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Most materials on value clarification techniques have been written by professionals working at university schools of education. To examine value clarification from another view, to see what difficulties teachers are having in translating new techniques into classroom realities, an eighth grade social studies teacher relates his classroom experiences while developing techniques discussed by Louis Raths and his co-authors in "Values and Teaching". Raths approaches value clarification with a seven-part valuing process which encourages children to prize one's beliefs and behaviors, to choose one's beliefs and behaviors, and to act on one's beliefs. Methods for implementing these steps emphasize the clarifying response and value sheets. The teacher's experiences with both of these techniques reflect several problems and pitfalls of their use in the classroom situation. A basic problem confronted in using the techniques is the extent of neutrality or direction on the part of the teacher. Student-teacher relations as affected by the techniques are considered. Systematic measure of the effects in the classroom are closely considered and means for accomplishing meaningful recordkeeping are suggested and developed. (Author/KSM)

The racism, individual, institutional, and collective, that permeates American society has resulted in psychological and physical damage to its children--brown, red, black, yellow and white. This racism has created an environment which hinders the learning capacity of all children, even those with special family resources. Similarly, this racism has made it impossible for children to obtain the health services vital to their survival, growth, and development. Removal of external handicaps to the family and support of internal strengths through federally sponsored and financed programs acceptable to and designed by these families is of the highest priority. Programs that deal with discrimination in employment and lack of access to financial resources should take priority over currently popularized programs. The greatest injustice to children can be found in government failure to provide wholesome physical environments and services. A positive vote for this resolution by the White House Conference on Children delegates is vital to all children. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of the original document.] (Authors/JM)

Prejudicial attitudes are commonplace in our society, and they adversely affect all of our children. Children of a minority or poor group are directly affected because they are likely to suffer hunger, poor health and housing, and inadequate schools. White, middle class children are affected in ways which are less obvious, but just as damaging. In trying to resolve the conflict between what institutions preach about the brotherhood of man, and what these same institutions teach by example through violating concepts of love and justice, these children may develop unhealthy and undesirable attitudes and behavior patterns. Minority races and poor people are not the only targets of prejudice. The physically and mentally handicapped, members of minority religions, females, and the aged suffer as well. Forum 18 views these prejudicial attitudes as a serious threat to our society, whose strength depends upon full opportunity for all. The Forum makes several specific recommendations for governmental change, spearheaded by the President of the United States, in the areas of education, housing, health, and civil rights. (NH)

It was found that graders who are neat writers are biased by the neatness of an essay, and graders who are messy writers are not influenced by this factor of essay neatness." (Authors)

This paper indicates the necessity for clinicians, especially Anglo-American clinicians, who provide services to individuals from the Puerto Rican population, to be conscious of their possible prejudice toward them; they should also be aware of the negative attitude which frequently occurs on the part of the patient. It is crucial that clinicians be sensitized to the culturally-based attitudes and beliefs prevalent among Puerto Ricans and to their healthy, as well as pathological, dispositions. Finally, when it is necessary to interview the patient in English, the clinician must be aware of the effects of the language on the content of the verbal productions of the patient and should evaluate any cues carefully before deeming them indicators of psychopathology. (Author)

This study attempted to assess the racial attitudes of white college education seniors and to study the relationship between racial prejudice and the following predictor variables: personal contact, change orientation, religiosity, and efficacy. Three research instruments were used to assess racial attitudes and predictor variables: The Attitude Behavior Scale: White/Negro (developed by Jordan and Hamersma) to measure racial attitudes; the Personal Characteristics scale to identify teachers' attitudes toward habits, appearance, and interpersonal characteristics of blacks; the Education Content scale to assess attitudes of future teachers toward the abilities, motives, aspirations, and behaviors of black students. Data showed that contact, change orientation, and efficacy were significantly related to racial attitudes. A correlation between religiosity and prejudice was not supported by the data. Tables illustrating test data are included. [Because of the size of the print, the tables printed in this paper may not be clearly readable in hard copy reproduction.] (KG)

