Date of Graduation

2004

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between the presence of state student free expression laws and the student press practices of public high school principals and student newspaper advisers. Two versions (Form A and Form B) of The Student Press Practices Survey were used to gather self-reported data from principals and advisers. The population of this study consisted of principals and student newspaper advisers at systematically selected public high schools in six states that currently have student free expression laws and in six purposively selected states that do not have such laws. A total of 500 schools were selected from a list of 1,502. The appropriate form of the survey instrument was mailed to the principal and student newspaper adviser at each of the 500 selected schools. Fourteen surveys were returned unusable. The results indicate that there is a significant statistical correlation between the presence of state student free expression laws and principals' student press practices. The results suggest that student free expression laws have led principals in states that have such laws to exhibit significantly less control and influence over their student newspapers than principals in states that do not have such laws. There was not a statistically significant relationship between the presence of state student free expression laws and the amount of control and influence by advisers over student newspapers.

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