| The purposes of this study were to determine the attitudes held by developmental mathematics instructors in Texas community colleges toward developmental mathematics programs and students and the extent of the effect these attitudes have on student success. The study also examined whether or not statistically significant differences exist between instructor attitudes toward developmental education based on the following instructor characteristics: full- or part-time status, number of years of teaching experience, educational level (bachelor's, master's, or doctorate), educational major (mathematics, mathematics education, or other), amount of preparation for teaching, and amount of preparation specific to developmental education.;Developmental mathematics instructors from 32 Texas community colleges participated in the study by completing a personal/social data questionnaire and an attitude survey instrument. The questionnaire focused on the developmental mathematics instructors' background factors needed for the study, and the attitude survey was used to assess the positive and negative attitudes of the instructors. The attitude survey consisted of 26 questions, based on a Likert scale, constructed so that each subject is placed on a continuum according to his or her attitude position. The number of favorable responses determined attitude position, which was a summation of the responses to the scale items. Various descriptive and comparative statistical procedures were applied to the data to address the questions and hypotheses pertinent to the purposes of the study.;The results of the attitude survey indicate an overall positive attitude toward developmental programs and students. Instructors believed that developmental programs are important, that community colleges should continue to provide developmental programs, and that teaching developmental mathematics is a worthwhile vocation. Additionally, most instructors believe that developmental students can be successful if they are interested in their learning and apply themselves.;The study found no significant difference in the instructors' attitude scores based on full- or part-time status, years of teaching experience, educational level, educational major, or amount of preparation specific to teaching. A significant difference was found between subgroups based on the amount of preparation specific to developmental education. Additionally, a small, but statistically significant, correlation was found between attitude scores and student success rates. |
