A comparison between traditional and nontraditional elementary schools on the basis of the academic achievement and self-esteem of students and parental perceptions of the education provided

摘要

The purpose of this study was to determine how students who were provided a fundamental elementary school curriculum compared with those who were provided a regular elementary school curriculum in the areas of basic skills and self-concept. The study also compared the perceptions of students\u27 parents to determine if there were differences in their attitudes toward the education provided. The sample consisted of 52 fundamental school students, 52 regular school students, and 50 of their parents;Univariate analysis of variance was employed to test differences between fundamental and regular school students\u27 achievement as measured by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Iowa Test of Educational Development. The t-test was employed to test differences between fundamental and regular school students\u27 achievement in reading and mathematics utilizing district objectives-based tests and also differences between students\u27 self-concept as measured by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. The Chi-Square Test of Independence was employed to test differences between fundamental and regular school students on measures of parental perceptions of the goals, nature and quality of education provided by the elementary schools;Findings of this study indicated that students who were enrolled in the fundamental school for one year achieved higher on norm referenced measures in the area of mathematics than their counterparts from the regular schools. Those enrolled in the fundamental school for two years achieved higher composite norm referenced results than their counterparts. Students enrolled in the fundamental school for four years achieved higher on norm referenced measures than their counterparts on subscales reading and mathematics after being exposed to the fundamental program for two years;Findings revealed that no significant differences existed between any of the groups on district objectives-based measures, the overall or any subscale on the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, or parental responses, with two exceptions. Students exposed to the fundamental school program for four years scored significantly lower than their counterparts on the school-academic subscale. Parents of fundamental school students viewed the regular elementary schools more negatively than those parents of regular school students.