ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR ATTITUDE TOWARD COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of elementary school administrators toward community involvement in the public schools in Indiana and to examine factors that might affect that attitude. From a sample of 200 elementary principals in public school corporations of Indiana, a total of 178 principals (89 percent) participated in the study by completing and returning the Survey of School Administrators\u27 Attitudes Toward Community Involvement. The questionnaire dealt with the level of community involvement perceived to be acceptable to administrators, areas of school concerns in which elementary principals believed the community should participate, forms of community participation perceived to be acceptable to administrators, and major concerns expressed by administrators when the community is involved. Descriptive statistics were used to present the data and the chi square technique was employed to test the hypotheses. The elementary principals responding support the use of advisory committees and the involvement of the community in making judgments and developing recommendations. The administrators believe that the community should participate in planning, communication, problem solving, development of programs, and evaluation of programs. They were undecided concerning the involvement of community in policy making and finances; the administrators did not want the community to be involved in the evaluation of professional personnel. Administrators perceive the community advisory committee, Parents Clubs, and individual volunteers as acceptable forms of community involvement. However, they were undecided concerning the usefulness of semi-legal bodies such as ESEA Title I committees and special blue ribbon study committees. The elementary administrators do not feel that community involvement takes more time than it is worth; however, they do believe that a small pressure group may influence decisions more than they are entitled to do. These conclusions were drawn as a result of hypotheses testing: (1) There is a significant difference in the level of community involvement perceived to be appropriate by elementary school administrators in public school corporations of Indiana with regard to the age of the administrator and the size of the elementary school. (2) There is no significant difference in the beliefs of elementary school administrators in Indiana regarding the general areas of school concerns in which the community should participate. (3) There is no significant difference in the forms of community participation perceived to be acceptable to elementary school administrators with regard to certain personal and situational characteristics. (4) There is a significant difference in the major concerns expressed by elementary school administrators when the community is involved with regard to school setting. (5) There is no significant difference in the level of community involvement perceived to be appropriate by elementary school administrators with regard to the type of community involvement presently practiced. (6) There is no significant difference in the major concerns expressed by elementary school administrators when the community is involved with regard to the type of community involvement presently practiced