Human Relations Among Handicapped Children

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H0MAM BELATlOKS AMOMG iUJSDIGAPPED CHILDBED ^3-

b? ■ Group in Ames (Exclusive of the Mentally Retarded}* • « 75

xmx.

Mean Scores of Test Intelligence within the Four Socioeconomic Statu® Classes-for•the Handicapped■ ■ Group In. Ames (Inclusive of the Mentally Bet&rded)• •

. 76

Mean Scores of Test Intelligence and School Achieve­ ment for the ^Isolates" among the Son-Handicapped < and the Handicapped Group® (Exclusive of the Ungraded Children)

* 76

Mean Scores of Test Intelligence* School Achievement* and Social Acceptance for the wStars® among the Hon— Handicapped and the Handicapped Groups (Exclusive of the Ungraded Children)

77

XL*

XLI#

vii

1

Chapter X XMTKODtJCTIOH Almost any lave&tigation of handicapped children shade some light upon the incidence of handicaps*

In order to care for handi­

capped children we need to know who they are*

Moreover, in educational

and social planning we need to know how many there are*

Some consider­

ation was given both these questions in the geographic area of this investigation, Story County, Iowa*

The plan called for the identifi­

cation and classification of all the handicapped children in the county* To the extent that this is a representative county, the results should give sense indication of the number and kinds of handicapped school children in the state* While the foregoing does not state the main purpose of the investigation, it is regarded as important*

The main purpose of the

investigation is to compare handicapped school children with nonhandicapped school children with respect to (1) social acceptance and rejection, or, as may be said, social status, (2) socioeconomic status, (3) school achievement, and, with respect to all but the mentally handicapped, (l) test intelligence* Since handicapped children are not All alike*— handicapped children do not represent a medical or psychological entity— comparisons will be made between various categories of handicap and non-handicap*

Also the various categories will be compared with each

other with respect to the three measures just indicated*

2 the plan of this investigation, calls for the examination of all th© elementary public school children in the county*

Consequently#

considerable data are gathered which may be used In ways that do not contribute to th® central purpose of comparing handicapped and non­ handicapped pupils.

The more important secondary problems investigated

are (1) the relationship between social status and academic achievement, (2) the relationship

between

social statusand socioeconomic status,

(3) the relationship

between

socioeconomicstatus and test intelligence,

(4) the relationshipbetween socioeconomic status and academic achieve* ment, (5) the relationship between social status and test intelligence, and (6) the relationship between test intelligence and academic achieve­ ment. The following kinds of handicaps are covered in this investi­ gation!

(1) speech, (2) sensory - seeing and hearing, (3) physical,

(4) mental. There are several reasons why Story County was selected for this investigation.

There are no one-room rural schools to separate

the children into small, isolated groups.

In the county, including

Imes, there are twenty-five separate public and one special school. A county-wide program in special education in its third year of opera­ tion is regarded as one of the better programs in the state and m s in a position to provide some of the basic information.

The public health

program coordinated with special education was also able to render valuable assistance in locating specific types of handicapped pupils. The interest shown by those whose services would b© required indicated that cooperation would not be lacking.

3 jBfi&gasl hiegscrfption. Story County state of Xom*

1& >jx CoBB&It l£S*

geographically located in the center of the

It consist® of 568 square miles which is somewhat above

average in else compared to the other ninety-eight counties in the state* the general land surface is that of a comparatively level plain* Practically every acre is under cultivation*

Good drainage is afforded

by the Skunk River which, with its tributaries, flows across the entire county from North to South* The population of Story Comity grew from 214 persons in 1852 to 33*434 persons In 1940*

Of this total number, the rural population

consists of 17,526 persons, or 52*4 par cent and the urban population consists of 15,908 persons, or 47*6 per cent*

The urban group Is centers!

in twenty-one cities and towns ranging in sise from approximately 16,500 to 100*

The census report of 1940 showed that Story County has 2,403

farms, a total of 34,068 acres as farm area* acres in size. ducts*

The average farm is 147

Corn, hogs, and cattle are the major agricultural pro­

There are 575 stores* Two railroads cross the county from North to South and three

from East to lest*

State and county highways connect all the larger

town® and bus service is available throughout the county. The following table shows the growth in elementary school population covering a ten-year periods

4

i2ssd&

Enrollment. IQAO-Al1

I X II III IV ?

26$

507

522

653

521 492 512 518 472

551 499

n

m

507 488 15

Dug Total#

Enrollment. 1949-50'

3803

3316

Ames| the largest city in Story County, has an estimated population of 16*500 persons*

It is located in the middle—western

part of the county at the geographical point where Squaw Creek empties in the Skunk Elver.

There are approximately 300 retail establishments

operating within the city which serve as the hub of trade for the surrounding towns.

Thirty-five small industries manufacture stock and

poultry feeds* felt blankets* jackets* milk products* water filters* garden tools* and canned corn.

Two railroads* two airports* and one

interstate bus terminal connect with all major transportation centers in the country.

The city has fifteen churches and religious societies*

one public library* one hospital* on© daily newspaper* municipal light* water* and garbage and sewage disposal plants* plus many acres of beautiful* natural-wooded parks.

