o f
the " s e l f - f u l f i l l i n g prophecy."2^
Rosenthal and Jacobson explained the s e l f - f u l f i l l i n g prophecy
as one person's expectation o f another person's behavior u n w ittin g ly
becoming a more accurate p re d ic tio n o f behavior simply by i t s having
been made.

In o th e r words, a person's p re d ic tio n or prophecy may

i t s e l f be a fa c t o r in determining the behavior o f o ther people.

po

Of)

Thomas P. C a r te r , "Negative Self-Concept o f MexicanAmerican Students," School and S o ciety , SCVI, No. 2, 340 (March 2 ,
1968), pp. 217-219.
pi
James G. Anderson and Dwight S a fe r , "The In fluen ce on
D i f f e r e n t i a l Community Perceptions on the Provision o f Equal Educa­
tio n a l O p p o rtu n itie s ," Sociology o f Education, XL, No. 3 (Summer,
1967), pp. 219-230.
pp

c Rosenthal and Jacobson, op. c i t .

23 Ib id .

21
Conversely, fav o rab le expectations on the p a rt o f the teacher can be
responsible f o r gains in t h e i r p u p ils ' achievement.
The fin d in g s in the southwest are remarkably s i m il a r to those
of M artin Deutsch which are summarized in the fo llo w in g statement:
The th e s is here is t h a t the lower class c h ild enters the
school s it u a t io n so poorly prepared to produce what the school
demands th a t i n i t i a l f a i l u r e s are almost i n e v i t a b l e , and the
school experience becomes n e g a tiv e ly r a th e r than p o s it iv e ly
re in fo rc e d . Thus the c h i l d 's experience in school does
nothing to counteract the invid iou s in flu e n c e to which he is
exposed in his slum, and sometimes segregated neighborhoods.
...w e know t h a t i t is d i f f i c u l t f o r a l l people to span
c u ltu r a l d is c o n t i n u i t i e s , and y e t we make l i t t l e i f any e f f o r t
to prepare a d m in is tra tiv e personnel or teachers and guidance
s t a f f to a s s is t the c h ild in t h is t r a n s itio n from one c u lt u r a l
context to another. This t r a n s i t i o n must have serious psycho­
lo g ic a l consequences f o r the c h i l d , and probably plays a major
r o le in in flu e n c in g his l a t e r perceptions o f other social
i n s t it u t io n s as he is introduced to them.
. . . t h e f r u s t r a t i o n in h eren t is not understanding, not
succeeding, and not being stim ulated in the school— although
being regulated by i t — creates a basis f o r the f u r t h e r
development o f negative self-im ages and low evalu ation s o f
in d iv id u a l competencies.. . .No m atter how the parents might
asp ire to a higher achievement le v e l f o r t h e i r c h i l d , t h e i r
lack o f knowledge as to the o pe ra tio n a l implementation,
combined w ith the c h i ld 's e a r ly f a i l u r e experiences in the
school, can so e f f e c t i v e l y atte n u ate confidence in his
a b i l i t y to handle competently challenge in the academic
a rea , th a t the c h ild loses a l l m o t i v a t i o n . 24
From September 1964 to June 1966, Thomas C a rte r conducted
research in the secondary schools o f one o f C a l i f o r n i a 's ric h
a g ric u ltu r e v a lle y s .

25

The study involved the feeder seventh and

eighth schools and one high school.

The school population in the

area is approximately 65 percent Mexican-American, and the m a jo r ity

^ M artin Deutsch, "The Disadvantaged Child and the Learning
Process," Education in Depressed A reas, ed. A. Harry Passow (New York:
Teachers College Press, Columbia U n iv e r s it y , 19 63 ), pp. 163, 164, 177.
^ Thomas P. C a rte r, "The Negative Self-Concept o f MexicanAmerican Students," School and Society (March 30, 1 9 6 8 ), p. 218.

22

o f these are c h ild re n o f low-paid a g r ic u lt u r a l workers.

Occupations

and income o f the Anglo parents are d is t r ib u t e d more evenly.

During

the study, p arents, students, teachers and ad m in is tra to rs were i n t e r ­
viewed, some o f them several times.

Classes were observed

re p e ate d ly , and three sets o f sociopsychological instruments were
adm inistered.

No data supported the b e l i e f th a t the Mexican-American

students had a more negative s e lf-c o n c e p t than did Anglo students.
I t was obvious, however, th a t teachers and ad m in is tra to rs believed
the Mexican-American students were i n f e r i o r and concluded t h a t the
students held the same view.
At a conference in San Antonio, Texas, on educational
o p p o rtu n itie s f o r Mexican-Americans, Commissioner Harold Howe, I I
quoted Dr. Severo Gomez on the a t t it u d e s o f some teachers toward the
Mexican-American student:
They are good people. T h e ir only handicap is the bagful
o f s u p e rs titio n s and s i l l y notions they in h e r ite d from Mexico.
When they g et r i d o f these s u p e r s titio n s , they w i l l be good
Americans. The schools help more than anything e ls e .
In
tim e , the Latins w i l l th in k and a c t l i k e Americans. A l o t
depends on whether we can get them to switch from Spanish to
English. When they speak Spanish, they th in k Mexican. When
the day comes th a t they speak English a t home l i k e the re s t
o f us, they w i l l be p a rt o f the American way o f l i f e .
I ju s t
d o n 't understand why they are so i n s is t e n t about using
Spanish. They should r e a l i z e th a t i t ' s not the American
tongue. 26
A v iv id and sometimes poignant p ic tu re o f d is c rim in a tio n
ag ain st Mexican-Americans in a southwestern community and i t s school
system was disclosed by Theodore W. Parsons, who is now an a s s is ta n t

26 Harold Howe I I , speech presented a t Texas Conference o f
Educational O pportunities f o r Mexican-Americans, A p ril 13-15 , 1967,
San Antonio, Texas.

23

professor o f education and c u ltu r a l anthropology a t the U n iv e rs ity o f
C a lifo r n ia a t Berkeley.

He c ite d examples o f how those o f Mexican

o rig in are f i r m l y kept subordinated to the Anglos.

27

A teacher who was asked why she had c a lle d on "Johnny" to
lead f i v e Mexicans in o rd e rly f i l e out o f a schoolroom explained:
"His f a t h e r owns one o f the big farms in the a r e a — , and one day he
w il l have to know how to handle Mexicans."

Another tea ch er,

fo llow ing the general p ra c tic e of c a l li n g on the Anglos to help
Mexican p upils r e c it e in c la s s , said in p rais e o f the system:

" It

draws them (th e Americans) out and gives them a f e e lin g of
importance."

The school's p rin c ip a l responded to a question on

a b i l i t y grouping:

"Grouping and departm entalizing enables the w hite

c h ild re n to g et more out o f school; they work f a s t e r and not be
slowed down by the Mexicans.
them some special a t t e n t i o n
programs

We thought th a t maybe we could give
Everybody is happy about the grouping

The Mexican parents have never said an yth ing , but the

kids in school are doing b e t t e r . . . . I guess the Mexicans are more
comfortable in t h e i r own group."

28

Many teachers urge Mexican American ch ild re n to remember
th a t English is the o f f i c i a l language o f th is country and a mark of
good c it iz e n s h ip .

One school held a poster-making contest e n t i t l e d

"Why good c itiz e n s speak E n g lish ."

^
Chicanos:
Wagner and
1971), pp.
^

The m a jo r ity o f the posters were

Theodore W. Parsons, "School Bias Toward Mexican-Americans,"
Social and Psychological P e rsp e ctive s, eds. Nathaniel H.
Marsha J. Haug (S t. Louis, Mo.: The C.V. Mosby Company,
219-220.
Ib id .

on p a t r i o t i c themes such as "Americans Speak English" and "Texans
Speak E n g lis h ."

Some o f the poster a r t i s t s saw o th e r advantages.

One ju n io r high student drew two p ic tu res showing h e rs e lf before and
a f t e r she had mastered English.

The f i r s t one showed her alone w ith

a puzzled expression on her fa c e .
by boys.

The second showed her surrounded

The caption read, " I f You Want Dates, Speak E n g l i s h ; " ^
Knowlton c ite s comments made by teachers th a t Mexican-American

ch ild ren lack the a b i l i t y to le a rn .

30

He w rite s th a t teachers have

sa id , " . . . s o

many Spanish-American c h ild re n have to repeat the f i r s t

grade two or

three times.

American c h ild re n .

They j u s t c a n 't lea rn as f a s t as Anglo-

They lack the n a tiv e a b i l i t y to do school work.

I f you d o n 't b elieve me, j u s t check t h e i r t e s t scores."

As one

C a lifo r n ia j u n i o r high school teacher interviewed f o r t h is study
phrased i t :

"We w i l l keep t r y i n g . . . b u t there is nothing you can do

w ith these kid s.

They c a n 't discuss, they c a n 't t a l k , a l l you can do

is give them seat work to keep them busy and keep them under c o n tr o l."
Theodore W. Parsons asserts t h a t is o la t io n o f MexicanAmerican students from the t o ta l school population is promoted by the
schools.

He reports in 1965 from the small C a lif o r n ia farming

community o f

Guadalupe, C a lif o r n ia :

on

York:

W illiam Madsen, The Mexican-Americans o f South Texas (New
H o lt , Rinehart and Winston, T 9 6 ^ )", p . 107.

^ Clark S. Knowlton, "B ilin g u a lis m , A Problem or A sset,"
Address d e liv e re d a t a meeting o f s t a f f and f a c u lty o f Anthony School
D i s t r i c t , New Mexico, December 8 , 1965.

25

E t h n ic a lly d i f f e r e n t i a t e d social p atterns and associated
stereotypes are learned by v i l l a g e c h ild re n q u ite e a r l y .
A f t e r the second grade, Anglo and Mexican-American c h ild re n
in c re a s in g ly r e s t r i c t t h e i r social choices to members o f
t h e i r own eth n ic group. By the time they reach the upper
elementary grades, there is v i r t u a l l y complete social
separation between the two groups. That the c h ild re n are
aware o f Anglo dominance is r e f l e c t i v e in t h e i r leadership
and p re s tig e choices. Both Anglo and Mexican-American
c h ild re n choose Anglos as sources o f p re s tig e and both
groups make s i g n i f i c a n t choice o f Anglos f o r positio ns o f
le a d e r s h ip .32
Manuel Ramirez, I I I conducted a study to a s c e rta in the
re s u lts o f c u ltu r a l c o n f l i c t on the behavior o f the Mexican-American
student.

S p e c i f i c a l l y , the study was to determine the in flu e n c e o f

i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w ith t r a d i t i o n a l Mexican-American c u ltu r e and student
success in Northern C a lif o r n ia ju n io r and senior high schools.

