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completing the survey; all talked loudly at once. They got out of
their seats to personally ask me questions and show me their answers.
At no time were they disrespectful, but they were difficult to keep
organized and on task as we filled out the surveys together. Some
of the questions they asked were discussed in Chapter Three. Suffice
it to say that many gave the impression their reading comprehension
was not well developed and they had never before completed a survey.
Students' and parents' responses in completing the letters of permission
gave a similar impression. Many students asked where they should sign
their names, even though there is a specifically labeled and designated
line.
The results of the survey may be questioned because of the students'
observed reading comprehension difficulties and because of the dis
crepancies in the answers that were discussed in the previous section
under Results. However, the responses of the students' surveys are
fairly consistent with the responses on the parents' survey. This
consistency is at least an indication of reliability.
The data on the self-report of language fluency in English and
Spanish provides the most interesting analysis. Students appear to
have an accurate perception of their ability in English as evidenced
by the correlations between English self-ratings, rank on oral score,
and rank on total score.
There were no similar correlations in Spanish. The teachers
stated that the students gave them the impression that the students
believed they had been well educated in Cuba,when in reality they were
not. According to the Cuban-American teachers, in Cuba, children are