National survey of the attitude of school board members toward community participation--community control

Abstract

Community participation has increased over the last twenty years. The states of California, Florida, Hawaii and South Carolina have mandated representative community advisory councils. The purpose of this study was to investigate on a national level the attitude of local school board members toward community participation-community control within the selected areas of curriculum, finance, personnel and student affairs, and the relationship of this attitude to selected demographic and personal data. The population for this descriptive research was school board member subscribers to The American School Board Journal. A stratified random sample of 17% received the National Questionnaire on Attitudes of School Board Members. Responses were analyzed according to frequency distribution and crosstabulation procedures to determine significance between respondent's attitude and demographic and personal variables. Respondents reported that there were six areas in which the community should be involved, are presently involved, and to which they would be willing to delegate decision-making responsibility. These areas were: Education Objectives; Construction, Renovation or Closing of Schools; Curriculum Evaluation; Determination of Local Tax Rates; Student Discipline; and Expenditures for School Operation. The respondents differed in attitude toward the six areas mentioned above across demographic and personal variables.