1* Iowa. Department of Public Instruction* Special Education in Iowa Schools. 194*9. (Mimeo.) Dos Moines* State of town* 1949* 2* Story County School Census Report. Nevada* Iowa. Offide of th© County Superintendent of Schools. September* 1949. {Unpublished)•

5 Ames is the cite of the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arte, the Agriculture Experiment Station, the Engineering Experiment Station, and the Iowa State Highway Commission#

These add

considerably to th© increase in the normal population growth and to opportunities for employment#

On the whole, there is little unemploy­

ment# Approximately 1400 children attend six elementary public schools and on© ungraded public school*

Plans are underway for two

additional elementary schools to be built in the near future* On th© whole, Ames appears to be a prosperous, thriving community with well-kept homes, good streets, a bustling shopping center, and a relatively restricted slum area*

Chapter II REVIEW OF THE BELATED RESEARCH Annotations of the relevant research are arranged under four areas>

(1) intelligence, (2) socioeconomic status, (3) social

acceptance, and (4) school achievement.

They are listed In chrono­

logical order to demonstrate developing techniques and research findings over a period of years. Intelligence Speech Defective Travis, 1931 (74) found 346 University Freshmen were superior in intelligence to speakers with functional disorders of articulation* Robbins, 1932 (59) studying the relationship between short auditory memory spaa disability and disorders of speech, found no correlation between auditory memory ©pan end intelligence. Carrell, 1936 (13) found the speech defective population of Moosehart, Illinois, to have lower intelligence than the non-speech defective population* Johnson, 1942 (37) compared the intelligence of 16 stuttering with 46 non-stuttering children. respectively.

Th© median IQ*s were 114 and 116,

The non-stutterers were from a pre-school and elementary

school with a ©lightly higher socioeconomic background*

M * s 3b3m Springer, 193® (64) using the Goodanough Drawing-o f-a—Man Test, found no significant difference in intelligence between 330

7 deaf and 330 hearing children.

Both groups were of normal, average

intelligence. Streng and Kirk, 1938 (68) tested 51 deaf and 46 hard-ofhe&ring children attending & day school for the deaf with the Grace Arthur Performance Scale and th© Chicago Ko»~VerbaI Examination*

the

mean IQ’s of each group did not differ enough to be significant* Pintner and Lev, 1939 (57) tested 315 b&rd-of-hearing and 372 normal hearing children with the Fintner Non-Language Test and found a statistically significant difference between the mean verbal IQ’s, but no statistical difference between the mean non-language IQ’s* The authors conclude that basically there is no difference between hard-of-hearing and normal hearing children in intelligence* Zeckel, 1939 (86) compared the intelligence of 100 normal and 100 hard-of-hearing children, 7 to 14 year© of age, tested with the Porteus Mass.

Dividing the children into eight age groups, the

hard-of-hearing children always were below IQ 100 at each age level and rising only at 12 years to reach 100. Burchard and Mylkebust, 1942 (9) found no significant difference between 121 congenitally deaf and 68 acquired deaf pupils, 7 to 19 years of age*

Both groups were of average intelligence*

Capwell, 1945 (12) using th© Arthur Point Seale on 43 un­ selected seventh grade pupils in a school for the deaf, found a mean IQ of 95*

A performance test of this type show© that with deaf children

th© ability to work with concrete material approximate® a normal distribution*

8 SM&rn. JBteCBgj&n Hadley, 1927 (2^) presents these date regarding siglb-aaving classes in Ohio*

St^nford^Bi^ei,,M

JL-

110-120 90-110

12*6

80-90 70-80

58*6 25*4 3*2

There is an absence of cases below IQ 70 as no feebleminded were admitted to the sight-saving classes* Hildreth, 1941 (31) used the St&nford-Binet Test to evaluate the mental ability of 15 visually defective children, median age of 10 years, 10 months*

The raw score range was from 70 to 134 with a

median of 89* Pintner, Eisenson, and Stanton, 1945 (58s254 ff*) report the work of two investigations*

Individual, psychological examinations

were given to 709 partially-sighted school children*

These 709 com­

prised the 25 per cent who responded to a questionnaire* number more than 50 per cent had IQ scores below 90*

Of this

The London Board

of Education Report gives the results of a modified Stanford-Binet intelligence test to 141 partially-sighted children compared with a group intelligence test to 100 normally sighted children having similar social status* two groups*

There was no difference in intelligence between the

9 Ite&imlr Impairment Fern&ld and Arlitt, 1925 (23) investigated the relationship between crippling condition and intelligence#

One hundred ninety-four

crippled children tested with the St&nford-Binet Beale showed a mean IQ of 82*

A comparison of the intelligence of the crippled group with

that of non-crippled siblings evidenced no reliable difference between the two groups but did suggest a slight difference which favors the siblings*

Family groups of these crippled children were appreciably

below the average mentally, compared with families of non-handicapped children of the same ages* Lee, 1931 (4-5) found the Stanford-Binet score© of 148 crippled children lower than the scores of an unselected group of non-erippled children*

It is possible that the crippled children might have had

inferior intelligence without the physical handicap*

Lee does not

infer that the crippling condition was a contributory factor to the low intelligence* Witty and Smith, 1932 (85) found a difference of 15 IQ points between the median IQ scores of 1480 crippled children and the median IQ scores of 1000 unselected school children, Grade® I-VIXX*

In th©

overall picture 50 per cent of the crippled children at each age level fell below 90 IQ# as compared with 25 par cent in the general population* lilson, 1933 (56) selected 169 physically disabled pupil© for whom there were available Kuhlman-inders on group and individual intelligence test scores*

Th© median IQ of th© disabled group was 96

compared to a median IQ of 108 for an unselected Minnesota school population*

10 An investigation by Brockway, 1936 (8) covering a twelve year period* showed 1000 spastic children to have a mean IQ of 79*7* The author failed to mention the test used nor were these data compared with a control group* K&mmerer* 1940 (39) studied 80 children hospitalised with scoliosis and osteomyelitis*

fie found no significant difference be**

tween the mean IQ ©cores of th© crippled children and the normal groups on which the intelligence test was standardised* Landis and Bolles* 1942 (41) studying 100 institutional women* ages 17 to 30 years and with various crippling conditions* conclude that age of onset* severity* and intelligence are related to kind and effectiveness of social and emotions! adjustment*

In the

group which they studied the authors believed th© intellectual level to be normal but the socioeconomic status low* ‘Gates* 194.6 (26) showed, no statistically significant difference® In social and emotional maladjustment between 18 crippled and non~crippled boys and girls* matched for age, sew* intelligence* and socioeconomic background on scores of objective measures*

There

was indication that cultural background and personal-social relation­ ships* particul&rily In the home* may affect social adjustment more than the crippling condition itself* MeIntire, 194-7 (50) bases the following on a study of the first 500 cerebral palsied individuals ©een in a state-wide survey In Hew Jerseys

XX Gifted Superior High average Average Low average Bull normal Borderline Feebleminded Dndetermined

Hone 4.0* 8.8% 25.0% 7.6%

u.o% 5.8% 27*6% 10.2%

Families of the subject® were representative of families throughout th© state*

The median education of parents was eight years*

there was on© per cent illiteracy* and occupations ranged from laborer to professional level* Socioeconomic Status Occupation Counts* 1925 (17) was interested in obtaining the social statue of occupation and selected at random 45 occupations from th© entire vocational, range,

the finding© indicate that many occupation©

which are necessary for maintenance of society were given a negative social rating. Lehman and Witty* 1931 (4b) administered the Lehman Voce.*. tional Attitude test to 26*878 boys and girls* ages S to 18 year©* to determine the prestige factors associated with occupational choice* These findings in general coincide with the Count study. Siiets* 1933 (55) was interested in determining the ^ffect of depression on occupational prestige.

Whan th© results were compared

with th® Count© study no marked change© occurred among th© highest ten or lowest tea occupations*

12 Smith, 1943 (63) tad 345 high school and college students rank 100 occupation® on a 100-point scale according to rank-order* These were then roughly telescoped into 10 occupational strata with an equivalent prestige value assigned to each,

A rank-order corre­

lation coefficient of *79 was obtained between the comparative prestige status and per capita contribution of occupational groups to Wh o ^ Who in Imerlca. 1938-39. Deeg and Paterson. 1917 (21) duplicated the Counts study using only 25 occupations*

A correlation coefficient of *97 was

obtained between the two studies* Hieronymus, 1943 (30) constructed separate occupational prestige scales for men and women by the method of equal-appearing intervals*

One hundred forty occupations for males range in scale

value from 0*2 to 10,8 and 76 occupation© for females rang© in scale value from 0.1 to 10*3*

This scale has the advantage of distinguishing

between occupation® close together and far apart in prestige. Welch, 1949 (31) had 500 college students rank 26 occupations based on the social prestige which the judges believed that society held toward each occupation*

A correlation of *93 existed between

the rankings in this study and the rankings of Deeg and Paterson* Intelligence Dexter, 1923 (22) arbitrarily classified 2,782 children, Grades I—VIII, into six broad categories based on parental occupation* From high occupation to low occupation, the average IQ scores of the children for each group were 115# 106, 104* 99, 92, and 89, with a

13 total average IQ score of 99*5*

the per cents above average for each

group were, respectively, 80, 61, 59, 46, 37, and 27# Term&n, 1925 (72) drew up 100 representative occupations and had them rated by 30 judges on a scale &rom 0 to 100 according to the grade of intelligence demanded of each*

The final scale value Is

from 0.00 (hobo) to 20.71 (inventive genius)* Stoke, 1927 (66) found that approximately one per cent of school children with IQ scores of 120 or more came from families in the professional and large scale business class*

Later Stoke and

Lehman (1930) concluded that the great majority of gifted and superior children come from the non^professional classes* Stroud, 1928 (70) used tax assessment as a measure of socioeconomic status and found it to correlate with IQ to the extent of .25. Baldwin, et. al*, 1930 (I) maintain that the intellectual differentiation of rural from urban children was absent up to about five years of age, but this differentiation increased with age five to about fourteen years*

The rural children were inferior to the urban

children In language eubtests of the Stanford-Binet Scale* lones, et* al*. 1932 (38) compared an unselected sample of 351 rural children, 921 average urban children selected from the 1917 Stanford Standardisation group, and 212 superior urban children on measures of intelligence and socioeconomic status* were 92, 101, and 117, respectively*

The mean IQ scores

With comparable national and

14 racial backgrounds for all three groups, the socioeconomic statue of the superior group was above the status of 98 per cent of the rural group and above 90 per cent of the average urban group* Hildreth* 1934 (32-) used th® Taussig classification for 600 students located in the oil industry section of Oklahoma.

The

occupational distribution of th® subjects was* respectively* 7* 25* 42* 11* and 15 per cent*

Th® median Stanford-Binet IQ for the total

group was 97 and the median IQ’s for the classes separately were 113* 108* 98* 84* and 76*

It is probable that the subjects represented a

biased selection compared with an average population* Bradway* 1935 (7) found a negative correlation between in­ telligence and paternal occupation on 439 persons at the Training School* Vineland* Hew Jersey.

