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Using a regression discontinuity design generated by school-entry cutoffs and school records from an anonymous district in Florida, we identify externalities in human capital production function arising from sibling spillovers. We find positive spillover effects from an older to a younger child in less affluent families and negative spillover effects from a younger to an older child in more affluent families. These results provide empirical evidence that educational policies could create both positive and negative within-family externalities depending on the characteristics of the affected households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic significantly disrupted education systems in the United States as evidenced by school closures, the rapid implementation of online learning, physical distancing policies, and restrictions on extracurricular activities. Youth in foster care are a vulnerable population in need of school-based services and supports to ensure positive educational outcomes. This qualitative interview study assessed the pandemic's impact on the educational experiences of foster youth from the perspectives of their caseworkers. Participant caseworkers discussed how the pandemic affected the academic progress and social/emotional development of youth in foster care and highlighted some challenges of online learning. They also described how the pandemic impacted classroom management, communication and relationships, and special education services. Overall, caseworkers believed many of the educational challenges caused by the pandemic would not have long-term implications, and they highlighted several positive outcomes resulting from the changes in school operations. Results suggest that caseworkers can mitigate some of the short-term negative effects by ensuring these students have reliable access to technology and that screenings and referrals for therapeutic services are completed in a timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the use of technology in the K12 classroom has been shown to have a positive impact, research on the use of open education resources (OER) is relatively limited, especially research focusing on low‐achieving students. The present study examines the relationship between usage of Algebra Nation, a self‐guided system that provided instructional videos and practice problems, and the performance of students who had failed the state‐administered Algebra I end‐of‐course (EOC) assessment the previous year. Indicators of usage of Algebra Nation consisted of logins, video views, and practice questions answered. Path analyses and logistic regressions were used to evaluate relationships between usage indicators and algebra scores, controlling for number of absences, free/reduced lunch eligibility, Hispanic/Latino origin, race, and gender. The results indicate that higher levels of logins, video views, and practice questions answered were related to higher scores when the students re‐took the assessment. Logins and practice questions were also related to increases in odds of passing the Algebra I EOC assessment, but not video views. The results suggest that there may be benefits to technology use in the form of an OER adopted by students and teachers on an informal basis and link self‐regulated learning strategies to student achievement. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Algebra courses typically have a high failure rate.Repeating algebra is costly for the education system and for the student.Open education resources could potentially be an effective and cost‐efficient approach to algebra instruction. What this paper adds: This study shows that logins, video views, and practice questions answered in an open education resource were positively related to scores on a state‐administered,high‐stakes algebra assessment.The study indicates that the relationship between a self‐regulated learning strategy (i.e., practice questions answered) and student algebra scores is stronger than that between video views and algebra scores.This study shows that student‐driven ad hoc use of online tutoring programme is associated with higher passing rates on the algebra exam. Implications for practice and/or policy: This study demonstrates that informal use of an open education resource with videos and a practice question system can be effective in increasing student scores on algebra assessments.Future research is needed to connect diverse types of student self‐regulated use of open education resources to academic achievement and on how to design resources that encourage effective self‐regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The University of South Florida Libraries has supported a campus-wide "Textbook Affordability Project" initiative by creating and maintaining an ebooks database called "Ebooks for the Classroom+." This database facilitates faculty members' adoption of ebooks as textbooks through library acquisitions in the hope that students can achieve academic success without paying for expensive textbooks. It is built and run by the library, using data based on vendor-supplied information. This paper discusses the approaches, the challenges, and the future plans for building and updating the database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine if 5th grade teachers' perceptions of the school counselor's impact (SCI) would differ from those of classroom teachers who did not collaborate with a school counselor to deliver the Student Success Skills (SSS) classroom program. Teachers (N = 234) from two large school districts in Florida participated in a randomized control trial. The teachers completed the SCI scale of the Teacher My Class Inventory-Short Form at three data collection points. Results from a two-way repeated measures analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences for treatment group teachers' (n = 112) scores on the SCI scale from pretest to posttest and post-posttest as well as when compared to the control group teachers' perceptions (n = 112). Implications for school counselors suggest that collaborating with educators when planning and delivering classroom programs can improve teachers' perceptions about their impact. Recommendations for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results-based intergovernmental transfers have recently attracted attention from both scholars and practitioners. In contrast to other types of grants, the results-based approach can lead to improved accountability and responsive performances on the part of subnational governments while still enabling broad local flexibility. In education, the principles of results-based transfers fit in with the mechanism of the educational accountability system. A case in point is the Race to the Top (RttT) program, which aimed to support large-scale educational reform. This study examines whether the RttT program achieved its goal of improving student achievement in Florida. A difference-in-differences