Education Commons^™

The Teach For Florida Project: A Case Study Of Alternative Route Certification Policy, Robert Todd Parrish

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the policy implementation of the Teach for Florida Project, which was conducted as a grant program in 2003. The project was designed to help alleviate a critical shortage of teachers brought about in part by the passage in the fall of 2002 of Florida Constitutional Amendment 9, a referendum setting specific limits on the number of students who could be taught by one teacher. The project was created and run on a tight timeline, allowing only 6 months from initiation of the request for proposals to placement of new alternatively prepared teachers in their classrooms. Despite the …

The Impact Of School Reform Design, English Speakers Of Other Languages (Esol) Instruction And Socioeconomic Status On Esol Students' Reading Achievement, Cristina P. Valentino

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how school reform design, English speakers of other languages (ESOL) instruction, and socioeconomic status (SES) impact the academic achievement of ESOL students in Grade 2. Gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory were used to measure one aspect of academic achievement, namely, general reading ability.

The primary research question was: To what extent can gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory be explained by the independent variable set of school reform design (America's Choice/Direct Instruction), ESOL instruction (ESOL instruction/no ESOL instruction), and SES (free and reduced lunch/no free …

On Becoming Women: Adolescent Female Muslim Refugees Negotiating Their Identities In The United States, Kathleen Bell Mckenzie

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States is becoming more diverse; numerous immigrants and refugees enter every year. Among the newer groups are those practicing the Muslim religion.

This qualitative research focused on the identity formation process of six adolescent female Muslim refugees from Afghanistan. Based on Erikson's paradigm of psycho-social development and Marcia's modifications to that theory, I used semi-structured interviews to understand how the participants negotiated their identities in the context of their families, the public school, and the community.

This cohort appeared to exist within a circumscribed Afghan community, retaining significant parts of their culture, traditions, and roles. The exception to …

Access To Higher Education In Florida And South Africa: A Comparative Policy Analysis, Marty Z. Khan

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines issues of access to higher education in Florida and South Africa. On November 9, 1999, the Governor of the State of Florida issued Executive Order 99-281 to establish the One Florida Initiative (OFI), which barred the use of race as a factor in university admissions. In South Africa, the government in February 2001 issued its National Plan for Higher Education (SANPHE). This plan outlined a framework to redress past inequities in the higher education system perpetuated by the former government's apartheid ideology. Senior university leaders in Florida and South Africa were required to implement their respective policy. …

Secondary Student Perceptions Of Vocational Education, Randall Mcgarey Haney

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The central focus of the present study was to examine the relationship between student personal factors (i.e., gender, race, academic performance, career awareness, and socio-economic factors) and the perceptions of secondary school students regarding vocational education. In recent years, traditional vocational programs have not done well throughout the nation. Enrollment within vocational education has dropped to approximately 10%, while enrollment in college preparation courses has increased to over 50%.

The subjects of this study were secondary school students enrolled in the Duval County Public School system. The research was conducted using a two-part survey instrument containing 24 demographic questions and …

Transformational Leadership And Moral Discourse In The Workplace And Civil Society, John W. Frank

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was grounded in the theory and practice of transformational leadership, where leaders function as moral agents of change as they facilitate values talk (moral discourse) among their constituents. The study took its cue from Rost's call for a new paradigm for leadership ethics that calls for methods of group moral decision making to assess organizational and social ends. The inquiry sought to better understand how leaders engage others in moral conversation and how such processes influence organizational culture and democratic civil society.

The methodology was qualitative and phenomenological as it was centered on leaders' perceptions of their experiences …