The meaning of a democratic school from the standpoint of the child

This study addressed itself to the analysis of the effects of two patterns of interaction, the effects of a program of structured contacts between college sophomores and seventh‐graders on the reading performance of the seventh‐graders and the effects of the program on the attitudes of the college sophomores. The measures used to determine the effects were the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory and three subtests of the Gates Reading Test. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance, t‐tests, and Bartlett's test for homogeneity of variance. The null‐hypotheses, that there would be no significant changes in either reading or attitudes as a result of the structured contacts, were accepted. The complexity of the data, however, prevented too‐simple interpretations of the results of the student‐interactions.