Over the past 20 years, a movement to offer greater access and choice in public education has begun to challenge the traditional attendance boundary school system. Public school choice provides an opportunity for parents who do not have the resources to change attendance boundaries but who want additional public school options. Proponents argue that increased competition incentivizes all schools to improve performance. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were any potential relationships among school choice options and other inputs such as student characteristics when looking at student science achievement. Based on an education production function model, the study focused on the specific output of performance. A conceptual model looking at common inputs related to the outcome of student performance, identified five groups of inputs: school type, student characteristics, learning needs, school characteristics, and teacher quality. Rather than look across states, where policies affecting student performance differ, this study looked exclusively at one large state population. Subjects of the study were fifth grade students in the state of Florida. Utilizing three years of state science assessment data, the roles of school type, selected student demographics, and ELL status were examined using logistic regression and ordinary least squares analysis. Results indicated that, while some subpopulations of students performed better in different school types, school type alone was not a strong predictor of student science achievement. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / July 10, 2017. / Includes bibliographical references. / Diana Rice, Professor Directing Dissertation; Patrice Iatarola, University Representative; Angela Davis, Committee Member; Elizabeth Jakubowski, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_552103 |
| Contributors | McLarnon, Tara Lynn (authoraut), Rice, Diana Claries, 1949- (professor directing dissertation), Iatarola, Patrice (university representative), Davis, Angela F. (committee member), Jakubowski, Elizabeth M. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), School of Teacher Education (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (120 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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