Special Education ETDs

Publication Date

7-15-1974

Abstract

The study consisted of two major sections: one descriptive and one research. The first part dealt with a description of the history, philosophy, and program of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Pre-School, a novel and experimental parent-oriented pre-school for special children in the Southwest Valley area of Albuquerque. The second part dealt with an attempt to measure the effect of the school program on parental attitudes toward child rearing and education. Three groups: a) parents of children with problems involved in the Peanut Butter and Jelly Pre-School (n=11); b) parents of children with problems on the waiting list for the Peanut Butter and Jelly Pre-School (n=7); and c) the professional staff of the Albuquerque Child Guidance Center (n=12) were involved in the study. The Parental Attitude Scale (revised) measuring dominating, ignoring, possessive and total child rearing attitudes was administered to all three groups, and the Parent Attitude Toward Education Scale (revised) measuring attitudes toward education was administered to groups a) and b).

Hypotheses were that: a) the parent and Child Guidance group scores on the Parental Attitude Scale (revised) would not be significantly different from each other, but both would be significantly lower (healthier attitudes) than scores for the waiting list group; and b) the parent group's score on the Parent Attitude Toward Education Scale (revised) would be significantly different than the scores of the waiting list group.

Mann Whitney U-tests were used and the results were generally in strong agreement with the hypotheses. The parent and Child Guidance groups were not significantly different (as expected) at the .05 level of the Parental Attitude Scale (revised)--total, dominating, ignoring and possessive scales. The parent and Child Guidance group scores were significantly lower at the .001 level on the Parental Attitude Scale total and dominating scale than the scores of the waiting list group. The parent group scores on possessive and ignoring scales of the Parental Attitude Scale (revised) were significantly lower at the .01 and .05 levels respectively, than those of the waiting list group. The Child Guidance group's scores on the possessive and ignoring scale were not significantly lower than those of the waiting list group at the .01 level. The parent scores on the Parent Attitude Toward Education Scale (revised) were significantly lower than the scores of the waiting list group at the .05 level.

Data from this study strongly supports early family oriented intervention with special pre-school children. It is very probable that the program of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Pre-School may have a strong beneficial effect on the child rearing attitudes of parents of special pre-school children.

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Special Education

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Special Education

First Committee Member (Chair)

Roger Lee Kroth

Second Committee Member

Glenn Van Etten

Third Committee Member

Billy Leslie Watson

Comments

The UNMUL recognizes that due to its historical nature, this item may include concepts or language that may be biased, harmful, and insensitive surrounding disability.

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