Smith, Lawrence E.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship
between students who withdrew from selected mathematics courses and
students who completed selected mathematics courses at Indian River
Community College for the academic years 1975-76, 1976-77, and
1977-78. Summary: Two types of withdrawals were considered; formal withdrawal
and informal withdrawal. Formal withdrawal was defined to be those
students who officially withdrew from a course. Informal withdrawal
was defined to be those students who ceased to attend class
but had not gone through official channels of withdrawal.
In analyzing the problem of withdrawals, prerequisite skills
and the socio-economic level of the student were considered. The
lack of prerequisite skills was determined by the score the students attained on the Indian River Community College Mathematics Placement
Test. The socio-economic level of the student was determined by
whether or not the individual was receiving financial assistance
through a Basic Economic Opportunity Grant.
A review of the literature showed that many factors contributed
to the success or failure of students. Among the many factors were
necessary prerequisite skills and socio-economic level of students,
two areas of concentration in this study. Conclusions: 1. There was a significant difference in prerequisite skills
between those students who withdrew and those students who completed
selected mathematics courses.
2. There was a significant difference between the proportion
of formal withdrawals from College Algebra for those students
identified as socio-economically deprived and those students identified
as nonsocio-economically deprived.
3. There was a significant difference between the proportion
of informal withdrawals from the lower level freshman mathematics courses for students identified as socio-economically deprived and
those students identified as nonsocio-economically deprived.

This study examines the roles of community school coordinators
and community school advisory council members, the satisfactions
they derive from their council participation, and
their interactions. This study examines the relationships
between the level of satisfaction both derive from their
roles and perceptions of their participation in leadership
and council operations. The results of this analysis appear to
support both hypotheses. The highest canonical variate sets
for coordinators are: (1) Achievement, Personal-Interpersonal;
(2) Decision-Making, Goal Setting; (3) Responsibility,
Work Itself. Those highest for council members are:
(1) Achievement, Recognition, Monetary; (2) Leadership,
Decision-Making; (3) Personal-Interpersonal; (4) Work Itself,
Recognition; (5) Communication, Control; (6) Monetary,
Supervision, Achievement; (7) Goal Setting, Leadership. The
results, while not dramatically conclusive, imply that the
instruments employed are operable in community schools.

The purpose of this study was to determine certain perceptions
held by disadvantaged students about the usefulness of selected student
services at eight MOTEC-JC related Community junior colleges in America.
In order to accomplish this purpose, a survey questionnaire was sent to
eight community junior colleges participating in the MOTEC-JC Program
(Moving On To Enrollment and Completion of Junior College), a Federally
funded institute operated at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton,
Florida. Some of the MOTEC-JC participants were teachers and administrators
employed at the following community junior colleges which partieipated
in this study: Central Florida Community College, Ocala, Florida;
Sanford D. Bishop State Junior College, Mobile, Alabama; Daytona Beach
Community College, Daytona Beach, Florida; Cumberland County College,
Vineland, New Jersey; Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, Florida;
Broward Community College, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Jefferson State
Junior College, Birmingham, Alabama. A participant from each of these
eight community junior colleges identified disadvantaged students enrolled in their respective institutions and administered the survey instrument
to these students.
One hundred and forty-two questionnaires responded to by disadvantaged
students were returned and utilized in percentage, ratio, and
statistical analyses. Percentages were obtained to determine disadvantaged
students' utilization of selected student services at their respective
community junior colleges. Ratios were computed to isolate important
relationships among the answers given by disadvantaged students to the
questions comprising each of the ten sections of the questionnaire. Moreover,
findings were analyzed and tested by x^2
to identify significant
differences in the responses made by disadvantaged students when classified
as Freshmen and Sophomores. A comparison of the responses of these
two groups was made to determine if being freshmen or sophomores at the
community junior colleges made a significant difference in whether these
students utilized the selected student services.
Disadvantaged students were utilizing selected student services
at their community junior colleges. Furthermore, being freshmen or
sophomores made no significant difference as to whether these students
utilized the selected services. Nevertheless, there were those disadvantaged
students who never used the selected student services at their
community junior colleges. Consequently, future research is needed to
obtain information from disadvantaged students not utilizing selected
student services at their community junior colleges.

In the decision-making process, the exclusion of participants
who are to be guided by the resulting decision is
unconstitutional and undemocratic. Black voices in Palm
Beach County, Florida were totally excluded from the six
major issues--The Phase-Out of all Black Secondary Schools;
Re-assignment of Black Administrators and Teachers; Busing;
Curriculum: Secondary Migrant Education--that affected their
socio-economic welfare.
The study of these six major issues in Palm Beach
County was compiled using historical methodology based on investigations
conducted through interviews, school board
minutes and agendas, court cases, and news media records.
More than three-hundred Blacks were interviewed but only
twenty-seven gave their permission to be quoted directly or
to be taped while being interviewed. Several Whites were interviewed and, among these, was Dr. A. D. Thorpe, a former
school board member and its chairman at one time.
Interviews were open-ended, taped when possible, and
in other cases, notes were made immediately after the conclusion
of the interview.
This study illustrates the hard-line resistance to
federal laws and guidelines demonstrated by Palm Beach
County's power structure in its effort to retain a separate but-
equal system of education. Even though the elected officials
were White, many KNIGHTS (Known Negroes In Good
Harmonious Taste) were supportive of any action taken so long
as they received their dole from whatever gross accumulated.
The year 1970 brought a change of color to the county
school board with the election of Daniel W. Hendrix, a former
all Black Roosevelt Junior College (now phased out) teacher,
who currently teaches at the desegregated Palm Beach Junior
College.
The observable changes in Palm Beach County's Secondary
Education System are very few. Positions in the decision-making
ranks are so minute that Black voices remain a whisper
when shouting for equality under the laws of state and nation.
This general attitude and adamant position must change if
racial harmony and humanism are to become the ways and means
for progress to touch Palm Beach County.
The dissident voices of Black protestation must be
heard and the relevance of their protest incorporated into
the educational fabric of Palm Beach County. Until this is done, continued unrest, racism and distrust will remain the
device by which progress must be measured now and in the future.

This study is directed at the compilation of materials, ideals,
and developments which resulted from the federally funded program entitled,
"Moving On to Enrollment and Completion of Junior College"
(MOTEC-JC).
The purpose of this investigation is to identify specific aspects
of raw data obtained through the research and training program of
MOTEC-JC and to analyze through descriptive procedures such selected
evidence with the intention of providing a complete history of the origin,
development, and administrative instructional purpose of MOTEC-JC at
Florida Atlantic University.
The significance of this study lies in the inherent value of the
compilation of a single historical journal as the record of a movement
which may be used to generate interest and guidance in the future development
of programs for low-income and minority students at community junior
colleges. Long-range research beyond the limits of the present investigation
may finally answer general questions of future program initiation
and survival. Of primary concern here is the evident need for the documentation
of the materials, ideas, and developments which resulted from
the federally funded research-action project designed to recruit, enroll,
and educate low-income and minority groups in community colleges.
Consequently, the formation of a plan proposing a number of
follow-up studies should serve as a model for measuring the impact of
MOTEC-JC's activities on community junior colleges projected for a twenty-five
year period. The present study projects a five year model which
should be revised and amplified at succeeding intervals. The twenty-five
year projection is necessary because by that time MOTEC-JC participants
will either have made their major contribution or completed their
professional careers.
Such long-range evaluation has been noticeably lacking in American
education. This dissertation is a first step toward implementing
this logical and needed approach to action research.