STUDENT INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES IN MATH FOR THE
FLORIDA COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT TEST:
A COMPARISON OF CRITICALLY LOW AND HIGH PERFORMING ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for dissertation research
THE FLORIDA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL UNIVERSITY
The Florida State Legislature initiated educational reform when they mandated the implementation of a standards-based curriculum to increase the academic performance of all students. The 2001 Accountability Report shows that a significant number of critically low performing schools have a high concentration of minority students. This study will examine instructional strategies in critically low and high performing elementary schools. Research will focus on student preparation, test-taking strategies, motivational strategies, and time spent on thinking skills, regarding preparation for the math portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. One-way ANOVA will be used to examine the quantitative data and qualitative data will be analyzed by the researcher. CHAPTER 1
The purpose of the study is to examine student preparation, test-taking strategies, motivational strategies, and amount of time spend on thinking skills with regard to preparation for the FCAT Math, comparing selected critically low and non-critically low elementary schools. A final purpose of this study is to identify instructional strategies that may be used in the critically low and non-critically low elementary classroom on a regular basis, which may contribute to higher performance of minority students on standardized tests.
In recent decades, test scores have dominated the discourse about schools and their accomplishments. Additionally, school test scores are impacting various aspects of the economy. For example, test scores impact housing accommodations and property value (Amrein & Berliner, 2002). Economically, as indicated by Amrein and Berliner (2002), rea...