comparison shows some positive effects of the RttT program when considering spillover effects or comparing Florida with a state that did not receive this fund. The overall estimation results, however, do not support the view that the program has had a significant positive impact on educational achievements. This finding may result from the lack of a clear and singular focus on the specified outputs or a lack of citizen-based accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast body of research demonstrates that the consequences of the "criminalization" of school discipline are not racially equitable, and Black and Hispanic students are more likely than White youth to experience exclusionary school punishments. However, limited prior work has examined the factors that might strengthen or weaken racial/ethnic inequalities in school discipline. Theoretically, academic achievement could moderate the effects of race and ethnicity, especially in conjunction with gender, though the expected direction of these interactive relationships is unclear. To explore these issues, the current study makes use of data from the 2018 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (N = 54,611). The analyses reveal that, while Black male youth are the most likely to be suspended, racial/ethnic disparities are greater among females than males. Additionally, racial differences in the likelihood of suspension are more prominent at higher levels of academic achievement, particularly among female students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using detailed education data for 1996–2012 from the state of Florida, we examine whether pollution from local Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) sites affects student achievement and high-stakes accountability school rankings. Using event study and difference-in-differences designs, we compare students attending schools within one mile of a TRI site that opens or closes to students attending schools between one and two miles away. We find that being exposed to air pollution is associated with 0.024 of standard deviation lower test scores, increased likelihood of suspension from school, and increased likelihood that a school's overall high-stakes accountability ranking will drop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Florida's Senate Bill 1720 allowed many students to bypass developmental education and enroll directly in introductory college-level courses. We use an interrupted time series design to introductory college-level courses enrollment and passing rates in English and math for three cohorts of college students prereform and three cohorts postreform. Based on a cohort-by-cohort comparative analysis, we find that cohorts after the reform are more likely to enroll and pass introductory college-level courses in their 1st year of college, indicating that the reform may help to accelerate student success in college. Further, we find that Black and Hispanic students experience even greater gains in passing rates than White students, effectively narrowing the racial/ethnic achievement gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I use a rich longitudinal database from Florida to compare the characteristics of alternatively certified teachers with their traditionally prepared colleagues. I analyze the relative effectiveness of teachers who enter the profession through different pathways by estimating value-added models of student achievement. In general, alternatively certified teachers have stronger preservice qualifications than graduates of traditional university-based teacher preparation programs do, with the least restrictive alternative route attracting the most qualified prospective teachers. Teachers who enter through the path requiring no coursework have a substantially larger effect on student achievement. In contrast, the alternative pathway that requires substantial occupation-specific human capital investment yields teachers who are less effective than either traditional-route teachers or teachers who entered the profession through other alternative pathways. These results suggest that any benefits from preservice training are overwhelmed by the adverse selection into programs that require nontransferable human capital investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that Puerto Rican youth from large cities such as New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia do poorly in school compared to other Latinos and ethnic immigrant groups due to their low socio-economic status. However , while youth academic achievement and aspirations have received scholarly attention, there has been little research on the educational aspirations and achievements of Puerto Rican youth in different and rapidly growing cities like Orlando, Florida. This paper ills that gap and also compares Puerto Rican achievement with other youth in the Orlando area. The availability of a recent data set consisting of over 2,000 surveys of high school students in Metropolitan Orlando has enabled us to unravel factors that may influence or shape the academic performance and aspirations of immigrant or second generation youth. The results show that ethnic background, family structure, and parental socio-economic factors are important determinants of youth academic achievement and aspirations. Indeed, youth who were raised in two-parent households, whose parents had a college degree, and also earn a higher income (especially, over $80,000) are significantly more likely to receive an academic award, earn better grades (mostly A's), enroll in more challenging academic programs (such as International Baccalaureate), and aspire to prestigious professional occupations. However , Puerto Rican youth achievement and aspirations are lower compared with youth from other ethnic groups. Consistent with previous studies, Asian Americans (Koreans) were found to be the highest achievers, followed by Colombians, and White Americans. When comparisons are made between Puerto Ricans born in the USA and those born on the Island, most measures of youth performance and aspirations are not significantly different, even when parental social status is controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with mounting policy pressures from federal and state accountability programs, school leaders are reallocating curricula, time, even diet in an attempt to boost student achievement. To explore whether they are using test score data to reallocate their teacher resources as well, I designed a cross-case, cross-sectional study and explored principals’ reported staffing practices in one higher performing and one lower performing elementary school in each of five Florida school districts. Findings show that school leaders are “staffing to the test” by hiring, moving, and developing teachers in an effort to increase their schools’ overall performance. The paper discusses the implications of evidence-based staffing for policy, practice and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has