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In this paper we study the effects of the threat of school vouchers and school stigma in Florida on the performance of "low-performing" schools using student-level data from a subset of districts. Estimates of the change in school-level high-stakes test scores from the first year of the reform are consistent with the early results used by the state of Florida to claim large-scale improvements associated with the threat of voucher assignment. However, we also find that much of this estimated effect may be due to other factors. While we estimate a small relative improvement in reading scores on the high-stakes test for voucher-threatened stigmatized schools, we estimate a much smaller relative improvement on a lower-stakes, nationally norm-referenced, test. Further, the relative gains in reading scores are explained largely by changing student characteristics. We find more evidence for a positive differential effect on math test scores on both the low- and high-stakes tests, however, the results from the lower-stakes test appear primarily limited to students in the high-stakes grade. Finally, we find some evidence that the relative improvements following the introduction of the A Plan by low-performing schools were more due to the stigma of receiving the low grade rather than the threat of vouchers.

School districts have begun using estimates of teachers' effects on student test scores (or "valueadded) for diagnostic purposes and allotting monetary rewards. Such estimates must be precise enough to identify high- and low-performing teachers and predict future performance accurately. We study the inter-temporal variability in value-added measures for elementary and middle school mathematics teachers from five large Florida school districts. Consistent with worker productivity measures in other occupations, teacher estimates are moderately stable, with year-to-year correlations ranging from 0.2-0.5 for elementary school and 0.3-0.7 for middle school teachers. Thirty to 60 percent of the variation in measured teacher performance is due to sampling error from "noise" in student test scores. Persistent teacher effects account for about 50 percent (70 percent) of the variation not due to noise for elementary (middle) school teachers; other time-varying factors account for the remaining variance. However, observed teacher characteristics (e.g., experience, advanced degrees and professional development) explain little inter-temporal variation unrelated to sampling errors. Averaging estimates from two years greatly enhances the stability of the estimates and improves their predictive ability. We also explore the sensitivity of stability to the value-added model specification and the achievement test. Technical Appendix is included. (Contains 7 tables, 2 figures and 11 footnotes.)

This paper was commissioned by the Education Commission of the States to identify and discuss the educational needs of Cuban students in the United States. Historical background is presented in the first section with discussions of the characteristics of Cubans who were educated in Dade County, Florida, in the sixties and seventies and of the strategies used by the school system to meet their needs. This is followed by a description of the education of Cubans and other minority groups in Dade County in the eighties, with an emphasis on English and Spanish language programs. The newest Cuban immigrants to the United States, the Mariel population, are then described from psychological and educational perspectives. The paper concludes with a discussion of what remains to be done to educate the new Cubans. The findings and recommendations of a study designed to describe the Mariel population, summaries of evaluations of Dade County bilingual programs, and a list of recommended instructional materials are appended. (MK)

By borrowing and adapting theoretical frameworks from the structural approach to migration and the dialectical view of legal repression, this paper attempts to explain why Haitian boat people in south Florida have been so singularly persecuted and, secondly, why the government's efforts to expel the Haitians have failed. First, the study's structural approach is developed: within this framework, the Haitian population's movements are seen as fundamentally determined by economic cycles and their fate is tied to their mode of incorporation into the receiving economy. Because the boat people possess neither the human nor financial capital to create an enclave or become integrated into the primary sector, their only alternative is south Florida's relatively underdeveloped secondary labor market. The paper also analyzes the particular "push" factors in Haiti which have encouraged massive emigration, and the "pull" factors in south Florida. The latter are seen as minimal, and the relative absence of opportunities in the receiving area is said to have produced tension at the local and national levels. Locally, it is argued, anti-Haitian political authorities view the boat people as a disruptive force which destroys the community and drains public resources, while the Immigration and Naturalization Service fears that admitting Haitian refugees would set a precedent by "opening the floodgates" to immigrants from other authoritarian regimes. The paper then examines the roles played by the courts and other advocates for the rights of the Haitians (including government and church groups). The remainder of the paper presents an overview of efforts to formulate policy and legislation in response to the growing influx of Haitians to the United States in the late 1970s. A conclusion characterizes government's responses to this issue as contradictory and inconsistent. (KH)

