Educational tests and measurements--Florida

For the past 20 years the gap in reading achievement has widened between Black and White students across the United States. The No Child Left Behind Act and the Florida A+ Plan require that all students meet proficiency on state-mandated assessments. As individual schools struggle to meet these guidelines, no student can be left behind. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of two different reading instructional methodologies on the 2004 fourth-grade FCAT norm-referenced test (NRT) for Black males. The reading instructional methodologies examined in this study, Harcourt Basal Series and SRA Direct Instruction Program, have been used in Broward County Schools for the past several years. After instruction with either program from Grades 2 through 4, the fourth-grade Black males were administered the FCAT NRT Reading Test during the Spring of 2004. ANOVA statistical analysis was utilized to determine if the program had any effect on the students' achievement in reading as measured by the FCAT. For Basal schools (92 students) and Direct Instruction schools (84 students) means were calculated on the overall scores and the four subtests of the FCAT Reading NRT: Initial Understanding, Interpretation, Critical Analysis, and Strategies. A two-way ANOVA was performed to test for moderation of language and/or birth origin and the FCAT Reading NRT. This study found that there was no statistical significance on FCAT total scores or Subtests---Initial Understanding, Interpretation, or Strategies---for Black males using the Basal or Direct Instruction program. However, student achievement increased on the Critical Analysis subtest of the FCAT NRT for Black males who received Basal Instruction. The study also found that students' primary language or birth origin did not moderate the effectiveness of the instructional program. This study suggests that educators must examine other programs to adequately address Black male students' needs in reading. They may use a Basal, however, for instruction with Black males when Critical Analysis is weak.

The Florida Public Accountability System and the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, FCAT, have been in use since 1996. Since that time, schools have received grades, rewards and sanctions for performance, promotion requirements have changed, and the results of the FCAT are published annually for public scrutiny. With testing required in grades 3 through 11, middle schools (grades 6--8) must test all the students in their schools. A literature review revealed that, although achievement studies, drop out studies, and other data had been analyzed, little research focused on the impact of the FCAT from the perspective of the classroom teacher. This study examines the impact of the Florida Public Accountability System and the FCAT on the middle school classroom from the teacher's perspective. A survey of 130 middle school teachers was conducted in the spring of 2004. The study included closed-ended questions and space for additional comments. The impact was measured based on three variables, the impact on instructional methodologies, the impact on the quality of education and the impact on job satisfaction. Each of these variables was further analyzed to see if the grade of the school in which the teacher works has an effect on their responses to the survey. Furthermore, an analysis was conducted to determine if the subject area which the teacher teaches affected responses to the survey. Results indicate that responses are split on the majority of questions relating to the impact of the FCAT and the Florida Public Accountability System on both the instructional methodologies in classrooms and on the quality of education. These results showing both positive and negative responses between individual teachers indicate a lack of agreement within the teaching profession and create an interesting dynamic for school leaders. The results indicate less disagreement on the effects on job satisfaction with teachers reporting little impact on their own personal job satisfaction however, more impact on staff morale. A school's grade did not appear to influence differences in responses. However, the subject areas that a teacher reported teaching did seem to influence teacher responses. With increasing emphasis on accountability in mind, including Federal No Child Left Behind requirements, further research in this area is recommended.

This research compared the effectiveness of efforts by the Palm Beach County School District and the Miami-Dade County School District to raise academic achievement at 39 comparable low-performing schools in their districts. Palm Beach County School District mandated a highly prescriptive plan that involved intense district staff involvement during the 2003--2004 school year. Miami-Dade County School District utilized a highly descriptive plan that entailed only mild to moderate involvement from district staff. A matched-pair research design was used to examine what differences, if any, existed between the learning gains of comparable schools in Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade County as measured by changes in mean developmental scale scores on the Reading and Math subtests of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Using a two-tailed test comparing the means of the two groups (alpha < .05), there was no statistical significance in the mean changes in mean developmental scale scores (MDSS) in reading, and no significant correlation between the schools in the matched pairs in either reading or math (p > .05). There was statistical significance (t = 2.633; p = .012) in the changes in mean developmental scale scores in math, however, and a test of effect size (d = .69334) indicated that this was of moderate practical significance.