THE CONCERN OF THIS PROJECT WAS TO ANALYTICALLY COMPARE THE VERIDICALITY AND ACCURACY OF THE SOCIAL ROLE COGNITIONS ABOUT PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS--THAT IS, HOW SIMILAR ARE THE GENERAL PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHER BEHAVIOR TO THEIR ACTUAL BEHAVIOR (VERIDICALITY), AND HOW WELL MATCHED ARE THE PERCEPTIONS ATTRIBUTED TO TEACHERS TO THE ACTUAL BEHAVIORAL PERCEPTIONS HELD BY THE TEACHERS THEMSELVES (ACCURACY). ANTECEDENTS OF BOTH VERIDICALITY AND ACCURACY WERE ALSO EXPLORED, USING TWO INDEPENDENT VARIABLES OF POSITIONAL EXPERIENCE (AWARENESS) AND POSITIONAL DISTANCE (NONAWARENESS). DATA WERE COLLECTED BY QUESTIONNAIRE DURING GROUP INTERVIEWS. THE FORM HAD 50 ITEMS OF TEACHER BEHAVIOR IN A SPECIFIC BACKGROUND OR SETTING. RESPONDENTS INCLUDED TEACHERS, PARENTS, SCHOOL OFFICIALS, AND EDUCATION AND NONEDUCATION STUDENTS. IT WAS DETERMINED AFTER ANALYZING THE DATA OBTAINED FROM THE SAMPLE THAT POSITIONAL EXPERIENCE WAS NOT A POTENT ENOUGH VARIABLE TO PREDICT WITH MUCH RELIABILITY THE DEGREE OF VERIDICALITY AND ACCURACY IN TEACHER ROLE COGNITIONS. FURTHER RESEARCH WAS RECOMMENDED IN THE AREAS OF MOTIVATIONAL AND CONFLICT VARIABLES, VARIETIES OF CONSENSUS AND BEHAVIORAL UNIFORMITY. THE REPORT WAS PREPARED AS A THESIS AND AS A SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENT TO COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT NO. 371, ENTITLED "ROLE OF THE TEACHER AND OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE." (JH)