This paper describes the strategy developed by the Florida Department of Education to identify, develop, and support new educational procedures and practices in Florida's public schools. This educational renewal strategy incorporates three basic elements: establishing clear goals and objectives, assessing and analyzing how well educational goals are being attained, and encouraging alternative educational practices that are capable of achieving the identified educational goals. The emphasis of the paper is on the department's responsibility for encouraging improved educational practices and on the department policies and activities that will stimulate a continuous process of educational change and renewal in the public schools. (Author/JG)

This publication reports findings from the first year of an implementation study of the Early Childhood Cluster Initiative (ECCI). ECCI is a prekindergarten program in ten elementary schools and a community child care center in Palm Beach County, based on the design of the High/Scope Perry Preschool model. The initiative is characterized by low teacher-child ratios, the use of certified teachers, the availability of ongoing staff training, and an intensive program of activities to strengthen parent involvement. Interviews and surveys with participants and program assessments indicated continued support for the initiative's goals and activities and progress in implementing the High/Scope curriculum, although both program quality and support for the curriculum varied across sites and participants. Accomplishments of the first year included implementation of the High/Scope curriculum in the classroom, developing relationships with families, and training and mentoring teachers. Relationships with service provider staff were also established. However, much work remains to integrate the ECCI program into the school setting and build foundational relationships with school administrators and other service providers. In order for ECCI to be successful in the school setting, ECCI services should be regarded as integral rather than as supplemental within the context of the school. To that end, written policies and procedures are needed outlining for administrators and provider staff their roles and responsibilities in relation to the ECCI classrooms, as well as the structures and facilities that should be in place in order for ECCI to function. Successful implementation of ECCI ultimately depends on the development and maintenance of positive relationships between ECCI staff and school staff and frequent communication and coordination between them. Teachers and teacher trainers need to be cognizant of the limitations of the school policies and procedures, and creative in finding ways to resolve problems and negotiate differences between High/Scope and school policies. Just as it will take teachers time to learn the High/Scope curriculum, it will take time for school administrators and other school staff to understand and appreciate the principles underlying the ECCI program and develop ways of working with ECCI staff and integrating ECCI into the life of the school. Three appendixes include: (1) Overview of High/Scope Curriculum; (2) ECCI Year 1 Interview Guide; and (3) ECCI Year 1 Survey for Teachers and ELAs. Bibliography is included. (Contains 19 footnotes, 1 figure and 15 tables.) [For the first-year executive summary, see ED500595.]

The purpose of this three-part report is to identify the competencies of high-performing principals, based on a study conducted by the Florida Council on Educational Management (FCEM). Part I reviews the background that led to the study of the principalship. It describes the factors leading to the creation of legislation that focused on the role of the principal, relates how a change-agent vehicle was created to implement the legislation, and reviews the research methods used to identify the competencies of high-performing principals. Part II describes and synthesizes the research efforts and presents the competencies of high-performing principals. Section A is an analysis of the competencies used in the Florida School Principal Assessment Programs in three Florida school districts. Section B assesses the validity of unidimensional attributes based on studies by Richard Boyatzis and by the FCEM. Section C discusses implications of prominent studies by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and by Mark Martinko for the selection of high-performance competencies. Section D describes the identification of the high-performing and basic competencies and section E provides definitions and behavioral indicators of high-performing and basic competencies. Finally, part III includes comments on how and where to intervene in order to improve the effectiveness of the principalship. References are provided, along with two appendixes listing (1) unidimensional attributes and (2) Florida Principal Competencies. (TE)

Tenure and attrition rates within the Florida State University System (SUS) were studied. Attention was directed to attrition of newly hired tenure-earning faculty members who began employment at an SUS institution in either 1976, 1977, or 1978. Each faculty group was traced from date of hire through the seventh year of employment or until they left university employment. Data were analyzed by race and gender categories. Tenure rates at four-year institutions nationwide were between 65% and 70%, while the SUS tenure rate was 74% when only tenured or tenured-earning positions were used as the comparison population. Approximately 43% of newly hired, tenure-earning faculty had been granted tenure by their seventh year of employment. Male faculty had a higher tenure rate than female faculty: 46% compared to 32%. White faculty members had the highest tenure rate (45%), followed by "other minority" (32%), Black (27%), and Hispanic (25%). The rate at which faculty leave the institution does not appear to be related to a negative tenure decision, as over 32% of newly-hired faculty had left the university at the end of the third employment year. 10 references. (SW)

