Community and school

This qualitative study examined the role expectations of participants on School Advisory Councils (SACs). Selected teachers, principals, parents, and community members were interviewed, SAC meetings observed, and SAC documents analyzed in an investigation into the roles of the SAC and SACs' impact on school reform. Data was transcribed, coded, triangulated, and analyzed to understand the views of SAC members. The study resulted in nine major findings: (a) State and local policies are unclear about the actual role of SAC, (b) past histories and current contexts shaped participation in SAC, (c) involvement in SAC was a result of personal motivation, (d) availability of information was an important reason for participation in SAC, (e) SAC participation brought the opportunity to have a voice and vote, (f) reform of curriculum, instruction, and assessment was not addressed by SAC, (g) SAC serves mainly as support, (h) the accomplishments of SAC are elusive, and (i) principals and chairs of SAC have the clearest view of the role of the SAC. The study concludes that SAC makes no significant impact on school reform, that connections between SAC and school reform are difficult to identify and recommends further research, a lessening of emphasis on high-risk, state-mandated assessments; and a change in state law to clarify the role of SAC.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to find out if attending an adult education course at the local high school had an effect on adults' opinion of the day-time operations in the same building. Procedure. A sample of 233 adults rated the local secondary school on a scale of 1 to 7. After they attended various ten-week adult education interest courses, 68 of the pretest sample were retested. The mean opinions of several demographic sub-groups of the pretest sample by age, sex, type of dwelling (a socioeconomic indicator), length of residency, and education were compared. Findings. I. The ex post facto pretest revealed: (1) Night school clients rated the day school higher than non--participants. (p < .01) (2) Parents of high school student rated the school higher than non-parents. (p < .01) (3) Clients who had taken evening courses previously rated the day school higher than new clients. (p < .01) (4) New night school clients initially rated the day school no higher than non-clients. (5) Older adults rated the school higher than adults 28 and under. (p < .001) (6) There was no difference between male and female ratings. (7) Those living in separate homes rated the school higher than those from townhouses and apartments. (p < .05) (8) Those who lived five years or longer in the community rated the school higher than those who arrived more recently. (p < .001) (9) The level of education showed no effect on the rating. II. The test-retest analysis of variance revealed: (1) New clients showed a significant gain in their opinion of the day school at the end of their first night school course. (2) Those who had attended evening courses previously showed no gain in their rating after the course. III. Other findings included: (1) The night school itself was rated high, social advantages and instruction getting the most positive reaction. (2) The high school's programs, facilities and extramural activities received the most praise and discipline the most criticism. (3) Non-parent night school clients who rated the day school lowest on the pretest, rated it highest on the posttest. Recommendations. (1) Since evening school has a positive effect on participants' opinion of the day school, it is in the day school's best interests to promote adult education in the school. Community education should continue to be expanded and developed. (2) Night school is a low-risk opportunity for citizens to get involved with the local high school. Some may continue to get more involved into decision-making organizations like the school board, PTA and advisory councils. Future research could explore ways to get adults more involved to help bridge the widening gap between parents and their children who are in large school operations. (3) The local high school should make a continuous effort to communicate with all community citizens. Non-parents who receive much of their information via the media need more direct interaction with the school so they become aware of the positive things happening there.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the positive contributions of community social agencies and institutions outside the home and school on the literacy and academic success of black youth members. Recent assessment at the State's level indicates that 37 percent of the state's 11th graders failed Part II of the Florida State Student Assessment Test (formerly termed the Functional Literacy Test) during the Fall of 1977. Evaluation of the Fall, 1978, testing revealed that 26 percent of the State's 11th graders failed to show mastery of skills necessary to be considered functionally literate. A closer exploration of these statistics revealed that a particular segment of the 11th graders--specifically, black youth--performed in a reverse order: 78 percent of black 11th graders failed in the Fall of 1977, and 61 percent failed again during the Fall of 1978. This data indicated that black students at the 11th grade level failed twice as often as their white counterparts. The Fall of 1979 testing showed some gain on the part of all 11th graders, however, black 11th graders continue to fail at a disproportionate rate. The sample in this study was drawn from the four high schools situated in the north and central-mainland areas of Brevard County, Florida. The sample includes only those black students who had attempted the State Student Assessment Program during their residency in Brevard County, Florida. There currently is no well-defined methodology relating to the informal learning of children. This study attempted to develop a model which scaled a child's participation in activities which may foster informal learning. Scaled participating was based of membership, office held, committee chaired, and the number of hours per week of involvement in community-based activities. The data compiled and analyzed for the subject population yielded a correlation between community institutional participation and demonstrated literacy on the State Student Assessment Test. The scores were tabulated for each respondent. The data were transmitted to IBM computer cards and submitted for statistical analyses through the use of the Florida Atlantic University's Computer Center. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to compute Pearson's product-moment Correlation, in addition the Fisher t-test was used to verify the level of significance in deciding to reject or accept the research hypothesis at the .05 level of confidence. Conclusions and Recommendation. In testing the hypothesis, there were no significant differences at the .05 level of significance in students who participated in community institutions' activities and those students having little or no participation in community institutions' sponsored activities. Based on the statistical analysis of the responses, the previously stated hypothesis should be rejected. However, a very interesting phenomenon appears when females who participated in headstart programs are compared with females who had not participated in the headstart programs. The female students with headstart exposure experienced a higher degree of success in passing the SSAT. There was not a significant difference in the achievement of black male students with headstart exposure as compared with the black male students without headstart exposure. It is concluded from the results of these analyses that a variety of variables, outside of the home and school, do play a role in the general literacy of our youth. If educational systems are to become more effective, all segments of the community must be provided ways to become involved in the creation of proper learning environments. It is recommended that a replication of this study be made utilizing a large urban district. It is also recommended that replication of this study be made using the white counterpart to this study.