There are selective factors which

operate in this type of school to exclude individuals from the lower socioeconomic levels* B y m s and Herxmon* 1936 (11) analysed the test results of more than 100*000 high school seniors and found a correlation of *18 between parental occupation and mental ability of pupils.

Being a

modified form of the Taussig scale the professional group ranked highest and the farm group ranked lowest*

Differences between each of the

groups were found to be significant* Bayley and Jones* 1937 (3) investigated 61 children from

59 families* heterogeneous with respect to social status* Four intelli­ gence tests were administered during the first six years of life*

15 Ratings on the California Socio-Economic Index were obtained*

Correia-*

tions between the environmental variable© were negative in the first six months but were increasingly positive as age increased*

The

correlations of intelligence test scores with the total socioeconomic scale at age six was *41* Teraan and Merrill, 1937 (73) used four estimates to deter­ mine socioeconomic status of the subjects in the 1937 revision of the Stanford-Binet Scale*

They weret

Goodenough Classification, M m s

Score Card, Barr Scale, and Taussig Groups*

The final results show

that a relationship exists between the intelligence of children and parental occupation when mean IQ values are considered and that a variability of IQ exists within each separate occupational group* Clark and Gist, 1938 (16) studied the follow-ups on voca­ tional choices of 2,544 high school students thirteen years after intelligence tests had been given* broad occupational categories*

These were classified into ten

Six categories show the modal IQ falls

in the 95*104 interval and in four categories the model 2Q falls in the 35-94 interval*

The authors feel that intelligence acts as a

selective factor influencing occupational choice* McGehee and lewis, 1942 (49) studied the socioeconomic status and occupational rank of the parents of mentally superior and retarded children*

Father*s occupation was ranked on the Terman-Taussig scale

and the socioeconomic rating was obtained from a modified Sims Score Card*

Three conclusions were drawni

(1) a positive relationship exists

between parent*s occupation and child1s intelligence, (2) higher

Intelligence is positively associated with higher socioeconomic status, end (3) superior -and retarded, children com© from all types of hones* Socio-QuItursl Miller, 1943 (51) ascertaining the educational need© of 150 crippled high school students, found family incomes were very low and foreign cultural influences strong* validity on two measures t

The study lacks sufficient

(1) the school itself mss located in a very

poor section of Mew fork City and all the children attending were probably from lower socioeconomic classes, and (2) no very definite criteria of socioeconomic status were established in assigning subjects to one of the economic classes* West, 1945 (83) distinguished five social classes in a sociological study of a rural area in eastern Kentucky*

tipper crust,

average, good lower class, lower element, and people who live like animals. Vogt, 1946 (77) came to the following conclusion in his study of social stratification*

the upper, middle, lower, and lower-

lower rural group© correlate with th© upper-middle, lower-middle, upper-lower, and lower-lower urban groups. Eollingshead, 1949 (33) found an elaborate social structure integrated around socio-cultural characteristics in his study of a small mldwestern community.

Five prestige classes were identified*

in American ideology the primary criterion of ©octal worth is based on pecuniary measures, the study reveals*

17 Warner* Meeker, and lell**^ 1949 {SO) present farther evidence about the existence of social classes in America*

This research la

baaed on the weighted total of four statue characteristics! source of income* house type* and dwelling area*

occupation*

The authors point

out that class levels are present* despite population variation and density* and that the social structure does conform to m particular pattern of organisation* yos.sessiQ.ns, Korah&user* 1913 (40) attempted to prove that the economic attainment of parents is not associated with the intelligence of their children*

He used possession of telephone as the single criterion

for dividing his subjects into more wealthy and less wealthy groups* On the basis of 1000 children* the author obtained a coefficient of association of .61 between advanced grades and telephone and retarded grades and no telephone* Social Acceptance Heilman* 1926 (32) used an observation method in Grades ¥11* VIH* and IX with frequency of companionship as the criterion to deter­ mine social relationships#

It was found that pairs of girls were more

alike in scholarship and boys were more alike in intelligence quotient*

3* Belated references to sociological studies are given in llaatown1a Xpftth* page 26*

s

id Seagoe, 1933 (61) studied 113 pairs of friends, Grade 111 to YXIX*

He found that propinquity showed the highest relationship

when friendship was used as a choosing situation* between members of the opposite sex*

There was no choice

Correlation was lower but signifi­

cant between IQ and friendship when age was held constant*

The data

showed that likeness was of greater importance than difference* Moreno, 1934. (32) is generally attributed with the pioneer work in the psychological properties of populations, or sociometry, as It is generally called*

In his book, the author reports certain

characteristics which are the prototype for succeeding investigations* Attraction between sexes was highest in Kindergarten and Grade

X and gradually decreased until Grade V.

until

Grade VIII.

