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Current foreign language pedagogy encourages a communicative approach to language learning. Instead of the reading and writing focus of the past, this communicative approach requires instruction in all skills, which include reading, writing, listening, speaking and having knowledge of associated cultures. A random sample of Florida foreign language teachers was surveyed to establish whether or not the goals and actual instructional practices were aligned. Respondents were asked to identify how much of a typical class period is dedicated to each of the five skills and how much of a typical unit test is dedicated to the same five skills. The findings showed that only the instruction and assessment of writing were aligned. Instruction and assessment of the other skills were unequal. A comparison of the means revealed that listening was actually instructed much more than assessed. The other means were similar, including writing. Reading was found to be the only skill that was assessed more than instructed. The variables examined in this study included the level of fluency, level of education, amount of experience of the teacher, available resources, amount of the target language used in the classroom, as well as demographic information. The interaction of the level of education and experience of the teacher was significant. Teacher gender was also significant, although the disparate gender groups made it difficult to compare means. The other variables revealed no statistical significance. Slightly less than half of the respondents stated that they do not believe that they include enough oral assessment as a part of instruction. They reported a lack of time, student resistance, class size, and unreliable technology as reasons for not including what they perceived to be enough oral assessment

Character education is one of the most controversial aspects of academic institutions in the United States. The responsibility of educating children about democratic principles and moral values is something many states and schools are taking very seriously as a vital part of a teacher’s role in the classroom. This study investigated the personal teaching efficacy and general teaching efficacy beliefs of pre-service secondary teachers at a large university in the state of Florida. This study investigated the responses of 130 pre-service secondary teachers in language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics within one teacher education program. The questionnaire utilized in this quantitative research study was the Character Education Efficacy Belief Instrument (CEEBI), which was designed by Milson and Mehlig (2002). This instrument is composed of 24 items designed to understand personal teaching efficacy (PTE) and general teaching efficacy (GTE) beliefs. This study examined if there was a statistically significant difference in PTE and GTE scores between secondary pre-service teachers based on the independent variables of a) program/major, b) gender, c) race/ethnicity, and d) coursework in character education. The results of this survey adds to a rich field of research and literature on character education and teacher education by taking a closer look at the specific beliefs of secondary preservice teachers regarding their PTE and GTE for character education. This study was an attempt to better understand the teaching efficacy beliefs for secondary pre-service teachers graduating from a teacher preparation program within a state that mandates character education.

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by Olivia Futch / Typescript / M.A. Florida State University 1927 / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-110)

Much of the historical research that has taken place over the past 50 years regarding student absenteeism has focused on influences on students over which the principal had very little control such as student demographics, family characteristics and the student personal or psychological factors. Researchers have begun analyzing school climate and its effect on student attendance from the perspectives of students and teachers. School climate is the one aspect that influences a student attendance patterns and can be modified by the principal. This study sought to identify if there was a relationship between the high school principals‟ perspective on student absenteeism and the percentage of average daily attendance of the school. Much of the emphasis placed on improving attendance has been examined at the school level. This study, though focused on student absenteeism from the principal‟s perspective, was also approached in regard to actions within the school‟s control. It may well be, that districts need to take a stronger leadership role with respect to attendance. Providing more information to principals could contribute initially to improving principals‟ desire to be proactive in regard to attendance. District officials should examine carefully the support they provide that will result in proactive policies in the schools. It would seem appropriate that district level and building level policies would be examined by district and building leaders with a goal of establishing policies that not only support building leaders but also support individual teachers and encourage them to be proactive in their approach to attendance for every student in the class room

Founded on the importance of the imagination according to Greene (1995) and set by the Executive Summary of the 911 Commission Report, the mixed methods grounded theory study looks at a correlation between a set of instruction practices recognized by Egan (2008) for nourishing and developing the imagination and low-progress adolescent students’ comprehension. Descriptive data are provided on the school, students, teachers, and district where the study was conducted to illustrate the limitation and delimitations of the study. The study is limited to low-progress adolescent students as identified by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and uses pre and post Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR) mandated and administered by Orange County to establish comprehension and determine statistical significance. Participant and non-participant observations are used to triangulate and co-triangulate data to determine the correlation between the frequency of select instructional practices and students’ comprehending as evidence by their FAIR reading and Maze scores. Observation of student performance suggests that attention to the implementation of the instruction practices of using poetry, text sets, and sensory stimulation has potential in nurturing low progress adolescent students’ imagination and strengthening their cognitive feed-forward mechanism. The data adds to the existing body of work on the interactive nature of reading (Rumelhart, 1994) by elaborating on low progress adolescent students’ ability to predict and anticipate; concluding that convergent and divergent thinking, making inter-textual connections, and creating mental models are necessary sub-factors to nourish the imagination and need to be taken into account in instruction to assist low-progress adolescent students in comprehending and developing a defensible interpretation

"This study was undertaken to gain a comprehensive knowledge of matters affecting the personnel teaching the social studies in the secondary schools for white children in the State of Florida. It attempted to ascertain the number of teachers being utilized for the teaching of the social studies and amount of teachers accredited in other disciplines who were conducting social studies classes"--Introduction. / "May 19, 1953." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Richard E. Gross, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-49).

"Education, to which so much importance is attached in our democratic society, is of doubtful value if it does not produce people who can think clearly in quantitative terms about the social problems affecting the nation and themselves. In order to make a satisfactory adjustment to their environment it is necessary for them to obtain a knowledge of the social as well as the technological developments which have taken place in the community. To examine the role that science education in Mainland High School, at Daytona Beach, Florida, can play in accomplishing these objectives is the purpose of this paper"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "June, 1953." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: H. W. Dean, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-43).

"Do high school students read? And do the ones who read have a well-balanced reading program, or is the reading done haphazardly? Sometimes these, and similar questions, result in answers subjective in character being framed in such sweeping generalizations as today's youth does little or no personal reading. Such statements have been the motive for numerous investigative surveys. These studies have revealed the value of a permanent interest in reading as an essential aid to personal development and social culture. They have pointed out the increasing demands made by society for greater proficiency in reading. Also, they have shown the importance of the reading program in the curriculum as a medium for establishing in youth a permanent interest in reading both for information and for recreation. Thus far, however, surveys have not established the fact that reading interests and habits differ between rural and urban pupils. This study, therefore, is an attempt to discover what differences, if any, exist in the reading interests and habits between a group of rural and urban children. The pupils considered are those enrolled during the 1950-51 session in the tenth grade in Walton High School DeFuniak Springs, Florida. In the course of this paper, pupils who ride school busses a distance of two miles or more are to be identified as 'transported' pupils; those who live within a radius of two miles of the school center and who do not ride school busses are to be referred to as 'non-transported' pupils"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert G. Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-48).