Theses and Dissertations
Date of Award
2009
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice
Advisor
Judith Stein
Committee Member
Joan Mathis
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
Educational Change/School Restructuring/High Schools/House Plan/Career Academies
Abstract
The school district in Florida has used various forms of small learning communities, including career academies, career magnets, and noncareer-oriented models of small learning communities to improve the academic performance of students, particularly those in chronically underperforming high schools. Over the course of 7 years, high schools of greatest concern for low student achievement have received federal Smaller Learning Community grants. These schools were those in which a large percentage of the students were from minorities, eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, and affected by highly mobile and unstable family settings. Although there have been some modest increases in reading and mathematics scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the schools in which Smaller Learning Community grant-funded programs have been implemented have not shown much overall improvement in academic performance, promotion, or graduation rates. Most of these schools have failed to improve their rating above D, according to the Florida school rating standards.
This study used 2 evaluation models to assess the comparative effectiveness and costs of small learning community models implemented in the schools. The 1st model was the context, input, process, and product model following Stufflebeam’s (2003, 2007) checklist to evaluate the context, input, process, and product of the small learning community programs.
The 2nd model of evaluation for this study was of cost-effectiveness conducted from guidance provided by Levin and McEwan (2001). Costs were estimated based upon available operating cost and per-pupil expenditure data. This part of the study was a preexperimental, between-subject research design that used publicly available archival posttest data of alternative treatments on nonequivalent groups based on the implementation of different small learning community models in targeted high schools gathered over the 6-year period from 2002 to 2008. From the analysis of these archival data, the researcher attempted to discern any statistically significant correlations between the independent variable of the small learning community reform model and dependent variables of student academic achievement, dropout rates, graduation rates, and rate of subsequent employment or enrollment in postsecondary education.
The district’s general implementation of small learning community models in this study was partial and the results based on student outcomes were mixed. However, the significant effects and cost-effectiveness ratios associated with those schools with career academy models, particularly those accredited by the National Academy Foundation, suggest that there may be potential for the district to improve student outcomes and efficient use of funds through expanded implementation of this model.
NSUWorks Citation
Merewyn E. Lyons. 2009. A Comparative Evaluation of Academic and Career-Based Small Learning Community Models. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. (937)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/937.