Here it again increased

In general, choices were made within sexes*

Isolates were highest in the early school years and decreased until

Grade VII but rose again in Grade VIII,

The tentative estimate

was that 11 per cent of the Individual© are isolated or rejected* Social structure among the mentally retarded resembles the social organisation of Kindergarten and Grade X* Twenty-two months after retest, the general trend of group organisation remained the same*

There was indicated a trend for

adjusted boys to maintain, or regress, in their position* Hardy, 1937 (29) found a correlation coefficient of *37 between social recognition and intelligence and a coefficient of *36 between social recognition and academic achievement*

Ho children

selected by others had IQ scores below 90, while 29 per cent had IQ

scores of 120 or more*

A correlation of .46 was determined between

social recognition and home rating* Jennings, 1937 (36) tested a population of feebleminded girls at eight week intervals on seventeen occasions*

She found no

gross changes in social structure in spite of fluctuations and shift­ ing choices* Lundberg, 1938 (47) investigated the relationship of friend­ ship groupings to socioeconomic status, family sise, general housing conditions, and kinds of reading material, in a village of 1000 population*

Analysis of the data revealed that the entire population

was grouped into eight constellations * Griswell, 1939 (18) upon retest, found no change in the basic group structure after an interval of six weeks when a seating criterion was used*

Sex and race cleavage were present*

The subjects

were pupils enrolled in a Hew fork public school having a membership of 75 per cent Negroes# Bonney, 1942 (4) 1942 (5) 1944 (6) studied the extent to which elementary school children were accepted by their peers in general choosing situations*

From Grades I through V the trend indi­

cated that children with the highest degree of social acceptance are the more intelligent and that the relationship between these two vari­ ables increases with age* Using the Minnesota Home Status Index as & measure of social status, it was found that higher degrees of social acceptance are

related to higher home backgrounds*

These relationships are positive

but low* General academic competence was quite definitely related to social status* There was a strong tendency for both boy® and girl® to choose within their own sexee but there was a consistent superiority In favor of girl® in social success* Heugarten, 1946 (54) studied all the children in Grades Y, VI, X, and XI of the public school in a typical aiddleweetera town* The results Indicated that children are selected m

friend® by children

from their own social level, or higher level, more often than by child­ ren from lower social levels*

The lower the social class, the fewer

times was a child selected a® best friend* Cruickshank and Medva, 1948 (19) found a correlation coef­ ficient of *76 between intelligence and acceptability in a social group among twenty physically handicapped children with an IQ range from 66 to 130*

Correlations of *65 and *36 were found between

disability and acceptability and degree of obviousness of effect and acceptability* Hollingshead, 1949 (33) analyzed clique tie® among high school students and found that approximately 3 out of 5 were of the same prestige class, 2 out of 5 were between adjacent classes, and 1 out of 25 was between classes twice removed*

21 mm

School Achievement Speech Defective Boot, 1926 (60) surveyed a group of speech defective school children in South Dakota and found them six months retarded compared to a group of average pupils without defects in speech. Carrell* 1936 (13) reported the school achievement of speech defectives to be inferior to the general school population. Stinchfield, 1938 (65) found that girls with high intelli­ gence who had speech defects failed in their school work* Hearing Defective Madden* 1931 (48) compered hard-of-hearing and normal hearing groups equated for intelligence on verbal group or Si&nfor&~£inet teste*

The subjects showed no difference in educational achievement

on the Stanford Achievement test scores* Vision Defective Hadley* 1927 (58*258) concludes that eight-saving classes are almost equal to the norms on the McCall Spelling Scale* Peek* 1933 (58*256) found no indication of serious reading deficiency among 234 partially-sighted children* Grades 11 to XX* on reading test© of the Stanford Achievement battery* The London Board of Education Eeport* 1945 (58*258) found its sample of partially-sighted children equal to a control group of sighted children in arithmetic* but Inferior in reading*

sat

jgfeaaigsl,.Impairment Barbour, 1935 (2) found the following school retardation among 40 cases of poliomyelitis*

9 were retarded on® year, 4 were

retarded two years, and 2 were retarded three years# Curtiss, 1942 (20) studied 75 hospitalised orthopedieally crippled children to determine academic achievement*

The prediction

could not be made with a high degree of confidence that these children were retarded, but there was indicated a trend toward retarda­ tion. Lee, 1942(44) found low correlation between and grade placement among crippled children.

intelligence

He feels that school

progress to the extent of .80 of a grade is all that is to be expected in the education of these children.

Holllngshead, 1949 (33) presents evidence of the bias that teachers show in assigning grades to high school students.

On the

average, high grades went to the adolescents in the high social strata, and conversely, the lower the social strata, the lower were the grades. Warner, Meeker, and Bells, 1949 (80s26) have this to say about school achievement! Studies in the Beep South, lew England., and the Middle West indicate that teachers rat© the school work of children from the higher classes In accordance with their family*© social position and conversely give low ratings to the work of the lower-class children.

23 General Handicapped Lee, 1943 (43) reported that a chi-square analysis indicated & statistically significant difference In the grade placement between non—handicapped and handicapped school children*

This study Included

2913 non-handicapped and 619 handicapped pupils in three torn counties* lints, 1949 (37) found that the median scores of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills for handicapped children in Story County, Iowa, were below the median scores of the random sample*

The retardation of

the handicapped expressed in months is presented belowj Orate rc m 7III

Retardation 4 months 6 * » 10

Chapter III PROCEDURE

Selection of the Mon-Handicapped Group In order to locate and identify the handicapped pupil© in the county it w©.© necessary to examine all of the®*

However* for

purposes of comparing handicapped ©sod non-handicapped pupils* data wa®e gathered on all the non-handicapped (M * 2*854.) *Consequently* a random ©ample was drawn from the latter population* Moreover* since the investigation calls for use of measure® of socioeconomic status and sine© there are no measures that are comparable for rural and urban populations* the random sample was drawn from the pupil® in th® city of Ames*

The decision to do this waa reached after it

was determined that the distribution of measure® for the handicapped pupils within th® school system of Ames did not differ appreciably from that of pupil© in the county outside Ames* There are 2*851 non-handicapped In the public schools of Story County* loirs* alone* there ar© 915 non-handicapped children*

enrolled inGrades I -¥1 In the Ames schools From, the non-hand i-*

capped group in Ames* a random ©ample of 391 children was selected to use a© a comparison group*

Ames represent© the entire rang© of

the occupations in the Hieronymus scale and factors In th© urban and

25 rural environment®

interact to influence each other to about the

same degree in th® populations of Ames and outside Ames* Individual record card© for the non-handicapped children were arranged In alphabetical order and numbered consecutively be­ ginning with 1 and extending to 9-45*

In taking & random ©ample of

the numbers on th© card©, a random ©ample of the corresponding indi­ vidual© was secured*

fable XXXIII in Fisher and late© (24>43) mats

consulted for th® number© to b© selected,

fh® numbers were read from

the top to th© bottom of the page beginning with th© first number in block 1 in th© upper left-hand comer of *Kandom lumbers III® and continued with consecutive column© from left to right*

Each time a

number wa© read from th® table the corresponding card was withdrawn* In the initial selection* 400 cards war© drawn but nine eliminated due to incomplete information* Selection of the Kandicaooed Group Four hundred forty—two handicapped children used in this investigation are classified according to the following five cate­ gories* ia agreement with the Iowa statutory provisions (34I6)* 1* Mental retardation is a condition in which the mental ag© is less than th© chronological age to 'the extent that success for the Individual is difficult or impossible under a normal program of instruction*

A group intelligence test for screening purposes was

administered to all children in Grade© I - VI with the exception of those for whom ether group or individual intelligence ©corse seer©

26 already available*

Children whose IQ ©core on the group teat was 8-4

or leas were individually retested with the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale*

A description of the testing of intelligence is given more

fully' on page 32*

In this investigation, mentally retarded children

are those with IQ scores not exceeding 80 on th© Stanford-Binet test* 2« A child is considered to have a speech problem when satis­ factory oral communication in the schoolroom is not maintained*

An

©very-pupil screening speech test and an individual recheck of referred cases by qualified speech correctlonists indicated the children who were in need of speech therapy*

In addition, classroom teachers

requested individual speech tests for children who appeared to have speech problems*

th© final speech diagnoses were made only by a

skilled diagnostician and the names of the children recommended for therapy were then secured from the Supervisor of Special Education in Story County*

These cases comprise the group of speech handicaps

treated in this investigation* 3* The Division of Special Education in Iowa considers a child defective in hearing, or at least warranting additional medical attention to the condition, when there is indication of a hearing loss greater than 15 decibels on two or more frequencies in the better ear as tested with a pure-tone audiometer*

Screening tests for hearing,

by means of a group audiometer, were administered to all children in Grades III - VI*

Those pupils failing on the first test were rechecked

with th© group audiometer.

Pupils who failed the group test® end all

27 the pupils in Grades X and XX were tested individually with a pure-tone audiometer.

In cases of a severe hearing loss or apparent defects,

referral was made for a medical follow-up.

The entire testing program

was administered by individuals qualified in the area of audlology. Dames of the children with defective hearing were submitted by the Supervisor of Special Education for use in this study. 4* The Story County Health program considers a child visually defective when uncorrected vision is 20/40 or less in one or both eyes, when correction does not adequately help to make a normal adjustment in the classroom, and/or when additional abnormalities interfere with adequate vision.

The Snellen Scale (Symbol Chart and Hating Chart)

was used in the initial screening for vision, and any child, failing to meet the vision requirements necessary to do normal school activities, was recommended for additional eye examinations to com­ petent medical personnel.

The names of the visually defective children

were secured from th© various health service© in th© county who were responsible for discovering, correcting and preventing faulty vision# 5* Physical impairment is a more or lees inclusive term covering many conditions of the body which interfere with normal classroom ac­ tivity.

A physical impairment includes congenital and acquired con­

ditions of orthopedic, muscular, and neurological crippling, or cardiac, diabetic, tubercular, malnutrition, and other physical defects.

Ho

plan for a systematic or routine physical examination operates in Story County to discover physically impaired children.

However,

medical personnel, parents, teachers, and clinicians have referred

28 all suspected cases to th® appropriate health service® for examination and follow-up*

Through the coordinated effort® of the health services —

the County Nurse* the school nurses in Ames and Nevada* and th© Director of th© State Services for Crippled Children — physical impairment were discovered*

all apparent cases of

Th© names of the children medi­

cally diagnosed as physically handicapped were obtained from the aforementioned health services and constitute th® physically impaired group* To gather adequate data on th® selection of th© handicap group* the professional services of various agencies were secured. The Division of Special Education in Iowa sponsored th© administering of the St&nford-Binet Intelligence tests*

The Supervisor of Special

Education in Story County submitted the names of th® speech and hearing cases.

Th© vision and physical Impairment cases were secured from the

official records of th© County Nurse* th© school nurses in Ames and Nevada* and the Director of State Services for Crippled Children* The County Superintendent of Story County initially acted in th© capacity of liaison between the writer and the sources from which all school information was obtained in this study* A summary of the types and total numbers of handicapping conditions found among the public school children in Story County* Grades I - VI* is given in Table V*

m

In addition to the information obtained relative to speech, hearing, visual defects and physical impairment, further information was obtained through the use of the followingi 1. Otis Quick Scoring Mental Ability Test score® on all children, Grades I «* VI, with the exception of those grades for which other intelligence Scores were available.

