A descriptive study of the demographic characteristics of Texas community school participants and their primary reasons for participating in community school activities

Typescript (photocopy).The purpose of this study was to determine the demography of enrollees in adult community education classes in the State of Texas as well as to determine the enrollees' primary reasons for attending community education classes. In order to accomplish this purpose, the researcher sought answers to the following questions. (1) What are the demographic characteristics of people who enrolled in adult community education classes in the 1983-84 school year in the State of Texas? (2) Does the demography of enrollees in adult community education classes reflect the general demography of the combined community education service areas based on the 1980 census? (3) What are the primary reasons for adult participation in adult community education classes in the 1983-84 school year in the State of Texas? (4) To what degree are community education classes congruent with community education enrollees' reasons for attending adult community education classes? There were 2,325 community education participation questionnaires sent to 80 of the 119 foundation funded community schools in Texas. All 80 schools responded and returned 2,120, or 91%, of the questionnaires. The results were as follows: (1) The majority of enrollees were white (64%). The largest minority represented was Hispanic (25%) with blacks making up 6% of the enrollees. The age group most frequently represented was 25-34 (30%) with the mean age of 30. There were 8% youth under 18 and 10% elderly over 55. There was 67% female participation. Seventy-eight percent of the enrollees had graduated from high school. The mean educational level was two years of college. (2) The ethnic background of the people in the geographic areas serviced by the sampled community school programs mirrors the sample of enrollees. (3) The primary reasons for enrolling in adult community education classes were to seek and gain knowledge for its own sake (academic), to satisfy an inquiring mind, for enrichment, to learn a skill (vocational), and to learn just for the joy of learning, in that order. (4) The adult community education classes offered were relatively congruent with the reasons why people attend, with one major exception. Vocational reasons for participation were high (ranked 4th out of 39) but vocational classes were scarce (15.6%)