Motivation in education--Florida

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether children's attitudes toward
reading and their perceptions of themselves as readers impacted their academic
achievement. Additionally, the study investigated the effect oftime spent reading and
reading practice on student achievement. Finally, the research examined whether reading
attitudes and reading practice were moderated by gender or ethnicity.
Participants included 63 third-grade students in a Title I Elementary School.
Students were administered a questionnaire to collect evidence of their reading
preferences and their reading practices. In addition, students kept reading logs as a
measure of what they read and how often they read. The data collected were correlated to
students' reading achievement scale scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment
Test (FCAT).
The study concluded that in the overall study sample, there was a negative correlation for the reading practice item, talking about reading, and FCA T Scale Scores
and a positive correlation between the reading attitude item, how well do you think you
read, and FCA T Scale Scores.
In the examination of the moderation effect for gender, there was a positive
correlation for the reading attitude item reading is important and FCA T Scale Scores for
males. The examination of the moderation effect for ethnicity indicated a negative
correlation between talking about reading and FCAT Scale Scores for White students.

The purpose of this study was to determine if Catholic schools in the state of
Florida were using learning organization principles, and if they were, what effect did it
have on student learning. The study was framed by three concepts: learning organization
principles, student achievement, and contextual factors. The study employed a nonexperimental
design and the school was the unit of study. The study's instrument, called
the Learning Organization Survey for Schools (LOSS), was distributed to fifty Catholic
schools in the state of Florida in the summer of 2006. Each school was asked to distribute
the surveys to ten full-time teachers working at the schools. Thirty-four of the schools
responded for a 7 5. 7 % rate of return.
The study showed that Catholic schools are using learning organization
principles. A reliable instrument was established and achieved face validity through the
use of an expert panel. Mental models were significantly negatively related. Shared
vision was significantly positively related to student achievement. Three statistically significant moderating relationships between the contextual factors, mental models,
shared vision and systems thinking and student achievement were found.
Two major conclusions were drawn from this study. Catholic schools are using
learning organization principles, and shared vision has an impact on the success of a
school. The second conclusion is that schools should work diligently to develop shared
vision if they desire to improve student achievement.