ABSTRACT
Schools, like all complex organizations, are attitude arenas. Members of several diverse groups—public, parents, teachers, students, administration, and staff—develop and maintain attitudes toward each other and toward policies and practices relevant to school functioning. Such attitudes may include racial and ethnic attitudes; attitudes toward those with physical, mental, and emotional handicaps; toward school in general; toward particular aspects of school such as the disciplinary policy, extracurricular activities or homework; toward subject material, such as reading or mathematics; toward curriculum design; and even toward school psychology. These attitudes in turn are thought to play a directive role in the production of behavior, thus affecting the implementation of policy and the outcome of practice. In many instances, such attitudes are of direct or indirect concern to the school psychologist.
