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Literacy instruction, personnel, and governance in state-designated highest and lowest performing schools

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Date Issued:
2002
Summary:
The A+ Plan for Education (A+ Plan), the basis of Florida's school accountability system, was instituted in 1999. Public schools are graded from highest (A) to lowest (F) based on student performance on the statewide assessment, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study investigated the impact of the school grading policy of the A+ Plan on literacy instructional practices, personnel, and governance procedures between Florida public schools graded A and F. Twenty-six randomly selected schools from 15 school districts agreed to participate. Three groups of participants (N = 136) were associated with the participating schools: (1) Grades 3--10 classroom teachers who taught reading, writing, and/or language arts during the 2001--02 school year; (2) the principal for each school; and (3) the District Director of Curriculum or equivalent position. Teacher participants (n = 107) responded to the Literacy Instructional Practices Survey. This survey collected data concerning the frequency of use of instructional practices related to literacy in six composites: Instructional Groupings, Materials, Decoding Teaching Practices, Comprehension Teaching Practices, Writing Teaching Practices, and Classroom Activities. T-tests were employed to compare the Composite mean scores for the A and F school teacher participants (a = .05). Results revealed no significant differences in the types and frequency of literacy instructional practices between A and F schools. Responses to open-ended questions reported narrowing of curriculum to skills tested by the FCAT and principal expectations to teach to the test. Principal participants (n = 17) and district-level participants (n = 12) completed surveys concerning personnel and school governance practices. Descriptive analyses revealed that 50% of F schools employed Title I literacy teachers compared to 8% of A schools. All principals used informal classroom observation and student achievement on FCAT to evaluate literacy personnel performance. Collaboration among district staff, principals, and teachers concerning school governance decisions was reported. Findings of this study imply that factors other than the types and frequency of literacy instructional practices are affecting a school's grade. Also, high-stakes assessment is impacting curriculum and instruction at A and F schools. Recommendations are made for future research.
Title: Literacy instruction, personnel, and governance in state-designated highest and lowest performing schools.
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Name(s): Earley, Deborah L.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Matanzo, Jane Brady, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2002
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 185 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The A+ Plan for Education (A+ Plan), the basis of Florida's school accountability system, was instituted in 1999. Public schools are graded from highest (A) to lowest (F) based on student performance on the statewide assessment, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study investigated the impact of the school grading policy of the A+ Plan on literacy instructional practices, personnel, and governance procedures between Florida public schools graded A and F. Twenty-six randomly selected schools from 15 school districts agreed to participate. Three groups of participants (N = 136) were associated with the participating schools: (1) Grades 3--10 classroom teachers who taught reading, writing, and/or language arts during the 2001--02 school year; (2) the principal for each school; and (3) the District Director of Curriculum or equivalent position. Teacher participants (n = 107) responded to the Literacy Instructional Practices Survey. This survey collected data concerning the frequency of use of instructional practices related to literacy in six composites: Instructional Groupings, Materials, Decoding Teaching Practices, Comprehension Teaching Practices, Writing Teaching Practices, and Classroom Activities. T-tests were employed to compare the Composite mean scores for the A and F school teacher participants (a = .05). Results revealed no significant differences in the types and frequency of literacy instructional practices between A and F schools. Responses to open-ended questions reported narrowing of curriculum to skills tested by the FCAT and principal expectations to teach to the test. Principal participants (n = 17) and district-level participants (n = 12) completed surveys concerning personnel and school governance practices. Descriptive analyses revealed that 50% of F schools employed Title I literacy teachers compared to 8% of A schools. All principals used informal classroom observation and student achievement on FCAT to evaluate literacy personnel performance. Collaboration among district staff, principals, and teachers concerning school governance decisions was reported. Findings of this study imply that factors other than the types and frequency of literacy instructional practices are affecting a school's grade. Also, high-stakes assessment is impacting curriculum and instruction at A and F schools. Recommendations are made for future research.
Identifier: 9780493912837 (isbn), 12016 (digitool), FADT12016 (IID), fau:8931 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): College of Education
Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2002.
Subject(s): Educational accountability
Public schools--Florida
Language arts
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT12016
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.