The educational and intellectual status of secondary school pupils at Shafter, California

115 Pages·05.994 MB·English

by  Hilbert, Ruth Jean

THE EDUCATIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL STATUS OP
SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS AT SHAFTER, CALIFORNIA
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Education
U niversity of Southern C alifornia
In P artial Fulfillm ent
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science in Education
by
Ruth Jean H ilbert
December :1950
UMI Number: EP56185
All rights reserved
INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.
UMT
Dissertation Publishing
UMI EP56185
Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author.
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
All rights reserved. This work is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code
ProQuest LLC.
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346
This thesis, written under the direction of the
Chairman of the candidate’s Guidance Committee
and approved by all members of the Committee,
has been presented to and accepted by the Faculty
of the School of Education of the University of
Southern California in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Science
in Education.
Dean
Guidance Committee
Chairman. (/
,
f } v f J 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM ............................ 1
A. The problem ............................................... 2
B. The importance of thep roblem ............................ 3
Many of the future citizen s are
involved ............................................................... 3
Facts are needed to counsel the
students • • • • ................................................. 5
Bata are needed in making the
future p la n s .......................................'. . . . 8
C. Review o f previous—im restigafions . . . . 9
Extent of m igration .into .California . . . 10
Conclusions reached in other studies • • 18
D. Procedure of the present
investigation ..................................................... 22
Sources of m aterials . . . . . ......................... 22
Procedure of t he remaining
chapters ....................................... • • • • . 23
II. SELECTION OF THE TWO GROUPS....................................... 25
A. Background of the problem ................................... 26
E arly h isto ry of the region . ....................... 26
Community description ............................... 29
B. Educational organization of
the area ............................................................... 30
i i i
CHAPTER PAGE
C. D efinition of te rm s ............................. • • • 33
Migrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Transient . .......................................................... . 36
Terminal and drop-out student . . . . . 37
Permanent pupil • • • • • • • • • • • • 38
D. The method of selecting the groups • • 38
III. THE INTELLECTUAL STATUS ................................... 55
A. The intelligence quotient . . . . . . 58
B. The age-grade placement . . . . . . . 62
IV. THE EDUCATIONAL STATUS ..................... 67
A. Educational daha from the standardized
te sts • • • • - • • • • • • • • • • 67
Mathematic ratings . • • • • • • • • • 68
Reading a b ilitie s . . . . . . .................... 72
Language sk ills . . . . . . .................... 75
Reading comprehension Ratings • • • • • 78
Vocabulary rating scores . . . . . . . 81
B. Data from the personal achievement
records • • « . . • • • • • • • • 84
Honor-roll achievement . . . . . . . . 84
Letter-grqde average ratings • • • • • 85
V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . 87
A* Conclusions • • • • • • • • • • • • • 87
iv
CHAPTER PASS
B* Recom m endations................................................ 91
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................. $8
LIST OF TABLES
CHAPTER RAGE
I. Enrollment of students in Shafter and in
Kern County Union High School D istrict
for 1956-1949 17
II, Average d aily attendance in elementary
schools of the community for 1949-1950 • • 34
III, Average daily attendance of Kern County
Union High School D istric t schools for
1946-1949 . . ............................................................... 35
IV. O riginal data from experimental group, the
permanent group • • • • • • • • • . • • • 44
V. O riginal data from experimental group, the
m igratory group • • . , , ............................ 50
VI. Intelligence quotient of the two groups
compared with the established norms for
ninth grade • ........................ 59
VII. Age-grade placement of the two groups at
the ninth grade level ............................................ 63
V III. Mathematic scores of the two groups by
grade placement • • • • • • . • • • • • • 69
IX. Reading a b ility of the two groups compared
with established noms of Stanford
Achievement Test in Language Arts • • • • 73
X. Comparison of Language sk ills of the two
groups 76
Vi
CHAPTER PAGE
XI. Reading comprehension scores of the two
groups compared . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
XII. Vocabulary s k ill ratings of the two
groups compared with established norm • • 82
LIST OF FIGURES
CHAPTER PAGE"
1. population growth of four areas in
C alifornia from 1900-1950 14
2. Map of Shafter showing the location
of the schools in the c i t y ......................... 21
3. Comparison of age-grade placement of the
two groups . ...................................................... 64
4. Comparison of intelligen ce quotients • • 60
5. Comparison of mathematic scores
of the two g r o u p s ............................ . . . 70
6. Comparison of reading a b ilitie s of
the two groups ................................................. 74
7. A comparison of languages s k ills of
the permanent and m igratory groups . . 77
8. Comparison of the reading comprehension
scores of the two g ro u p s............................ 80
9. Comparison of the vocabulary usages as
used by the two g ro u p s.................................. 83
CHAPTER I
THE .NATURE OF THE INVESTIGATION
A considerable proportion of the educational and
the community problems that have arisen in the central
part of the state of C alifornia during the past decade
or more have been of a new and d iffic u lt nature. Many
of these problems stemmed from or were caused by the
rapidly increasing numbers of m igratory workers and th eir
fam ilies that have moved to the w Sunny Lands of C alifor­
n ia”. These persons, classified as m igrants for the pr
present, were persons who have moved or are moving from
one community to another w ithin ther sta te , This great
influx of migrant population has produced many and varied
problems in the educational systems of the communities
where they have taken permanent or transient residence.
The educational prospects of the children from the
permanent fam ilies in these areas have been greatly
affected by th is m igratory movement. The problem is
an acute one at the present time.
The f ir s t resp o n sib ility of the educational systems,
in th is type of situ atio n , is to accept the migrant or the
semi-migrant student as a legitim ate member of the school
and to provide for the fulfillm ent of his school, vocational
and educational needs as effectiv ely and as completely as