Journal of American Indian Education-Arizona State University

Journal of American Indian Education

Volume 1 Number 1
June 1961

COMPARISON OF STANDARDIZED TEST RESULTS OF
INDIAN AND NON-INDIAN IN AN INTEGRATED
SCHOOL SYSTEM

David O. Lloyd
Director of Guidance and Special Services
Mesa Public Schools, Mesa, Arizona

BACKGROUND

The city of Mesa, Arizona, has two Indian reservations in its immediate proximity. These are the Salt River and the Fort McDowell Indian Reservations. The Indian population on the Salt River Reservation is composed mainly of Pimas and Maricopas, and the Fort McDowell Reservation is composed largely of Yavapai-Apaches. Mesa has been the trade center for both reservations for many years.

The Salt River separates the reservations from the Mesa metropolitan area except for a small comer of the Salt River Reservation which lies to the south of the river. Many of the children in this section have attended the Lehi Public School in the Mesa School District for many years.

There is and has been a day school located on the Salt River Reservation for many years, but only during the past five years has there been an organized, cooperative effort between the day school and the Mesa Public Schools to work on the problem of integration and education of both tribes by the Mesa Public Schools.

At the present time the Mesa Public Schools are educating all Indians on both reservations from the 7^th through the 12^th grade. All of the Indian students in the Fort McDowell reservation are educated in the Mesa Public Schools and many of the Salt River Indian students in grades 1-6 are also educated in the Mesa system.

The elementary students are dispersed into five elementary schools. The Junior High School age Indians are all located at one school plant as are the High School Students.

Every attempt has been made to treat the Indian student the same as the regular non-Indian student.

Since 1958 the Mesa Public Schools, in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, has employed a person on the guidance staff to work directly with the Indian students. He has been very effective in his work with the Indian students and with the Tribal Councils. Because of the activities of this man and the fact that a large number of Indian families have been sending their children to the Mesa Public Schools for many years, it would appear that the sociological and psychological factors of integration and assimilation were working to the extent that many Indians were identifying themselves more and more with the non-white culture; therefore the major hypothesis of this paper will be that the Indian student in the Mesa Public Schools is doing as well, both intellectually and academically, as the non-Indian student.

CURRENT ENROLLMENT

The present Indian and non-Indian populations in the Mesa Public Schools are shown in Table I.

TABLE I

Indian and Non-Indian Students in the

Mesa Public Schools, Mesa, Arizona, 1961

GRADE	INDIAN	NON-INDIAN	TOTAL
1	37	1,232	1,269
2	32	1,283	1,315
3	28	1,063	1,091
4	26	1,053	1,079
5	15	1,024	1,039
6	28	1,014	1,042
7	32	1,042	1,074
8	30	1,057	1,087
9	21	817	838
10	22	686	708
11	13	621	634
12	5	577	582
TOTAL	289	11,469	11,758

TEST RESULTS

The California Tests of Mental Maturity, Short Form, and the California Achievement tests were administered to all students in the Mesa Public Schools as follows: Intelligence–Grades 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10; Achievement–Grades 3-8 and 10. The test results were reported in terms of Stanines. The Stanine is a standard score of nine which is based on the normal curve. The normal curve is divided into nine parts to correspond to the standard deviation. The Stanine of 5 is average and represents a band of scores from a -.25 to a +.25. The Stanine of 1 is low and the 9 is high. A difference of 3 between two stanine scores is significant at the 1% level of confidence.

Intelligence

Intelligence test results were available on 65% or 188 of the 289 available Indian students. By comparison, test results were available for 82% of the nonIndian population.

In Table II the Intelligence Test results are presented. The scores shown are mean Intelligence Quotients and are not stanines.

