Dade County Research Articles

Richard Fossey: If a Practitioner Cleans the Windows, Will You Look In?.

A response is provided to views expressed in two Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education articles by Richard Fossey. Fossey discusses legal issues faced by personnel officials in school districts and posits that often little is, or can be, done to deal with incompetent or harmful employees. Fossey's perspectives are too generalized and fail to account for specific problems faced by individual districts and an array of efforts being made to cope with them. Using specific examples from the Miami–Dade County Public School system, and contrary to Fossey's perspectives, a detailed description of the complex yet successful systems the M-DCPS uses to handle incompetent employees is described. The article concludes with a point-counterpoint discussion of several of Dr. Fossey's important points.

Conservation of resources and coping self-efficacy predicting distress following a natural disaster: A causal model analysis where the environment meets the mind

Disaster research has increasingly examined how personal characteristics mediate emotional recovery following disaster exposure. We investigated the importance of lost resources, coping self-efficacy, and coping behavior as important variables in acute disaster reaction and medium range disaster recovery following Hurricane Andrew. One hundred and eighty participants living in southern Dade county completed the initial phase of the study (1–4 months post-hurricane), with 135 individuals completing the second wave (8–12 months post-hurricane). Results confirmed that lost resources, coping self-efficacy, and coping behavior are important in understanding psychological reactivity following a natural disaster. These variables together provided the best fitted causal model for describing psychological reactions to the hurricane over time. Results are discussed in relation to how coping self-efficacy may serve as an important intra-personal factor that mediates how lost resources are managed and how effective coping ensues. Implications for clinical interventions are also addressed.

A Methodology for Examining the Changing Size and Spatial Distribution of a Jewish Population: A Miami Case Study

The major purpose of this article is to describe a procedure, termed the "Distinctive Jewish Name (DJN) Historical Mapping Technique," for estimating the Jewish population of an area historically and to demonstrate the value of this procedure, using Miami (Dade County) as a case study. This paper suggests that DJNs, despite the problems inherent in their use, are an acceptable method for examining the changing spatial distribution of a Jewish population over time. Nothing in this paper should be construed as implying that the use of DJNs is the preferred procedure for 1) sampling for demographic studies or 2) estimating current Jewish population size. Random digit dialing (RDD) is the superior technique in both cases.

The use of alcohol by Miami's adolescent public school students 1992: peers, risk-taking, and availability as central forces.

This analysis examines the use of alcohol by 535 adolescents in Dade County Public Schools during 1992. Statistically significant factors which tend to increase the probability of alcohol use by adolescents include: the fact that their friends drink, their awareness of the risks associated with the use of alcohol, and their ease in obtaining alcohol. Hence, the typical adolescent who uses alcohol seems to be a risk-taker, who may enjoy the dangers involved with alcohol use; friends are also users of alcohol. Not significantly related to alcohol use are a number of other variables, including family-related variables (whether adolescents live with their mothers, fathers, or alone; and whether someone in the family has a problem with drugs or alcohol). Similarly, early cigarette smoking did not serve as a gateway to later alcohol use. Religion, gender, race, academic performance, and extracurricular school activities (athletics, music, school clubs, and other activities) were all unrelated to the use of alcohol by adolescents. Although the typical adolescent who consumed alcohol was older (in grades 9 through 12), this was not a significant variable.

A Multidimensional Approach to Evaluating School-Linked Services: A School of Social Work and County Public School Partnership

As Dade County (Florida) Public Schools began expanding their system of school-linked services (referred to as “full-service schools” in Florida), they entered into a collaborative partnership with Barry University's School of Social Work to develop, implement, and evaluate programs. This article describes the multidimensional evaluation of a project located in an inner-city elementary school with a student body made up primarily of Haitian immigrants. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Results from the quantitative evaluation were modest; qualitative results revealed the value of social workers as mediators between home and school and the effect of culture and immigration on attachment to school.

The role of the physician as an information source on mammography.

The value of mammography for asymptomatic women younger than 50 years of age has been under debate, and it had been suggested that each woman should decide for herself whether to start having mammograms in her 40s. This decision-making process requires women to have knowledge of screening guidelines. This study reported key determining informational factors that led women age 40 and older to obtain a mammogram. To examine the relationship between sources of information and utilization of mammography, the authors conducted a communitywide telephone survey, in English and Spanish, of a stratified random sample of 999 white, black, and Hispanic women in Dade County, Florida. The survey was designed to measure knowledge, attitudes, practices, and beliefs about breast cancer, its prevention, and its early detection. Data for 784 women 40 years and older are analyzed and reported here. The most commonly cited source of information was the media (90.2%). In a logistic regression, having had a checkup in the past year was the strongest predictor of having had a recent mammogram as opposed to a distant one (OR 4.17; 95% CI 2.92-5.95). Women who named their physician as an important source of information about health and prevention were also more likely to have had a recent examination (OR 1.85; 95% CI 1.27-2.69). This analysis of the relationship between the source of information and utilization of mammography suggests that physicians, as sources of information, serve to motivate women to obtain a mammogram. This is true even after taking into account the patient's age and utilization of the healthcare system for preventive care in general. For this reason, it is imperative that clinicians be aware of national guidelines for breast cancer screening; of the risks and benefits of screening measures; and of the implications of a positive and negative test result. In addition, clinicians must realize the importance of follow-up to remind the patient to obtain a mammogram or other screening test and should develop strategies to provide this service.

The Miami Coalition Surveys of Employee Drug Use and Attitudes: A Five-Year Retrospective (1989–1993)

Employees of many businesses and government agencies in metropolitan Miami (Dade County, Florida) took five voluntary annual surveys (1989–1993) regarding their attitudes toward and use of drugs. The Workplace Drug Survey data indicated three positive conclusions about employee drug use and attitudes for Dade employees. Overall, reported illicit drug abuse rates are low when compared with national norms, and most employees know that their employer has a policy on alcohol and drug abuse. Employers also refer employees with drug or alcohol problems to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This demonstrates the effective information campaign conducted by the Miami Coalition. In addition, these results are likely to be representative of major Dade County employers, public and private.

Wetland networks for stormwater management in subtropical urban watersheds

A quantitative method suitable for planning wetland stormwater treatment at the regional, multibasin scale was developed based on simple zero order kinetics (uptake rates) and average nutrient loading conditions. The method was applied to urbanized watersheds south of Miami, FL and yielded a hierarchically organized network of wetlands for processing stormwaters. Coastal watersheds in Dade county, FL, varying in intensity of development from heavily urbanized to almost completely undeveloped and ranging in size from 38 600 ha to 700 ha were analyzed. Watersheds were divided into three spatial scales: basin (>1000 ha), sub-basin (1000–100 ha) and neighborhood (100–10 ha). The methods used to calculate wetland area were based on: (1) reducing nutrient and sediment concentrations to background levels of the receiving water body (Biscayne Bay); and (2) retaining storm runoff to attenuate pulses of freshwater discharge. At each spatial scale, the wetland area needed to treat nitrogen, phosphorus, suspended sediment, biological oxygen demand and the water quantity was calculated. The constituent requiring the largest treatment area determined the amount of wetland area necessary. Results indicated that at the neighborhood scale, phosphorus runoff, generated by a 5-year 24-h design storm, required the largest wetland treatment area, needing between 2.3 and 10.8% of total basin area. At the sub-basin scale, the loading of total suspended solids, derived from land use specific criteria, needed the largest treatment area, ranging from 0.2 to 4.5% of basin area. The basin scale treatment, based on retaining drainage canal discharge for at least 72 h, needed between 0.1 and 2.5% of basin area. This methodology is useful for feasibility analysis and leads to design principles for planning basin-scale, stormwater management systems in urbanized watersheds.

Marijuana use among Miami's adolescents, 1992.

This analysis examines the use of marijuana by 458 adolescents in Dade County, Florida public schools in 1992. Statistically significant factors which tended to increase the probability of marijuana use by adolescents include: the fact that their peers were using marijuana, the fact that they were white, male, and their ready access to the substance. Although not statistically significant, adolescents were less likely to use marijuana if they knew of the risks associated with marijuana use. The only statistically significant variables which inhibited marijuana use by Miami adolescents was the fact that religion was an important part of their lives, that their fathers resided with them, and that they were "good" students (receiving mostly "A's" and "B's"). Not significantly related to marijuana use were a number of other variables, including family-related variables (whether adolescents lived with their mothers or alone); and whether someone in the family had a problem with drugs or alcohol. Similarly, early cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption did not serve as gateways to later marijuana use. Extracurricular school activities (athletics, music, school clubs, and other activities) were all unrelated to the use of marijuana by adolescents. Marijuana users tended to be in higher grades (9 through 12), though this was not significant.

Services for Substance Abusers in a Changing Health Care System

Many managed care plans may need to modify their coverage to address substance abusers' multidimensional physical, mental, and social problems. Such adjustments are particularly important for public sector clients whose addiction-related problems are typically more severe than those of private sector patients. Data from a sample of 161 medical emergency, primary care, mental health, and substance abuse treatment programs in Dade County, Florida, reveal highly varied perceptions of managed care. They illustrate that the relevance of provider organization ownership, type of services, and populations served for behavioral managed care analysis. Further implications are the need to provide “wrap-around” or enabling services and to coordinate care for substance abusers to avoid displacement of responsibility for critical aspects of their care onto overwhelmed “safety net” agencies.

Achievement and Ambition Among Children of Immigrants in Southern California

This report summarizes the latest results of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), a multi-faceted investigation of the educational performance and social, cultural and psychological adaptation of children of immigrants, the new second generation now growing up in American cities. Since late 1991, the study has followed the progress of a large sample of teenage youths representing over 70 nationalities in two key areas of immigrant settlement in the United States: Southern California and South Florida. The original survey, conducted in Spring 1992 (T1), interviewed over 5,200 students enrolled in the 8th and 9th grades in schools of the San Diego Unified School District (N=2,420), and of the Dade and Broward County Unified School Districts (N=2,843). The sample was drawn in the junior high grades, a level at which dropout rates are still relatively rare, to avoid the potential bias of differential dropout rates between ethnic groups at the senior high school level. For purposes of the study, students were eligible to enter the sample if they were U.S.-born but had at least one immigrant (foreign-born) parent, or if they themselves were foreign-born and had come to the U.S. at an early age (most before age ten). Three years after the original survey, in 1995-96 (T2), a second survey of the same group of children of immigrants was conducted--this time supplemented by in-depth interviews with a stratified sample of their parents as well--using survey questionnaires especially developed for longitudinal and comparative analyses. The purpose of this follow-up effort was to add a temporal dimension to the study and ascertain changes over time in the family situation, school achievement, educational and occupational aspirations, language use and preferences, ethnic identities, experiences and expectations of discrimination, and social and psychological adaptation of these youths. By this time the children, who were originally interviewed in junior high when most were 14 or 15 years old (the mean age at T1 was 14.2), had reached the final year of senior high school and were making their passages to adulthood, firming up plans for their future as well as their outlooks on the surrounding society. This paper describes the initial results of that latest survey, focusing on changes observed over time (from T1 to T2) among the youths in the San Diego area.

Teacher Perceptions of Gifted Hispanic Limited English Proficient Students

The purpose of this study was to determine (a) whether teachers' perceptions on the characteristics of gifted students in general differed from their perceptions of gifted students classified as Hispanic limited English proficient (LEP) and (b) whether these perceptions differed based on the teachers' ethnic backgrounds. There were 373 teachers from nine elementary schools in Dade County, Florida, who completed a 34-item Likert-type survey. Randomly, one-half of the teachers in each school received the survey labeled “Gifted Hispanic LEP,” and the other half received the survey labeled “Gifted.” Significant differences were found in responses by survey group and by ethnicity, and no significant interaction was found between group and ethnicity. Both survey groups perceived a similar order of importance for the characteristics. However, relative importance differed significantly in language-related items. There were also significant differences between the groups in the degree to which they rated the characteristics as important.

Introduction to Special Issue on Teachers' Perceptions: Issues Related to the Instruction of Students with Learning Disabilities

The advent of the Regular Education Initiative (Will, 1986) and the resulting escalation of inclusion programs throughout the United States have led to increased numbers of students with learning disabilities (LD) in general education settings full-time. This trend has not gone without debate. Critics of a dual special education/general education system argue that traditional special education resource rooms and pull-out programs have failed to promote successful learning for students with special needs and have only served to alienate these students from interaction with their general education peers (Lipsky & Gartner, 1987; Reynolds, Wang, & Walberg, 1987; Stainback & Stainback, 1984). Advocates of a more cautious approach to inclusion submit that wholesale implementation of inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings is premature without a substantive research base and adequate preparation of general education and special education teachers to assume new roles and responsibilities (Hallahan, Keller, McKinney, Lloyd, & Bryan, 1988; Keogh, 1988). In the midst of this controversy, we have been engaged in a series of investigations related to the instruction of students with LD in general education settings. Our research (over a nineyear period) has been conducted primarily in Dade County (Florida) Public Schools. Dade County is the fourth largest school district in the nation, with a large range of cultural and linguistic diversity represented in its student population. The classrooms we observe typically have more than 30 students, and include many students whose language in the home is different from that of school, students whose poverty influences their ability to learn, and who often have significant physical and cognitive problems that interfere with learning. Our descriptive research has sensitized us to the challenges of classroom teachers as they attempt to meet the needs of all students, including students with LD. Specifically, we have learned that:

Steroid use among Miami's public school students, 1992: alternative subcultures: religion and music versus peers and the "body cult".

This analysis examined self-reported use of steroids by 478 adolescents in Dade County, Florida public schools during 1992. Statistically significant factors which tended to increase the probability of steroid use by adolescents included peer use of steroids, being male, and residing either with their mothers or on their own. The only statistically significant variables which are negatively related to steroid use are that religion is an important part of their lives and that students are involved in musical activities at school.

RACE/ETHNICITY, GENDER AND SENTENCE SEVERITY IN DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA: AN EXAMINATION OF THE DECISION TO WITHHOLD ADJUDICATION

ABSTRACT Research investigating the relationship between race and sentencinghas produced confliciting findings. Although some studies find that racial minorities are sentenced more harshly than whites, others do not. In this study we extend the debate by examining the effect of race/ethnicity and gender on the decision to withhold adjudication. We use data on offenders convicted of felonies in 1993 and 1994 in Dade County (Miami) Circuit Court to test the hypothesis that neither race nor gender would affect the decision to withhold adjudication. The results of our analysis provide only partial support for our hypothesis. Race/ethnicity interacts with gender and with the offender's prior criminal record to influence the decision to withhold adjudication. Among offenders with no prior felony convictions, neither race nor gender was a significant predictor of the decision. Among repeat offenders, on the other hand, Hispanic males, and females in all three racial/ethnic groups, were more likely than black males to have adjudication withheld. Further analysis revealed that the effect of gender was confined to offenders with a prior conviction for a nonviolent offense.

A Study of the Extent and Effectiveness of Incorporating Environmental Topics in the Science Curriculum of Secondary Schools in Dade County

The infusion of environmental topics in science courses has long been considered an especially appropriate method of implementing the STS approach to science teaching. While this claim has been supported by anecdotal accounts and case studies, there are few relevant quantitative studies. To begin filling this void, a survey of science teachers in secondary schools in Dade County, Florida, was conducted to investigate the extent and effectiveness of the infusion of environmental topics in the science curriculum. The results of this study indicate that the responding science teachers are very likely to incorporate environmental topics in their science classes. They do this regardless of their length of tenure, and most have engaged in the practice from the beginning of their careers. Finally, while the experience of a teacher in using environmental topics has some positive effect in increasing student interest, the success of this method depends much more strongly on the frequency of its use. Those teachers routinely using environmental topics as a vehicle for teaching science are most successful with it.

Fossil history of the panther (Puma concolor) and the cheetah-like cat (Miracinonyx inexpectatus) in Florida

Fossils of the Florida panther or puma (Puma concolor) are reported from 15 late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) sites and one Holocene archaeological site on the Florida peninsula (11 of these are unpublished records). This large cat was widely distributed in Florida during the late Pleistocene, from as far north as Columbia County near the Georgia state line, throughout the northern and central portions of the state, along both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and as far south as Dade County at the southernmost tip of the peninsula. P. concolor is unknown from late Pleistocene faunas in the Florida panhandle. The living Florida panther, P. concolor coryi, is now restricted to southernmost peninsular Florida in Glades, Hendry, Collier, and Dade counties, although it was fairly common father north along the central Atlantic coast until the late nineteenth century. All of the P. concolor fossils reported here compare closely in size and morphology to Recent skulls and postcranial skeletons of P. concolor from southern Florida. The associated mammalian faunas from the Florida sites containing P. concolor indicate that this species is restricted to the late Rancholabrean and Recent (between 130 ka and the present). The cheetah-like cat, or puma-like cat, Miracinonyx is identified from eight late Pliocene and Pleistocene sites in Florida, only two of which were published previously. M. inexpectatus occurs in four Florida late Pliocene and early Pleistocene sites, including the late Blancan Santa Fe River 2A and Northport faunas and the early Irvingtonian Inglis 1A and Leisey Shell Pit local faunas. Three associated metacarpals from the Rancholabrean Lecanto 2A local fauna are tentatively identified as M. inexpectatus, representing one of the youngest records of this species. Fossils identifiable only as Miracinonyx sp. are recorded from the late Irvingtonian Coleman 2A local fauna, from a Plio-Pleistocene locality in Port Charlotte and from the Pleistocene Cardinale site, an underwater fossil site in the Gulf of Mexico located 25 km offshore. Miracinonyx appears to be closely related to the genus Puma and is distinguished from P. concolor by its somewhat larger size and conspicuous elongation of the limbs and metapodials.

Use in 1992 of amphetamines among Miami's public school students.

This analysis examined self-reported amphetamine use by 473 adolescents in Dade County, Florida public schools in 1992. Significant factors which increase the probability of use include peers' use of amphetamines and the fact that the adolescent is a female.

Nutrition Education and Counseling in Community Settings by Clinical Dietitians as Part of National Nutrition Month Activities

LEARNING OUTCOME: The participant will be able to identify the impact of a community nutrition education program by clinical dietitians. Dade County, FL is a multiethnic, multilingual community with a high percentage of elderly, poor children and recent immigrants. As part of the National Nutrition Month activities, the dietitians of a publicly funded teaching facility serving Dade County were asked to provide nutrition education and counseling in a variety of community settings and agencies. The purpose of this program was to provide services to traditionally underserved sectors of the community and to promote dietitians as nutrition experts. Arrangements were made with community organizations to include churches, battered women's shelters, schools and congregate meal sites, and dietitians were asked to sign up for an activity of their choice. Some of the activities were joint efforts in partnership with the Miami Dietetic Association. Twelve dietitians conducted presentations that reached 633 participants, provided counseling at two sites and participated in one health fair. The dietitians reported feelings of satisfaction with the activities and a good reception by the participants. This program allowed the clinical dietitians to utilize educational skills not frequently called for in clinical settings and enhanced the reputation of the facility in the communities it serves.

Predictors of Refugee Economic Status

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to determine the extent to which results of a previously-developed regression model of economic status of Southeast Asian refugees in California would generalize to other refugee groups in another state. The replication study focused on Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Soviet/East European refugees in Dade County, Florida, using data from the 1990 Census of Population and Housing. In general, the findings of the original study were confirmed. The regression model consisting of fourteen predictors yielded 5% to 35% improvement in prediction of employment status, approximately 1% improvement in prediction of public assistance utilization, and explained 32% to 41% of the variance in household income. The most important predictors of economic status were disability, having a household headed by a married couple, and education; these differed from those of the original study. The implications are discussed in light of the new findings.