The exceptions weres

a. Kuhlaan-Andereon, Grades X - VI, at Colo, lows b. Kuhlman-Anderson, Grade XV at Ames, Iowa c. Stanford-Bi.net, Grade X at Ames, Iowa 2* Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test scores on all children scoring @1, or under, on the Otis or Kuhlm&n-Anderscn group tests. 3* Teachers9 ratings of school achievement on a four-point scale* Um Social acceptance scores by sociometric technique on all children. 5. Socioeconomic status scores on all children, Grades X - VI, in Ames. To facilitate the handling of the data, SfoBee Seysort library cards were used.

These card® have holes punched along three sides

which, when notched according to a code, make It possible to separate various types of data.

A separate card was typed for each child for

whoa complete information was available.

JO fh© completed cards contain the following information typed on the facet

full name of child, name of school, IQ scores, and social

acceptance score#

In addition, th© cards for th© Ames children In­

clude names of parents, home address, and socioeconomic status score* Cards are notched according to cod® to designate school achievement, grade, socioeconomic status class, and handicapping condition*

By use

of a nine-inch needle made especially for this purpose, the notched cards are sorted quickly and easily to make up any desired combinations of information* the date.

Cards 1 and 2 illustrate the method used in recording

Card 1 is the key used to code* Card 1

NET TOR CODING g0. 1-4,: school achievement No . 6-11: grade placement No. 13: speech defect No. 14: hearing defect No. 15: vision defect No* 16: physical impairment No • 17: mental retardation No *19-23: socioeconomic status class

->17 18 f20 21

22 22

24 25 O

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31 Card 2 ■.>

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4

Jones, William Longfellow 529 Grace Ave. David, Margaret

22

12

9

21

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82 80

6.2 26 3

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13 72/14 )

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55/20 )

j

I’ %■ ) • K: )-■, v. .

Card 2 is a sample of an individual card.

j O'

Reading from

left to right, th© top line gives the child *© name, grade in school, and group intelligence test score.

Line two gives the name of the

school and the StanfarcWiiinet IQ score.

Directly under th© name of

the school is the child1s home address and name of parents. The column of numbers at the extreme left is the original raw scores of the four area® for socioeconomic status.

Column two

Is the converted normalised standard socioeconomic status scores of each corresponding area and directly under the four score® 1® the composite normalised standard score.

Th© number following the com*»

posit© score in column two is the normalised standard composite socioeconomic status score.

32 The two numbers in the lower right-hand corner are* from left to right* the original raw score and the raw per cent score for social acceptance*

For purposes of screening* the Otis Quick-Scoring Test of Mental Ability was administered in December to all children in Grades I - VI, with the exception of those for whom Kuhlman—Anderson or Stanford-Btnet scores already were available* as indicated on page 25* One hundred fifteen children scoring below S5 on the group tests were individually retested with the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, 1937 Bevision*

All children scoring SO or under on this re­

test* and those for whom similar Stanford—Binet scores from previous testing were available* comprised the mentally retarded population* In all* ninety-one pupils earned Stanford-Binet intelligence test scores of $0 or less*

The grouped frequency distributions of the

intelligence test scores are given in Table XXXII. Measurement of School Achievement The plan of this investigation calls for a measure of scho­ lastic achievement*

In view of the somewhat limited use made of this

measure it did not seem advisable to administer standardised achieve­ ment tests to the pupils of the county*

Instead* each teacher was

asked to rate her pupils as to school achievement on a four-point scale*

33 Th© directions to th© teacher were as follow* I Indicate th© school achievement of th© child by encircling the proper number that corresponds to your judgment of his position in the class. Let 1 indicate the upper fourth in school achievement, and 4 the lowest fourth. Let 2 and 3 indicate corresponding positions between highest and lowest. Presumably, these ratings will tell us what teachers think about the comparative achievement of handicapped and non-handicapped children*

In an investigation of this kind, teachers* evaluations

of the achievement of handicapped children may actually be as Impor­ tant as a more objective measure of such performance.

Of course, there

would have been some value In obtaining both; but as already indicated, it did not appear to b© desirable to do so in the light of the con­ templated use of the results. The original scores of the teacher estimate of school achievement were retained but the values were reversed to be con­ sistent with other scores in the study.

Thus, the teacher rating

of 1, which formerly indicated a high rating, now indicates the lowest, and the 4, which meant a low rating, is replaced by 1 and is the highest value.

