Teacher beliefs and attitudes toward students at risk

This descriptive study identified elementary, middle level, and high school teachers' beliefs and attitudes toward at risk students. The sample was drawn from three public schools that reflect the cultural and geographic diversity of school districts in a Midwestern state. All 84 regular classroom teachers from the selected schools participated in the investigation. Subjects completed a 100-question survey, developed by Phi Delta Kappa International, which assessed their beliefs and attitudes toward specific learning factors and behaviors of students, specific problems students confront outside of school, student abilities, and teaching strategies. Treatment included descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, and oneway analysis of variance. Findings indicated teachers perceived their degree of responsibility as higher than their degree of influence on ten learning factors and behaviors. Middle level teachers rated students lower on learning factors and behaviors and tended to be less positive in their beliefs and attitudes toward at risk students than teachers at other levels. Teachers rated 'notify parents' and 'confer with parents' as the most frequently used of 30 intervention strategies. The strategies rated most effective overall were 'confer with parents' and 'smaller classes. ' Family discord and family instability were identified as two major areas with which students must cope outside of school. Teachers who perceived a higher level of responsibility for high risk students differed in their perceived productivity at the three levels: (a) elementary teachers perceived they were less productive, F Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. (b) middle level teachers perceived they were more productive, and (c) high school teachers who perceived a high responsibility for listening skills and attention in class felt less productive with students. Elementary teachers who perceived greater responsibility for reading and writing and high school teachers who perceived a greater responsibility for higher order thinking skills spend a greater proportion of time with at risk students on these skills. Middle level teachers who spend a greater proportion of time with at risk students perceived a lower level of responsibility for daily attendance and attention in class. Teachers indicated that instruction should be organized around a common program. They believe, however, that each teacher should be encouraged to make variations for individual students. with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. li ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks are given to Dr. Gregory P. Stefanich, Chair of my dissertation committee, and to Dr. Mary K. Aldridge, Co-Chair, for the assistance, time, and support they contributed to this effort. Special appreciation is extended to Dr. Gerald D. Bisbey for his time and patience on the research analysis. Appreciation is also extended to Dr. Norman L. McCumsey, Dr. William L. Waack, and Dr. Edward C. Rathmell for their guidance and support throughout the development of this study. An additional thanks must go to Ms. Mary Howard and Ms. Joyce Broell for their valuable assistance and expertise. The writer is grateful for the research grant from the University of Northern Iowa Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa and the scholarship from Delta Kappa Gamma. These awards helped defray the cost of this research study. To my husband, Ray, and daughter, Jill, belong my greatest thanks for the encouragement, sacrifices, and love they gave throughout the years of doctoral study. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES. vi CHAPTER