Law-Related Education Evaluation Project [United States], 1979-1984
Description
This data collection contains information gathered to
evaluate certain activities of a number of organizations dedicated to
the advancement of law-related education (LRE) in elementary, junior
high, and senior high schools. The organizations whose activities were
evaluated were (1) the Constitution Rights Foundation, (2) Law in a
Free Society, (3) the National Street Law Institute, (4) the American
Bar Association's Special Committee on Youth Education for
Citizenship, (5) the Children's Legal Rights Information and Training
Program, and (6) the Phi Alpha Delta Committee for Juvenile
Justice. The evaluation research dealt primarily with two types of
issues: (1) the degree of increase in awareness of and receptivity
toward LRE among the nation's educators, juvenile justice, and other
related professionals, as well as the degree of institutionalization
of LRE in certain targeted states (i.e., California, Michigan, and
North Carolina), and (2) the degree to which LRE could produce changes
in students' knowledge of and attitudes about the law, and reduce
juvenile delinquency (measured both by self-reported delinquency rates
and by attitudes previously shown to be correlated with delinquent
behavior). In 1981 (Part 1) and again in 1982 (Part 2), questionnaires
were mailed to a sample of professionals in state educational
organizations as well as to elementary and secondary school
principals, juvenile justice specialists, juvenile and family court
judges, police chiefs, and law school deans. Respondents were asked
whether they had heard of the various projects, what they thought of
LRE in terms of its impact on students and usefulness in the
curriculum, whether LRE should be required, what type of publicity had
contributed to their awareness of LRE, and the degree of involvement
they would be willing to have in promoting or developing LRE
programs. In a second component of the study, primary and secondary
school students were selected for an impact evaluation of the LRE
activities run by the six organizations under evaluation.
Questionnaires were administered to students during academic years
1982-1983 (Part 3) and 1983-1984 (Part 4), before and after
participating in LRE courses offered by the programs under
evaluation. Control students (not taking LRE courses) were also used
for the comparisons. The questionnaires tested the knowledge,
attitudes (measuring such factors as isolation from school, delinquent
peer influence, negative labeling, and attitudes toward violence), and
self-reported delinquency of school children. Demographic information
collected about the student respondents includes sex, age, race, grade
in school, and grade-point average.
Resources
| Name |
Format |
Description |
Link |
|
0 |
ICPSR08406.v1 |
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08406.v1 |
Tags
- student-behavior
- outreach-programs
- educational-programs
- program-evaluation
- student-attitudes
- law
- education
- juvenile-justice
- educational-assessment
- junior-high-school-students
- elementary-school-students
- high-school-students
- peer-influence