TABLE II

A Comparison Between Indian and Non-Indian Mean Intelligence Test Scores

on the California Test of Mental Maturity-Short Form, by Grade,

1960-1961,* Mesa Public Schools

Grade and Population	Number Taking Test	% of 1960-61 Total Enrollees	TEST RESULTS
Grade and Population	Number Taking Test	% of 1960-61 Total Enrollees	Language	Non-Language	Total
2. Indian Non-Indian	32	100	92.8	96.2	94.5
2. Indian Non-Indian	1220	95	107.9	104.9	106.4
3. Indian Non-Indian	17	61	87.5	94.4	91.1
3. Indian Non-Indian	938	88	104.0	104.0	104.0
4. Indian Non-Indian	25	96	94.5	95.7	95.2
4. Indian Non-Indian	971	92	105.5	110.0	107.7
5. Indian Non-Indian	10	67	93.4	101.2	97.5
5. Indian Non-Indian	877	87	102.3	110.2	106.3
6. Indian Non-Indian	22	79	87.5	89.9	88.9
6. Indian Non-Indian	919	91	104.2	103.5	103.8
7. Indian Non-Indian	18	56	93.4	92.8	93.3
7. Indian Non-Indian	879	84	103.9	103.3	103.1
8. Indian Non-Indian	30	100	84.0	90.6	88.7
8. Indian Non-Indian	953	90	101.4	102.7	102.0
9. Indian Non-Indian	10	48	82.7	91.8	87.3
9. Indian Non-Indian	720	88	101.3	101.1	101.2
10. Indian Non-Indian	16	73	83.1	85.9	84.5
10. Indian Non-Indian	665	97	96.7	97.4	97.1
11. Indian Non-Indian	7	54	84.3	85.6	85.0
11. Indian Non-Indian	641	103	98.3	100.2	99.2
12. Indian Non-Indian	1	20	75.0	88.0	82.0
12. Indian Non-Indian	621	108	93.7	100.1	96.9

*Note: Even numbered Grades show 1960-61 test results, except for the 12th grade, which shows 1958-59 test results. Odd numbered grades show 1959-60 test results.

It is apparent from Table II that the Indian consistently has a lower Intelligence Quotient on the CTMM than the Non-Indian for all three areas: language, non-language, and total mental. A closer scrutiny of Table II shows that with the exception of the seventh grade, the Indian non-language score is higher than his language. The non-Indian population is inconsistent in this regard.

Another interesting fact is that, with few exceptions, for both Indian and non-Indian, when the even grades or the odd grades are considered, as the grade increases, the total 1. Q. drops. (The reason for dividing the even grades from the odd is due to the fact that the even grades were administered the intelligence test in the school year 1960-61, while the odd grades were tested in the school year 1959-60, except for the 12th grade, which was tested in 1958-59.)

A graphic picture of the language, non-language, and total intelligence test results of the Indian and non-Indian populations, as a whole, without regard to grade, is shown in Figure 1. These are presented in terms of stanines and compare the distribution of the total Indian with the total non-Indian population.

There appears to be a decided difference between the Indian and Non-Indian Intelligence patterns as shown in Figure 1. However, the non-language pattern is more nearly the same, whereas there is a decided difference in the language pattern which also shows up in the total mental pattern.

The "t" test for significant difference was applied to the above data with the finding that there was a significant difference on total mental scores at all grade levels 2-11 beyond the 1% level of confidence.

Achievement

1960-61 California Achievement test scores were available on all grade levels from 3-10 for both the Indian and non-Indian population with the exception of the ninth grade (here the 1959-60 test scores were used). These test results are shown in Table 1111 and are reported in terms of stanine.