The distribution of th© raw score® in terms of reversed

values are found in Tables XVI, XVII, and XVX1X. Measurement of Social Acceptance A technique of sociometry was used in this study to obtain a measure of social acceptance among non-handicapped and handicapped children*

"Stated briefly, sociometry may he described as a means of

presenting simply and graphically the entire structure of relation© existing at a given time among members of a given group." (35til)

The purpose her® is to Show statistically whether handicapped children enjoy the same degree of social acceptance as non-handicapped children by their peers as revealed in clearly defined social situations#

It

should be stated that a child’s motives underlying the choices are not revealed in sociometry#

It is possible, however, to show the degree

of relationship between, social acceptance and other variables and to make certain assumptions#

In this phase of the investigation, per­

haps th© major one, th® purpose was not only to compare handicapped and non-handicapped children on social acceptance but also to study the relationship between social acceptance and other variables for both handicapped and non-handicapped children# ares

These other variables

(1) school achievement, (2) socioeconomic status, (3) intelli­

gence# In the present study each child was asked to list three children in his room whom he preferred in each of three different social situations#

An attempt was made to select situations that

would not delimit or exclude any child from the opportunity of being chosen*

In other word®, a handicapping condition, per se, would not

warrant exclusion from participation in these particular social situa­ tions#

It is apparent that in some situations not carefully selected,

a handicapped child automatically would not be chosen because of obvious defects or inability to participate#

Any child not capable

of writing informed the teacher privately of hi© choice© and she wrote them for him#

The following three situations were used*

35 1* Write the full names of three children In your room whom you would like to wit by* %* Write the full names of three children in your room whom you would like to play with* 3* Write the full names of your beet friends in this room* It Is the purpose here to find the strength of social rela­ tionships of the handicapped compared to the non*-handieapped children for this sample*

Baw score values were assigned arbitrarily*

Each

first choice received a value of three, each second choice a value of two, and each third choice a value of one* sum of the values of the choices*

The total raw score is the

The highest possible total raw

score that any on© person could receive is nine times the number of judges in the roomj no choices would give a score of sero* The total raw score for each child was then changed to a raw per cent score of social acceptance by the ratio c total raw score highest possible raw score Measurement of Socioeconomic Status A review of th© previous research and of the available present tools failed to disclose any technique for measuring socio­ economic status which could b© administered ©Wtisfaciorily both to rural and urban populations.

It was decided to secure a measure of

socioeconomic status on the Ames children only and to establish norms

36 on the random sample of 391 non-handicapped d r a m from this group# Several criteria, were paramount in the development of a questionnaire for this purpose* minister, and easy to score#

It was to he short, simple to ad­

Since the questionnaire was to he given

in all grades from X to VX, the questions had to be stated so that the children in all grades could give the information accurately or with a minimum of error#

The questionnaire also needed to allow for cross­

checking with outside sources for accuracy of the information*

Veri­

fication was accomplished by comparing the responses of siblings and checking the Ames city directory and telephone directory for parents1 names, occupations, and addresses# The questionnaire in its final fora measures four important areas in the evaluation of socioeconomic status I

(1) occupation of

the head of the house, (2) conveniences in the home, (3) evaluation of house, (A) teacher rating for socioeconomic status#

A copy of the

questionnaire is included In the Appendix, page 93 * These four areas were selected after Investigating the existing tools for measuring socioeconomic status#

The construction of these tools or a review of

the related studies needs to be mentioned only to designate those which have been the more important in influencing this study# Bibliography*

(See

10, H , 15, 25, 27, 30, 33, 42, 53, 62, 69, 71, 77,

78, 79, 80, 83, 84)

Several authors arrived at a score of socio­

economic status by measuring a few factors in lieu of using detailed questionnaires covering many areas#

When any single criterion was

used, occupation appeared to be the one most frequently employed and to give the most reliable index#

37 All of the research to measure socioeconomic status reflects the prestige value which society place® upon material objects.

Th©

possession or non-possession of such objects, as well as occupation, lineage, language, leisure activities, etc., plays an important role In the social status which individuals have acquired.

In th© final

analysis one cannot disregard the fact that such factors, based upon the opinion of others, determine the class position the individual reaches. The four areas selected for this measure emphasise the prestige factor*

They are interrelated ©o that each affects the other.

.Qs&^ .ti.qa The scales of occupational prestige constructed by Hieronymus (30*78) were used to assign a value to the occupation of the head of the house.

These scales were developed by the method of equal-appearing

intervals.

The final scales Include 140 occupations for males ranging

in scale value from 0*2 to 10.8 and 76 occupations for females ranging in scale value from Oil to 10.8.

A few occupations reported on the

questionnaires were not listed in the Hieronymus scale.

These were

assigned arbitrary values based on th© United States Bureau of Census classifications listed in statistical Abstracts o£ the United $tateg.# 1949 (76) and Classified Xn&aaE of

(75).

Bom© Conveniences Conveniences in the home were raw ©cored as follows*

Items

% through 7 on Part I of the questionnaire received one credit point for a *7©®" response, two for a *no*.

Be spouses to Item 8 were weighted

38 &s followst

electric refrigerator, on© credit point3 gas refrigerator,

two; ic® box, three; and no response, four.

Th© Minimum score of

seven indicated a high rating, the maximum score of sixteen, a low rating.

These rair scores were converted into standard scores*

House Evaluation In order to arrive at a score for ©valuation of house, the Ames Tax Assessor permitted use of the assessment files.

The final

assessment value is a composite of the values of specific items re­ garding the house and lot, condition of the house, size, building material, and location*

The grad© assigned try the assessor in evalua­

ting homes was utilized in arriving at a score for socioeconomic status.

The table below presents both the grades assigned by the

assessor and the equivalent ranks in raw scores utilized by the writer# A 1 20 or BS of 1 represents the highest rank. Table X Assessment Grades and Raw Scores for Determining House Evaluation Assessment Grade

KS

A429 A415 A A*45 68415 BE 66-5 B415 1412 6410 £48 Ml 645

1 a 3 A 5 6 7 3 9 10 11 12 13

Assessment Grad® B43 B B-5 B-10 B-15 0415 0410 048 045 0 *0