Education and schooling remain relatively unchanged even though there is much said about educational technology. In this paper the author examines the state of educational technology today and discusses some of the deterrents which have prevented the full use of educational technology. He notes the programs using educational technology which seem to have overcome some of the pitfalls. The increase in knowledge and in the demand for an increasing opportunity for participation in the development of decisions he sees as compelling reasons for reconsidering our educational patterns and the place of technology in them. A list of references is appended. (JY)

The author reports research documenting the tendency for actors to attribute their own behavior to external causes while observers attributed the same behaviors to the internal disposition of the actor. Psychologists, like other observers of behavior, may have a bias toward attributing an actor's behavior to internal causes, and their inferences about the causes of behavior may be most vulnerable to this observer attributional bias when the actor's behavior is very novel, or the actor's physical appearance is relatively atypical. Psychologists' inferences may be least vulnerable to observer attributional bias when the actor's behavior is rather unobtrusive or the actor's environment is particularly salient to the observer psychologist. (Author/LAA)

Non-language elements of bias in mass media--such as images, sounds, tones of voices, inflection, and facial expressions--are invariably integrated with the choice of language. Further, they have an emotional impact that is often greater than that of language. It is essential that the teacher of English deal with this non-language bias since it is his job to help students develop the capacity to analyze, understand, and use the media through which society communicates. It is essential that the teacher allow the student to be placed in the position of making some hypothetical decisions that will result in a biased picture; that he encourage participation in the kinds of activities that will develop a student's ability to use the non-language elements of mass media in communicating a message or describing people and events; that he request the student to compare and analyze his own decisions and those of other students who participated in the above activities; and that he encourage the student to critically analyze cases, patterns, and possible effects of photograph selection by the mass media. In this way the student can be made to realize that equal competition among contrasting viewpoints is society's most effective way of exposing and reducing the dishonest use of bias. (HOD)

Congruity theory is used as the basis for predictions made in this study. The study deals with the effect that 1) extrinsic ethos, and 2) general susceptibility to persuasion have on a prejudiced or non-prejudiced person's degree of persuasibility to a one-sided persuasive message presented by either a white or black source. Eighty-eight white college students heard a message. Of these, 39 had the message attributed to a black source and 49 had it attributed to a white source. The results showed that white high-prejudice individuals will attemt to disassociate a message from a black source, associate the message with a white source seen as "like me," and consequently be more susceptible to persuasion. White low-prejudiced individuals are equally persuaded by either a white or black message source. (Author/JK)

In an attempt to eliminate sexist bias in the design and interpretation of research, an investigation of early sex differences is presented. Included are quotations from "The American Woman,""Time," March 20, 1972, "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black" Lorraine Hansberry, "Change and Continuity in Infancy," Jerome Kagan. Results show that male and female subjects tend to view male and female babies differently. Male and female subjects tend to look at infants of their own sex in a more positive light than those of opposite sex. (NF)

This paper considers the question of bias in group administered academic achievement tests, bias which is inherent in the instruments themselves. A body of data on the test of performance of three disadvantaged minority groups--northern, urban black; southern, rural black; and, southwestern, Mexican-Americans--as tryout samples in contrast to white, advantaged groups in the same regions, was analyzed using five different general methods for examining tests for bias. In an item tryout, a set of items is administered to a sample of the relevant population and the results are then examined item by item in an effort to pick the more effective items. The first method is an item selection routine using the point biserial correlation for each item as the criterion. The second method, group by score interactions, involves dividing the tryout group into, say, fourths, based on quartiles, and examining the proportion of the cases making each possible response in each of these levels. The third method involves plotting item difficulties so as to locate aberrant items. The fourth method involves estimating and plotting item characteristic curves separately for each group and comparing the plots. The fifth method comprises various intergroup factor analytic approaches. (Author/JM)

The highly rated television program series, "All in the Family," was used to test the relationship between attitudes espoused by televised characters and attitudes held by viewers of this type of television programing. On the basis of survey questionnaires, it was condluded that people who hold dogmatic and, especially, racist beliefs find reinforcement of their opinions in the program's character, Archie Bunker (an espouser of dogmatic, racist ideas). Conversely, audience members who are open-minded (as tested) find Archie "likeable" while disagreeing with his opinions. The female characters in the program series elicit relatively neutral responses. (CH)

