Files
Abstract
This non-experimental, correlational research study examined perceptions of public high school principals toward racial/ethnic-based affirmative action and class-based affirmative action measures and post-secondary admissions preferences. Four research questions guided the study: (1) What are perceptions of principals toward race/ethnicity-based affirmative action measures and preferences in college or university admissions? (2) What are perceptions of principals toward class-based affirmative action measures and preferences in college or university admissions? (3) What is the best set of predictors to explain the variance in perceptions of principals toward race/ethnicity-based affirmative action measures and post-secondary admissions preferences? (4) What is the best set of predictors to explain the variance in perceptions of principals toward class-based affirmative action measures and post-secondary admissions preferences? Public high school principals in the State of Georgia were surveyed using an instrument created specifically for this study. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was used as the framework for this study and selection of predictor and criterion variables was guided by the TRA. The mean, standard deviation, and range of principals perceptions were reported and used to answer the first two research questions. Multiple regression was used to answer research questions three and four in this study. Major conclusions drawn from data analysis were as follows. Principals perceptions toward class-based measures were definitively more favorable than their perceptions toward race/ethnicity-based measures, the best set of predictors to explain the variance in perceptions of principals toward race/ethnicity-based measures were principals race/ethnicity and principals political affiliation, and the best set of predictors to explain the variance in perceptions of principals toward class-based measures were principals age and principals gender.