Many educators and lay community leaders feel that one's value system appears to be the most powerful and influential force in existence with respect to influencing the actions of individuals. There is also the feeling that, very little, if any, concerted effort to institute a coherent program of education specifically dealing with values and the impact that same has on the total life of an individual in the school curriculum has been made. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the differences in value systems, if any, among a select group of teachers and students for possible reorganization of the instructional program of the Bibb County Public Schools by determining (1) If there were differences in the value systems of students according to race, (2) If there were differences in the value systems of students according to sex, (3) If there were differences in the value systems of students according to socio-economic status, (4) If there were differences in the value systems of students at the tenth and twelfth grade levels, and (5) If there were differences between the value systems of teachers and students. The descriptive survey method of research was used in this study. The procedures used to obtain the data for this report included (1) a questionnaire which yielded such demographic data as sex, race, grade, and socio-economic status, (2) 800 randomly selected students, 400 tenth graders and 400 twelfth graders, and 100 teachers in grades ten and twelve, (3) a list of 18 terminal values as developed by Milton Rokeach -1- 2 was administered to teachers and students to collect the necessary data to satisfy the purposes of this study. Findings 1. There was a difference in the value systems of students according to race. * Black students and white students differ signifi cantly with respect to the rankings of the follow ing values: A COMFORTABLE LIFE, AN EXCITING LIFE, A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT, EQUALITY, and SALVATION. Black students ranked the following values signifi cantly higher: A COMFORTABLE LIFE, EQUALITY, and SALVATION. White students did so with respect to the following values: AN EXCITING LIFE and A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT. 2. There was a difference in the value systems of students according to sex. * Male students and female students differ signifi cantly with respect to the rankings of the following values: EQUALITY, FAMILY SECURITY, INNER HARMONY, and AN EXCITING LIFE. Male students ranked INNER HARMONY significantly higher. Female students did so with respect to the following values: AN EXCIT ING LIFE, EQUALITY, and FAMILY SECURITY. 3. There was a difference in the value systems of students according to grade levels. * Tenth grade students and twelfth grade students differ significantly with respect to the rankings of the following values: SELF-RESPECT, AN EXCITING LIFE, SALVATION, and HAPPINESS. Tenth grade students ranked the following values significantly higher: HAPPINESS, SALVATION, and SELF-RESPECT. Twelfth grade students did so with respect to the following value: AN EXCITING LIFE. 4. There was a difference in the value systems of students according to socio-economic status. *a. Students of a high socio-economic status, a middle socio-economic status and a low socio-economic status differ significantly with respect to the following values: EQUALITY, FAMILY SECURITY, FREE DOM, and MATURE LOVE. Students of high socio-economic status ranked the following values significantly higher: FAMILY SECURITY and HAPPINESS. *Minimum significant level of acceptance, for purposes of this study was 5 percent as tested by the F ratio. b. Students of the middle socio-economic status did so with the ranking of the following value: MATURE LOVE. c. Students of low socio-economic status did not rank any value significantly higher than students of either the middle socio-economic status or the high socio-economic status. Significantly, they ranked FREEDOM 18 of 18; with their large number (almost half) they determined the cellar placement for this value among students. 5. There was a difference in the value systems of teachers and students. *a. Students and teachers differ significantly with respect to the twelve following values: A COMFORTABLE LIFE, AN EXCITING LIFE, A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT, A WORLD OF BEAUTY, FAMILY SECURITY, HAPPINESS, MATURE LOVE, NATIONAL SECURITY, SALVATION, SOCIAL RECOGNITION, TRUE FRIENDSHIP, and WISDOM. b. Teacher significantly favored the following values: A COMFORTABLE LIFE, AN EXCITING LIFE, A WORLD OF BEAUTY, HAPPINESS, NATIONAL SECURITY, and SOCIAL RECOGNITION. c. Students significantly favored the following values: A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT, FAMILY SECURITY, MATURE LOVE, SALVATION, TRUE FRIENDSHIP, and WISDOM. d. The greatest disparity shows up in AN EXCITING LIFE (teachers, first; students thirteenth) and SALVATION (teachers, seventeenth; students, fourth). e. Clearly, students and teachers differ significantly on two-thirds of the values. *Minimum significant level of acceptance, for purposes of this study was 5 percent as tested by the F ratio.
