This study examined the development and status of alternative school programs for disruptive youth in 10 selected Florida public school districts. These programs were developed in response to the 1978 Florida Alternative Education Act. / The study was based upon information gathered from the literature on alternative education for disruptive youth and examination of data on identified programs in Florida gathered through the use of a mailed questionnaire supplemented by personal and telephone interviews and review of state documents and reports. / The issue of disruptive students has affected every school system in the State of Florida to some extent and has resulted in losses of both present fiscal resources in terms of special programs, repairs, security and lost instructional time, and future manpower available to the state. / Students in elementary grades through high school have been served on a full or part-time basis by alternative education programs in many Florida school districts. In-school suspension presently appears to be the most common program used by the districts studied. Eight districts of the 10 districts studied have in-school suspension programs. Five districts have central alternative schools. Hillsborough County has the broadest spectrum of alternative education programs for disruptive youth. / Key factors identified in successful alternative education programs in Florida were: (a) Small school size and low student-adult ratio; (b) Individualized instruction; (c) Techniques to improve self-concept; (d) Counseling and diagnostic services; (e) Caring teachers; (f) Strong, flexible leadership. / The problems associated with middle school and junior high school youths which result in their high representation in alternative education programs for disruptive youth need to be examined. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2601. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between Piagetian level of cognitive development and performance on the Florida Statewide Student Assessment Test (SSAT) Parts I and II. Specifically, cognitive development, as measured by the Science Reasoning Test (SRT), was correlated with the factors of sex, socioeconomic status and the number of skills mastered on the SSAT, Part I and SSAT, Part II. / Socioeconomic status was determined based on the federal guidelines for student eligibility for the free lunch program. For the purposes of this study, all students who qualified for the free lunch program were classified as disadvantaged. / The sample consisted of 145 high school students enrolled in general ability level or above English classes at a high school in Leon County, Florida. / A statistically significant positive correlation was found between performance on a test of the Piagetian formal level of cognitive development (SRT) and performance on both SSAT-I and SSAT-II. / It was also found that advantaged students did better on the SRT and the SSAT, Parts I and II, than did disadvantaged students. / There was no statistically significant difference between the performance of male and female students on the SRT. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4388. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the academic achievement of students moving from elementary to middle school could be predicted by certain easily identified variables (race, sex, academic aptitude, level of parent income, and parental educational level), or by differences in the type of facility (open or nonopen) in which they were housed. Were these relationships such that they might be used as predictors of academic achievement in making the elementary/middle school transition? / A random sample of 415 students from four of the six middle schools in the Leon County, Florida School District was drawn from the seventh grade middle school population during the 1979-80 school year. / Achievement as shown by the fifth and seventh grades scale scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills in reading, language, and mathematics, was entered as the dependent variables into a stepwise multiple regression analysis to determine which independent variables (race, sex, academic aptitude, level of parent income, and parental educational level) had significant relationships with student achievement. A chi-square analysis was used to determine whether there were significant differences in the sample distribution in each learning environment: from open elementary facilities to open middle school facilities (O-O); from open elementary facilities to closed middle school facilities (O-C); from closed elementary facilities to closed middle school facilities (C-C); and from closed elementary facilities to open middle school facilities (O-C). / The significant findings in this study were the following: (1) There were no significant differences in the sample of each learning environment based on race, sex, and academic aptitude. (2) There were significant differences in the sample in the learning environments based on income and parental educational levels. The open schools had lower income and lower parental educational levels. (3) Academic Aptitude showed a positive relationship with student achievement in reading, language, and mathematics. (4) Level of parental education showed a positive relationship with student achievement in mathematics. (5) Coming from open elementary facilities and going to open middle school facilities showed a negative relationship with language achievement for male students. (6) A negative relationship between sex and achievement in mathematics was found for all male students. (7) Coming from open elementary facilities and going to closed middle school facilities showed a negative relationship with language achievement. (8) Coming from open elementary facilities and going to open middle school facilities and academic aptitude showed a negative relationship with mathematics achievement. (9) White students in the income bracket between $5,000-$7,500 showed a positive relationship between race and language achievement. / Major findings did not always support previous findings reported in the literature related to race and socioeconomic differences in achievement. Students in the lower socioeconomic levels had received intensive remedial instruction in reading, language, and mathematics in this district for two years which might have a positive effect on achievement of traditional educationally disadvantaged students. Students, therefore, did not show negative relationships in academic achievement related to race and socioeconomic status. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-11, Section: A, page: 4672. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