In a

p re lim in a ry r e p o r t , Ramirez contended th a t Mexican-American students
have l i t t l e

fe e lin g s toward school and some o f t h e i r poor achievement

in school is a t t r i b u t a b l e to c u lt u r a l c o n f l i c t .

He s ta te s :

By assessing a t t it u d e s toward education and reviewing
the cumulative f i l e s o f 300 Mexican-American students, the
researchers were ab le to i d e n t i f y those students who are
experiencing d i f f i c u l t y in adjustin g to school s e ttin g
and, thus, seemed to be those most l i k e l y to drop out in
the near f u t u r e . . . .These students were in te rv ie w e d ,
observed in class and were asked to t e l l s to rie s r e l a t i n g
to p ic tu res d e p ic tin g students, teach ers, and parents
in te r a c tin g in a school s o ttin g .
The s to rie s to ld to
these p ic tu res were very re v e a lin g in terms of value
c o n f li c t s and t h e i r e f f e c t on the adjustment o f the
students and his a t t i t u d e toward the sc h o o l.33

32 Theodore W. Parsons, "Ethnic Cleavage in a C a lif o r n ia
School" (published Ph.D. d is s e r t a t i o n , Stanford U n iv e r s it y , 1965),
pp. 386-387.
33 Manuel Ramirez, I I I , "Value C o n flic ts Experienced by
Mexican-American Students," a r t i c l e based on research now in progress
by M. Ramirez and C. T a y lo r on "Sex Role Determinants in A ttitu d e s
Toward Education Among Mexican-American Adolescents." P ro je c t
supported by a grant from the U.S. O ff ic e o f Education, Sacremento,
C a li f o r n ia : C a lif o r n ia S ta te Department o f Education, 1967b.

26

While fin d in g t h a t a l l Mexican-Americans do not hold t r a d i ­
tio n a l eth n ic va lu e s , Ramirez did demonstrate th a t c u ltu r e c o n f l i c t
was apparent in some students.

He concludes t h a t t r a d i t i o n a l Mexican-

American students bring values w ith them to the school which in many
cases are in d i r e c t opposition to those o f t h e i r teach ers, counselors,
and p r in c ip a ls .

Not only must the b ic u ltu r a l student fac e c o n f lic t s

a t school; he must also meet c o n f lic t s in the home when the values he
learns a t school are opposed by p arents.

T h e re fo re , he is continuously

faced w ith the ominous choice o f conforming or q u i t t i n g .

This u s u a lly

re s u lts in fe e lin g s o f in s e c u r ity and e v e n tu a lly in negative fe e lin g s
toward the school which the Mexican-American student comes to see as
the source o f his f r u s t r a t i o n and ambivalence. 34

This study c l e a r l y

demonstrates the i n s e n s i t i v i t y o f the school to Mexican-Americans
because o f t h e i r c u ltu r e .

According to Brogan, the fu n c tio n o f the

school:
. . . i s to teach Americanism, meaning not merely p o l i t i c a l
and p a t r i o t i c dogma, but h abits necessary to American l i f e -----The common language, common h a b its , common to le ra n c e s , common
p o l i t i c a l and n atio n al f a i t h .
The m a in .. .achievement of the
high schools and grammar schools is to bring to g e th e r the
young o f a l l classes and o r ig in s , to p ro vid e , a r t i f i c i a l l y ,
the common background th a t in o ld , ru ra l so c ie ty is provided
by t r a d i t i o n . . . . 3 5
As Anderson and Safer noted, a necessary precursor to the
provision o f equal educational o p p o rtu n itie s is an awareness o f the
"hidden dissuaders" t h a t operate c o v e r tly and in s id io u s ly w ith in the

34 Ib id .
35 d .W. Brogan, The American Character (New York:
Knopf, 1 9 5 0 ), pp. 135-13F:

A lfre d A.

27

schools to the d etrim en t o f a l l but the w hite m iddle-class s tu d e n t. 36
In a d d itio n , there must be an ap p re c ia tio n o f how a c h i ld 's behavior
is influenced by his own and his parents perceptions o f his a b i l i t y
and o p p o rtu n itie s .

Without such an awareness by the p ublic and

educators charged w ith the r e s p o n s ib i li t y f o r designing and carryin g
out the educational program, r a c ia l and eth n ic i n f e r i o r i t y in a b i l i t y
and m otivatio n are blamed f o r the f a i l u r e o f m in o r ity c h ild re n .

But

the problem a c t u a lly l i e s in the inadequacies o f the school's pro­
grams th a t su b tly and c o v e rtly discourage and d is c rim in a te ag a in s t
ch ild re n from these groups.

Manuel Guerra d ire c te d his angry comments

toward educators:
Some educators are disturbed to hear languages o ther than
English in the classroom, or the playground, or in the school
c o rrid o rs . This kind o f racism under the guise o f p a trio tis m
and Americanism should be e lim in a t e d .37
The p ic tu re t h a t emerges from th is research o f l i t e r a t u r e is
th a t the schools stro n g ly share in the morbid perpetuation o f poverty
and unequal o p p o rtu n ity .

As Dr. Conant pointed o u t, "We now

recognize so p la in l y but so b e la te d ly , a caste system fin d s i t s
c le a r e s t m a n ife statio n in an educational

s y s t e m . "38

36 James G. Anderson and Dwight S a fe r, "The In flu e n ce o f
D i f f e r e n t i a l Community Perceptions on the Provision o f Equal Educa­
tio n O p p o rtu n itie s ," Chicanos: Social and Psychological Perspectives
(S t. Louis, Mo.: The C.V. Mosby Company, 19 71 ), pp. 246.
37 Manuel H. Guerra, "Educating Chicano Children and Youth,"
Phi D elta Kappan, No. 53 (January 1 9 7 2 ), p. 314.
38 James Bryant Conant, Slums and Suburbs (New York:
H i l l Book C o ., 1 9 6 1 ), pp. 11-12.

McGraw-

CHAPTER I I I

DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Introd uctio n
The procedure used in the design o f t h is study includes an
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and d e s c rip tio n of the population and sample, statement
o f the hypotheses, discussion of the development and f i e l d - t e s t i n g o f
the instruments used, a d e s c rip tio n o f the kinds o f data c o lle c t e d ,
the sources o f those d a ta , and the methods o f securing the d a ta .

A lso,

an explanation is given o f the methods o f analysis usisd.
S etting o f the Migrant. Educational Program
During each summer, the Michigan Department o f Education w ith
the cooperation o f the local school d i s t r i c t s implements educational
programs in an attempt to meet the needs o f migrant students.

These

migrant programs are located throughout the s ta te in areas where th ere
are concentrations o f the migrant a g r ic u ltu r a l population.

The

programs are designed to maximize educational and non-educational
services to the migrant students.

Despite the common o b je c tiv e o f a l l

migrant educational programs, th e re are d iffe re n c e s in each program.
The d iffe re n c e may be a t t r ib u t e d to the fo llo w in g fa c to r s :
1.

The degree of cooperation from the local school board.

2.

The types o f resources a v a ila b le in the community to a s s is t

the migrant population.
3.

The degree o f cooperation from the farmers.
28

29

4.

The number o f migrant students e n ro lle d in the program.

5.

The degree o f cooperation among the s t a f f members o f

migrant educational programs.
6.

The types o f crops planted and harvested in the area.

Although th e re are d i s t i n c t and numerous d iffe re n c e s between
migrant educational programs, there e x is ts a basic mode o f o p eratio n .
The basic mode o f operation is determined by the student population
being served and, j u s t as im portant, adherence to the ru les and
regulations o f T i t l e I o f the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965.

Migrant educational programs t y p i c a l l y operate in the manner

described below.
A school d i s t r i c t or a conso lid ation o f school d i s t r i c t s submit
a migrant education proposal to the migrant u n it o f the Michigan
Department o f Education.

When the proposal is approved, the school

d is t r ic t or

a co n so lid ation o f school d i s t r i c t s

t i v e agency

responsible and accountable to the migrant u n it o f Michigan

Department o f Education.

becomes the a d m in is tra­

The interm ed iate school d i s t r i c t s are the

a d m in is tra tiv e agents f o r a consolidation o f school d i s t r i c t s .
The a d m in is tra tiv e agency designates an in d i v i d u a l , u s u a lly a
teacher or p rin c ip a l w ith in the school d i s t r i c t , to d i r e c t the migrant
educational program.

The d ir e c t o r o f the migrant program must possess

a d m in is tra tiv e s k i l l s as well as educational leadership q u a l i t i e s .
must also be cognizant o f the fo llo w in g inform ation:
1.

The types o f crops harvested in the area.

2.

The time o f year t h a t the crops are c u lt iv a t e d and

harvested.

He

30

3.

The number o f migrant workers needed to harvest the crops

in the a rea .
4.

Thelo c a tio n o f migrant la b o r camps.

5.

The number o f l i v i n g u n its w ith in each camp.

6.

The types and ex te n t o f services provided byfed eral

s t a t e , and

local agencies to a s s is t the migrant worker and

,

his fa m ily .

The migrant educational programs u su ally include the fo llo w in g
s t a f f members:
Classroom teacher:

Provides the educational leadership in the

classroom in order to meet the s p e c ific educational needs o f each
migrant student.
Teacher-aides:

A s sist the teacher in implementing the

in s tru c tio n a l and n o n -in s tru c tio n a l a c t i v i t i e s .
Home-school lia is o n ( r e c r u i t e r ) :

Recruits students to the

migrant educational program and provides social se rv ice inform ation to
the migrant f a m ilie s .
Cooks:

Plan and prepare n u t r it i o n a l meals f o r the migrant

students.
Bus d r iv e r :

Transports the migrant students to and from

school, and on f i e l d t r i p s .
The o b je c tiv e s o f the summer migrant programs are developed
and implemented w ith the t o t a l migrant student in mind, th a t i s , the
migrant program takes in to account the academic, p h y s ic a l, emotional
and social aspects o f the migrant student.

Because the m a jo r ity o f

migrant students are b ilin g u a l and/or b i c u l t u r a l , the o b je c tiv e s o f the
migrant program are constructed to preserve and promote b ilin g u a lis m
and/or b ic u ltu r a lis m .

The fo llo w in g is a set o f general o b je c tiv e s

31

which are adhered to in the migrant programs to some degree depending
on t h e i r resources:
1.

To provide school programs which w i l l help the c h ild

develop his English-Spanish communication s k i l l s .
2.

To provide school programs which w i l l help the c h ild

develop and/or improve his s e lf-c o n c e p t.
3.

To provide the s t a f f t r a in in g necessary to insure the

accomplishment o f the program o b je c tiv e s .
4.

