Attitudes of Freshmen in the Pre-Professional Preparation Program at Central Washington State College

This study investigated the effect of the Central Washington State College pre-planned quarter on prospective teacher\u27s attitudes toward pupil-teacher relations. For this study, attitudes toward pupil-teacher relations was operationally defined as the score gained on the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory. A key concept introduced by the Pre-Professional Preparation Program at Central Washington State College (in addition to the group living concept) was the actual classroom experience afforded the participants. This was one of the main experiences provided in the pre-planned quarter. If prospective teachers were going to leave college with skills which would give them the best opportunity for teaching success it was felt a conscious effort should be made in selecting curricula which would accomplish this purpose. The present study sought answers to the following questions: (1) What was the effect of the pre-planned quarter on the attitudes of freshmen teacher candidates? (2) Is there a significant difference between the MTAI score of males and females in the pre-planned quarter? and (3) Is there a significant relationship between the student\u27s proposed area of interest (grade level) and attitude scores? The following null hypotheses were tested: 1. There is no significant difference in change of attitude, as measured by the MTAI between students who are in the pre-planned quarter and those who are not. 2. There is no significant difference in attitude scores as measured by the MTAI between males and females in the pre-planned quarter. 3. There is no significant difference in attitude scores as measured by the MTAI between S\u27s in the preplanned quarter who expressed a desire to teach in the elementary schools as compared to those who expressed a desire to teach in the secondary schools