TABLE III
COMPARISON OF INDIAN AND NON-INDIAN
ACHIEVEMENT TEST SCORES

IN TERMS OF STANINE, CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TEST,

1960-61, Mesa Public Schools, Grades 3-10

						SUBJECT AREA
Grade and Population	Number Taking Test	% of 1960-61 Enrollees	Read. Vocab.	Read. Comp.	Total Read.	Arith. Reason.	Arith. Fundam.	Total Arith.	Mechan. English	Spell.	Total Lang.	Total Battery
3^rd Grade Indian Non-Indians	25 943	89 89	4.2 5.3	3.8 5.4	4.0 5.4	4.2 5.3	3.9 4.7	4.1 5.0	4.0 5.0	3.9 5.1	4.0 5.1	4.0 5.1
3^rd Grade Indian Non-Indians	25 966	96 92	5.1 5.9	4.9 5.5	5.0 5.7	3.7 4.9	4.2 4.8	4.0 4.8	5.6 6.3	4.8 5.0	5.2 5.6	4.7 5.4
3^rd Grade Indian Non-Indians	14 927	93 90	4.0 5.5	4.1 5.5	4.1 5.5	2.9 5.4	3.5 5.0	3.2 5.2	4.6 5.7	4.4 4.8	4.5 5.2	3.9 5.3
6^th Grade Indian Non-Indian	22 907	79 89	4.5 5.8	4.1 5.4	4.3 5.6	3.5 5.3	2.9 4.6	3.2 4.9	4.2 5.8	4.3 4.9	4.3 5.4	3.9 5.3
7^th Grade Indian Non-Indian	28 938	88 90	4.0 5.3	4.2 5.5	4.1 5.4-	3.3 5.1	3.4 4.8	3.4 5.0	4.3 5.6	4.1 5.0	4.2 5.3	3.9 5.2
8^th Grade Indian Non-Indian	29 889	97 84	3.4 5.3	3.5 5.2	3.5 5.2	2.7 5.1	2.0 4.9	2.4 5.0	3.9 5.2	3.8 4.4	3.9 4.8	3.2 5.0
9^th Grade* Indian Non-Indian	11 731	52 90	36 5.2	3.8 5.2	3.7 5.2	2.5 4.9	2.1 4.7	2.3 4.8	3.8 4.9	3.2 4.5	3.5 4.7	3.2 4.9
10^th Grade Indian Non-Indian	10 616	45 90	3.6 4.8	3.7 5.4	3.7 5.1	2.4 5.3	2.2 5.1	2.3 5.2	3.7 5.2	3.3 4.0	3.5 4.6	3.2 5.0
*Note: Test scores shown were from tests administered in the 8^th grade, 1959-60.

From Table III it is apparent that the Indian was achieving at a somewhat lower level than the non-Indian in all subjects and at all grade levels. However, there are some interesting patterns that seem to appear in Table III that should be noted.

The difference in total achievement between the Indian and non-Indian seems to be greater from the 8^th grade through the 10^th grade than from the third through the seventh grade.

As a whole, both the Indian and non-Indian experience their greatest difficulty in the arithmetic area. Whereas the Indian seems to do best in the language portion of the test, the non-Indian seems to do best in the reading area.

There is the least difference between the Indian and non-Indian in the subject of spelling. Here the Indian comes closest to equaling the work of the non-Indian. The greatest area of difference between the two groups seems to be in the area of arithmetic reasoning and the arithmetic fundamentals.

The distribution of Indian and non-Indian stanine scores by subject matter is shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4.

As seen from the preceding figures, the reading distribution curves of the two populations appear to be the same type, but the Indian population, as a whole, is achieving less than the non-Indian population.

The same would appear to be true for the arithmetic distribution except in the area of arithmetic fundamentals where the two curves are decidedly different, with the Indian pattern being bi-modal.

In the area of language the two populations seem to have the same type of curve and in the area of spelling the Indian population more nearly approaches the achievement pattern.

"Old Timers" vs. The "Newcomers"

The next facet of the problem investigated was an attempt to answer the question: "Is there a difference in tested intelligence and achievement between the Indian who has spent his entire educational history in the Mesa Public Schools and the Indian who has been in the school system only one or two years?"

To answer this question, two Indian populations were selected in each of the following grades: 6, 8 and 10, for a total of six populations. At the sixth grade level two groups were selected—those who had been in the Mesa Public Schools 5 or more years and those who had been in the school system only 2 years or less. At the eighth grade level the two populations were selected on the basis of 7 or more years and 2 or less years attending the Mesa Public Schools. The tenth grade groups were selected on the basis of 9 or more years and 3 or less years attending the Mesa Schools.

The sixth, eighth and tenth grades were selected because current (1960-61) test results for both intelligence and achievement could be used.

Because of the size of the groups, caution is urged in the interpretation of the results.

Intelligence

In Table IV the mean intelligence scores of the two Indian populations, by grade, are compared.

TABLE IV

COMPARISON OF MEAN INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENTS OF

TWO SELECTED INDIAN POPULATIONS IN THE MESA PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

CTMM-S.F., 1960-61

	Number
Grade and Length of Attendance In Years	of students	Language I.Q.	Non-Language I.Q.	Total I.Q.

