The objectives stated for this investigation were: (1) to determine if retaining a student one or more years in the K-5 grades makes any difference in his/her achievement in reading on the statewide assessment test; (2) to determine if retaining a student one or more years in the K-5 grades makes any difference in his/her achievement in math on the statewide assessment test; (3) to determine if school entry age of retained students makes any difference in fifth grade students' performance on the statewide assessment test; (4) to compare black and white retained students' fifth grade math scores on the statewide assessment test to determine if there is any difference; (5) to compare the math scores on the statewide assessment test of fifth grade black students with fifth grade white students who have not been retained; (6) to compare black and white retained students' reading test scores to determine if there is any difference; (7) to compare the reading test scores of black and white students who have not been retained to determine if there is any difference; and (8) to compare test scores in the areas of math and reading between fifth grade boys and girls who were retained and those who were promoted. / The population was composed of fifth grade students in eighteen elementary schools in Bay County, Florida. A stratified random sample was used to select students from the total population of fifth grade students. An effort was made to balance the population as to race, sex, retained and not retained students. / Data were collected from reading and math sections of the fifth grade Florida Statewide Assessment Test and students' permanent records. The t Test of significance of difference between means was used to analyze the data. / The conclusions from the study were: (1) Students who were retained scored lower in reading on the Florida Statewide Assessment Test than those who were not retained. (2) Students who were retained scored lower in math on the Florida Statewide Assessment Test than those who were not retained. (3) School entry age did not appear to make any difference in students' performance on the Statewide Assessment Test. (4) White retained students scored higher than black retained students on the math and reading sections of the Statewide Assessment Test. (5) White students who had not been retained scored higher on the math and reading sections of the Statewide Assessment Test than black students who had not been retained. (6) Girls who had not been retained scored higher than boys who had not been retained in the area of reading. (7) Retained girls scored higher than retained boys in the area of reading. (8) There was no significant difference in the math scores of retained boys and girls on the Florida Statewide Assessment Test. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-01, Section: A, page: 0182. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The primary purpose of this study was to compare a student self-directed method for developing comprehension of explicitly stated meanings and implicitly stated meanings with a teacher-directed method of comprehension instruction. A secondary purpose was to determine which instructional method was most beneficial for low-average readers and high-average readers. / The participants in this study were 129 sixth grade average readers at a sixth grade center in an inner-city locale. The students were bused from six different feeder schools, and their home backgrounds ranged from a low socio-economic level to a high socioeconomic level. Six classes of students were involved in the study. Two each were randomly assigned to Teacher Feedback Instruction (TFI), Student Self-Directed Instruction (SSDI), and control group (CG) treatments. / Comprehension materials were developed and piloted by the investigator to be used with each of the experimental treatment groups. The materials used were expository passages with eight comprehension questions for each passage. The questions included four questions to provide practice in comprehension of explicitly stated meanings and four questions to provide practice in comprehension of implicitly stated meanings. / Individuals in the SSDI group read the expository passages and answered the comprehension questions. Next, they scored their answers and then proceeded to the next story. Students in the TFI group read one story each session and completed the questions. Following this, the group identified and discussed the appropriate answer to each of the questions. Additional questions were posed by the teacher. Students in each of the experimental treatments worked in comprehension materials 30 minutes per session for 2 days each week for 10 weeks. The students in the control group worked in the regular basal program. / An analysis of covariance was conducted to determine which instructional treatment was most effective for developing vocabulary, comprehension of explicitly stated meanings, and comprehension of implicitly stated meanings. A t-test was used to determine if each of the methods was effective for developing comprehension. / It was found that the type of instruction, TFI, SSDI, or regular basal, did not result in a significant difference in performance for comprehension of explicitly and implicitly stated meanings or for vocabulary development. However, each of the instructional methods did prove effective (significant at the .01 level) for developing comprehension of implicity stated meanings. Conversely, none of the instructional methods favorably improved explicitly stated meanings. Both TFI and SSDI groups significantly improved their vocabulary scores, but the regular basal group did not improve significantly. Low-average readers being instructed using TFI or SSDI made a significant (p < .01) improvement in comprehension of implicitly stated meanings. However, the performance of high-average readers was not significantly increased by either of the two instructional treatments. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: A, page: 1005. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

This is an empirical study of the remediation process for the minimum competency test in Florida, namely, the State Student Assessment Test (SSAT). First, a review of the literature covers minimum competency testing from its creation at the federal level to its reality in the classroom in Florida. Second, a closer look is taken of the minimum competency program in Leon County, Florida. / The data collected came from 321 seniors attending three of the four public high schools in Leon County. The survey was conducted by means of a random selection process. / The findings suggested that race, mother's education, school attended, and test status make a difference as to the level of involvement of the student in the remediation process. The level of education of the student's mother, the school attended by the student, and the test status of the student make a difference as to the student's awareness of the test and testing process. / This study is concluded by a summary of the findings, conclusions, and suggestions for further research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 0938. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

