The relationship between student perceptions of the application of due process rights and student attitudes

• Main Author: Spruce, John V.
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 2003
• Subjects: Education
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/1920; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3506&context=dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between due process rights and various school-related issues and functions as perceived by students. A review of literature indicated that students' perceptions of these issues and functions have tended to effect attitudes and behavior of students by alienating certain groups of students from the academic and social processes. This study utilized quantitative methods to determine the relationships between due process rights and school-related issues and functions (school climate, school policy, attitude toward authority figures, and classroom learning environment). Over 2000 questionnaires were given to ten moderators who were each responsible for one school site out offive middle schools and five high schools in the Dekalb County School System. One thousand seventy-eight questionnaires were returned correctly. In the study, suspension and expulsion data from the survey are presented as descriptive statistics to gain insight into the attitudes and behavior patterns of the survey participants. The dependent and independent variables were analyzed using the Pearson r correlation coefficient and the Partial Correlation statistical tools. The 0.05 level of significance was used to test the null hypothesis. The following are the findings of this study: (I) There is a significant relationship between due process rights and school climate as perceived by students; (2) There is a significant relationship between due process rights and school policy as perceived by students; (3) There is a significant relationship between due process rights and students' attitudes toward authority figures as perceived by students; (4) There is a significant relationship between due process rights and classroom learning environment as perceived by students; ( 5) There is a significant relationship between due process rights and school climate as perceived by students in terms of(a) gender, (b) race, and (c) school type; ( 6) There is a significant relationship between due process rights and school policy as perceived by students in terms of(a) gender, (b) race, and (c) school type; (7) There is a significant relationship between due process rights and students' attitudes toward authority figures in terms of(a) gender, (b) race, and (c) school type; (8) There is a significant relationship between due process rights and classroom learning environment as perceived by students in terms of(a) gender, (b) race, and (c) school type.