demonstrated that elementary school leaders, under pressure to meet benchmarks set by state and federal governments, have begun "staffing to the test," moving to tested grades and subjects teachers whose previous students made substantive learning gains. This is particularly true in lower-performing schools or schools that recently experienced a drop in performance, as measured by the grade they received from the state accountability system. What is not known, however, is how widespread this phenomenon has become. Moreover, little is known about whether and how performance data is used by administrators of high schools, where scheduling complexity is amplified by graduation requirements, larger enrollments, and credentialing requirements that mandate teachers to be certified in all the subjects that they teach. By surveying high school principals in Florida and Texas, this article attempts to fill this gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a study of the experiences and outcomes of older and younger community college students. We developed a discrete-time hazard model using longitudinal transcript data on a cohort of first-time community college students in Florida to compare the impact of enrollment pathways (such as remediation) and enrollment milestones (such as attaining a certain number of credits) on educational outcomes of older students—those who enter college for the first time at age 25 or later—with those of traditional-age students. Results suggest that reaching milestones such as obtaining 20 credits or completing 50 percent of a program is a more important positive factor affecting graduation probabilities for younger students than it is for older students. We also found that although enrollment in remedial courses decreases the odds of graduating for all students, older students who enroll in remediation are less negatively affected than are younger ones who take remedial classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the third-grade outcomes of 11,902 low-income Latino children who experienced public school pre-K or child care via subsidies (center-based care) at age 4 in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Regression and propensity score analyses revealed that children who experienced public school pre-K earned higher scores on standardized assessments of math and reading in third grade and had higher grade point averages than those who attended center-based care 4 years earlier. The sustained associations between public school pre-K (vs. center-based care) and third-grade outcomes were mediated by children's kindergarten entry preacademic and social-behavioral skills, and among English-language learners, English proficiency. Implications for investing in early childhood programs to assist with the school readiness of young Latino children in poverty are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of contribution of advocacy groups in passage of Senate Bill (SB) 736 the Student Success Act in Florida. Topics discussed include support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Florida Chambers of Commerce for the bill, teacher being framed as primary producers of student achievement, education advocacy by groups such as Students First and relevance of direct relationship student outcomes and teachers' work for its execution.

Librarians have continuously struggled with developing quality relationships with faculty and advisors to support students online. In 2014, Rasmussen College introduced a one-stop student support model of service that makes a student's advisor their primary point of contact for library resources, academic support, financial aid, course scheduling, and advising conversations. Support services were aligned centrally across all Rasmussen campuses, designating a librarian to assist students by programmatic area, instead of by campus. Librarians developed partnerships and resources to support advisors and faculty in their interactions with students needing academic assistance. Rasmussen College made a concentrated effort to significantly increase its library and learning electronic resources to contribute to student success. As a result of these efforts, we have improved connectivity with faculty and advisors and have seen increased usage of library resources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Mentoring plays an important role in career success of academic medical faculty. New mentoring models such as peer mentoring have emerged. Aim: To evaluate the long-term impact of a facilitated peer mentoring program on academic achievements. Method: Women faculty at the instructor or assistant professor rank were recruited to voluntarily participate in a facilitated peer mentoring program. Recruitment occurred over 3.8 years between 2005 and 2009. A 26-item questionnaire to assess academic skill, career satisfaction, and self-efficacy was administered before program participation and again with seven additional questions in 2011. Curriculum vitae were reviewed retrospectively to tally peer-reviewed publications, other academic activities, and promotions. Results: Participants had long-term improvement in their perceived mastery of academic skills. Peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, abstracts, posters, and other academic activities increased when activities before the program were compared to those in the five years after program enrollment. At follow-up, participants reported positive perceptions of the program and 44% continued to work with their original peer mentor groups. Conclusions: Involvement in the facilitated peer mentoring program was associated with increased skills and academic activities for most participants. Future studies are needed to assess its applicability and success among various demographic groups in academic medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on elementary principals as instructional leaders, as well as public school initiatives and educational accountability in the United States. It presents the methodology, instrumentation, measures of academic achievement in Florida, data collection, and processing procedures. Finally, it presents data analysis, results of the study, implications, and recommendations for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A collaborative relationship among three organizations developed a mentoring project using social work students (mentors) and independent living program (ILP) foster youths (mentees). The goal was to increase the mentees' awareness of educational possibilities beyond high school graduation while analyzing the mentors' learning as defined by the Council on Social Work Education core competencies. This pilot project paired mentors with ILP youths in this experiential opportunity conducted on a university campus. The students, acting as positive role models applying social work skills, engaged in an effort to improve the mentees' educational outcome, which would ultimately lead