Educational tests and measurements--Florida.

The mixed method study analyzed Florida’s 3rd grade retention policy found in
F.S. 1008.25 for its rational and intended purpose. In addition, the study investigated the
relationship and hypothetical impact of 3rd grade mandatory retention policy on school
grades in elementary schools across the state of Florida. A critical policy analysis used
policy document analysis through the lens of critical race theory. Correlation analyses
investigated the relationship between the practice of holding students back in grade and
the outcomes resulting from high stakes tests moderated by school characteristics of
minority rate, free reduced lunch rate and Title I status. The findings show Florida Statute
1008.25 places some schools with high Minority rates, and high FRL rates in a
paradoxical situation from which the schools cannot escape. All schools are obligated to
enact the terms of education legislation, yet my study demonstrates a negative correlation
for the “majority minority” schools (Darling-Hammond, 2010).

Every year, thousands of Florida public high school graduates seek to enter
Florida state colleges based on a single standardized placement test. This quantitative
study sought to identify an actuarial model, based on multiple measures, as an alternative
to standardized placement tests. The study, grounded on degree completion theories,
examined high school students from the Miami-Dade metropolitan area and their
performance in one first-year mathematics course in Miami Dade College during the Fall
2014 academic term. The study, using a sample size of 10,186 subjects, examined
multiple predictor variables and one outcome variable to measure predictability of
success in Intermediate Algebra.
The study used descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and logistic
regression to develop a multiple measure actuarial model. A quantitative analysis of
archived student records was used in this study. The analysis revealed that the actuarial model, using gender, ethnicity, age, academic objective, academic load, high school
GPA, high school mathematics gap, and high school mathematics curriculum composite
score as predictor variables, was significant in predicting success in Intermediate
Algebra.
The actuarial model correctly classified 1,688 subjects who would fail
Intermediate Algebra, achieving a hit rate of 75% in predicting failure in Intermediate
Algebra. Similarly, the model achieved a hit rate of 54% when classifying subjects who
would pass Intermediate Algebra. The improvement-over-chance index, I, was 44.8%,
representing a 45% reduction in error when classifying subjects who would fail
Intermediate Algebra. Thus, the actuarial model, with all its predictor variables, provides
helpful guidance when advising incoming first-time-in-college (FTIC) students.