10^th Grade 3 or more years 9 or more years	8 5	83.2 85.4	80.4 88.4	81.6 87.0

8^th Grade 2 at less years 7 or more years	13 7	84.7 86.3	92.8 95.3	89.0 91.0

6^th Grade 2 or less years 5 or more years	9 9	91.1 94.2	88.9 102.2	90.3 98.5

From the information presented in Table IV there seems to be evidence that those Indians who have spent their entire educational life in the Mesa Public Schools tend to have a higher mean intelligence quotient for language, non-language and total mental as measured by the California Test of Mental Maturity than those who have been in the system a relatively short time. This appears to be true for all the grade levels selected.

Achievement

In Table V the mean stanine results on the California Achievement Test are shown for the two populations.

Table V
Comparison of Mean Stanine Scores of Two Selected Indian
Populations Attending The Mesa Public Schools, California
Achievement Test, 1960-61

		ACHIEVEMENT AREA
Grade and Length of Attendance in Years	No. of Students	Read. Vocab.	Read. Comp.	Total Read.	Arith. Reason.	Arith. Fund.	Total Arith.	Mech. English	Spell.	Total Lang.	Total Battery
10^th Grade 3 or less years 9 or more years	3 4	4.0 3.8	3.3 4.3	4.0 4.3	3.3 1.8	2.7 1.5	3.3 1.8	4.3 3.5	4.0 3.0	3.7 3.3	4.0 5.1
8^th Grade 2 or less years 7 or less years	13 7	3.5 3.1	3.8 3.0	3.1 3.6	2.9 2.8	2.5 2.8	2.9 2.4	4.1 3.3	4.0 4.0	4.2 3.9	3.5 3.0
6^th Grade 2 or less years 5 or more years	9 10	4.4 4.3	3.8 4.1	4.0 4.5	2.7 3.8	2.5 3.1	2.9 3.7	4.1 4.4	4.5 3.6	4.5 4.1	3.9 4.0

As seen in Table V there seems to be a tendency for those who have been in the Mesa School system for a relatively short period of time to do slightly better on the Achievement Test than those who have spent their entire educational life in the School System.

This appears to be true for the areas of reading vocabulary, arithmetic reasoning in the 8^th and 10^th grades, mechanics of English in the 8^th and 10^th grades, and spelling on the 6^th and 10^th grade level.

The Indian population educated entirely by the Mesa Public tended to do slightly better in reading comprehension in the 6^th and 10^th grades and arithmetic fundamentals on the 6^th and 8^th grades.

In actuality, the difference between the mean scores for both populations on all grade levels and in all subject areas is so small that it must be concluded that no real difference exists between the two groups.

Conclusions

At the present time, the total Indian population in the Mesa Public Schools, as a group, has not attained the same intellectual and academic heights, as measured by standardized tests, as those attained by the non-Indian; however, there are individual Indians who are doing as well as the individual non-Indians at all levels of endeavor.

There appears to be the same trend in intelligence test results among the Indians that appears among the non-Indians, i.e., as the grade increases the overall intelligence level, as shown by the CTMM-S.F., drops.

When the test results of those Indians who have spent their entire educational history in the Mesa Public Schools are compared to those who have been in the Mesa School system only a short period, there appears to be no difference in the achievement ability but there does seem to be a difference in intellectual ability which favors those educated in the Mesa Public Schools. The smallness of this population sample makes firm conclusions difficult.

Although the original thesis of this paper was not supported, it is the opinion of the writer that as more of the Indian students are educated in the Mesa Public Schools, as greater cooperation between the Tribal Council and the School District is established, as more parental interest on the part of the Indians is developed, and as the effects of the work of the counselor who works with the Indian students are experienced, the Indian student will make intellectual and academic strides to the extent that the thesis of this paper, in future years, will be supported.

There appear to be many sociological and psychological factors that may account for the results shown in this article. Chief among them may be the fact that while the Indian student is in an integrated system during the school day, he spends the major portion of his life in a segregated situation where the socio-economic standard is much lower and where many of the enriching experiences are lacking.

Even though there has been an attempt at integration, school population pressures have forced the school authorities to concentrate the Indian students into fewer schools than they desired with the resultant formation of Indian "in-groups" and "cliques." This lack of desired socialization has been enhanced by the tendency of the Indian to be reticent and shy.

The cultural background of the Indian is still quite different than that of the non-Indian population and while strides are being made toward the assimilation of the Indian into the non-Indian culture, there is still much to be accomplished.