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Changes in high school curricular offerings before and after the implementation of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT)

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Date Issued:
2002
Summary:
Changing the educational paradigm has been the focus of state legislatures in many states including Florida. Florida implemented a new version of a state-mandated test, which is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in 1998. A quantitative five-year study of secondary school curricular arrays was conducted to determine course scheduling trends before and after the implementation of the FCAT. Student enrollment was counted in specified courses for 23 comprehensive high schools in Broward County, Florida for two years before and three years after the implementation of the FCAT. Six contextual variables---dropout rate, ethnic makeup, scheduling platform, school grade, socioeconomic status, and stability rate---were used to determine their impact on the changes that occurred. The study found that student enrollment increased in English and math courses and decreased in remedial and vocational courses since the implementation of the FCAT. This research also found a significant inverse correlation between a stability factor and student enrollment in math courses. The stability factor is the percentage of students enrolled in the same school in October and February of a given school year. A linear regression of the contextual variables and the subject areas being studied found three significant relationships that could be used to predict course enrollment for the following year. The research found that math, social studies, and exceptional student education (ESE) English had a significant relationship with the contextual variables.
Title: Changes in high school curricular offerings before and after the implementation of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).
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Name(s): Eyerman, Gina L.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Pisapia, John, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued: 2002
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 127 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Changing the educational paradigm has been the focus of state legislatures in many states including Florida. Florida implemented a new version of a state-mandated test, which is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in 1998. A quantitative five-year study of secondary school curricular arrays was conducted to determine course scheduling trends before and after the implementation of the FCAT. Student enrollment was counted in specified courses for 23 comprehensive high schools in Broward County, Florida for two years before and three years after the implementation of the FCAT. Six contextual variables---dropout rate, ethnic makeup, scheduling platform, school grade, socioeconomic status, and stability rate---were used to determine their impact on the changes that occurred. The study found that student enrollment increased in English and math courses and decreased in remedial and vocational courses since the implementation of the FCAT. This research also found a significant inverse correlation between a stability factor and student enrollment in math courses. The stability factor is the percentage of students enrolled in the same school in October and February of a given school year. A linear regression of the contextual variables and the subject areas being studied found three significant relationships that could be used to predict course enrollment for the following year. The research found that math, social studies, and exceptional student education (ESE) English had a significant relationship with the contextual variables.
Identifier: 9780493706207 (isbn), 11992 (digitool), FADT11992 (IID), fau:8909 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): College of Education
Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2002.
Subject(s): Education, Secondary--Curricula--United States
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11992
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.