The relationship between pupil control ideology and student suspensions in the Osceola County school system

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between pupil control ideology and student suspensions. All 20 schools in Osceola County, Florida were used in the research. The Pupil Control Ideology Form (PCI) developed by Willower, Eidell and Hoy (1973) was selected to measure individual ideologies of teachers and administrators. Randomly selected full-time faculty at each school, as well as all school-based administrators completed the PCI form. Student suspension data were gathered by securing the year-end computer report of student discipline compiled by the Student Services Department. Data were analyzed using the Pearson product-moment correlation technique. Additionally, a one-way analysis of variance was performed using the Tukey test for post-hoc comparison. Findings indicated a relationship existed between teachers' and administrators' PCI and the number of in-school and out-of-school suspensions. A relationship existed between teachers' PCI and the number of in-school and out-of-school suspensions when applied to all ethnic groups. A relationship between administrators' PCI and the number of in-school and out-of-school suspensions existed for only a few select ethnic groups. Further controlling for school level indicated the relationship between PCI and the number of student suspensions changed as a progression was made through elementary, middle and high school. The strongest relationship was found between high school administrators and the number of in-school and out-of-school suspensions. Additionally, it was discovered that there was no significant difference found in the PCI scores of teachers in the various teaching areas within elementary schools and secondary schools. There was a significant difference between teachers' PCI scores at the three school levels. Elementary teachers were significantly more humanistic in their PCI scores. Within the 20 schools, 18 revealed no significant difference in PCI scores between teachers and administrators. Within the limitations of this study, it was concluded that a strong relationship existed between high school administrators' PCI and the number of student suspensions. It was further concluded that teaching areas do not impact PCI scores, but school level does have an impact on PCI scores.

Notes

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Graduation Date

1992

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Rothberg, Robert A.

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education

Department

Educational Services

Format

Print

Pages

306 p.

Language

English

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Identifier

DP0020783

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Education; Education -- Dissertations, Academic

Accessibility Status

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