Information is provided on the Florida State University System's Indicators of Excellence Program and how it is evaluated. The 21 indicators of quality are used in setting annual goals for quality improvement, in justifying university budget requests, and in evaluating the results of the universities' quality improvement efforts. Some of these indicators are intended to measure the results of the state's efforts to move into the "upper quartile" of state systems. The upper quartile measures are global in nature and emphasize the funding of higher education at the state level. A second kind of indicator, the foundational measures, reflect improvements that cannot be tracked in relationship to national measures and are more directly associated with institutional quality. The indicators include output measures that reveal the status of student learning and input measures that identify the conditions under which the educational system functions. Process measures identify activities the system provides for students. Finally, opinion indicators identify attitudes about Florida's educational systems. Nine specific upper quartile measures and 12 foundational measures are identified and results are reported. 25 references. (SW)

This technical assistance paper discusses the need for school-age child care and documents Florida's leadership activities in providing assistance to school districts seeking to meet the needs of school-age children who are unsupervised before and after school. The Florida projects described include: (1) the School-Age Child Care Incentive Program; (2) demonstration programs; (3) cooperative programs; (4) a Clearinghouse Center that offers technical assistance concerning school-age child care to school districts or other interested parties; and (5) a feasibility study focusing on statewide licensing of school-age child care programs offered by school districts and implementation of a school-age child care program on a statewide basis. (RH)

Issues pertinent to evaluation of statewide boards of higher education are considered, and the cases of South Carolina and several other states are covered. Evaluation is seen as a form of accountability. Reasons why better, more formal evaluation of statewide boards will be important to a wide range of constituencies--such as trends toward performance budgeting--are examined, and various complexities of the evaluation process are addressed. The major relevant evaluation efforts undertaken recently are summarized, including the University of Missouri Task Force on State Level Coordination and Governance in Higher Education, two Alabama evaluations, evaluations by the Academy for Educational Development of consolidated governing boards of Mississippi, West Virginia, and Florida; and legislative performance evaluations in Connecticut and South Carolina. Evaluation criteria used by South Carolina's Legislative Audit Council to evaluate the Commission on Higher Education, critical reactions to the criteria from selected respondents around the country, and modifications based on the reactions are examined. The question of who should evaluate issues pertaining to higher education is addressed. Various supplementary materials pertaining to state evaluation efforts are appended. (SW)

The goals of this program were to alert Florida's academic and public librarians to the nature of fire- and water-related disasters, train them to prepare for and respond to emergency situations in ways that would minimize damage to collections, and establish a statewide library disaster recovery network. These goals were met by means of the following activities: a survey that gathered information about the status of disaster preparedness and alerted librarians to the need for emergency readiness; the provision of workshops throughout the state to train librarians in disaster preparedness and response; and the dissemination of information to the participants about who attended, available resources, and the role of the Division of Library and Information Services of the Florida Department of State in the event of an accident or emergency. The survey questionnaire was designed to elicit information about collection maintenance and protection problems, conservation expertise available in each library, receptiveness to working in a network mode, and willingness to participate in a program to prepare disaster plans. This report describes the survey methodology; analyzes the responses received from 78 academic (96.3%) and 105 public libraries (90.4%); describes the 2-day workshops held in several areas of the state; and reports on post-workshop activities. The report concludes with an assessment of the project workshops and recommendations for materials, specialized equipment, supplies and emergency assistance procedures, communications, and a follow-up survey of progress made by workshop participants. A copy of the survey instrument used is appended. (17 references) (EW)

The 1990 Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act Amendments mandate that vocational education planning for individuals with disabilities be coordinated by appropriate representatives of vocational education, special education, and state vocational rehabilitation agencies. The Florida Council on Vocational Education for Individuals with Disabilities was formed in response to the coordinated planning mandate to address the special needs of individuals with disabilities in vocational education on a statewide basis. It is the policy of Florida's Division of Vocational, Adult, and Community Education that each local education agency (LEA), including community colleges, establish a planning council on vocational education for individuals with disabilities. These local councils should meet regularly to assess needs and identify resources to provide services and activities to enable individuals with disabilities to succeed in vocational education and in the world of work. Throughout the planning process, local councils should address 10 key questions related to vocational education programs and special services with disabilities. Included among the issues addressed in the questions are the following: the number of students requiring services, current job market, available resources, determination of who is responsible for supporting and/or coordinating vocational programs and special services, and procedures for collecting and using follow-up data. (MN)

