Robert R. Lange
University of Central Florida

Abstract: An instrument developed to assess the extent to which postsecondary vocational programs are competency-based consisted of 159 items grouped into 8 sub-scales. The items were reviewed by a national sample of content experts who rated each item on the extent to which it differentiated between competency-based and conventional vocational education. Each item was classified as having received high, moderate, or low agreement. A log-linear analysis was completed with the item as the unit of analysis. The results indicated that agreement was higher with CBVE items than with conventional vocational items and was lower for items related to the basic standards of CBVE than for the facilitating standards.

Citation: Lange, R. R. (1986). The extent of agreement on a definition of competency based vocational education among vocational curriculum specialists. Florida Journal of Educational Research, 28(1), 99-108.

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Constance V. Hines
University of South Florida

Jeffrey D. Kromrey
University of South Florida

Joyce Burick Swarzman
University of South Florida

Marcia Mann
University of South Florida

Susan P. Homan
University of South Florida

Abstract: The technique of path analysis was used to test the role of student task engagement as a mediating process variable linking teacher behavior and student achievement in math and social studies classes. Forty teacher-interns and their respective elementary level classes participated in the study. Two measures of teacher behavior and a measure of student task engagement were obtained during lessons from two-week instructional units designed specifically for the study. Achievement was defined as the class mean residualized gain score, residualizing student post- test scores on both content pretest performance and scores on relevant subtests of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills. Results suggest different causal paths from teacher behavior to achievement in the two contexts. In social studies classes, task engagement emerged as a mediating variable as hypothesized, while in mathematics classes it played no causal role in achievement. Results were interpreted as an example of the added information obtained from testing path models rather than examining only zero-order correlations.

Citation: Hines, C. V., Kromrey, J. D., Swarzman, J. B., Mann, M., & Homan, S. P. (1986). Teacher behavior, task engagement, and student achievement: a path analytic study. Florida Journal of Educational Research, 28(1), 25-40.

Download:  Hines.281.pdf (1194 downloads )

Gary W. Gramenz
Palm Beach County Schools

S. Jean Jolly
Palm Beach County Schools 

Robert Pickens
Palm Beach County Schools

Abstract: Differences between school reading and mathematics means, rank orderings, and change scores obtained from total-group and sex-dependent normS were examined. Small mean differences were found in approximately 10 percent of the cases, and shifts in rank order were neither widespread nor large. Moreover, the majority of sex-dependent change scores of schools with a 20 percent or greater shift in the proportion of boys over a two-year period were larger than the corresponding total-group values. These findings did not justify the use of sex-dependent norms for such purposes as program evaluations, merit school award programs, and longitudinal comparisons of schools.

Citation: Gramenz, G. W., Jolly, S. J., & Pickens, R. (1986). (3) The effect of sex-dependent norms on aggregated reading and mathematics test scores. Florida Journal of Educational Research, 28(1), 63-82.

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Patricia Dovell
University of Florida

Dianne Buhr
University of Florida

Abstract: This study examined the difficulty level of essay topics used in large-scale writing assessment in relation to three different scoring models and sought to identify the effects each model would have on passing rates. Models of direct assessment and combined scores produced essentially equivalent pass/fail decisions. A regression model was found to be inappropriate for making decisions about individual students because of the essay scores’ discrete scale. Results showed that each model has its advantages depending upon the purpose of the assessment and the nature of the data.

Citation: Dovell, P., & Buhr, D. (1986). Essay topic difficulty in relation to scoring models. Florida Journal of Educational Research, 28(1), 41-62.

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Neal H. Berger
University of South Florida

Nina B. Barrios
Evaluation Systems Design, Inc.

Howard Williams
Floria State University

Garrett Foster
Florida State University

Abstract: Between 1983 and 1985 the Florida Legislature enacted legislation which increased the credits required for high school graduation and the closely related length and configuration of the school day. This study examined the perceptions of members of the Superintendents’ Task Force on the Seventh Period/Extended SchoolDay, members and staff of the Florida Legislature’s Education Committees and Appropriations Committees, and personnel from the Florida Department of Education regarding the flexible nature of the implementation policy. Specifically, it addresses the following considerations: the rationale and goals for the current policy, its anticipated effects on students, parents, teachers, and administrators and the anticipated impact of mandated implementation requirements.

Citation: Berger, N. H., Barrios, N. B., Williams, H., & Foster, G. (1986). The flexible policy for the seventh period/extended school day in Florida. Florida Journal of Educational Research, 28(1), 109-124.

Download:  Berger.281.pdf (961 downloads )