Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2008. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 124 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether significant relationships existed between character education and the number of incidents of crimes and violence, attendance rates, and academic achievement in Florida public schools. Proponents of character education such as Lickona (1991) and Murphy (1998) posited that there was a positive correlation between teaching and practicing the six pillars of character education, and student achievement, and increased attendance. They also posited that there was a negative correlation between character education and incidents of crime and violence. The researcher acquired data in an attempt to determine whether or not the views of Lickona (1991), Murphy (1998) and others holding this view would yield similar results in the Florida public schools. The theoretical framework for the study was Kohlberg's cognitive-developmental theory of moral reasoning. The study was compiled between 2003 and 2004 based on data for the 1998-1999 school year and the 2002-2003 school year. These dates were chosen because they were the pre-implementation year (1998-1999) and four years after the character education mandate went into effect. Data from 67 Florida counties were solicited and 10 counties selected as samples of effective character education implementers and non-effective character education implementers in their elementary schools. Utilizing Statistical Package for Social Science (2004), data were analyzed for statistically significant relationships in order to confirm or negate the null hypotheses. The tests utilized were repeated measures ANOVAs. The study found a statistically significant relationship between those counties that effectively implemented a character education program in their elementary schools and student attendance, as compared to counties that did not effectively implement a character education program in their elementary schools. The study did not find a statistically significant relationship between those counties that effectively implemented a successful character education program in their elementary schools and student achievement, as compared to counties that did not effectively implement a character education program in their elementary schools. The study did not find a statistically significant relationship between those counties that effectively implemented a successful character education program in their elementary schools and lowered incidents of crime and violence, as compared to counties that did not effectively implement a character education program in their elementary schools. In all school districts studied, however, over the four-year period incidents of crime and violence were reduced, the absenteeism rate was reduced, and achievement had increased. This could have been due to the implementation of any type of character education program or it may have been due to other programs implemented in the Florida schools.

The publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 has prompted a series of attempts to revise the educational system's outcomes. Legislative and executive reform bills have resulted in Educational Vouchers being a prime source of reform. A case study of the perceptions of public high school principals in Florida that are at Voucher Eligible high schools to those perceptions of principals at schools graded 'A' as of the 2002-03 academic school year was the focus of this study. Four public high school principals from two Florida districts were used in this study. Two schools were identified as Voucher Eligible and graded "F" and two were examples of best practices or graded "A" or "B". Analyzed data identified recurring patterns between the four schools.Both advocates and detractors view of vouchers would be given a full historical review. Included in the research were the four major educational criteria of educational vouchers that were used in voucher development policy. The three major components of Florida's Voucher Programs, along with the No Child Left Behind Act were examined along with accountability measures and parent/student rights. The data revealed that there was a positive relationship between the minority rate of a school and the school's grade. Data also revealed that it would be beneficial for all schools and communities to work together to address the reading level issue as these programs have shown a positive relationship between the overall reading level and the school's grade.

While working for four years in a college writing center, often with dual enrolled high school students, I began asking myself why our local high schools do not have writing centers of their own. The effectiveness of writing centers in helping students advance their critical thinking and written communication skills is well documented, and yet students of diverse geographical locations and socio-economic status often arrive at college under-prepared for the rigor of academic written discourse. Employing a combination of institutional analysis and constructivist grounded theory, I conducted case studies on three Florida college writing centers, focusing on staffing models, training methods, services offered, and dissemination of information about these services. Drawing on experiential evidence and both qualitative and quantitative studies completed by Ben Rafoth, Jesùs Josè Salazar, and more, I propose adapted and adaptable writing center models for various Florida high school settings, grounding the options in current writing center theory and composition instruction pedagogy, laying the groundwork for further scholarship on the creation of flexible models of supplementary writing development education in Florida’s public school system. I conclude with a set of recommendations for key elements schools must address when creating and maintaining a writing center, including designing classroom space, recruiting and training peer tutors, and identifying a theoretical approach to student writing.

This manuscript contains discussion and analysis of the growing number of public schools in the state of Florida that are increasingly more segregated than at the height of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Further discussion and analysis on the influence that standardized testing, like the FCAT, has on the resegregation of public schools and the economic conditions of our Florida schools are also included. Interviews, field observations, and research data are provided and illustrate the burden that high stakes testing has on Florida's K-12 public schools, its teachers, principals, and the students who attend those schools. For the purposes of this study, I have explored the realms of Florida's deteriorating public education system through direct field study and observation in public schools across the state of Florida, as well as collecting published available data regarding funding, race, ethnicity, gender, and standardized test scores. I have visited schools in Miami-Dade County, Orange County, Seminole County, as well as Broward County, Florida, in order to better analyze the gap between the "have's" and the "have not's," across Florida's public schools. This research project has permitted my investigation to further dissect the linkage between school funding, standardized testing, school environments, and cultural conditions and roles played by economics, race, demographics, family income, social environment, and standardized testing.

The doctrine of sovereign immunity in Florida has evolved over time as the common law and statutory environment within the state has changed. Public schools and public-school employees enjoy some level of immunity protection under both common law and statutory law. Nonetheless, Florida law creates a duty to provide a safe environment for students and creates potential liability in certain circumstances when a public school or public school employee fails to do so. In this dissertation, I analyzed litigation efforts and protections provided to public schools and public-school educators in Florida under the Florida Tort Claims Act (FTCA) of 1973 for claims of negligent supervision of students. This dissertation provided an in-depth analysis of negligence cases, statutes, protections, and lawsuits brought under common law after the passage of the Florida Tort Claims Act of 1973.

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