High Stakes and No Takers: The Impact of Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Writing on Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Writing

This ethnographic case study of ten students and their teachers concludes that the state writing test had a negative impact on students’ and teachers’ perceptions of writing in four categories: strengths and weaknesses in student writing, self-assessment of writing skills, factors impacting test scores, and motivation and attitudes toward writing.

Class Size Reduction for the State of Florida: Is This the Solution for a Better Education?

Smaller class sizes have a positive impact on student achievement but Florida struggles with the problem of how to achieve smaller classes. Through a review of the literature, this paper discusses some of the programs currently used across the US, with the focus on Florida. Conclusions and implications are presented.

Intrusive Community Noise Negatively Impacts South Florida Residents

This study investigated how intrusive noises affect local university students in their communities. The Community Noise Survey solicited information about types of bothersome noises, how often these noises were bothersome, activities intruded upon by these noises, feelings elicited by noise intrusions, and what participants did to abate the noises.