To provide those a n c i l l a r y services necessary to the migrant

student's health and well being, thereby improving his chances f o r
success in school, i . e . , h e a lth , n u t r i t i o n , so c ia l and c u ltu r a l
services.
5.

To provide a school program which w i l l

involve community

and migrant parents in the school and assure a fo llo w -u p .
6.

To provide a school program which w i l l cooperate and be

coordinated w ith migrant programs c a rrie d out by other agencies;
s p e c i f ic a l l y l o c a l , s ta te o r n a tio n a l.
7.

To provide a comprehensive e v a lu a tio n program which w i l l

determine the e ffe c tiv e n e s s o f the migrant school programs, e s p e c ia lly
in reading and o ra l language communication.
The length o f the summer migrant educational programs is
determined by the length o f the harvest season.
o f the harvest season is from six to e ig h t weeks.
keep in mind is t h a t i f crops f a i l

G en erally , the length
An important fa c t to

because o f drought, f r e e z e , or o ve r­

abundance o f r a i n , migrant programs are e lim in a te d a t the local l e v e l .

32

Statement o f Research Questions
The fo llo w in g research questions were used to a s c e rta in whether
a s i g n i f i c a n t r e la tio n s h ip e x is ts between te a c h e r -a id e s ' background, as
measured by the Personal Data Form.

They were also used to determine

the ex te n t to which the a t titu d e s o f the teach er-aid es toward the
migrant program are a ffe c te d by the teachers' a t t it u d e s toward the pro­
gram (as measured by the M igrant Teacher-aides P re - and P o s t - t e s t ) .
1. Does the Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e have a more
p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the migrant educational program than
the non-Mexican-American teach er-aid e?
2.
Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip between the tea ch eraid es ' m a rita l status and the a t t it u d e s they hold toward the
migrant educational program?
3.
Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip between the tea ch eraides* educational le v e l and the a t t it u d e s they hold toward the
migrant educational program?
4. Do teach er-aid es who have had m igratory a g r ic u lt u r a l
work experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the
migrant educational program?
5. Does the te a c h e r-a id e who has had p r i o r tea c h e r-a id e
experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the migrant
educational program than the te a c h e r-a id e w ith ou t tea c h e r-a id e
experience?
6A. Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the type o f
tasks assigned by the non-Mexican-American teachers to the
Mexican—Arnev'ican and non-Mexican-American teacher-aide?
6B. Is there a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the type o f
tasks assigned by the Mexican-American teacher to the MexicanAmerican and non-Mexican-American teach er-aid e?
7.
Does the type o f task assigned by the teacher a f f e c t
the a tt it u d e s o f the tea ch er-aid es toward the program?
8A. Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the change
in te a c h e r-a id e s ' a t titu d e s from the beginning to the ending
o f the migrant program?
8B. Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t r e la tio n s h ip between a t t i t u d e
gain scores and type o f tasks assigned?

33

Population and Sample
The population in the study includes a l l o f the migrant
teacher-aides in the Michigan 1973 summer migrant educational programs.
For the purpose o f th is study, the S tate o f Michigan was
geographically d iv id e d in to f i v e regions (see Appendix A ).

The reasons

f o r d iv id in g the s t a te in to f i v e regions were:
1.

A g re a te r re presen tatio n o f the migrant educational

programs could be obtained.
2.

The migrant educational programs in each o f the f i v e

regions begin a t the same tim e; the f i v e regions begin t h e i r programs
a t d i f f e r e n t dates.
3.

The d iffe re n c e in beginning dates o f the migrant programs

among the f i v e regions would a llo w the in v e s tig a to r enough time to
personally v i s i t each region to adm inister the instruments.
The migrant educational programs in each region are:
A.

Region I :

Bay C ity Public Schools
S t. Charles Public Schools
Capac Community Schools
Croswel1-Lexington Schools
M a r le tte Community Schools
Reese Public Schools
Saginaw Public Schools
S ta n d is h -S tc rlin g Schools
U n io n v ille Community Schools

B.

Region I I :

Alpena Public Schools
B l i s s f i e l d Community Schools
Eaton Rapids Schools
Ida Public Schools
Mason Consolidated Schools
Stockbridge Community Schools
Lansing School D i s t r i c t

C.

Region I I I :

Berrien Springs Schools
(a ) Upper Elementary (B e rrie n Springs)
(b) Lybrook Elementary (Eau C l a i r e )
Coloma Community Schools
Dowagiac Union Schools

34
F e n n v ille Public Schools
Grant Public Schools
Hart Public Schools
Kent C ity Community Schools
Montague Public Schools
West Ottawa Schools
Van Buren In te rm e d ia te Schools
(a ) Baneo Elementary
(b ) Wayland Elementary Schools
Kalamazoo Public Schools
D.

Region IV :

Traverse Bay In te rm e d ia te Schools
(a ) Eastern Elementary (Traverse C ity )
(b) Lakeland Elementary (E lk Rapids)
(c ) F ra n k fo rt Elementary (F ra n k fo rt)
(d) Lake LeeLanau-St. Mary School (Lake LeeLanau)
( e ) Kennedy Elementary (Manistee)
( f ) N orthport Schools (N o rth p o rt)
( g ) Old Mission Elementary (Traverse C it y )
(h j Riverton Elementary ( S c o t t v i l l e )
( i ) B etsie V a lle y Elementary (Thompsonville)

E.

Region V:

Montcalm In te rm e d ia te School D i s t r i c t
(a ) S t. Joseph Elementary (S t. Johns)
(b) West Elementary (Lake Odessa)
(c ) Sheridan Elementary (Sheridan)
(d ) Six Lakes Elementary (Six Lakes)
(e ) Mecosta Elementary (Mecosta)
( f ) Middle Schools (S t. Louis)
(g) Migrant Education Center (Mt. Pleasant)

A ft e r id e n t ify in g the migrant educational programs in each o f
the f i v e regions, the in v e s tig a to r randomly selected two migrant
educational
programs

programsin each region (see Appendix A - l ) .

in eachregion are:

A.

Region I :

M a r le t t e Community Schools
U n io n v ille Community Schools

B.

Region I I :

B l i s s f i e l d Community Schools
Lansing School D i s t r i c t

C.

Region I I I :

F e n n v ille Public Schools
Lawrence School D i s t r i c t

D.

Region IV:

Elk Rapids Public Schools
Old Mission Public Schools

E.

Region V:

Sheridan Public Schools
S t. Louis Schools

The sample

35

Five classrooms in each o f the ten sample school programs were randomly
selected .

Each o f the classrooms contained a Mexican-American and a

non-Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e .

This re s u lte d in a to ta l number o f

10 teacher-aides per school sample program or a t o t a l sample o f
100 (one hundred).

The r a tio n a le f o r u t i l i z i n g a Mexican-American and

non-Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e was to determine i f the eth n ic
id e n t i t y o f the te a c h e r-a id e is a s i g n i f i c a n t v a r ia b le in the expression
and m o d ific a tio n o f a t t it u d e s towards the program and o th e r re la te d
constructs.
Since the two
on the

same d a te ,

migrant educational programs in each region

the instruments w i l l

be

begin

administered to the teach er-

aides in each region as a group on a s p e c ifie d day.
The
educational
Region V.

study was o r i g i n a l l y designed to include the migrant
programs in the S t. Louis and

Sheridan Public Schoolsin

However, these two m igrant programs as w ell as the other

migrant programs in Region V do not employ a Mexican-American and a
non-Mexican-American combination in each classroom a t the beginning o f
t h e i r programs.

In s te a d , they employ one teacher and one te a c h e r -a id e ,

and h ire a d d itio n a l tea ch er-aid es as the need a r is e s .

The in v e s tig a to r

f e l t th a t th is type o f te a c h e r-a id e work re la tio n s h ip was not
compatible with the o r ig in a l design o f the study.

Conseauently, Region V

was excluded as p a rt o f the study and two other m igrant programs
(Croswell-Lexington Schools and Bangor School D i s t r i c t ) were randomly
selected f o r the study.

T h e re fo re , the f i n a l number o f schools

(Appendix A - 2 ) , number o f classrooms and number o f tea ch er-aid es
u t i l i z e d in th is study are as fo llo w s :

36

Number o f
Teacher-aides

Schools

Number o f
Classrooms

B l i s s f i e l d School D i s t r i c t
a . South Elementary School

4

2

Croswell-Lexington School D i s t r i c t
a . F ro stick Elementary School

6

3

F e n n v ille Public Schools
a. Ann Michen Elementary School

10

5

Lansing School D i s t r i c t
a. High S tre e t Elementary School

4

2

M a r le tte Community School
a. Bea McDonald Elementary School

6

3

Traverse C ity Interm ediate School D i s t r i c t
a. Lakeland Elementary School
b. Old Mission Elementary School

8
6

4
3

U n io n v ille Community School D i s t r i c t
a. U n io n v ille Elementary School

8

4

8
10

4
5

Van Buren Interm ed iate School D i s t r i c t
a. Bangor Elementary School
b. Lawrence Elementary School
Procedures Used in the C o lle c tio n o f Data

A f t e r securing the cooperation o f the D ire c to r o f the Michigan
Migrant Program (see Appendix B ), the in v e s tig a to r met w ith the
d ire c to rs o f the sample schools to answer and c l a r i f y any questions
which they might have had about the study.
The in v e s tig a to r administered the p r e - t e s t , the personal data
form, and the p o s t-te s t on the fo llo w in g d a te s :*
Schools

P r e -te s t and
Personal Data

P o s t-te s t

June 15

August 9

B l i s s f i e l d School D i s t r i c t
a. South Elementary School

* A ll te s ts were administered in 1973.

37

P r e - t e s t and
Personal Data

P o s t-te s t

Croswell-Lexington School D i s t r i c t
a.
F ro stick Elementary School

June 15

August 10

F e n n v ille Public School D i s t r i c t
a.
Ann Michen Elementary School

June 22

August 16

Lansing School D i s t r i c t
a.
High S t r e e t Elementary School

June 20

August 2

M a r le tte Community School D i s t r i c t
a.
Bea McDonald Elementary School

June 15

August 17

Schools

Traverse C ity Interm ediate School D i s t r i c t
July 6
a.
Lakeland Elementary School
b. Old Mission Elementary School
July 6

August 17
August 17

U n io n v ille Community School D i s t r i c t
a.
U n io n v ille Elementary School

June 15

August 1

Van Buren Interm ed iate School D i s t r i c t
a.
Lawrence Elementary School
b. Bangor Elementary School

June 14
June 14

August 8
August 3

The in v e s tig a to r explained to the teach er-aid es t h a t the purpose
of the p r e - t e s t , personal data form, and the p o s t-te s t was only one
method being u t i l i z e d to evaluate the migrant
throughout Michigan.