This study developed and validated an optimum writing competencies list that paralleled the Florida Minimum Skills list but specified the skills needed by secondary students to perform academic writing assignments required in science and social studies classes. The study was accomplished in three phases. The first phase consisted of identifying the writing tasks most often demanded of secondary students by their science and social studies teachers. In the second phase of the study, the writing assignments identified in the first phase were analyzed and translated into optimum writing competencies required to complete the assignments, and a comprehensive list of optimum writing competencies was constructed. In the third phase a panel of writing experts validated the optimum writing competencies list by identifying the competencies most needed by students. / In the first phase, the Panhandle Area Educational Cooperative, an agency which coordinates the combined educational efforts of nine Northwest Florida county school systems, agreed to serve as a liaison between the investigator and the county school superintendents. This agency sanctioned the study and encouraged the school superintendents to grant permission for their schools to participate in the study. After permission was granted, the principals of high schools in these counties were requested to supply the names of their secondary science and social studies faculty members. When these names were submitted, these teachers were requested to send samples of writing tasks commonly required in their classes. Of the 133 teachers contacted, 75 teachers responded, and 257 writing assignments were collected. / In the second phase of the study, the writing assignments collected in the first phase were analyzed and translated into writing competencies needed to perform the tasks. The analysis of the assignments indicated that science and social studies teachers expected students to be able to perform a variety of types of writing tasks, with test taking, answering study questions, and essay writing as the most often assigned tasks. The teachers frequently assigned writing as a part of the instructional methodology, including evaluative writing, daily in-class writing and extended out-of-class writing. However, many of the writing assignments did not include specific or complete directions. Writing assignments of various degrees of complexity were made, but most required optimum writing skills. In addition, the assignments required mastery of some skills in all composing and editing competency areas. The assignments were translated into a total of 73 writing competencies, and a composite list was constructed. / In the third phase a survey questionnaire containing the skills list was mailed to ten educators responsible for secondary and adult writing instruction at various high schools, community colleges, and universities in Florida. These writing experts were members of a panel asked to judge the degree of importance of each of the optimum writing competencies identified in phase II. The analysis of their ratings revealed 65 of the 73 competencies were considered important for completing science and social studies writing assignments. / This list could be of potential use to English, science, and social studies teachers who expect to assist students in developing optimum writing skills needed for completing academic writing tasks. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-07, Section: A, page: 3037. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

A study of the role that specification error plays in the ranking of meritorious schools produced by the "merit as residual" and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) regression-based procedures was conducted. Two specification issues, inclusion of relevant variables and functional form, were examined in the context of state and district level applications of merit assessment. / For the state level analysis, 100 schools were selected from the High School and Beyond data set to reflect a population of high schools in a state level setting. To examine what effect the removal of relevant variables has on the ranking of meritorious schools, various degrees of misspecification were introduced into a final analysis model. This final model was assumed to reflect the "true" ranking of schools. Misspecification was introduced by removing variables, or blocks of variables, from the model. School residuals produced by the misspecified models were compared with the school residuals produced by the "true" model to determine whether changes in school rankings occurred. / Six of the 100 schools used in the state level analysis were selected to reflect a population of high schools in a district level setting. An ANCOVA model was developed. This model provided a set of adjusted means which were used to rank the six schools. To examine misspecification attributed to functional form, the ANCOVA model was extended to an Aptitude-Treatment Interaction (ATI) model, which contained interaction terms. This ATI model, which was assumed to reflect the "true" model of student achievement, was used to provide three school rankings for different subgroups of students. / This study concluded that school rankings are dependent on the specification of the model used as the basis for making the merit assessment. The findings provided evidence that important ranking changes occurred even when relatively small increments in the amount of variance explained were associated with a block or individual variable. This conclusion, along with the current state of model development, suggests that school rankings produced by these procedures may not provide a close approximation of reality. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-07, Section: A, page: 1755. / Major Professor: Richard Tate. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-06, Section: A, page: 3552. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1975.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-02, Section: A, page: 0810. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1975.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 39-06, Section: A, page: 3505. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1978.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-02, Section: A, page: 0784. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1978.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 37-10, Section: A, page: 6391. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1976.