TEACHER PERCEPTION OF PUPIL SOCIOMETRIC CHOICE.

TO HELP TEACHERS WORK WITH CHILDREN WHO ARE SOCIAL ISOLATES IN THE CLASSROOM, 800 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE ASKED TO NAME 3 CHILDREN (1) WITH WHOM THEY WOULD LIKE TO PLAY AND DO THINGS AFTER SCHOOL, AT RECESS, AND AT NOON, (2) WITH WHOM THEY WOULD LIKE TO WORK IN THE ROOM, (3) BESIDE WHOM THEY WOULD MOST LIKE TO SIT, (4) BESIDE WHOM THEY WOULD LEAST LIKE TO SIT. 20 TEACHERS WERE ASKED TO ANTICIPATE THE 3 PUPILS WHO WOULD BE CHOSEN MOST FREQUENTLY AND LEAST FREQUENTLY. RESULTS SUPPORTED THE FOLLOWING INFERENCES--(A) PRIMARY GRADE TEACHERS MAY BE BETTER ABLE TO PREDICT CHILDREN'S CHOICES AND VARY LESS IN THEIR ABILITY TO PREDICT BECAUSE OF THE GREATER INFORMALITY OF THE PROGRAM IN THE EARLY GRADES AND BECAUSE THEY HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITY TO OBSERVE CHILDREN'S CHOICES THAN DO INTERMEDIATE GRADE TEACHERS, (B) INTERMEDIATE GRADE TEACHERS WERE PROBABLY BEST ABLE TO PREDICT CHILDREN'S CHOICES OF PLAYMATES BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO ACTUALLY OBSERVE THIS EVENT, (C) THE LEAST PERCEPTIVE TEACHERS CHOSE CHILDREN ON THE BASIS OF INTELLIGENCE IN ALL 3 CATEGORIES PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY LIKE THE BRIGHTER CHILDREN AND FEEL THAT CHILDREN SHOULD ALSO PREFER BRIGHTER CLASSMATES, (4) PERCEPTIVE TEACHERS MAY BE THOSE WHO ALLOW A WIDER RANGE OF ACTIVITIES IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. THIS DOCUMENT APPEARED IN TEACHERS COLLEGE JOURNAL, JAN. 1966, 37, 161-163. (AW)