They

educational programs

were also informed th a t since t h is phase o f

evaluation was a t t i t u d i n a l , c o n f i d e n t i a l i t y would be s t r in g e n tly main­
tain ed .

The teach er-aid es

were instrueLed to answer a l 1items on the

te s ts to the best o f t h e i r a b i l i t i e s .
Instrum entation
The three instruments u t i l i z e d in t h is study to measure the
a ttitu d e s o f teach er-aid es were developed by the in v e s tig a to r and
Mr. Arturo Rio, a doctoral student a t Michigan S tate U n iv e rs ity .
instruments were f i e l d tes ted to e s ta b lis h c l a r i t y , consistency,
com prehensibility and ap p ro priate len gth .

The f i e l d te s tin g o f

The

38

instruments took place in the Van Buren Interm ediate school d i s t r i c t
which operates a re g u la r school migrant educational program.

The

Van Buren Interm ediate school d i s t r i c t is not included in the sample
school.
Personal data form.

The c o lle c t io n of selected personal data

o f the teach er-aid es was secured from the personal data form ( r e f e r to
Appendix C).

The personal data form was administered along w ith the

p re -te s t.
The personal data form consists o f inform ation items per­
ta in in g to personal v a ria b le s such as age, sex, m a rita l s t a tu s , number
o f c h ild re n , formal educational le v e l a t ta in e d , p r i o r migrant teach eraide experience, eth n ic i d e n t i t y o f respondent, and e th n ic i d e n t i t y
and sex o f respondent's teacher.
P re -te s t.

The p r e - t e s t consisted o f two classes o f items

measured on a L ik e r t -t y p e s c a le .

Items 1 through 37 measured the

te a c h e r-a id e s ' a t t i t u d e toward the M igrant Educational Program and
items 38 through 53 r e la te d to the te a c h e r-a id e s ' expectations o f
t h e i r duties and r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s

(t a s k s ) .

Items 1 through 37 were

based on the response a lte r n a t iv e s of "strongly ag re e," "ag ree,"
d isag ree," and "stro n g ly d is a g re e ."

Items 38 through 53 were also on

the L ik e r t scale w ith response a lte r n a t iv e s of "very fr e q u e n t ly ,"
" fr e q u e n tly ," "sometimes," and "never."
performed by teacher-aides

These items consist o f tasks

( r e f e r to Appendix C).

The reason f o r o m ittin g a "middle" response category among the
L ik e r t a lt e r n a t iv e s was to obtain a d e f i n i t e , p o s itiv e or negative
response f o r the te a c h e r-a id e s .

Because o f the necessity f o r such

39

in fo rm a tio n , the in v e s tig a to r f e l t the avoidance o f the middle category
was necessary.
The p r e - t e s t was developed to assess te a c h e r-a id e s ' a tt it u d e s
and expectations toward the M igrant Educational Program; i t is
comprised o f items in the fo llo w in g in s tr u c tio n a l areas:

tea ch er,

te a c h e r-a id e s , curricu lu m , migrant students, s e lf-c o n c e p t, and services
extended to migrant students.
Agreement w ith a p o s itiv e item in d ica te d a p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e
toward the Migrant Educational Program and disagreement with a negative
item in d ic a te s a p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the M igrant Educational
Program.
P o s t-te s t.

The p o s t - te s t was administered to measure the

change o f the te a c h e r-a id e s ' a t titu d e s toward the migrant educational
program and expectations o f t h e i r duties and r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s as a
r e s u lt o f t h e i r experiences in the summer program ( r e f e r to Appendix C).
The p o s t- te s t and the p r e - t e s t were comprised o f 53 items.

Items

included in the p o s t -te s t were e s s e n t i a ll y the same as those in the
p re -te s t.

The p o s t - t e s t , however, was s l i g h t l y modified in the wording

so as to take in to account the experiences o f the summer program.
R e l i a b i l i t i e s o f the various scales were computed using the
Hoyt analysis o f variance techniques.
The r e l i a b i l i t y o f the p r e - t e s t and p o s t- te s t a t t i t u d e scales
was found to be .88 and .79 re s p e c tiv e ly .
The r e l i a b i l i t y o f the t o ta l task score was - . 2 3 .

This

indicated th a t r e l i a b i l i t i e s should be computed s e p ara tely fo r co g n itive
and menial task scores.

The r e l i a b i l i t y o f co g n itive and menial task

scores was .48 and .44 re s p e c tiv e ly .

40

S t a t i s t i c a l Analysis
S t a t i s t i c a l te s ts to be performed varied in accordance w ith
the nature o f the research question under in v e s tig a tio n .

For each

research question the proposed s t a t i s t i c a l procedure(s) is o u tlin e d
below.

In a l l

cases, the alpha (a) le v e l w i l l

be a t .0 5 .

The

s e le c tio n o f the .05 le v e l o f confidence was a compromise a rriv e d a t
a f t e r having taken in to account the p r o b a b ilit y o f making e i t h e r a
Type I o r a Type I I e r r o r .
Q-l
Does the Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e have a more
p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the migrant educational program
than the non-Mexican-American teach er-aid e?
In order to determine whether o r not the MATA had a more
p o s itiv e ( i n i t i a l ) a t t i t u d e toward the program, items d i r e c t l y re la te d
to the program were s e le c te d .
in the p r e - t e s t .

These consisted o f items 1 through 38

Responses from each item were t o ta le d and each

subject received a t o ta l a t t i t u d e score.

Subjects were grouped in to

e i t h e r MA o r non-MA and an analysis o f variance was performed on the
two groups.
Q-2 Is there a s i g n i f i c a n t r e la tio n s h ip between the
te a c h e r-a id e s ' m a rita l sta tu s and the a t tit u d e s they hold
toward the migrant educational program?
A one-way analysis o f variance was computed in order to
determine i f th e re is a d iffe re n c e in a t titu d e s toward the program
between the th re e categories o f m a rita l status (married vs. s in g le vs.
o th e r).
Q-3 Is there a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the
te a c h e r-a id e s ' educational le v e l and the a t t it u d e s they
hold toward the m igrant educational program?
A one-way analysis o f variance was performed to check fo r
s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e s in a tt it u d e s between tea ch er-aid es o f varying
educational l e v e l s .

Q-4 Do tea ch er-aid es who have had m igratory a g r ic u lt u r a l
work experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e towards the
migrant educational program?
The one-way a n a ly sis o f variance procedure was used in order
to determine i f a g r ic u lt u r a l work experience a f f e c t s the s u b je c t's
a ttitu d e s toward the program.

Subjects were divided in t o th re e groups

(1 ) no exp erience, ( 2 ) some experience (one through th re e seasons),
and (3 ) extensive experience (fo u r o r more seasons).
Q-5 Does the te a c h e r-a id e who has had p r i o r te a c h e raide experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the
migrant educational program than the te a c h e r-a id e w ithout
te a c h e r-a id e experience?
The exten t to which the a t t it u d e s toward the program are
a ffe c te d by p r i o r te a c h e r-a id e experience was estab lished by the same
procedure as in Q-4.

The three groups are:

(1) no experience,

(2) some experience (one through th re e terms) and (3 ) extensive
experience (fo u r or more terms).
Q-6A Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the
type o f tasks assigned by the Anglo teacher to the MexicanAmerican and non-Mexican-American teach er-aid e?
Research question 6A was analyzed through the use o f three
task scores f o r each su b je ct.

For the t o t a l task scores, high scores

r e f l e c t th a t the su b ject was assigned meaningful ( e l i t e ) tasks w hile a
low score r e f l e c t s the assignment o f menial tasks.

High c o g n itiv e

task scores also in d ic a te more e l i t e tasks performed.

However, high

menial task scores in d ic a te fewer menial tasks performed.
Subjects were divided in to two groups:

MA and non-MA.

The

F -te s t was used in order to determine i f th ere are s i g n i f i c a n t
d iffe re n c e s between the two groups on the assigned-task v a r ia b le .

42
Q-6B Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the type
o f tasks assigned by the Mexican-American teacher to the
Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teacher-aide?
Research question 6B w i l l be analyzed s i m i l a r l y to 6A.

While

6A includes aides o f Anglo teachers, 6B includes aides o f MexicanAmerican teachers.
Q-7 Does the type o f task assigned by the teacher
a f f e c t the a t t it u d e s o f the teach er-aid es towards the
program?
In order to determine the re la tio n s h ip between tasks and
a t t it u d e s , a Pearson's Product Moment C o e ff ic ie n t o f c o r r e la tio n was
computed from p o s t- te s t scores obtained from task and a t t i t u d e scales.
Q-8A Is there a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between the
change in teach er-aid es* a tt it u d e s from the beginning to
the ending o f the migrant program?
A one-way Anova was used to determine i f there are s i g n i f i c a n t
d iffe re n c e s in a t t it u d e s from the beginning to the ending of the
program by examining gain scores (d iffe re n c e s between p re - and post­
te s ts ).
Q-8B Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip between
a t t i t u d e gain scores and type o f task assigned?
The re la tio n s h ip between a t t i t u d e gain scores and the th ree
p o s t-te s t task scores was described by means o f Pearson's Product
Moment c o r r e la tio n .

CHAPTER IV
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

In trod uctio n
This chapter contains the re s u lts o f the s t a t i s t i c a l analysis
of the d ata.

Each question is r e s ta te d , accompanied by the s t a t i s t i ­

cal procedure u t i l i z e d .

The le v e l o f re je c tio n f o r the null

hypothesis was established a t .05.
Testing o f Questions
Question 1. Does the Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e have
a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the migrant educational
program than the non-Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e as
measured by the migrant te a c h e r-a id e p re -te s t?
A one-way Anova was performed on the t o ta l a t t i tude scores of
the Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American subjects.

The means

are presented in Table I .
Table I .
A ttitu d e s o f Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American
Teacher-Aides Toward the M igrant Educational Program
'

A tt itu d e Score *
Standard Deviation
N

Mexi can-American

non-Mexican-American

X = 119.6

X = 121.9

10.45

10.43

35

35

F = .828; d . f .

= 1,68

* The higher the score, the more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the
migrant educational program.
43

44
The F s t a t i s t i c f o r t e s tin g the d iffe re n c e between the means
of the two groups was found to be .828 ( d . f .
not s i g n i f i c a n t .

1 ,6 8 ) .

