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PERSONALITY VARIATIONS AMONG LOWER-CLASS CHILDREN WERE EXPLORED BY (1) DEVISING AND REFINING THEORY-RELEVANT METHODS OF PERSONALITY MEASUREMENT AND (2) USING THESE METHODS TO INVESTIGATE DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGE AND TO ORGANIZE PROGRAMS OF DIFFERENTIAL EDUCATIONAL TREATMENTS. GROUPS OF SEVERAL HUNDRED STUDENTS FROM A "CULTURALLY DEPRIVED" JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, WERE TWICE ADMINISTERED A BATTERY OF 12 MEASURES DURING 2 CONSECUTIVE YEARS. SUCH VARIABLES AS CONCEPTUAL LEVEL, NEGATIVISM, SOCIAL DESIRABILITY, ANXIETY, AND CURIOSITY WERE MEASURED. COMPARISONS WERE MADE BETWEEN THE FIRST- AND SECOND-YEAR SCORES TO DETERMINE A "CHANGE SCORE" FOR EACH VARIABLE. TEACHER RATING AND IQ MEASURES WERE ADMINISTERED DURING THE SECOND YEAR ONLY. RESULTS OF ALL MEASURES WERE ANALYZED BY ESTABLISHING THE FOLLOWING TEST SCORE GROUPS--(1) INDIVIDUAL TEST GROUPS BY SEX, (2) CLASSROOM GROUPS BY SCHOOL GRADE, AND (3) TEST-RETEST CORRELATION GROUPS. CROSS-VALIDATIONS WERE ACCOMPLISHED AND COMPARISONS MADE WITH MIDDLE-CLASS PEER GROUPS ON ALL CONCEPTUAL LEVEL MEASURES. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT RESULTS OF THE OVERALL PROJECT WERE IN THE AREA OF HOMOGENOUS CLASSROOM GROUPING (NOT ORIGINALLY PLANNED FOR INVESTIGATION), WHILE RESULTS OF THE MAJOR PROJECT AIM, THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHANGE INDICATORS, WERE LESS SIGNIFICANT. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT A MORE INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACH MUST BE TAKEN BEFORE REWARDING RESULTS IN THE AREA OF DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGE CAN BE RECOGNIZED. (RS)

EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS, HIGHLY STRUCTURED OR UNSTRUCTURED, WERE DIFFERENTIALLY EFFECTIVE WITH STUDENTS OF VARYING PERSONALITIES. THE REPORT CONSIDERED THE UTILITY AND RELEVANCE OF THE CONCEPTUAL SYSTEMS MODEL BY DESCRIBING A SPECIFIC PROJECT IN WHICH THE MODEL SERVED AS THE BASIS FOR FORMING HOMOGENEOUS CLASSROOM GROUPS. THE PROJECT WAS CONDUCTED WITH A POPULATION OF LOWER CLASS CHILDREN, PRIMARILY NEGRO, SELECTED FROM THE NINTH GRADE. THE CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS ON THE BASIS OF PREVIOUS TESTS--ONE GROUP WAS CHARACTERIZED BY A FAILURE TO INCORPORATE THE GENERALIZED STANDARD, THE SECOND, BY THE GENERALIZED STANDARD WHICH DEFINED RIGHT FROM WRONG AND ONE'S CONFORMITY TO THIS STANDARD, AND THE THIRD, BY A "BREAKAWAY" FROM THE STANDARD AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-SCORED STANDARDS. THE GENERAL AIM OF THE EXPLORATORY STUDY WAS TO OBTAIN SOME INDICATION OF THE EDUCATIONAL RELEVANCE OF THE MODEL BY EXPOSING DIFFERENT STAGE-SIMILAR CLASSROOM GROUPS TO THE SAME ENVIRONMENT. THE 147 STUDENTS WERE ASSESSED ON A BATTERY OF SYSTEM-RELEVANT MEASURES. INTELLIGENCE WAS ALSO USED AS A BASIS FOR CLASSIFICATION. THE DIFFERENT STAGE GROUPS WERE OBSERVED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS, EACH SCHEDULED WITH THE SAME ENGLISH, SCIENCE, AND SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS. THE THREE TEACHERS WERE TOLD TO TEACH THESE CLASSES IN WHATEVER WAYS SEEMED APPROPRIATE TO THEM. THE TEACHERS GAVE EVALUATIONS OF TEACHING PROCEDURE AND CLASS PERFORMANCE AT THE END OF THE STUDY. RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE FIRST GROUP WAS, AS EXPECTED, POORLY ORGANIZED AND UNINTERESTED IN SCHOOL AND HAD A VERY SHORT ATTENTION SPAN. THE SECOND WAS, AS EXPECTED, CONCERNED WITH PROPRIETY, WITH MAKING A GOOD IMPRESSION AND OBTAINING GOOD GRADES. THE THIRD GROUP WAS, AS PREDICTED, MORE INDEPENDENT, QUESTIONING, AND SELF-DIRECTED. THTHTHIS PAPER WAS READ AT THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION SYMPOSIUM, CHICAGO, FEBRUARY 20, 1964.