This research report argues for viewing the complex, often messy process of school reform implementation as a "conditional matrix" coupled with qualitative research. As illustration, two studies (of six reform efforts in one county and of implementation of an untracking program in Kentucky) are reported. Preliminary analysis reveals that…

A study examined the factors contributing to the nonreenrollment of 4-H Club members in Southeastern Florida. During the study, questionnaires were mailed to 364 4-H Club dropouts who were randomly selected from the total dropout population of 545 youth in Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Based on data from the 139 usable instruments, the…

This study was an attempt to assess the general state of delivery of student development services to students 35 years old and older in Florida's community colleges. Its purpose was to locate areas of needed improvement, to identify innovative programs, and to provide an opportunity for thinking about this increasingly important area of community…

A Florida study identified cultural barriers that may impede students of different cultures from learning in vocational classrooms. One questionnaire was mailed to 15 subjects outside Florida and used as an interview format for 35 personnel of Florida bilingual vocational programs. These participants who were monolingual or bilingual with students…

The prevention and resolution of student behavior problems were the goals of the Positive Alternatives to Student Suspensions (PASS) Program involving schools in Pinellas County, Florida. Workshops for staff and administrators aimed toward creating a humanized caring school. Classroom activities attempted to create situations in which students and…

The College Level Examination Program (CLEP) had a substantial impact upon the Florida State University System. Over 42% of the beginning freshmen in 1972 took CLEP examinations and over 38% received credit for passing one or more examinations with a score above the national 50th percentile. These freshmen received an average of 27 quarter-hours…

This report presents initial findings of a field study which focused on the academic achievement and behavioral and social adjustment of 148 kindergarten children who entered first grade early. The study took place in Broward County, Florida, following implementation of the 1973 state legislation permitting early entrance into first grade for…

The focus of this paper is on the development of a model for assessing community educational needs, referred to as the Needs Assessment Project (NAP). The model's primary purpose is to classify, organize, and assign priority to community needs, so that the educational system can assign these needs to the proper administrative unit for changes to…

Based on the need to develop an outline of the procedures and methods used in vocational education in Florida, which would then form the basis for communication, discussion, and development of a multi-State consortium for the production of performance objectives and criterion measures for occupational education, this report, one of five under a…

Reported are results of the 1976 assessment program involving 1,742 trainable mentally retarded (TMR) students (10-14 years old) enrolled in Florida public schools. It is noted that the students were observed and rated by their teachers on a six-category scale (ranging from completed independently to physically unable) assessing their performance…

Describes the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's implementation of an evaluation research-driven quality assurance process for Florida's juvenile justice educational programs. Reviews the literature on juvenile justice educational practices and describes the educational quality assurance standards and annual modifications that draw…

Building on previous data, researchers used West Virginia school district data to investigate the value of examining structurally determined opportunities and costs to explain high school students' dropping out. The study interpreted dropping out as a rational consequence of students' assessments of the opportunities and costs associated with…

This article describes a project in which first-year administrators in Pinellas County, Fla., were members of a professional development cadre. The major purpose of the study was to determine the problems encountered by first-year assistant principals. During cadre meetings, participants were encouraged to record in journals and discuss with their…

After a brief overview of the digitization activities at Florida Atlantic University Libraries, this article describes one project in detail, concentrating on various types of cooperation it reflects.

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), state education agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) have stepped up activities to broadly expand their data collection and reporting systems. The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) has advocated strongly for states to build robust student-level longitudinal data systems based on…