This value was

I t was, t h e r e fo r e , concluded t h a t the Mexican-

American te a c h e r-a id e s ' a ttitu d e s toward the migrant educational
program did not d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y from those o f non-MexicanAmerican te a c h e r-a id e s .
Question 2.
Do the three m a rita l status groups (married v.
sin g le v. o th e r) have d i f f e r e n t a t tit u d e s toward the migrant
educational program as measured by the migrant te a c h e r-a id e
p o s t-te s t?
A one-way Anova (unequal subclasses) was performed on the
three groups (m arried v. sin g le v. o th e r ) .
value o f 0.58 ( d . f .

2 ,6 7 ) was obtained.

among the th ree groups was d etected .

A n o n -s ig n ific a n t F

Consequently, no d iffe re n c e

The means o f the th ree groups

are shown in Table I I .
Table I I .

A ttitu d e s o f S in g le , Married and Other Teacher-Aides
Toward the Migrant Educational Program
M a rita l Status

A ttitu d e Score *
Standard D eviation
N

Single

Married

X = 120.75

X = 121.80

X = 114.67

10.93

9.37

5.03

15

3

52

Other

F = 0 .5 8 ; d . f . = 2,67
* The higher the score, the more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the
migrant educational program.
Question 3.
Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip between the
te a c h e r -a id e s ' educational le v e l and the a ttitu d e s they hold
toward the migrant educational program as measured by the migrant
te a c h e r-a id e p o s t-te s t?

45

A simple c o r r e la tio n c o e f f i c ie n t o f 0.14 was obtained between
the two v a ria b le s .

The obtained value was not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i ­

cant.
A one-way Anova (unequal subclasses) was then performed on
the data to see i f th ere was

a n o n -lin e a r r e la t io n s h ip between

d i f f e r e n t educational le v e ls

and a t titu d e s toward the program. An F

value o f 0.77

( d . f . 8 ,6 1 ) was also found to be n o n -s ig n ific a n t.

means and the

standard d eviations are shown in Table I I I .

The

Question 4 . Do teach er-aid es who have had m igratory
a g r ic u lt u r a l work experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e
toward the migrant educational program as measured by the
migrant te a c h e r-a id e p o s t-te s t?
A one-way Anova was performed on the data to determine i f the
three groups (no experience,

some experience [ 1 - 3 seasons], or

extensive experience [4 or more seasons]) d if f e r e d w ith respect to
mean a t t i t u d e

scores.

An obtained F value o f 0.062 ( d . f . 2 ,6 7 )

suggests th a t

experience in m igratory work experience is not re la te d

to a t titu d e s toward the migrant educational program.

The means and

the standard d ev ia tio n s are shown in Table IV.
Table IV,

A tt it u d e of Teacher-Aides With D i f f e r e n t Levels
o f M igratory Work Experience
No
Experience

Some
Experience

0

1-3

Extensive
Experience
4 o r more

A ttitu d e Score

X = 120.72

X = 119.92

X = 121.28

Standard Deviation

a = 11.20

a = 9.11

a = 10.06

N

39
F = 0.0 62 ; d . f . = 2,67

13

18

Table I I I .

A ttitudes o f Teacher-Aides o f D iffe rin g Educational Levels
Toward the Migrant Educational Program

Grade Completed

7

8

College

High School

Junior High School

9

10

11

12

1

2

3

4

A ttitu d e
Score

X=123.50

X=122.00

1=115.50

X=121.20

X=118.20

X=121.42

X=127.60

X=119.20

X=124.50

Standard
Deviation

ct=6.36

a=15.56

3=14.48

3=15.42

3=10.67

3=9.30

a=6.54

o=7.66

a=10.23

N

2

2

4

5

25

12

5

5

10
.

F = 0.77; d . f . = 8,61

47

Question 5 . Does the te a c h e r-a id e who has had p r io r
tea ch er-aid e experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward
the migrant educational program than the te a c h e r-a id e w it h ­
out te a c h e r-a id e experience as measured by the migrant
tea c h e r-a id e p o s t-te s t?
A one-way Anova was computed on the data to determine i f the
three groups (no exp erience, some experience [ 1 -3 seasons], o r
extensive experience [4 o r more seasons]) d if f e r e d w ith respect to
mean a t t i t u d e scores.

The F value o f 2 .1 8 ( d . f . 2 ,6 7 ) in d ica te s th a t

p r io r experience as a te a c h e r-a id e does not a f f e c t the a t t it u d e s of
teacher-aides toward the migrant educational program.

The means and

standard d eviatio n s are shown in Table V.
Table V.

A ttitu d e s o f Teacher-Aides w ith D i f f e r e n t Levels
o f Teacher-Aide Experience
No
Experience
0

Some
Experience

Extensive
Experi ence

1-3

4 or more

A ttitu d e Score

J = 117.38

J = 122.72

X = 122.50

Standard Deviation

a = 11.39

a = 9.78

a = 8.04

26

N
...... -

36

8

,

F = 2 .1 8 ; d . f . = 2,67
Question 6A. Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t d iff e r e n c e between
the type o f tasks assigned by the non-Mexican-American
teachers to the Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American
tea c h e r-a id e as measured by the migrant te a c h e r-a id e post­
tes t?
As noted e a r l i e r , the higher the to t a l task score, the more
e l i t e task performed; the lower the task score, the more menial task
performed.

High c o g n itiv e task scores also in d ic a te more e l i t e tasks

48

performed.

However, high menial task scores in d ic a te fewer menial

tasks performed.
Three one-way Anovas were performed.

One was on the t o ta l

task scores, one on the c o g n itiv e task scores, and one on the menial
task scores on the Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American te a c h e raides serving under non-Mexican-American teachers.

The r e s u lta n t

F s t a t i s t i c s o f 0 .0 1 , 0 .1 9 , and 0.91 re s p e c tiv e ly suggest

t h a t the

non-Mexican-American teachers did not d i f f e r e n t i a l l y assign tasks to
teacher-aides on basis o f e t h n i c i t y .

The t o t a l , c o g n itiv e , and menial

task scores are shown in Table V I-A .
Table V I-A . Type o f Tasks Assigned by Non-Mexican-American Teachers
to Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American Teacher-Aides
Teacher-Aides
MexicanAmerican

Non-MexicanAmerican

F, d . f .= 1,58

Total Task Scores

X = 38.65

J = 38.72

0.01

C ognitive Task Scores

X = 22.40

X = 22.06

0 .1 9

X = 16.58

X = 16.10

0.91

Menial Task Scores
N

30

30

Question 6B. Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between
the type o f tasks assigned by the Mexican-American teacher
to the Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e
as measured by the migrant tea c h e r-a id e p o s t-te s t?
On t h is question , as in question 6A, the higher the task score
the more e l i t e task performed; the lower the task score the more
menial task performed.

49

Three one-way Anovas were performed.

One was on the t o t a l

task scores, one on the c o g n itiv e task scores, and one on the menial
task scores o f Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teach eraides serving under the Mexican-American teach er.

The obtained F

values o f 2 .6 1 , 2 .5 8 , and 1.62 re s p e c tiv e ly suggest th a t MexicanAmerican teachers did not d i f f e r e n t i a l l y assign tasks to teacher-aides
on the basis o f e t h n i c i t y .

Table VI-B contains the scores f o r the

t o t a l , c o g n itiv e , and menial task scores.
Table V I-B . Type o f Tasks Assigned by Mexican-American Teachers
to Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American Teacher-Aides
Teacher-Aides
Mexi canAmerican

Non-Mexi canAmeri can

F, d . f .= 1 ,8

Total Task Scores

X = 37.00

X = 42.00

2.61

Cognitive Task Scores

X = 21.50

X = 25.67

2.58

Menial Task Scores

X = 15.50

X = 16.33

1 .62

N

5

5

Question 7.
Does the type o f task assigned by the
teacher a f f e c t the a ttitu d e s o f the teach er-aid es toward
migrant educational program as measured by the migrant
teach er-aid e p o s t-te s t?
A Pearson Product Moment C o rre la tio n C o e ffic ie n t was obtained
from p o s t -te s t scores on task and a t t i t u d e scales.

A c o e f f i c i e n t of

-0 .0 0 6 in d ica te s th a t there was no re la tio n s h ip between these two
p o s t-te s t measures.

50

The p o s t-te s t a t t i t u d e scores were c o rre la te d w ith p o s t-te s t
co g n itive task scores and p o s t - te s t menial task scores.

The c o r r e la ­

tio n o f .14 between the p o s t -te s t a t t i t u d e scores and the cognitive
task scores was found to be n o n - s ig n ific a n t.

The c o r r e la tio n between

p o s t - a tt itu d e scores and p o s t-te s t menial task scores was - . 1 6 which
also was n o n -s ig n ific a n t.
Table V I I .

The c o rr e la tio n is shown in Table V I I .

C o rre la tio n Between P o s t-te s t A t titu d e Scores
and P o s t-te s t Task Scores
Total Task

P o s t-te s t
A t t i tude
Scores

Cognitive Task

-.0 0 6

.14

Menial Task

-.1 6

Question 8A.
Is there a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between
the change in t e a c h e r -a id e 1s a ttitu d e s from the beginning
to the ending o f the migrant educational program?
To t e s t the change in a t t i t u d e s , a t t e s t f o r c o rre la te d means
was performed.

The obtained t value o f .82 in d ic a te s t h a t there were

no s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e s between a t t itu d e s express by subjects a t
the beginning and a t the ending o f the migrant educational program.
The a t t i t u d e scores are noted in Table V I I I - A .
Table V I I I - A .

Pre- and P o s t-te s t A ttitu d e Scores
o f the Teacher-Aides
Pre- and P o s t-te s t A t titu d e Scores
Pre

A ttitu d e Scores
N

X = 120.71
70

Post
X =119.94
70

51

Question 8B.
Is there a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip between
a t t i t u d e gain scores and type o f task assigned as measured by
the migrant teach er-aid e p o s t-te s t?
A Pearson Product Moment C o e ffic ie n t obtained from a t t i t u d e
gain scores and p o s t- te s t task scores y ie ld e d a value o f 0.2 2 which
is found to be s i g n i f i c a n t a t the .05 le v e l o f confidence in d ic a tin g
a p o s itiv e r e la tio n s h ip between a t t i t u d e gain scores and type o f task
assigned.
The a t t i t u d e gain scores were also c o rre la te d w ith p o s t -te s t
co g nitive task scores and p o s t -te s t menial task scores.

The c o r r e la ­

tion o f - . 0 4 between a t t i t u d e gain scores and c o g n itiv e task scores
was not s i g n i f i c a n t .

However, a s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e la tio n o f .26 was

found between a t t i t u d e gain scores and menial task scores.

This

indicates th a t the teach er-aid es who were assigned the most menial
tasks tended to have negative a t t i t u d e change.
Table V I I I - B .

