This was an investigation of the State Compensatory Education Programs offered by school districts in Florida. The purposes of this study were: (1) to determine if compensatory education programs have been effective in decreasing the failure rate on Florida's SSAT II; (2) to identify the characteristics of compensatory education programs and teachers; (3) to determine the most effective remedial methods; (4) to identify teachers' attitudes toward compensatory education programs and students; and (5) to identify compensatory teachers' recommendations for program improvement. / The population for this study consisted of all compensatory education teachers in public high schools in Northwest Florida. The sample was obtained from 45 high schools representing 90 percent of the target population. The student sample for this study consisted of tenth-grade, eleventh-grade and twelfth-grade students who had failed one or both parts of the SSAT II on previous administrations. / Two instruments were used to address the research questions posed in this study: (1) a Survey Questionnaire developed by the researcher, and (2) the State Student Assessment Test, Part II. / The major findings in this study revealed that: (1) Better data bases are needed. It is impossible to establish that compensatory education programs are or are not effective using present program data. (2) The majority of compensatory teachers have not participated in either preservice and/or in-service training programs and activities to prepare them to teach low-achieving students. (3) As a whole, the teachers had a generally positive attitude toward the compensatory education program and students. Teachers who were assigned to teach had less favorable attitudes than those who volunteered. (4) No one remedial method or combination of methods was superior in enhancing student's performance on the SSAT II. (5) Teachers recommended reducing class size in compensatory classes, providing more individualized instruction and ensuring an adequate quantity of instructional materials to improve compensatory education programs. There was overwhelming support for broadening compensatory education guidelines to include in-service training. / These findings lead to several recommendations, which included: (1) the Department of Education assuming a greater role in providing technical assistance and resources to school districts; (2) teachers participating in professional development activities specifically geared to compensatory education; and (3) DOE implementing legislative mandates, which require uniform policies and procedures that will make compensatory education evaluations consistent and reliable within and across districts. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-08, Section: A, page: 2311. / Major Professor: Robert L. Lathrop. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78038 |
| Contributors | Cornelious, Linda F., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 292 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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