Useful terms in psychoeducational reports: A survey of students,teachers, and psychologists

The usefulness of terminology in psychoeducational reports is examined. Students, teachers, and psychology interns rated the usefulness of 25 terms frequently found in reports. Psychology interns also rated each term on the frequency with which they used it in their own reports. Significant differences were found in the usefulness ratings of the terms, depending on major, category, and whether or not the rater had taken a special education course. Special education majors were found to be more comfortable with technical terms than were students who had prepared to be regular classroom teachers or students in other majors. Findings suggest that it is necessary to use clear, unambiguous terms in reports, and to explain more technical terms in context.     

A comparison of regular program and vocational program junior high school students on affective dimensions

The hypothesis that young adolescents in vocational education programs would differ from young adolescents in a regular program along several affective dimensions was examined. The Today Form of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) was administered twice during the school year to 111 students in a vocational program and to 50 students in regular classrooms. Dimensions of Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility were examined. Significant main effects for all three dimensions were noted for school program (regular vs. CVAE) and for grade (seventh vs. eighth). Students in the vocational program and those in seventh grade scored higher on Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility. These differences persisted across time, with the exception of Depression, for which there was a significant interaction between time (pretest vs. posttest) and school program (regular vs. CVAE), with regular students reporting increased depression at the second testing.     

Congruence between educational attitudes and academic philosophies

Kerlinger's theory of social attitudes asserts that attitudes toward educational practices can be represented by the independent dimensions of progres-sivism and traditionalism. This study focused on the relationship between these attitudes and the philosophies of realism and pragmatism. A sample of 152 graduate students in education completed three instruments measuring educational attitudes and the basic and applied philosophies. Factor analytic results supported a dualistic theory rather than a bipolar theory for attitudes and philosophies. Pragmatists supported the progressive referents of children's interests and social development as educational goals, while realistsy supported traditional concepts emphasizing structure and the learning of content. The results are discussed in terms of the consistency between educational attitudes and a teacher's philosophy.     

Locus of control and reading attitude

The relationships between three measures of locus of control and eight dimensions of reading attitude were investigated for a sample of 431 inner-city children. The sample included the intermediate grade children enrolled in the 20 regular classrooms of the three elementary schools from the Columbus, Ohio, Public Schools. Correlation coefficients were computed between locus of control scores and the eight dimensions of reading attitude. Reading Anxiety showed a significant relationship with the I- score. This finding suggests that inner-city children who are willing to accept personal responsibility for negative events in their lives also tend to experience more anxiety about their reading. The other seven dimensions of reading attitude were not significantly related to internality scores.