0.19 Watts, l., kolsun, c., cline, v., & Williams, l. (october 20  (Page 10/11)

The results of the Cultural Influences Survey (CIS) indicated that the principals believed certain characteristics associated with Appalachian culture had an influence on the aspirations and achievement of students in their schools (see Tables 3 and 4). While ratings of these factors were generally positive, a few elicited higher percentages of negative perception. Concerning the influence of localism (defined as the tendency of Appalachian families to be committed to their land, resulting in families being reared, educated, and working in the same geographical region for several generations), 30.3% of the respondents saw this as a negative or strongly negative factor. Two other characteristics also were rated negatively by several of the principals: (1) historicism, defined as a tendency of individuals in Appalachia to see themselves as part of the family and region in which they were born and reared, was viewed as a negative or strongly negative factor by 20.3%, and (2) familism, a strong family commitment resulting in the maintenance of close family ties in geographical proximity and interpersonal relationships, was rated as negative or strongly negative by 20.8%. No other items received a negative or strongly negative rating by more than 20% of the principals. One question asked the principals if they believed the youth in their schools were like or unlike the average youth of America in their outlook and general approach to education, careers, and aspirations. Fifty-seven percent either found them somewhat or very much alike, but 35.5% saw Appalachian youth as different or very different from the average American youth. The item did not ask principals if being alike or different from other American youth was a positive or negative attribute. There was no relationship between their view of the youth of Appalachia and their responses on the PSE or CIS .

Principals believed that the faculty in their schools had a favorable view of their students’ capabilities of succeeding in school and life (96.2% agreed or strongly agreed). Another factor rated highly was the influence of the school community in promoting education and placing a high value on student success—82.3% agreed or strongly agreed with this premise. It is again important to note that these percentages represent principal perceptions and do not represent objective measures of the actual influence of any of the characteristics in the surveys.

The questions that were the focus of this study related to the relationship, if any, between the responses of principals to the CIS and to the PSE . Were any relationships found? In fact, there were some relationships, though all were in the weak to moderate range. The principals’ view of the influence of teachers’ attitudes, familism, and localism accounted for 45.7% of the variance in their perception of their ability to create a positive learning environment. Familism had a negative β value of -.238, indicating it diminished the principals’ perception of efficacy in this area (at the p<.05 level) . Other relationships were found between teacher attitude and sense of efficacy to facilitate learning ( p of .011 where p<.05), the ability to generate enthusiasm ( p of .003, p<.01), the ability to handle time demands ( p of .024, p<.05), the ability to promote a positive image ( p of .000, p<. 001), the ability to promote values ( p of .000, p<.001), the ability to shape policies and procedures ( p. of .018, p<.05), and the ability to prioritize demands ( p of .043, p<.05).