Initial credibility, use and non-use of evidence, and language intensity manipulate belief formation and change. Evidence supports the hypothesis that if a group of subject is exposed to a communicator who carries impressive credentials, uses specific data, and phrases a message in intense, fear-producing terms, the subjects will respond with positive belief. However, when these factors are less present, belief is correspondingly reduced. The research methodology used is a first step toward the development of a more complete persuasion testing paradigm. (CH)

An exploratory study into the bias associated with faculty self-reporting of time and effort is reported. The paper delves into the question of whether or not there is bias in faculty reports of time and effort and whether a pattern to any such bias might appear. The methodology for conducting the study involved gathering faculty estimates of time/effort using both questionnaire and diary instruments. A method for determining and quantifying bias was established and used in gathering data. Based upon the results of statistical treatments applied to the data, some observations and conclusions were made concerning the presence of bias in faculty time/effort reports. It was concluded that a diary is superior to a questionnaire for self-reporting of time/effort because no reliance need be placed on memory or on an individual's ability to estimate average time expenditure. (Author/KM)

The purpose of this study was to collect normative data on the reinforcement repertoires of teachers while interacting with lower and middle class students. Previous research suggests that the closer the values and social goals of students and their teachers, the more likely that positive classroom interaction would occur. It was therefore hypothesized that middle class teachers would positively reinforce their middle class students more frequently than their lower class students. Because social class groups respond differently to various kinds of reinforcement, it was hypothesized that those reinforcers which prove most effective for each group would, in time, be recognized and employed by the teachers. Hence, it was expected that verbal reinforcers would be observed more often with middle class students, and non-verbal reinforcers with lower class students. Schedules of teacher reinforcement for lower and middle class, white students were recorded with a systematic observational technique, the Teacher Reinforcement Schedule. Twenty minutes of recordings were made by six observers within each of 24 fifth and sixth grade classes. At both grade levels, classes were equally divided into those with predominantly lower or middle class students. Significantly more total reinforcements were given to middle than to lower class children. (Author/JM)

The first part of this document consists of a report on the role played by familiar elements of American educational finance in perpetuating widespread and systematic denials of equal educational opportunity. The partnership among local, State and Federal resources for financing public elementary and secondary education is discussed with an analysis of the ways in which that system contributes to educational inequities. The report is in five sections: (1) a definition of equal educational opportunity; (2) a description of patterns of fiscal disparities that exist among and within school districts; (3) a discussion of the reasons for these disparities, examining the role of local, State and Federal programs; (4) an analysis of recent court cases resulting in the declaring unconstitutional systems of school finance in California and Minnesota; and, (5) suggestions for reform. The second part consists of a paper presented at the 1971 annual convention of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science based upon a study of the legal and fiscal dimensions of inequalities of educational opportunity; and, an analysis of the 1970 Census data on financial and demographic trends in the largest metropolitan areas of the nation. (Author/JM)

The major interest of this study was to examine the interaction between selected ethnic cues in the aural and visual channels and the effect they have on student perception of an information source. Some 186 sixth grade students were divided equally along black and white racial lines into two groups and shown a filmstrip on drug abuse. Three identical filmstrips were assembled, using either a black, white, or integrated cast and narrated by either a distinctly black or white voice. Information retention was measured by a multiple choice test while subjective attitudes were measured by a semantic differential scale. Seven statistical hypotheses were generated and analyzed by a 3x2x2 multivariate analysis. Little significant difference was found in the effect of aural or visual cues on retention. However, the visual subjective attitudes showed that whites perceived information from all black casts to be less "expert" than information from all white or integrated casts. The author concluded that the effectiveness of a communication is at least partially determined by the ethnic characteristics of the source or receiver. (MC)

A test was made to determine whether high expectancy prediction (the Rosenthal effect) would significantly effect reading achievement and IQ scores for tenth-grade students. Random samples of 112 students each were drawn from the tenth grade of a New Jersey high school representing a wide distribution of socioeconomic levels. The Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP) were used to measure reading achievement and the Tests of General Ability (TOGA) to measure IQ. Pretests and post-tests were given to all tenth graders in the school. Teachers were given bogus high expectancy predictions for the experimental students and were reminded of these predictions three times during the 5-month experiment. Correlations of pretest and post-test scores showed no significant differences in IQ or reading for experimental or control groups. It was concluded that teacher bias did not effect performance by high school students. Tables and references are included. (MS)

