I* liN
BRIEF
Career Attitudes among Boys with and without Specific Learning Disabilities GRACE BINGHAM Current conceptualizations of career education for exceptional children emphasize affective experiences and activities in regard to occupational choice, as well as preparation in specific job related skills. Children with specific learning disabilities are among the groups included in career education programs. Typically, such children have had less success with school related tasks than have those without specific learning disabilities. If achievement in school is viewed as the logical precursor of achievement in the broader society, then it might be questioned whether children with specific learning disabilities have incorporated attitudes about themselves and their eventual work behaviors that are reflective of their unsuccessful experiences with school. Career attitudes refer to the affective rather than intellectual reactions of individuals toward career choice. Incorporated in the concept are the person's feelings related to involvement in the career choice process, orientation toward work, independence in decision making, preference for career choice factors, and conceptions of the career choice process. Crites' (1971) research using the Attitude Scale of the Career Maturity Index has shown that attitudes mature with age and grade and that they relate closely to the educational process. This study examined the extent to which boys with specific learning disabilities differed from those without specific learning Exceptional Children
disabilities on career attitudes. The null hypothesis of no difference was formulated.
Method A cross sectional design was used to compare two groups, those with and those without specific learning, disabilities at two stages of development, preadolescent (grade 6) and adolescent (grades 9 and 10). Subjects were selected from suburban public school districts in one New Jersey county. The sample consisted of 120 boys: 30 with and 30 without specific learning disabilities at each of the two developmental levels. The specific learning disabilities group was selected from those youngsters who were classified by the district's child study team as perceptually impaired (the classification used in the state of New Jersey to identify children with specific learning disabilities) and who were in regular class placement. For both groups, boys were selected who fell within the average intelligence range (one standard deviation above or below the mean on standardized tests of intellectual ability). All subjects were administered the Attitude Scale of the Career Maturity Index (Crites, 1973) to assess career attitudes. Differences in mean career attitude scores were analyzed by the t statistic; the significance level was set at .05.
Results and Discussion There were significant differences in mean scores between the groups with and without 341
specific learning disabilities at both the preadolescent and adolescent levels. The mean score for preadolescent specific learning disability boys was 25.20 (sd = 5.03) as compared to 32.00 (sd = 5.19) for preadolescent boys without specific learning disability. yielding a t value of 5.15 (p
BRIEF
Career Attitudes among Boys with and without Specific Learning Disabilities GRACE BINGHAM Current conceptualizations of career education for exceptional children emphasize affective experiences and activities in regard to occupational choice, as well as preparation in specific job related skills. Children with specific learning disabilities are among the groups included in career education programs. Typically, such children have had less success with school related tasks than have those without specific learning disabilities. If achievement in school is viewed as the logical precursor of achievement in the broader society, then it might be questioned whether children with specific learning disabilities have incorporated attitudes about themselves and their eventual work behaviors that are reflective of their unsuccessful experiences with school. Career attitudes refer to the affective rather than intellectual reactions of individuals toward career choice. Incorporated in the concept are the person's feelings related to involvement in the career choice process, orientation toward work, independence in decision making, preference for career choice factors, and conceptions of the career choice process. Crites' (1971) research using the Attitude Scale of the Career Maturity Index has shown that attitudes mature with age and grade and that they relate closely to the educational process. This study examined the extent to which boys with specific learning disabilities differed from those without specific learning Exceptional Children
disabilities on career attitudes. The null hypothesis of no difference was formulated.
Method A cross sectional design was used to compare two groups, those with and those without specific learning, disabilities at two stages of development, preadolescent (grade 6) and adolescent (grades 9 and 10). Subjects were selected from suburban public school districts in one New Jersey county. The sample consisted of 120 boys: 30 with and 30 without specific learning disabilities at each of the two developmental levels. The specific learning disabilities group was selected from those youngsters who were classified by the district's child study team as perceptually impaired (the classification used in the state of New Jersey to identify children with specific learning disabilities) and who were in regular class placement. For both groups, boys were selected who fell within the average intelligence range (one standard deviation above or below the mean on standardized tests of intellectual ability). All subjects were administered the Attitude Scale of the Career Maturity Index (Crites, 1973) to assess career attitudes. Differences in mean career attitude scores were analyzed by the t statistic; the significance level was set at .05.
Results and Discussion There were significant differences in mean scores between the groups with and without 341
specific learning disabilities at both the preadolescent and adolescent levels. The mean score for preadolescent specific learning disability boys was 25.20 (sd = 5.03) as compared to 32.00 (sd = 5.19) for preadolescent boys without specific learning disability. yielding a t value of 5.15 (p
