Date of Award
3-22-1991
Document Type
Dissertation - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Abstract
Flint River Academy is a private, independent school with enrolled of 410 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. This major research project describes a program that was designed to raise the Verbs’ Scholastic Aptitude Scores of seniors in high school. Students at Flint River Academy consistently scored below the national mean verbal score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. The writer documented this disparity for the 1982-89 school years. Interviews with parents, students, and staff indicated concern about the verbal scores being lower than the national mean verbal score. Probable causes of the existing problem were: students were not being taught practical method of test-taking such as root-word studies, reading comprehension, critical thinking skills, and test-taking strategies: students were not being required to read during their vacation periods. Other probable causes of the problem were no existing Scholastic Aptitude Test preparation classes and teachers did not feel qualified to prepare students in how to take the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Solution strategies implemented were more rigid high school English courses with emphases placed on mastery of English grammar, reading comprehension, root-word studies, independent reading and critical thinking skills, emphasizing deductive reasoning: Scholastic Aptitude Test preparation courses: Latin class for selected students: seminars on test-taking strategies: in-services for teachers on how to prepare students for taking standardized tests, specifically the Scholastic Aptitude Tests. The implementation of the above strategies produced results of greater magnitude than the writer had anticipated. The data showed that at the end of the eighteen month implemented period, 64.28% of the 1990 seniors scored higher than the 1988 national verbal mean score of 430. Three observes assisted in evaluating this project.