C o rre la tio n Between A t t itu d e Gain Scores
and P o s t-te s t Task Scores
Total Task

A tt itu d e
Gain Scores

m

Cognitive Task

Menial Task

-.0 4

.2 6 *

OO k
C. C.

'

♦ S ig n if ic a n t a t .05 le v e l
Summary
Using appropriate s t a t i s t i c a l procedures, the fo llo w in g re s u lts
were obtained from the data.
1.

Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e s ' a t titu d e s toward the

migrant educational program did not d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y from those o f
non-Mexi can-Ameri can te a c h e r-a i des.

52

2.

M a rita l status was not a s i g n i f i c a n t v a ria b le a ffe c tin g

teacher-aides* a t titu d e s toward the migrant educational program.
3.

Educational grade le v e ls was not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t

in a f fe c t in g teacher-aides* a t titu d e s toward the migrant educational
program.
4.

P rio r m igratory a g r ic u lt u r a l work experience was not

s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t in a f f e c t in g teach er-aid es* a t t itu d e s toward
the migrant educational program.
5.

P r io r tea c h e r-a id e experience was not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n i­

f i c a n t in a f f e c t in g teach er-aid es* a ttitu d e s toward the migrant educa­
tio n a l program.
6A. The data in d ic a te s th a t non-Mexican-American teachers
did not assign tasks to teacher-aides on the basis o f e t h n i c i t y .
6 B. The data in d ic a te s th a t Mexican-American teachers did
not assign tasks to teach er-aid es on the basis
7.

There is no evidence from the data

o f e th n ic ity .
to in d ic a te th a t the

type o f task assigned by the teacher s i g n i f i c a n t l y a ffe c te d the
a t titu d e s o f the teach er-aid es toward the migrant educational program.
8A. There is no evidence from the data

to in d ic a te a change

in a ttitu d e s expressed by teacher-aides a t the beginning and a t the
ending o f the migrant educational program.
8B. There is a p o s itiv e r e la tio n s h ip between a t t i t u d e gain
scores and type o f task assigned.

CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter V w i l l be devoted to a summary o f the study follow ed
by a discussion o f the conclusions generated from the an alysis o f the
d ata, and concluded w ith recommendations and im p lic a tio n s f o r fu r t h e r
research.
SUMMARY
Purpose o f the Study
The basic purpose o f t h is study was to measure the a ttitu d e s
o f tea ch er-aid es toward the migrant educational program and to
determine the e x ten t to which these a tt it u d e s are r e la te d to the
te a c h e r/te a c h e r-a id e in t e r a c tio n during the d uration o f the migrant
program.
L im ita tio n s o f the Study
The l im it a t io n s o f the study are as follow s:
1.

This study deals w ith the summer migrant educational

program in Michigan.
2.

The study is concerned only with the an alysis o f a ttitu d e s

o f Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American tea ch er-aid es toward the
migrant educational program and the e x ten t to which t h e i r a ttitu d e s
are re la te d to the teacher and tea c h e r-a id e in t e r a c t io n .
53

54

3.

The study makes no attempt to analyze the a t t it u d e s o f the

teacher towards the te a c h e r-a id e .
4.

The study makes no attempt to analyze the a t t it u d e s o f the

migrant students towards t h e i r teachers and/or te a c h e r-a id e s .
5.

No attempt is made to p o s tu late ideal teacher and teach er-

aide a t t i t u d e s .

No attempt is made to p o s tu late an id e al migrant

educational program.

No attempt is made to p o s tu late an ideal teacher

and te a c h e r-a id e composition f o r classroom in s t r u c t io n .
Review o f the L it e r a t u r e
The review o f the l i t e r a t u r e focused on the fo llo w in g to pics:
1.

Teacher a t t i t u d e and behavioi— the manner in which these

are perceived by those in d iv id u a ls (students and te a c h e r-a id e s ) under
the te a c h e r's supervision.
2.

Empathy and b ic u lt u r a l ism— the importance and necessity

f o r a teacher to be empathetic to students and te a c h e r-a id e s , and the
value o f the te a c h e r's respect f o r other c u ltu r e s .
3.

D isc rim in ato ry p rac tice s in the classroom documentation

of some p r e ju d ic ia l and d is c rim in a to ry p ra c tic e s against MexicanAmerican students by teachers and a d m in is tra to rs .
A survey o f the l i t e r a t u r e on teacher a t t it u d e s suggests th a t
these a t t it u d e s are s i g n i f i c a n t to successful m o tivatio n and le a rn in g .
Further review in d ic a te s th a t teachers equipped w ith a knowledge and
ap p reciation o f the students in the classroom is a c r i t i c a l element o f
successful teaching.

F in a l l y , the review o f th e l i t e r a t u r e s tro n g ly

in d icates t h a t negative and stereotype a t t it u d e s on the p art o f teachers

55
and ad m in is tra to rs can s t i f l e and in some instances destroy the s e l f concept o f students.
Design o f the Study
The design o f th is study, which was comparative and d e s c rip ­
t i v e , attempted to analyze the a t t it u d e s o f Mexican-American and nonMexican-American tea ch er-aid es toward the migrant educational program
and the exten t to which these a tt it u d e s are re la te d to the teacher and
tea ch er-aid e in te r a c t io n during the duration o f the migrant program.
Three instrum ents, personal q u e s tio n n a ire , p r e - t e s t Migrant
Teacher-Aide A tt it u d e Scale, and the p o s t -te s t Migrant Teacher-Aide
A ttitu d e Scale, were used to gather data f o r t h is study.

The personal

questionnaire was u t i l i z e d to gather appro priate demographic d ata.
The p r e - t e s t Migrant Teacher-Aide A tt it u d e Scale was administered to
assess the expectations and a s p ira tio n s o f the tea ch er-aid es toward
the migrant educational program.

The p o s t - te s t Migrant Teacher-Aide

A ttitu d e Scale was designed to measure the a t titu d e s o f teach er-aid es
at the term in a tio n o f the migrant program and the types o f tasks
assigned to them by the classroom teacher.
The three instruments were f i e l d tested on migrant teach eraides not in the sample to insure c l a r i t y , consistency, comprehensi­
b i l i t y and ap p ro priate len g th .
The c o lle c te d data on the seventy migrant teacher-aides was
coded and punched on data-processing cards.
quently used in the s t a t i s t i c a l

These cards were subse­

an alysis o f the d ata.

The s t a t i s t i c a l

analyses were computed on the CDC 6500 computer a t Michigan S tate
U n iv e rs ity .

Use o f the Michigan S tate U n iv e rs ity computing f a c i l i t i e s

56

was made possible through support, in p a r t , from the National Science
Foundation.
Findings o f the Study
A synopsis o f the analyzed data f o r each o f the questions
fo llo w s :
Question 1 . Does the Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e
have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the migrant educational
program than the non-Mexican-American teacher-aide?
The F s t a t i s t i c f o r te s tin g the d iffe re n c e between the means
of the two groups was found to be .828 ( d . f .
not s i g n i f i c a n t .

1 ,6 8 ) .

This value was

I t was, th e r e fo r e , concluded th a t the Mexican-

American te a c h e r -a id e s ’ a t t it u d e s toward the migrant educational
program did not d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y from those o f the non-MexicanAmerican te a c h e r-a id e s .
Question 2 . Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t r e la tio n s h ip between
the te a c h e r-a id e s ' m a r ita l status and th e a tt it u d e s they
hold toward the migrant educational program?
There is no evidence in the data to suggest th a t one group of
teacher-aides displayed s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e s in t h e i r
a ttitu d e s than o th e rs , when m a rita l status was used as a v a r ia b le .
Question 3 . Is there a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip between
the te a c h e r -a id e s ' educational le v e l and the a t t it u d e s they
hold toward the migrant educational program?
A simple c o r r e la tio n c o e f f i c i e n t o f 0.14 between the two
v a r ia b le s .

The obtained value was not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t .

Also, an F value o f 0.77 ( d . f . 8 ,6 1 ) u t i l i z i n g a one-way Anova
(unequal subclasses) was found to be n o n -s ig n ific a n t.
Question 4 . Do tea ch er-aid es who have had m igratory
a g r ic u lt u r a l experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward
the migrant educational program?

57

The re s u lts o f the data revealed t h a t no one group of teach eraides displayed g re a te r s t a t i s t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e s than other
groups when m ig rato ry a g r ic u lt u r a l experience was used as a v a r ia b le .
Question 5 . Does the te a c h e r-a id e who has had p r i o r
te a c h e r-a id e experience have a more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward
the migrant educational program than the te a c h e r-a id e w ith ­
out te a c h e r-a id e experience?
The re s u lts o f the data in d ic a te s th a t p r i o r experience as a
teach er-aid e does not a f f e c t the a t t it u d e s o f tea ch er-aid es toward the
migrant educational program.
Question 6A. Is th e re a s i g n i f i c a n t d iff e r e n c e between
the type o f tasks assigned by non-Mexican-American teachers
to the Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teach eraides?
Three one-way Anovas were performed.

The r e s u lta n t F

s t a t i s t i c s o f 0 .0 1 , 0 .1 9 , and 0.91 re s p e c tiv e ly suggests t h a t the nonMexican-American teachers did not d i f f e r e n t i a l l y assign tasks to
teacher-aides on the basis o f e t h n i c i t y .
Question 6B. Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t d if f e r e n c e between
the type o f tasks assigned by the Mexican-American teacher to
the Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teacher-aide?
Three one-way Anovas were performed.

The F values o f 2 .6 1 ,

2 .5 8 , and 1.62 re s p e c tiv e ly suggest th a t Mexican-American teachers did
not d i f f e r e n t i a l l y assign tasks to teach er-aid es on the basis o f
e t h n ic it y .
Question 7 . Does the type o f task assigned by the teacher
a f f e c t the a t t it u d e s o f the teach er-aid es toward the migrant
educational program?
Data re s u lts in d ic a te th a t th ere is no s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i ­
cant d iffe re n c e between the type o f tasks assigned by the teacher and
a ttitu d e s o f te a c h e r-a id e s .

58

Question 8A. Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe r e n c e between
the change in te a c h e r-a id e 's a tt it u d e s from the beginning to
the ending o f the migrant educational program?
An obtained F value o f .82 in d ic a te s th a t th e re were no
s ig n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e s between a t titu d e s expressed by teach er-aid es
a t the beginning and a t the ending o f the migrant educational program.
Question 8B. Is th ere a s i g n i f i c a n t re la tio n s h ip between
a t t i t u d e gain scores and type o f tasks assigned?
A Pearson Product Moment C o e ff ic ie n t obtained from a t t i t u d e
gain scores and p o s t-te s t task scores y ie ld e d a value o f 0.22 which is
found to be s i g n i f i c a n t .
A c o rr e la tio n o f - . 0 4 between a t t i t u d e gain scores and cogni­
t i v e task scores was not s i g n i f i c a n t .
A s ig n i f i c a n t c o r r e la tio n o f .26 was found between negative
a t t it u d e gain scores and menial task scores.
CONCLUSIONS
On the basis o f the fin d in g s , the fo llo w in g conclusions seem
to be j u s t i f i e d :
1.

Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e s ' a t t itu d e s toward the

migrant educational program did not d i f f e r s i g n i f i c a n t l y from those
o f non-Mexican-American te a c h e r-a id e s .
2.

M a rita l status was not a s i g n i f i c a n t v a r ia b le a ff e c t in g

te a c h e r-a id e s ' a ttitu d e s toward the migrant educational program.
3.

Educational grade le v e ls was not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i ­

cant in a ff e c t in g te a c h e r-a id e s ' a t t it u d e s toward the migrant
educational program.

59

4.

P rio r m igratory a g r ic u lt u r a l work experience was not

s t a t i s t i c a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t in a f f e c t in g te a c h e r-a id e s ' a t tit u d e s toward
the migrant educational program.
5.
s ig n ific a n t

P r io r te a c h e r-a id e experience was not s t a t i s t i c a l l y
in a f f e c t in g te a c h e r-a id e s ' a ttitu d e s toward the migrant

educational program.
6A. The data in d ica te s th a t non-Mexican-American teach eraides did not assign tasks to teach er-aid es on the basis of e t h n i c i t y .
6B. The data in d ic a te s th a t Mexican-American tea ch er-aid es did
not assign
7.

tasks to teacher-aides on the basis o f e t h n ic it y .
There is no evidence from the data to in d ic a te t h a t the

type o f task assigned by the teacher s i g n i f i c a n t l y a ffe c te d the
a ttitu d e s o f the teach er-aid es toward the migrant educational program.
8A. There is no evidence from the data to in d ic a te a change in
a ttitu d e s expressed by tea ch er-aid es a t the beginning and a t the
ending o f the migrant educational program.
8B. There is a p o s it iv e re la tio n s h ip between a t t i t u d e gain
scores and type o f task assigned.
IMPLICATIONS
Although the s iz e and scope o f t h is study was l i m i t e d , th ere
were some s i g n i f i c a n t im p lic a tio n s f o r fu tu re research in th is area.
The fo llo w in g im p lic a tio n s are based on the observations o f the
researcher, the data c o lle c te d , and t h e i r analyses.
1.

This study d e a lt w ith m igrant te a c h e r -a id e s 1 a ttitu d e s

toward the migrant educational program.

There was no attempt to

measure the e f f i c i e n c y o f the performance o f the migrant teach er-aid es

60

in the migrant program.

T h e re fo re , a study would be in o rd er which

would seek to measure the performance o f the migrant teach er-aid es and
c o rr e la te i t w ith the a t tit u d e s o f the teach er-aid es toward the migrant
educational program.
2.

One o f the o b je c tiv e s o f th is study was to f u n c t io n a liz e

e t h n ic it y o f teach er-aid es w ith p o s itiv e or negative a tt it u d e s toward
the migrant educational program.

However, no s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e

was detected based on te a c h e r-a id e s ' e th n ic background.
other v a ria b le s

Possibly

(age, m a rita l s ta tu s , e t c . ) between each group could

be in v e s tig a te d which would d i f f e r e n t i a t e p o s itiv e and negative
a t titu d e s o f the Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teach eraides .
3.

Although Mexican-American teach er-aid es did not have a

more p o s itiv e a t t i t u d e toward the migrant educational program than the
non-Mexican-American, i t may be t h a t they had more p a tie n c e , warmth,
and s e n s i t i v i t y toward the migrant student.

T h e re fo re , a study would

be in order which would take in to account these humanistic q u a li t i e s
o f the Mexican-American and non-Mexican American te a c h e r-a id e s .
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based
experim enter,
1.

A

upon the f in d in g s , summaries, and observations by the
the fo llo w in g recommendations are presented:
s i g n i f i c a n t number o f migrant teach er-aid es in the study

l e f t the migrant educational program before

the experimenter had an

opportunity to adm inister the p o s t - te s t to them.

The migrant teacher-

aides l e f t the migrant program f o r the fo llo w in g reasons:
a.

Parents o f the teacher-aides became unemployed and

61

the e n t i r e fa m ily was forced to seek employment e ls e ­
where.
b.

Teacher-aides could not cope w ith the program's physi­
cal and mental demands and resigned from the program.

c.

Teacher-aides found employment in the nearby in d u s t r ia l
urban areas.

In fu tu re s tu d ie s , more complete data might be c o lle c te d i f the
d ire c to rs o f the migrant educational programs were tra in e d to adm inister
the instruments o f the study.

The migrant program d ir e c t o r would know

e x a c tly when the te a c h e r-a id e would be a r r iv in g and leaving the program
and could ad m in ister the instruments a t th a t tim e.
2.

In th is study the a t titu d e s o f migrant teach er-aid es toward

the migrant educational program were compared between e th n ic groups—
Mexican-Americans and non-Mexican-Americans.

A lso, the study sought

to assess the a t t i t u d e o f the migrant teacher aides as a group in the
fo llo w in g areas:
a.

M a rita l status

b.

Educational grade le v e l

c.

P r io r m igratory work experience.

d.

P r io r tea c h e r-a id e experience.

Future studies could address themselves to the a t t it u d e s o f
pairs o f Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American teach er-aid es in
each o f the classrooms o f the sample schools.

The find in g s o f such a

study would provide a t t i t u d i n a l info rm ation o f p a irs o f teach er-aid es
in p a r t i c u l a r classrooms.

The fin d in g s in th is type o f study would be

q u ite s p e c if ic and d e f i n i t i v e .
3.

In -s e r v ic e t r a in in g workshops should be provided fo r

62

teach er-aid es in order to improve t h e i r s k i l l s .

The teacher-aides

then would be able to assume a more responsible r o le in the migrant
educational program and h o p efu lly improve t h e i r a t t i t u d e s .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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APPENDIX A

[CffWLTvfHa

APPENDIX A -l

70

Region I :
Marlette
=
Unionville =
Region I I :
B lis s fie ld =
Lansing
=
Region I I I :
Fennville =
Lawrence
=
Region IV:
Elk Rapids = G
Old Mission= H
Region V:
Sheridan
St. Louis

= I
= J

artM'Ot

CLINTON

T

APPENDIX A-2

71

r~

VII
B1 iss fie ld
South
Croswel1-Lexi ngton
Frostick
= ll
Fennville:
Ann Michen

III

Lansing:
High Street
Marlette:
Bea McDonald
Traverse City
Lakeland
Old Mission

VII

Unionville:
Unionville
Van Buren
Bangor
Lawrence

IX
= X

V III

APPENDIX B

72

M IC H IG A N

STATE U N IV E R S IT Y

I*A ST I.A N .SIN t; * Ml< Ill(> A N

INH.M

(.n lJ .K C I- O I; U K H A N lll- V IX O l'M l'N T • O lV I'N (iK A IH J A M: ( I N I I K

April 18, 1973
Mr. Jesse Soriano
Department of Education
Migrant Program
P.O. 420
Lansing, Michigan 48902
Dear Mr. Soriano:
I am in the process of w ritin g my d issertation fo r my doctoral degree.
The topic which I have selected fo r study is The Migrant Teacher-aides.
S p e c ific a lly , the study w il l attempt to measure the attitu d e s of
teacher-aides toward the migrant educational program and the extent to
which these attitu d e s are affected by the teacher-teacher-aide
i nteractions.
The sample of the study w ill consist of f i f t y Mexican-American and
f i f t y non-Mexican-American teacher-aides. The sample w ill be selected
from the following schools:
Lansing
B lis s fie ld
Dowagiac
Fennville
Unionville
M arlette
St. Louis
Sheridan
Elk Rapids
Old Mission
I t is essential th at each classroom have a Mexican-American and nonMexican-American teacher-aide.
A p re -te s t and post-test w il l be administered to the teacher-aides. The
p re -te s t w ill be administered two days before the migrant program begins
and the p os t-te st two days a f t e r the program terminates.
I would appreciate i t very much i f you would assist me in obtaining the
cooperation o f the migrant program d ire c to r a t the sample schools.
Sincerely,

Manuel R. A lfa ro , Jr.
MRA:atc

In response to my request, Mr. Soriano sent the fo llo w in g l e t t e r to
the migrant program d ir e c t o r a t the sample schools.

May 3 , 1973
Dear _____________ :
Attached please fin d a copy o f a l e t t e r d ire c te d to my o f f i c e from
Mr. Manuel A lf a r o . Mr. Manuel A lf a r o , as you w i l l r e c a l l , is a
former M igrant Education Consultant w ith the S ta te Department o f
Education. A f t e r discussing Manuel's request and having ascertained
th a t i t w i l l not i n t e r f e r e very much w ith lo c al programs, I am r e ­
questing th a t i f i t is in any way possible you cooperate in helping
him w ith his research. The research, I am c e r t a i n , w i l l be o f value
to Migrant Education in the fu tu r e .
S in c e re ly ,

OESSE M. SORIANO
Coordinator
M igrant Education
JMS:sew

Attachment

APPENDIX C

75

Pre —teS t
MIGRANT TEACHER-AIDE ATTITUDINAL TEST
items.

CO

iz cu

cu

O
f-

<U
S~

Q»
fc -

+-» c n

W)

1.
2.
3.
4.

cn

s_
cn
(0
00

* r-

a

The migrant educational program is a worth­
w hile investment o f taxpayers' money.

___

___

__

The teacher w ith whom I w i l l be working
appears to be f r i e n d ly and considerate.

___

___

___

I t is impossible to teach e f f e c t i v e l y in
a summer migrant educational program.

___

___

___

I have the a b i l i t y to do the job required
o f a te a c h e r-a id e .

___

___

___

5.

The teach er-aid e p o sitio n appears to be a
s a tis fy in g occupation.

6.

The migrant educational program should
concern i t s e l f w ith w e lfa re services
(c lo th e s , h e a lth , e t c . ) f o r the migrant
students.

7.

I l i k e a l l the a tte n tio n given to migrant
students by migrant educational programs.

8.

The tea ch er-aid e with whom I w i l l be working
appears to respect me.

9.

The teacher w ith whom I w i l l be working
appears to respect me.

10.

The migrant students e n ro lle d in th is
program are c u l t u r a l l y d i f f e r e n t from
oth e r students.

11.

I t appears th a t I w i l l enjoy working w ith
my classroom teacher.

12.