Social honor--or status--in the school and larger community, and selected aspects of traditional Polish-culture maintenance, are important factors relating to Polish-American ethnicity in the school. This is demonstrated using data collected by questionnaire and participant observation in an urban Roman Catholic secondary school in the American North-East, where the students are predominantly Polish-American origin. Like culture in the broader, more definitive sense, a school has a history and, thus, certain historically derived values, expectations, and a place in its community setting. These tend to greatly influence not only the school's relation to its students but also its relation to parents and the community as a whole. Thus, the staff, of predominantly German and Irish background, tends to stereotype students according to perceived ethnic origin despite high ethnic heterogeneity. Student apathy is explained by theories of "broken homes" or "Polishness." Choice of school program for girls is highly predictable along ethnic lines. The value of higher education for girls is negatively reinforced in the Polish-American family, providing functional congruity with the school. (Author/JM)

Contents of these hearings include: Existing Disparties in Public School Finance and Proposals for Reform, Steven J. Weiss, a Research Report to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, February 1970; Tentative Proposals for a Master Tax Plan, October, 1970, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts; several volumes of the "Public Tax Newsletter," a publication of the Public Interest Research Group; the letter from Ralph Nader to Senator Edmund Muskie, August 1970, requesting a Congressional investigation of the status of the property tax; five articles reprinted from the "Gary Post-Tribune"; articles and reports concerning the property taxation of coal in Appalachia; Timber Taxation in the Company State, Mark Willis et al. Study report from the Maine Pulp and Paper Industry; "Reslicing the School Pie," an article from the "California Law Review," May 1971, by John E. Coons et al; a table concerning School Finance Cases Filed and In Process; and, A Model Complaint for use in State Courts for attack upon Wealth Discrimination in Public Education. [Several reprinted articles, published in the hearings, have not been reproduced.] (JM)

This projective exploratory study in responses by racially prejudiced and non-prejudiced individuals to samples of black speech, which was designed as a means of uncovering trends, resulted in some conclusions "made with some degree of assurance": (1) The Southern students participating in the study were significantly more prejudiced than the Northern students; (2) Subjects tended to respond to black identifiable voices in the same negative manner as is customarily found in personal contact or discussion of blacks; (3) Subjects holding relatively similar racial attitudes relative to the norms of their social environment reacted in a relatively similar manner to the same racial stimulus; (4) Bogardus Social Distance ratings tended to directly relate to the projective responses of each group, e.g., the less negative the prejudice ratings, the less negative the projective responses tended to be, and vice versa; (5) More research should be done in this area in order to strengthen these tentative conclusions. (AMM)

This study examines certain differences in attribution of causation regarding a child's performance between parents and teachers. The study attempts to examine the process through which teachers' and parents' biases regarding a child are developed and the group differences between the biases. Nine upper-elementary grade teachers assigned equal numbers of children from their own classrooms to three performance categories: Low Performance, Moderate Performance, and High Performance. A child's teacher and his or her parent (usually mother) then completed structured and open-ended questions regarding the reasons why the child performed as he or she did. Results showed that while teachers clearly distinguished differences in causative factors in the different performance conditions, parents of children in different conditions did not significantly differ in their ratings on each factor. Teaching was rated as more important by parents in all three conditions than by teachers. (Author/WSK)

The effects of the television advertisements for Richard Nixon and George McGovern during the 1972 presidential election were tested by a content analysis of television programing and statistical analysis of viewer attitudinal response. Programing content for Nixon developed more general issues and did not especially feature the personality of Nixon. McGovern's television programing concentrated on a few issues in detail and stressed the candidate's personal qualities. Viewer response to Nixon commercials was neutral. Reaction to McGovern's media campaign was positive on the issues, but his personal qualities did not excite the viewers. Viewers with high exposure to the candidates' commercials and to television news programs tended to rank-order the campaign issues in the same way as did the commercials and news programs. (CH)