A Comparison of the Views of Educational Administration Students in the United States and Mexico.

This study examined the views of students completing an educational administration preparation program at Southwest Texas State University (SWT) and students completing a similar program (program acronym MADE) at the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City. Graduates of both programs received master's degrees. A focus group methodology was used to explore perceptions of how students changed over the course of the program, what distinguished them from graduates of other programs, and how they felt about the quality of the experience. In Mexico, 25 students took part in 4 focus group sessions. In Texas, 22 current students and recent graduates participated in 5 focus group sessions. There was a difference in personal perceptions of change over time among the two student groups. MADE students spoke of national educational system issues, global awareness, and "commitment," while SWT students tended to talk more specifically about individuals as leaders, personal change, and used the term "confidence." Some of these differences were certainly related to programmatic content. Both sets of students expressed respect for conducting research, and both expressed the need for more time and practice with the concepts of research. The implications for future practice at both institutions are discussed. An appendix contains a curriculum comparison. (Contains 5 tables, 5 graphs, and 18 references.) (SLD)