I t is important th a t the s t a f f o f the migrant
educational program r e f l e c t the eth n ic memberwhip o f the students.

Strongly
Disagree

Please answer a l l

76

>,
cn
c H
o a>
t- u
+ j cn
to *=C

13.

Even though a student speaks Spanish a t home,
he should speak only English a t school.

14.

I t appears t h a t I w i l l enjoy working w ith
the te a c h e r-a id e .

15.

Attending the migrant educational program w i l l
improve the fu tu re o f the migrant student.

16.

The lo c al educational school d i s t r i c t should
provide a l l t h e i r f a c i l i t i e s to the migrant
educational program.

17.

I have the a b i l i t y to succeed in any job I
undertake.

18.

I w i l l enjoy working w ith migrant students.

19.

B ilin g u a l people should be h ired by the
migrant educational program because they are
b e t te r able to r e la t e to migrant students.

20.

Adult education should be a p a rt o f each
local migrant educational program.

21.

Migrant parents should pay t u i t i o n f o r the
education o f t h e i r students.

22.

I view the migrant educational program mainly
as a source o f income.

23.

The migrant educational program w i l l achieve
i t s goal o f serving migrant students.

24.

The migrant student is c u l t u r a l l y deprived.

25.

The migrant educational program should
provide three fr e e meals a day f o r each
student.

26.

The most important thing about t h is job is
being able to save money.

27.

I w i l l enjoy working in the migrant
educational program.

a>
a>
scd

•X

at
dJ
iCn
fO
in
*i—
o

>> QJ
a>
CD
e cd
O ro
S- in
+j
to a

77

>>
cn
c cu
o <u
i - i—
+J cn
i n *=C

cu
CU
scn

<c

cu
cu
scn
ra
to
■i—
a

> , cu
<— cu
CT> Scr cn
O ro
5- CO
+-> •!—
(uT) Q

28.

The tea ch er-aid e w ith whom I w i l l be working
appears to be f a i r and j u s t .

29.

The migrant educational program is a waste
o f taxpayers' money.

30.

The migrant educational program is p r im a r ily
an opportunity to a s s is t migrant students.

31.

The tea ch er-aid e w ith whom I w i l l
is f r i e n d l y and co n siderate.

32.

The wide range o f services by the migrant
educational program sp o ils the migrant
student.

33.

The teacher w ith whom I w i l l be working
appears to be f a i r and j u s t .

___

___

___

___

The migrant educational program should h ire
persons based only on t h e i r educational
q u a li f i c a t io n s .

___

___

___

___

Mexican-American h is to r y should be taught
in the migrant educational program.

___

___

___

___

The tea c h e r-a id e p o s itio n is an important p o s i­
tio n in the migrant educational program.
___

___

___

___

The migrant student is disadvantaged.

___

___

___

34.

35.
36.
37.

be working

___

D ire ctio n s f o r A c t i v i t i e s 3 8 -5 3 :
For each o f the fo llo w in g a c t i v i t i e s , please in d ic a te how fre q u e n tly
you th in k you w i l l perform each in your ro le as a te a c h e r-a id e .
(Very
F req u en tly , Frequently, Sometimes, N ever.)

1>>
■■
+->
tz
cu

>> c r
i - cu
CU C—
u.

38.

A ssistin g the teacher in the preparation
o f lesson plans.

>>
1 1

-*->

c=
cu
cr
CU
iLl_

CO
CU
E
•1—
+->
cu
E
o
cn

cu
>
cu
z :

78
>>
f 1
+ ->
c
a>
3
> , c r
u
CU
CU i _
>■ Lu

>>
1
+ ->
c:
<D
Z3
c r
at
u_

I/)
a>
E
•r~
•M
ai
E
o
to

Sa>
>
a>
s r

39.

Supervision o f c h ild re n during recess.

___

___

___

___

40.

Passing out papers and other m a te r ia ls .

___

___

___

___

41.

Supervision o f seatwork.

___

___

___

___

42.

Providing t u t o r i a l serv ices .

___

___

___

___

43.

Cleaning chalkboards.

___

___

___

___

44.

M ain tainin g the classroom neat and clean.

___

___

___

___

45.

S e ttin g up p ro jecto rs and o ther audiovisual
equipment.

___

___

___

___

46.

Taking class r o l l .

___

___

___

___

47.

Talking w ith migrant parents.

___

___

___

___

48.

Supervision o f c h ild re n during f i e l d t r i p s .

___

___

___

___

49.

Reading s to rie s to students.

___

___

___

___

50.

A ssistin g w ith bus d u tie s .

___

___

___

___

51.

A ssistin g w ith c a f e t e r ia d u tie s .

___

___

___

___

52.

Supervision o f students going to restrooms
(wash hands, brush t e e t h , e t c . ) ________________ ___

___

___

___

A s sistin g the teacher in room management.

___

___

___

53.

___

PERSONAL DATA FORM
54.

Age:

______ years

55.

Sex:

______ Male

56.

What is your present m a rita l status?
S ingle

57.

______ Female

Separated

How many c h ild re n do you have?

_____
Widowed

______

Married

Divorced

79

58.

What is the highest grade le v e l you have completed?
7

8

9

J r . High
59.

10

11

1

High School

2

4

5

College

1

2

3

4

6

Graduate School

5

6

7

What is the ethnic i d e n t i t y o f the teacher w ith whom you w i l l be
working?
Mexican-American (Chicano)_______
Other

61.

3

How many summers o f te a c h e r-a id e experience have you had in the
migrant educational program? ( C ir c le one)
0

60.

12

( C ir c le one)

Black

White______

^
sp ecify

Have you had migrant working experience?

Yes ______

I f y e s , how many summers have you worked as a migrant?
62.

_______

My e th n ic i d e n t i t y is :
Mexican-American (Chicano) ______
Other

63.

No ______

Black

White_______

_
s p ecify

What is the sex o f the teacher w ith whom you w i l l
Male ______

be working?

Female_______

Check back through your answers to make sure you have answered a l l
i terns.

P o s t-te s t
MIGRANT TEACHER-AIDE ATTITUDINAL TEST
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1.

The migrant educational program is a worth­
w h ile investment o f taxpayers' money.

2.

The teacher w ith whom I have worked is
f r i e n d l y and co n siderate.

3.

I t is impossible to teach e f f e c t i v e l y in
summer migrant educational programs.

4.

I have the a b i l i t y to do the job required
o f a te a c h e r-a id e .

5.

The tea c h e r-a id e p o s itio n is a s a tis f y in g
occupation.

6.

The migrant educational program should
concern i t s e l f w ith w e lfa re services (c lo th e s ,
h e a lth , e t c . ) f o r the migrant students.

7.

I l i k e a l l the a t te n tio n given to migrant
students by migrant educational programs.

8.

The te a c h e r-a id e w ith whom I have worked
appears to respect me.

9.

The teacher w ith whom I have worked appears
to respect me.

10.

The migrant students e n ro lle d in th is
program are c u l t u r a l l y d i f f e r e n t from
o th e r students.

11.

I have enjoyed working w ith my classroom
teach er.

12.

I t is important t h a t the s t a f f o f the
migrant educational program r e f l e c t the
e th n ic membership o f the students.
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Disagree

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81
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13.

Even though a student speaks Spanish a t home,
he should speak only English a t school.

14.

I have enjoyed working w ith the tea ch er-aid e
th is summer.

15.

Attending the migrant educational program
w i l l improve the f u tu r e o f the migrant
student.

16.

The local educational school d i s t r i c t should
provide a l l t h e i r f a c i l i t i e s to the migrant
educational program.

17.

I have the a b i l i t y to succeed in any jo b I
undertake.

18.

I have enjoyed working w ith migrant students
th is summer.

19.

B ilin g u a l people should be hired by the
migrant educational program because they are
b e t te r able to r e l a t e to migrant students.

20.

Adult education should be a p a rt o f each
local migrant educational program.

21

.

Migrant parents should pay t u i t i o n f o r the
education o f t h e i r students.

22.

I view the migrant educational program mainly
as a source o f income.

23.

The migrant educational program has achieved
i t s goal o f serving migrant students.

24.

The migrant student is c u l t u r a l l y deprived.

25.

The migrant educational program should
provide three fre e meals a day f o r each
student.

26.

The most important thing about th is jo b is
being able to save money.

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27.

I have enjoyed working in the migrant
educational program t h is summer.

28.

The te a c h e r-a id e w ith whom I have worked
th is summer was f a i r and j u s t .

29.

The migrant educational program is a waste
o f taxpayers' money.

30.

The migrant educational program is p r im a r ily
an opportunity to a s s is t migrant students.

31.

The te a c h e r-a id e w ith whom I have worked
t h is summer was f r i e n d l y and considerate.

32.

The wide range o f services by the migrant
educational program sp o ils the migrant
student.

33.

The teacher w ith whom I have worked th is
summer was f a i r and j u s t .

___

___

___

___

The migrant educational program should h ire
persons only based on t h e i r educational
q u a lific a tio n s .

___

___

___

___

Mexican-American h is to r y should be taught
in the migrant educational program._______________

___

___

___

The te a c h e r-a id e p o s itio n is an important
p o s itio n in the migrant educational program.

___

___

___

___

The migrant student is disadvantaged.

___

___

___

___

34.

35.
36.
37.

D ire ctio n s f o r a c t i v i t i e s 38-53:
For each o f the fo llo w in g a c t i v i t i e s , please in d ic a te how fre q u e n tly
you performed each in your r o le as a te a c h e r-a id e .
(Very F req u en tly,
Frequently, Sometimes, N e v e r.)

38.

A s sistin g the teacher in the preparation of
lesson plans.

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39.

Supervision o f c h ild re n during recess.

___

___

___

40.

Passing out papers and other m a te r ia ls .

___

___

___

41.

Supervision o f seatwork.

___

___

___

42.

Providing t u t o r i a l s e rv ices .

___

___

___

43.

Cleaning chalkboards.

___

___

___

____

___

___

___

___

___

44.

M aintaining the classroom neat and clean.

45.

S e ttin g up p ro je cto rs and o th e r audiovisual
equipment.

46.

Taking class r o l l .

___

___

___

47.

Talking w ith migrant parents.

___

___

___

48.

Supervision o f c h ild re n during f i e l d t r i p s .

___

___

___

49.

Reading s to rie s to students.

___

___

___

50.

A ssisting w ith bus d u tie s .______________________ ___

___

___

51.

A ssisting w ith c a f e t e r ia d u tie s .

___

___

___

52.

Supervision o f students going to restrooms
(wash hands, brush te e th , e t c . ) ___________________

___

___

___

___

53.

A ssisting the teacher in room management.

___

Check back through your answers to make sure you have answered a l l
i terns.

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