Are the Critics Right About MACOS

Abstract Man: A Course of Study (MACOS) has been perhaps the most controversial curriculum in America's schools. Critics have charged that MACOS contributes to an acceptance of practices repugnant to a large segment of the population. These practices include: murder, senilicide, female infanticide, divorce, cannibalism, and cruelty to animals. The present study investigated the effects of MACOS on the attitudes of 49 fourth-grade students toward these practices and compared them with the attitudes of 46 non-MACOS students. A pre and posttest attitudinal inventory (with six sub-scales) was administered to both groups. Hotelling's T was used to compare pretest-posttest differences between the two groups. It was concluded that MACOS did not contribute to an acceptance of the six practices investigated.