Differences Between Teachers' Attitudinal Self-Ratings and Their Principals' Teacher Ideal on a Mathematics Inventory. Research Paper No. 14.

One hundred forty-eight secondary school principals were chosen at random and asked to select one teacher at random from the mathematics faculty of their schools. Both were administered the Mathematics Inventory for Teachers, an instrument designed to measure attitudes toward mathematics as a subject and toward its teaching. The principals were asked to respond as they believed an ideal mathematics teacher would, while the teachers were asked to express their own beliefs and opinions. The results were factor analyzed, and the principals and teachers differed in two of the eight factors. It appears that teachers are not as responsive to student needs as their principals would have them be. The principals would have their teachers give more attention to students who are having difficulty learning the subject. In addition, the principals' responses showed a more narrow, conservative conception of the function of mathematics instruction while the teachers were more cognizant of the need for higher order outcomes in mathematics. (BB)