The study was designed to investigate whether internal punctuation had any effect on reading comprehension of seventh- and eighth-grade students in the Developmental Research School of Florida State University. The study subjects were 94 male and female students who took the PUNC Test devised by Carr. The test consisted of a written passage, directions, and 40 multiple-choice questions. The passage was constructed so that selected sentences required the reader to interpret internal punctuation in order to understand the meaning of the sentence. The test also consisted of 20 sets of paired sentences: 20 punctuation-dependent and 20 non-punctuation-dependent items. / The results showed that the students scored lower in the punctuation-dependent items than on the non-punctuation-dependent items. Analysis showed that internal punctuation had a statistically significant and very considerable main effect on reading comprehension of the seventh and eighth grade subjects. / The results also indicated that punctuation is neither sufficiently taught nor viewed as a syntactic cue system when it is taught. It constitutes a relatively minor part of most school curricula today. Accordingly, certain instructional procedures for teaching punctuation to young students were suggested. / Of secondary interest, there was an attempt to determine whether students' gender as well as CTBS reading scores interacted with punctuation to affect reading comprehension. Gender was found to be statistically insignificant. CTBS reading ability was found to be statistically significant yet of little practical importance. Finally, suggestions for teaching punctuation were offered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-10, Section: A, page: 3195. / Major Professor: Ernest Frechette. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Assuming children's literature to consist of various kinds of literacies, this teacher/researcher examined 27 fourth graders' perceptions about picture storybook, illustrated book, and chapter book literacies. The year-long ethnography not only documented the reading habits and responses of the class, but also focused on four case study participants prime for acquiring chapter book literacy. Data were collected by observation, interview, classroom maps, survey, photographs, and document analysis of response journals, student-maintained booklists, and teacher records of student reading. Three major themes emerged: factors affecting the acquisition of chapter book literacy, characteristics of developing chapter book literacy, and the role of the teacher/researcher. / These emergent and fluent chapter book readers tended to define and visualize themselves as chapter book readers. Ability did not guarantee the acquisition of chapter book literacy; persistence and desire appeared to contribute more to the emergence of chapter book literacy. Identification with characters in chapterbooks enhanced these readers' attitudes toward chapter books. / A tension was created in these developing chapter book readers between aspiration for chapter book literacy and the lingering affection for picture storybooks. The emerging chapter book readers had difficulty selecting and finishing chapter books; however, they could monitor and regulate their literacy environments and activities. Emergent chapter book readers consciously employed imagination when the text had no illustrations. In contrast, fluent chapter book readers seemed to unconsciously experience transactions with literature texts. Emergent and fluent chapter book readers needed more time and teacher-guidance than fluent picture storybook readers to develop a fuller response. / Interruptions and change in schedule during the elementary school day complicated both teaching and research. A tension was found to exist within a person who attempts to be both teacher and researcher in the classroom setting. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-12, Section: A, page: 3795. / Major Professor: Carol Lynch-Brown. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

Three hundred children were tested in the fall and spring of their first grade year. They were given measures of phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge, reading, spelling, IQ and memory. Their teachers were surveyed as to the amount of time they spent in phonics, sight vocabulary, and reading practice instruction. / The results of confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, regression analysis, and partial time lag correlation analysis suggested that a model of synthesis versus analysis better explained the pattern of results than a model of sensitivity versus awareness or a general model. The results also suggested that orthographic knowledge contributes unique and independent variance to reading and spelling achievement beyond that contributed by phonological awareness, even for beginning readers. Furthermore, the data suggested that orthographic knowledge enables and is enabled by beginning reading and spelling. / In this study, the instructional variables did not contribute unique variance to reading and spelling achievement beyond that of phonological awareness and orthographic knowledge. The measures used in this study were reliable and should be considered for use in the first grade classroom. The teacher survey did not, however, capture the role of instruction. Instructional variables need further exploration in future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4077. / Major Professor: Richard Wagner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-05, Section: A, page: 2573. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1978.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-06, Section: A, page: 3212. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

Despite the controversy about the term "disadvantaged", the term is used in this dissertation in order to coincide with Federal usage in conjunction with Chapter I guidelines. The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine the similarities and differences between the reading readiness test scores of disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged kindergarten students after the disadvantaged students received supplementary instruction in a Chapter I reading program. A second purpose was to determine if there were significant differences between the reading achievement of kindergarten students who attended classes in the morning and those students who attended classes in the afternoon. A third purpose was to determine if major demographic differences existed between the two groups. / The subjects were 53 disadvantaged and 65 nondisadvantaged students. The disadvantaged students were enrolled in a regular kindergarten class supplemented by a Chapter I reading program. The nondisadvantaged students were enrolled in a regular kindergarten class. The instruments used included the California Achievement Test and the Personal Data Sheet. / Twenty-three hypotheses were tested using the .05 alpha level as the criterion for the rejection of all hypotheses. The t test and the chi square test were used in the data analysis. / The major findings were: (1) after seven months of instruction, there was no significant difference between the mean reading scores of the two groups, (2) there was no significant difference between the mean reading scores of the morning disadvantaged and the afternoon disadvantaged, and (3) there was no significant difference in the mean reading scores of the morning nondisadvantaged and the afternoon disadvantaged students. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-12, Section: A, page: 3665. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

The principle purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the relationship between the degree of superstitious beliefs held and the reading abilities of ninth and twelfth grade students in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and (2) to examine the relationship between the degree of superstitious beliefs held by urban and rural subjects. / The study sample was composed of 657 ninth and twelfth grade students. They resided in Avery and Buncombe Counties in North Carolina. / No significant differences were found between ninth grade poor readers and twelfth grade poor readers and ninth grade good readers and twelfth grade good readers (Asheville only). However, a significant negative correlation (r = -.31) was found between the scores on the California Achievement Test, Reading Subtest and scores on the Test of Traditional Knowledge, Revised Edition. This correlation implies that as reading comprehension levels rise, the level of superstitious beliefs decreases. / The major findings of the study were: (1) Geographical area and reading comprehension level seem to demonstrate a greater effect on the level of superstitious beliefs than does years of schooling. (2) Levels of superstitious beliefs and reading comprehension levels are negatively associated. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-10, Section: A, page: 2982. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.