Personal problems of Negro students in high schools of East Texas

The basis of this study stems from student unrest in the Nation's schools, and specifically to desegregation as it relates to personal problems of Negro high school students. The study was designed to identify personal problems of Negro students in East Texas and to examine student attitudes concerning the desegregated school system. Both black and white students were tested for the purpose of comparison. Two survey questionnaires were designed to gather data concerning the characteristics of school districts and individual students. Questionnaire A (QA) was designed to collect general information about the school from administrators and counselors. Questionnaire B (QB) was designed to collect personal characteristics from both black and white students. The QB was pretested for sensitivity, clarity of direction, thoroughness of response to personal questions, and time required for completion. One copy of the QA and 30 copies of the QB were delivered in person by the researcher to thirty-four school districts located in East Texas. A follow-up inquiry was conducted by telephone three weeks after delivery was made. From the thirty-four packages delivered, thirty-one schools (91%) returned completed 31 QA's and 900 QB's. Thirty-one QA's and 889 QB's were usable. It was hypothesized that a majority of students, both black and white, are satisfied with the public school desegregation process. This hypothesis proved to be true. Sixty-six per cent of all senior students responding indicated they enjoyed their senior year more than any other year. ..