This study aimed to compare the performance of elementary students on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in reading and mathematics between students who received SES services in grades 3-5 and students who qualified for free SES services, but did not receive SES services. Title I funds are set aside annually to pay private providers…

Florida, from 1971 to 2014 has used the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) as a yearly accountability tool throughout the education system in the state (Bureau of K-12 Assessment, 2005). Schools use their own assessments to determine if students are making progress throughout the year. In one school district within Florida, Performance…

At the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2001, schools began to determine what type of curricula would be beneficial for students to gain reading comprehension. Since the establishment of the NCLB legislation, the implementations of various reading curricula were created. The study focused on whether a particular reading…

The pressure to have students perform well on standardized tests can serve as a stressor to some teachers in their efforts to autonomously teach their students, particularly those of low socioeconomic status (SES). However, the relationship between teachers' sense of autonomy, teachers' attitudes and behaviors, SES, and student's academic success…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational research was to investigate to what extent 2007 performance of third grade students who had been retained in 2006 for failing to attain proficiency on the Reading and Mathematics Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) predicted their performance in 2010 on the sixth grade Reading and Mathematics…

Federal and state legislation focused on closing the achievement gap, have placed emphasis on providing students with teachers who display specific characteristics. While this has been the mandate, many schools still fail to close the achievement gap and research linking specific teacher characteristics with student achievement, validates the…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to evaluate the long-term effects of Florida's Third-Grade Retention policy on low performing students' subsequent academic performance as measured by FCAT reading scores. The study included a random stratified sample of 1500 retained third graders for failure to meet Florida's…

The purpose of this study was to measure the motivation for academic and recreational reading of 6th grade students in a middle school located in southwest Florida using the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS). In this mixed methods study, motivation for both types of reading were measured, individual demographics of the population, such as…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to investigate the relationship between the instructional effects of the interactive whiteboard and students' proficiency levels in eighth-grade science as evidenced by the state FCAT scores. A total of 46 eighth-grade science teachers in a South Florida public school district completed…

The quantitative study contained herein was conducted to determine if there is a relationship between antibias education (ABE) and student performance on state standardized tests in a South Florida school district. In many districts, raising test scores has become priority with some schools even changing their curriculum so that teachers teach…

The No Child Left Behind Act requires all students be proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014, and students in subgroups to make Adequate Yearly Progress. One of these groups is students with disabilities, who continue to score well below their general education peers. This quantitative study identified scoring differences between disability…

This descriptive research study was conducted to determine the state of perceived teacher morale and student academic performance as measured by fourth-grade reading and math scores among four elementary schools defined by the servant leadership score of each principal in this Florida elementary school district. While related research from other…

The interpretive nature of this dissertation study was grounded in the field of qualitative research. The purpose of the study was to qualitatively define successful inclusion instruction and/or programming. The units of analysis were three schools at each academic level within the Broward County School District which made Adequate Yearly Progress…

This applied dissertation was designed to evaluate improving the reading performance of fifth-grade students through an afterschool reading program to determine whether it was effective in teaching Native American and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). This study compared the reading performance of fifth-grade students who struggle…

The research design is a quantitative causal comparative method. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) which measures student scores included assessments in mathematics and reading. The design study called for an examination of how type of small learning community (SLC) or the type non-SLC high school environment affected student…