Relationships between social behaviors and scores of the Stanford Achievement Tests for institutionalized delinquent boys ages 10-17 years in a northern Illinois school

Includes bibliographical references.This is a study of the relationships between social behaviors and scores on the Stanford Achievement Tests for institutionalized boys ages 10-1? years in a Northern Illinois school. It is a descriptive research carried on at the Boys' Farm School during the second seawater of the 1963-1964 school year. The Boys' Farm School is a private institution with a population of adolescent males largely of the lower socio-economic bracket. They were sent to the school on the basis of anti-social behavior. This behavior is manifested by such activities as truancy, petty larceny, cute theft and parental discord. The sampling for the study was the seventy-one boys who were enrolled in the school. The academic division of the Boys' Farm School is under the direct supervision and direction of the Rockford Board of Education. The academic division is financed by the state of Illinois, The purpose of this study is to give the Administrative Staff of the Rockford School System and the teaching staff additional information which may be used in considering curriculum changes. The Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Ability Test is given to each boy soon after he enrolls in the school. These scores were used to measure the intelligence quotients. The Stanford Achievement Tests (elementary, intermediate and advanced complete batteries) were given to the seventy-one boys during January, 1964. These tests established their academic achievement in school. The Haggerty-Olson-Wlakaan Behavior Rating Schedules wore used to get a measure for the behavior problems of the boys. These Rating Schedules consist of Schedule A, Behavior Problem Record, and Schedule B, Behavior Rating Scale. They were scored by the five teachers of the Boys' Farm School staff. Pearson's product-moment coefficient formula was used to find the relationships between IQ, grade placement, and scores from the Stanford Achievement Tests. The correlations as determined all showed a positive relationship. The lowest one was .40 between IQ and grade placement. The correlation between the reading score and five other variables of the Stanford Achievement Test showed the correlation to be from .88 to .98. The score of .98 between the reading score end the battery median score was the highest of the correlations obtained in the study. The comparison of the behavior problems and behavior traits of the students and the age-educational quotient showed that when the rating of behavior problems and traits was low, the age-educational quotient was high. When the age-educational quotient was low, the behavior problems and undesirable behavior traits were more numerous and of a more serious nature. The boys In this study showed a much larger number of behavior problems and undesirable behavior traits than those of typical children used for the study by Haggerty, Olson, and Wickman. From the results of this study, the writer is of the opinion that anti-social behavior does have an effect on the academic achievement of the boys enrolled in the Boys' Farm School. To what degree this is true, is difficult to say based upon this study.M.S. Ed. (Master of Education