You are here

FAU Collections » FAU Research Repository » FAU Theses and Dissertations

Does evaluation make a difference? The effect of evaluation on remedial education in Florida's community colleges

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2004
Summary:
Throughout the nation, many community college students arrive at the doors of public higher education without college-level skills. As the need for remediation over the years has grown, the controversy over who should be responsible for it---and whether it should be provided at all---has also grown. In Florida, more than 60 percent of all incoming college students must enroll in one or more remediation courses in the areas of reading, writing, or mathematics. Florida law requires students to take non-credit "College-Preparatory" classes if they score below mandated cut-off scores on state-approved placement tests. The central theory of this study is that ongoing, comprehensive and systematic evaluation that is effectively communicated and utilized in Florida's colleges can make a significant contribution to the College Preparatory program. While this study examines budgetary factors and student achievement rates, it focuses particularly on evaluation, the extent to which evaluation is being performed in the College Preparatory program, and how that evaluation throughout the state has changed over a five-year period. The study identifies four general areas of evaluation: (1) student-level evaluation, (2) program-level evaluation, (3) evaluation via communication in the organization and (4) utilization of evaluation in the organization. It analyzes the relationship between each area and the perceptions that faculty, administrators and staff have of remedial program success, and it distinguishes among faculty, administrator and staff perceptions of evaluation and preparatory program success. In the end, it is the synthesis of the four general areas of evaluation, along with input from its various stakeholders, which result in effects on remedial education.
Title: Does evaluation make a difference? The effect of evaluation on remedial education in Florida's community colleges.
116 views
23 downloads
Name(s): Lyes-MacLachlan, Shari.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Leip, Leslie A., Thesis advisor
Nyhan, Ronald C., Thesis advisor
Holden, Eileen, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued: 2004
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 173 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Throughout the nation, many community college students arrive at the doors of public higher education without college-level skills. As the need for remediation over the years has grown, the controversy over who should be responsible for it---and whether it should be provided at all---has also grown. In Florida, more than 60 percent of all incoming college students must enroll in one or more remediation courses in the areas of reading, writing, or mathematics. Florida law requires students to take non-credit "College-Preparatory" classes if they score below mandated cut-off scores on state-approved placement tests. The central theory of this study is that ongoing, comprehensive and systematic evaluation that is effectively communicated and utilized in Florida's colleges can make a significant contribution to the College Preparatory program. While this study examines budgetary factors and student achievement rates, it focuses particularly on evaluation, the extent to which evaluation is being performed in the College Preparatory program, and how that evaluation throughout the state has changed over a five-year period. The study identifies four general areas of evaluation: (1) student-level evaluation, (2) program-level evaluation, (3) evaluation via communication in the organization and (4) utilization of evaluation in the organization. It analyzes the relationship between each area and the perceptions that faculty, administrators and staff have of remedial program success, and it distinguishes among faculty, administrator and staff perceptions of evaluation and preparatory program success. In the end, it is the synthesis of the four general areas of evaluation, along with input from its various stakeholders, which result in effects on remedial education.
Identifier: 9780496081264 (isbn), 12105 (digitool), FADT12105 (IID), fau:9015 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2004.
College for Design and Social Inquiry
Subject(s): Curriculum evaluation
Community colleges--Evaluation
Education--Research--Methodology
Remedial teaching--Evaluation
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT12105
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.