THE EFFECTS OF TWO ATTEMPTS AT PLANNED CHANGE UPON COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE OUTCOMES OF 4-6 GRADE LEARNERS

Introduction. This study chronicled one school district's implementation of two complex attempts at change; determined the effects of the two programs upon a cognitive and an affective outcome among 4-6 grade students; and compared the programs in combination and singly to one another and a control group. The two programs studied were Project Life, a responsible life skills curriculum integrated into health and social studies; and Clinical Teaching, an instructional model developed by Madeline Hunter at UCLA.;Results. The repeated measures analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the four groups in perceived social well-being (p < .01) and social studies achievement (p < .0001). Pair-by-pair comparisons indicated that the control group scored significantly higher in perceived social well-being than the Project Life group (p < .01) and the Clinical Teaching group (p < .05). In social studies achievement the Clinical Teaching group scored significantly higher than the control group (p < .01) and the Clinical Teaching group (p < .05). In social studies achievement the Clinical Teaching group scored significantly higher than the control group (p < .01) and the Project Life group (p < .001); and the Project Life plus Clinical Teaching group scored significantly higher than the Project Life group (p < .001) and the control group (p < .001). On the other hand, further analysis to test the practical significance of these differences revealed no significant differences among the four groups on either variable.;Conclusions. (1) Incorporation of the affective activities that were a part of Project Life into social studies had no significant effect on students' perceived social well-being; (2) Clinical Teaching, and Project Life plus Clinical Teaching had significantly more effect upon social studies achievement than Project Life and the control group.;Methods. Four groups made up of 25 intact 4-6 grade classrooms in three schools representing different socio-economic levels were studied. Two dependent variables were examined through a pretest/posttest non-equivalent control group design. The scale score on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, Social Studies, Form S (CTB/McGraw Hill, 1974) was used to operationalize social studies achievement. Perceived social well-being was operationalized through use of the composite score on the Perception of Values Inventory (Simpson, 1973). Twelve null hypotheses comparing all possible pairs on both dependent variables were tested.