Interpersonal Distancing, School Climate, and Satisfaction Among Black and White Students in Rural and Urban Desegregated High Schools.

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to discover the differences between black and white students in urban and rural desegregated high schools with regards to their interpersonal distancing based on race, perceptions of school climates for achievement and satisfaction with educational services and secondly, to determine the influence relationships between these factors. The author developed six research questions to guide the analyses of survey data collected by the Program for Educational Opportunity (PEO), the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The samples in the study consisted of 263 black and 161 white students r and omly selected from two desegregated high schools in the State of Michigan. The results indicated: (1) white students had greater desire for classroom interpersonal distancing based on race than black students, though the two groups were not different in out-of-classroom interpersonal distancing; (2) black students had more positive perceptions of school climates for achievement and satisfaction with educational services than did white students; (3) black and white students at the rural school showed greater desire for interpersonal distancing based on race and less positive perceptions of school climates for achievement (.01) than those at the urban school; (4) black and white students in the rural school showed greater satisfaction with counseling services and black and white students in the urban school showed greater satisfaction with the kind of education and overall educational services they were receiving. The two schools were not different in the satisfaction of black and white students with after school activities; (5) mutual influence relationships existed between out-of-classroom interpersonal distancing based on race, perceptions of school climates for achievement and satisfaction with educational services of both black and white students; and (6) the subjects' classroom interpersonal distancing based on race did not significantly influence nor was it influenced by either their perceptions of school climates for achievement or their satisfaction with educational services. Several recommendations were made for further research and educational practice.