A METHOD FOR ASSESSING PRIMARY GRADE CHILDREN'S EXPECTATIONS OF SCHOOL1

An assessment of children's perceptions and expectations concerning the school was attempted, using a structured interview. One hundred thirty two first- and second-grade children drawn from three schools with differential racial composition were asked a series of 10 questions related to life in the classroom. The questions were asked under two conditions; in one the children were referred to a series of sketches depicting classroom events, in the other no sketches were shown. The interviews were repeated after one month to assess the stability of the responses. The results yielded data on substantive questions as: what pupil behaviors teachers value, what teacher behaviors children value, etc. The responses differentiated between the schools from which the subjects were drawn, reflecting their racial composition.