This paper presents the first causal evidence on the effects of school accountability systems on teacher labor markets. We exploit a 2002 change in Florida's school accountability system that exogenously shocked some schools to higher accountability grades and others to lower accountability grades, and measure whether teachers in shocked schools are more or less likely to move. Using microdata from the universe of Florida public school teachers, we find strong evidence that accountability shocks influence the teacher labor market; specifically, teachers are more likely to leave schools that have been downward shocked--especially to the bottom grade--and they are less likely to leave schools that have been upward shocked. We also find that accountability shocks influence the distribution of the measured quality of teachers (in terms of value added measures) who stay and leave their school, though the average differences are not large.

Gaps in average college success among students of differing backgrounds have persisted in the United States for decades. One of the primary ways governments have attempted to ameliorate such gaps is by providing need-based grants, but little evidence exists on the impacts of such aid on longer-term outcomes such as college persistence and degree completion. We examine the effects of the Florida Student Access Grant (FSAG) using a regression-discontinuity strategy and exploiting the cut-off used to determine eligibility. We find grant eligibility had a positive effect on attendance, particularly at public four-year institutions. We also extend the literature by investigating the impact of aid on college success and find that eligibility for FSAG increased early persistence and the cumulative number of college-level credits students earned in their first four years. Most importantly, we find that FSAG increased the likelihood of bachelor's degree receipt within six years at a public college or university by 4.6 percentage points, which translates into a 22 percent increase among students near the eligibility cut-off. The results are robust to sensitivity analyses. [To access "WWC Review of the Report 'Looking Beyond Enrollment: The Causal Effect of Need-Based Grants on College Access, Persistence, and Graduation.' What Works Clearinghouse Single Study Review," see ED544792.]

We study the effects of private school competition on public school students' test scores in the wake of Florida's Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship program, now known as the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which offered scholarships to eligible low-income students to attend private schools. Specifically, we examine whether students in schools that were exposed to a more competitive private school landscape saw greater improvements in their test scores after the introduction of the scholarship program, than did students in schools that faced less competition. The degree of competition is characterized by several geocoded variables that capture students' ease of access to private schools, and the variety of nearby private school options open to students. We find that greater degrees of competition are associated with greater improvements in students' test scores following the introduction of the program; these findings are robust to the different variables we use to define competition. These findings are not an artifact of pre-policy trends; the degree of competition from nearby private schools matters only after the announcement of the new program, which makes nearby private competitors more affordable for eligible students. We also test for several moderating factors, and find that schools that we would expect to be most sensitive to competitive pressure see larger improvements in their test scores as a result of increased competition.

Under the Teacher Education Center (TEC) Act in Florida, the state's universities, colleges and public school districts were placed into a collaborative working relationship. Using money allocated by the state, school districts can contract with one or more universities or colleges for the delivery of inservice. This paper illustrates strategies for strengthening university-school district cooperative inservice efforts acquired during 12 years of TEC experience. In particular, the paper focuses on protocol, communication networks, internal and external communication, and consultant effectiveness. Because the paper addresses the concept of university-school district cooperative efforts, the procedures presented are applicable regardless of whether a formal TEC is in operation or not. (JD)

The three papers in this volume describe exploratory efforts to adjust state aid to local school districts so as to reflect differences in local costs unrelated to school program content. Each study is limited to an analysis of relevant data for one of the three states considered--Michigan, California, and Florida. The underlying assumption is that one dollar in state aid or other revenue does not purchase the same amount of educational service throughout a state because of differences in local prices. The problem addressed is, can states adjust educational aid for local cost differences? The studies are technical as they center around theoretical and statistical analysis for selecting the most reliable variables for which data are available and which are associated with interdistrict differences, primarily teacher salaries. One major problem is in determining which district features are supply-related variables and which are demand-related. Another problem concerns the amount of variation in prices paid that can be traced to features or variables included in the analyses. (Author/IRT)