In 2013, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 1720 which included provisions to overhaul the state’s post-secondary developmental education curriculum. Central to this reform was the notion of increased choice for students. Notably, the law made placement testing and remedial coursework optional for recent Florida high school graduates and active duty military, giving eligible students significantly more options in the course-selection process. The law also called on colleges to offer redesigned remedial courses taught in a variety of new and innovative ways. This emphasis on student choice points to an ideological move in education policy towards neoliberal ideals, especially the shifting of risk from institutions to individuals. As such, the research questions guiding this dissertation were: (1) Is “risk shift” an appropriate and useful concept to invoke to understand policies like SB 1720? (2) If so, what unintended consequences and risks result from presenting community-college students with increased choices related to their academic pathway? To answer these questions, qualitative data was gathered from 670 individuals; including college presidents, administrators, faculty members, advisors, and students; throughout the Florida College System (formerly known as the Florida Community College System). Findings indicate that the concept of “risk shift” can successfully be extended to the arena of higher education. The provisions of SB 1720 generated some benefits for students and campus personnel. It also generated substantial disadvantages. Students’ ability to engage in genuine choice has been constrained by non-academic influences on course-taking decisions, like financial constraints, the opinions of family and friends, and the institution’s capacity for change. As a result, respondents highlighted how SB 1720 negatively impacted the educational experiences of students and the work environment of campus personnel. It is important to also note that variations in college characteristics, especially institution size, shaped how the reform played out throughout the state. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 29, 2018. / Community College, Developmental Education, Education Reform, Neoliberalism, Personal Choice / Includes bibliographical references. / John Reynolds, Professor Directing Dissertation; Shouping Hu, University Representative; Irene Padavic, Committee Member; Koji Ueno, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_653480 |
| Contributors | Nix, Amanda N. (Amanda Nicole) (author), Reynolds, John R. (professor directing dissertation), Hu, Shouping (university representative), Padavic, Irene (committee member), Ueno, Koji (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (degree granting college), Department of Sociology (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 (133 pages), computer, application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds