Educational Achievement, School Safety and Social Capital Issues

Situation and Objective: Though considerable effort has been directed at understanding educational achievement issues, especially in the status attainment literature, this area has significant gaps, most notably in examining the role of social capital in educational success. Obtaining a better understanding of the effects of family, school and community social capital on educational achievement can help school officials, parents and local leaders identify policies and programs that are likely to be effective in enhancing educational achievement. My research objectives are: first, to identify the elements of social capital which enhance educational achievement; and second, to establish the role social capital (through relationships with peers, family members and adults in the community) plays in developing a safe learning environment and, third, to explore the influence of school climate and safety on educational achievement.

Methodology and Accomplishments: This research uses the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS) dataset to study the influence of structural and processual attributes of family and community social capital on three measures of educational achievement, a test score composite, a grade point average, and continuance in school. Given a data set with over 600 schools and 10,000 students, two-level hierarchal linear models (HLM) and generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) have been employed in our latest series of analyses. Results showed that both structural and processual attributes had significant affects on the measures of educational achievement. I co-authored a number of publications in this area, including a paper (with Bo Beaulieu and Glen Hartless) which has been accepted for publication in Rural Sociology.

A related project, the Florida Safe Learning Environment Data Project (FSLED), is a major component of the Florida Safe Learning Environment Institute (FSLEI). FSLEI was established to conduct research on school safety and provide training to Florida's schools. FSLED is evaluating Florida's School Environment Safety Incident Reporting (SESIR) system and working to provide more meaningful data to state, district and school personnel relating to school safety issues. The research team prepared a report summarizing school incident reports for the 1997-98 academic year. This report includes an analysis by school type (elementary, middle, and high schools) and trends over a three-year period. Results from this research were presented at the FSLEI Summer Institute for personnel from 13 Florida school districts, as well as Florida DOE representatives.

The research team also conducted interviews and focus groups with school administrators, guidance counselors, teachers, and deputies. This information was used to evaluate how the SESIR system functions on a daily basis, current capabilities of the reporting system, and the need for system improvement. The FSLED project also has studied the system to identify erroneous incidence reporting and system-level data quality problems. The FSLED Research Team has designed a model school climate survey and school safety index for potential use statewide. The school safety index was developed using a partial least squares (PLS) methodology. This phase builds on earlier work which showed that community structural attributes affect educational achievement. The research focus was expanded to include the analysis of community context factors related to school safety. Initial results of the research were presented at professional meetings. The significance of this research is that the school safety index can be applied to determining state allocations of incentive funds to school districts for additional school safety programs.

Evaluating Extension Educational Programs

Net Ban Impacts and Effects of Extension Interventions

Situation and Objective: With the advent of the Florida Net Ban, a segment of the commercial fishing industry was prohibited from using entangling nets and related gear. A Sea Grant funded project was obtained (Suzanna Smith, PI) to assess the impacts of the Florida net ban of commercial fishing families. The objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of Extension's outreach to fishers following the implementation of the net ban.

Methodology and Accomplishments: I contributed to the preparation of the project's final report and to a contributed paper, which was presented at the 1998 Rural Sociological Society's annual meeting.

Effectiveness of Extension Programs

Situation and objective: Extension spends a great amount of its resources delivery educational information to its customers. In order to efficiently use its resources and maximize its impact, evaluations must be conducted to identify the strengths and weaknesses of educational programming, as well as of evaluation strategies that we use. The objective is to evaluate alternative delivery strategies of the Environmental Landscape Management (FL114) state major program.

Methodology and Accomplishments: The research on FL114 focused on the impact of different program modes, including multi-session, intensive trainings, one-day workshops, and printed materials-only approaches. The results of this research were published in HortTechnology. In addition, a grant proposal was submitted to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to expand and evaluate nitrate-relevant ELM programming (with Gary Knox). Following a presentation to FDACS personnel, the proposal was funded for approximately $120,000 over 2 years. A non-equivalent control group design using statistical controls is currently underway, with pre-test data collection completed in late Spring, 2000.

Assessing Customer Satisfaction with Extension

Situation and Objective: Extension, as well as UF/IFAS as a whole, must provide its sponsors with information about the relevance, quality, and impact of its programs. The objective is to refine protocols for collecting, analyzing and reporting information about Extension programs' quality.

Methodology and Accomplishments: I coordinated and provided technical support for Extension's 1998 customer satisfaction survey. I also conducted an assessment of data quality and implementation of the survey protocol for the 1997 survey. This research has identified several area that need strengthening for future customer surveys, such as improved training on follow-up telephone calls. A poster and paper presentation were present at the American Evaluation Association annual meeting in November, 1998. A second round of studies are being conducted in 2000, with a focus on linking faculty performance and experience with clientele satisfaction.