to self-sufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that children are negatively impacted by family separation and divorce (Amato, 2001; Dreman & Shemi, 2004; Kelly, 2000) there is a paucity of information regarding evidence-based social work practice with children coping with family disruption. In order to address this gap, the authors describe the process and outcomes of a quasi-experimental evaluation (N= 79) designed to reduce the behavioral, emotional, and academic problems that children often face when experiencing divorce or parental separation. Results of data analysis (pairedt-tests, independentt-tests, and analysis of variance) suggest (p< .05) that the intervention is effective in helping children cope with family disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We analyze the impact of classroom peers' ability (measured by their individual fixed effects) on student achievement for all Florida public school students in grades 3-10 over a 6-year period. We control for both student and teacher fixed effects, thereby alleviating biases due to endogenous assignment of both peers and teachers. Under linear-in-means specifications, estimated peer effects are small to nonexistent, but we find some sizable and significant peer effects within nonlinear models. We also find that classroom peers, as compared with the broader group of grade-level peers at the same school, exert a greater influence on individual achievement gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a multiyear debate, Florida lawmakers passed the “Student Success Act” in March 2011, introducing some of the most sweeping educational reforms in the state's history—the introduction of teacher evaluation systems based on value-added modeling, mandatory “performance pay” for teachers, and the elimination of long-term professional service contracts. Using Stone's (1989) Causal Stories framework, this article analyzes arguments made for and against these reforms by numerous policy actors. Analysis of transcripts, news coverage, and policy reports reveals that actors on both sides of the debate constructed competing stories regarding the “causes” of poor student achievement. These competing causal narratives were central to actors’ efforts to define the nature of the educative process, identify the “players” who controlled student learning, and portray the proposed reforms as solutions to the problem of underachievement, on one hand, or ill-conceived and poorly targeted answers, on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Through this study the authors evaluate the Prodigy Cultural Arts Program, an early prevention program for adjudicated youth. A quasi experimental pre- and posttest was conducted. A significant reduction in mental health symptoms (particularly for females) and behavioral dysregulation (particularly for males), and increases in academic performance and family functioning were found. There was also a relationship between decreased mental health symptomology and perceived academic performance. The Prodigy Cultural Arts Program appears to be successful in intervening with youth who present challenges to the juvenile justice system due to the complexity of their mental health symptoms, behavioral regulation difficulties, and/or gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using panel data from a census of public school students in the state of Florida, the authors examine the associations between students' high school course-taking in various subjects and their 10th-grade test scores, high school graduation, entry into postsecondary institutions, and postsecondary performance. The authors use propensity score matching (based on 8th-grade test scores, other student characteristics, and school effects) within groups of students matched on the composition of the students' course-taking in other subjects to estimate the differences in outcomes for students who take rigorous courses in a variety of subjects. The authors find substantial significant differences in outcomes for those who take rigorous courses, and these estimated effects are often larger for disadvantaged youth and students attending disadvantaged schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between public K-12 school facility age and student achievement by using ordered logistic regression. Elementary, middle, and high schools in Orange and Seminole counties, Florida (Orlando area), open during the academic year of 2004/05 were used for analysis. Findings demonstrate that newer facilities are associated with higher student achievement. This manuscript is part of the discourse on student learning, educational facility maintenance, construction, and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors expand on research evaluating public school response to school choice policies by considering the particular influence of voucher programs for disabled students—a growing type of choice program that may have different implications for public school systems from those of more conventional choice programs. The authors provide a theoretical framework to show that special education vouchers could influence both school quality and the likelihood that a school will choose to identify the marginal child as disabled. Using a rich panel data set from Florida, the authors find some evidence that competition from a voucher program for disabled students decreased the likelihood that a student was diagnosed as having a mild disability and was positively related to academic achievement in the public schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study, we addressed the need for research demonstrating the extent to which performance on widely-used progress monitoring measures related to end-of-grade achievement on statewide assessments. Specifically, we evaluated the usefulness of STAR Reading and Scholastic Reading Inventory-Interactive for predicting performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. We found that scores obtained from regular use of these measures were statistically significantly related to overall end-of-grade achievement markers. We discuss our findings in the context of other similar research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the convergence of two popular school improvement policies: instructional coaching and data-driven decision making (DDDM). Drawing on a mixed methods study of a statewide reading coach program in Florida middle schools, the article examines how coaches support DDDM and how this support relates to student and teacher outcomes. Authors find that although the majority of coaches spent time helping teachers analyze student data to guide instruction, data support was one among many coach activities. Estimates from models indicate that data analysis support, nevertheless, has a significant association with both perceived improvements in teaching and higher student achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five years of reading comprehension data in Florida Reading