NCJ Number
53433
Journal
Educational Administration Quarterly Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: (FALL 1976) Pages: 65-85
Date Published
1976
Length
21 pages
Annotation
TO DETERMINE IF STUDENTS IDENTIFIED AS DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS HAVE COMMON TRAITS DISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE REST OF THE STUDENT BODY, TEST RESULTS AND RECORDS OF 78 'PROBLEM' STUDENTS AND 78 CONTROLS WERE COMPARED.
Abstract
THE LEWISTOWN HIGH SCHOOL (A PSEUDONYM) ADMINISTRATION SYSTEMATICALLY COLLECTED DATA ON SCHOOL DISCIPLINARY INCIDENTS FOR THE 1974-1975 SCHOOL YEAR, THEN IDENTIFIED 78 STUDENTS AS DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS. A CONTROL GROUP WAS SELECTED TO MATCH THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP OF 'PROBLEM STUDENTS,' AND DATA WERE GATHERED REGARDING STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES, GRADES IN ENGLISH AND SOCIAL STUDIES, READING ABILITY, REPORTED BEHAVIOR, AND PARENTAL CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE TWO GROUPS. STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS WERE GROUPED UNDER THE CATEGORIES OF FAMILY BACKGROUND, INTELLIGENCE, SCHOLASTIC ABILITIES, VOCATIONAL ABILITIES AND INTERESTS, GRADES, AND PERSONALITY TRAITS, AND COMPARED USING MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, AND 'T' SCORES. THE FINDINGS REVEAL THAT A RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBER OF THE 'PROBLEM' STUDENTS HAVE LOWER INTELLIGENCE SCORES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TESTS AND WERE IDENTIFIABLE AS A SLOWER GROUP IN READING, LANGUAGE, STUDY SKILLS, AND MATHEMATICS BY THE THIRD GRADE LEVEL. REPORTED BEHAVIOR FOR THE GROUPS INDICATED THAT PROBLEM CHILDREN WERE MORE OFTEN LABELED 'LAZY,' 'AGGRESSIVE,' 'DISRUPTIVE,' AND 'SELFISH,' ALTHOUGH NO CONCLUSIONS COULD BE DRAWN IN THIS AREA. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT INTERVENTION IN LEARNING PROBLEMS SHOULD HAPPEN EARLY IN STUDENTS' SCHOLASTIC CAREERS AND THAT MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED REGARDING JUVENILE MISBEHAVIOR IN A SCHOOL SETTING AND IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCHOOLS (E.G., ALTERNATIVE AND TRADITIONAL SCHOOLS). REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)