First schools were analyzed to address questions regarding student improvement, reduction in the achievement gap, efficacy of site visits to schools making no achievement gains, and effects of student mobility on growth in reading comprehension. Participants were 120,000 students (about 30,000 each in grades K-3) in the 318 schools in the first cohort of Florida Reading First from 2003 to 2008. Outcome measures were the reading comprehension scores on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-10) and the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The percentage of students on grade level (at or above the 40th percentile) increased, and the percentage of students at high risk (below the 20th percentile) decreased over the five years. Racial/ethnic minority, economically disadvantaged, and English language learner groups improved performance as well, but there was no evidence of narrowing the achievement gap. Reduction in risk for students with learning disabilities was noteworthy. Increased support to low-performing schools was associated with improved performance. Finally, there were significant reductions in growth in reading comprehension associated with leaving a Reading First school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined approximately 6,500 Florida students' reading and mathematics performance when taught by a sample of teachers who obtained their teaching credentials through the Troops to Teachers program. Results indicated that students served by Troops teachers performed about equally well in reading and achieved a small but statistically significant advantage in mathematics when compared with all teachers but achieved substantially and statistically significantly higher in both reading and mathematics when compared with teachers matched by subject and teaching experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on a research regarding the effectiveness of teachers, certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), on student achievement in Florida. According to the database used to determine the relationship between NBPTS certification and the impact of teachers on student test scores, it is found that the certification provides a positive signal of a teacher's contribution to student achievement only in a few isolated cases. The research has reinforced the evidence that the process of becoming NBPTS certified does not increase teacher productivity.

The Florida School Recognition Program (FSRP) was created by the Florida legislature in 1997 to provide an incentive to schools that achieve specific standards-based goals. Achievement is measured primarily through the state's high-stakes test, the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test. Through analysis of FSRP awards, it is established that poverty and race influence these awards. This analysis considers the larger context and implications of this influence. Ultimately, it is asserted that such policies may act to legitimate and further entrench social stratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current debate about class size is not centered on whether smaller class sizes are desirable. Rather, the debate is whether the costs involved are the best ways to spend taxpayers' monies. This analysis addresses this question for the state of Florida. Using the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test as a measure of educational achievement, a state data set containing information on all elementary schools was used to examine which government-funded inputs were most cost effective. Using a three-step methodology leading to a cost effectiveness analysis, this article finds that reducing class sizes is the most expensive of state inputs that affect achievement scores. Varying the mix of school personnel (administrators, teachers, and teacher aides) and investments in teacher quality (training and experience) are shown to produce the same results (raising test scores) at a lower cost than the reduction of class sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of learners' reported use of self-regulated learning strategies on achievement and motivation in learner-controlled and program-controlled computer based instruction. Thirty-seven sixth and seventh grade students were classified as being either high or low self-regulating learners and then were randomly assigned to either a learner-controlled or program-controlled version of a computer-based instructional program. Results revealed that learners in the program control condition scored significantly higher on a posttest than did learners in the learner control condition. Moreover, although the interaction was not statistically significant, the poorer performance in the learner control condition was particularly pronounced among low self-regulating learners. These results are discussed in light of the amount of instructional time spent and the number of instructional events viewed by each group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the effects on the development of communication skills among children that result from their experiences with manipulative science activities in elementary science education. Those children that scored lowest on the Florida State Assessment Test that used the Science: A Process Approach program were used in the study. It shows that the treatment that utilized science to remediate communications deficiencies of third-grade children was much more successful in improving reading skills than writing skills.

The article discusses on the study that determines the impacts of teacher training in Individualized Science (IS) program on the attitude and achievements of 153 first grade school children from two schools in Florida, which being matched in terms of geographical location, school population, achievement scores, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The study has found that teachers' who practice with the IS program materials have improve their achievements in, and attitudes toward, the IS programs. However, researchers suggested that before generating a conclusion, it is necessary to have another supporting study. Researchers G. W. Glass and J. Stanley have emphasized that in order to increase the reliability of the test, sample size of teachers involve in the study should be increased.

The article discusses a cooperative initiative launched by science teachers, scientists and science educators to improve achievement in science in the junior high schools of Hillsborough County, Florida. Special Extension Courses on the Teaching of Science were offered in the county during the school year 1959 to 1960, which were modification of usual university courses taught on the teaching of science, and were directed toward the particular problem of the improvement of the curriculum. An In-Service Institute for Junior High Science Teachers was requested and offered and a Statistical Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the In-Service Institute was made in 1961.