Florida School Research Articles

Coaching Endorsements, Certifications, Policies, and the Need for Reform in Florida School Sports: Why We Need to Lead the Change

The purpose of this article to the editor is to introduce the special issue and highlight some of the challenges that coaches and coach educators face today. Specifically, it provides an example of the current state of the coach certification system within Florida’s public schools. It identifies significant concerns, including outdated certification standards, insufficient training, low coach retention, and poor compensation. Practical suggestions for comprehensive reforms are proposed, including mandatory coach training, updated certification content, professional development, and increased stipends. These solutions aim to break the cycle of inadequacy in Florida’s coach certification system and enhance the quality of interscholastic athletics and the safety and well-being of student-athletes. The article calls for more coaches, athletic directors, and academic educators to take a more active role in policy reform.

"We Move": How Florida School Librarians are Protecting Controversial Titles and Navigating a Legally Perilous Environment

Using a mixed method approach and informed by Noelle-Neumann’s Spiral of Silence Theory, this study examines the impact on school librarians of recent legislation in Florida that has facilitated widespread materials challenges and removals of titles in public school libraries across the state. Participants were presented with several series of questions that included their comfortability with collecting materials that could potentially be considered controversial, and their perceptions of support for their collection development decisions by stakeholders including principals, parents, colleagues, and their community. Additional series of questions focused on the participants’ experience with self-censorship and their familiarity with both Florida State law and federal case law that pertains to students’ First Amendment and intellectual freedom rights. Multiple, successive rounds of recruitment yielded 49 survey participants and 9 interviewees. Preliminary analysis suggests that Florida school librarians increasingly rely on professional reviews to both guide their selection choices as well as protect themselves in the event of a materials challenge. Additionally, although a large majority of the respondents indicated strong support for intellectual freedom, many avoid selecting materials perceived as controversial to avoid controversy. However, the data also suggest that communication, collaboration, and involvement with like-minded individuals and organizations can be key mitigators of self-censorship and appear to offer a fruitful avenue to assist Florida school librarians in navigating the current environment. Finally, Florida school librarians appear to have a more robust awareness and deeper understanding of state laws compared to the federal case law that provides critical context.

Soundscape Architecture: conceptual proposals for improving the urban soundscape through building in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Architecture students from the University of Florida School of Architecture developing architectural and planning strategies in response to citizen generated initiative to improve the soundscape at multiple locations in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Site analysis including citizen participation in sound walks, personal observations, photo documentation, precedent studies, acoustic measurements, geographical measurements, and municipal code studies was conducted. This information informed conceptual and schematic design proposals for urban architecture (buildings), at critical locations in the urban fabric that seek to provide strategies toward improving the soundscape while supporting high residential density, mixed-use, entertainment, and transit. The work includes 11 student project proposals spanning two academic semesters. The work illustrates integrated design proposals addressing aspects of urban soundscapes such as: vertical distance as effective sound abatement strategy; buildings as acoustic buffers from transit or noisy streets; building envelope systems that both limit sound transmission and absorb sound; sound diffusing buildings; parking or limited occupancy program as buffer spaces; and land development code adoptions that can facilitate future implementation of effective soundscape improvement strategies. This paper will demonstrate the design process, issues of concern, prioritization of issues per specific sites, and show illustrations to visualize a range of soundscape strategies as architecture.

The After-School Treatment Program: A School-Based Adaptation of the Summer Treatment Program

ABSTRACT Background Intensive treatments, such as the Summer Treatment Program (STP), were developed to target functional impairments of children with ADHD; however, the STP is limited in that it occurs only in the summer, and families often wish to extend the gains made into the academic year. Implementing treatment in the afterschool setting may reduce logistical barriers for families, as the treatment is embedded within the school which the child attends precluding the need to find time and funds to travel. These programs may be especially important for Latino/Hispanic youth, where both practical and cultural barriers may interfere with obtaining treatment. Objective The goals of the current study were to highlight the components of the STP that were translated to an afterschool treatment program, present the demographics of children served by the program, and include preliminary data based on child- and parent-report. Method The After-school Treatment Program (ATP) was developed in consultation with community stakeholders (e.g. school administrators, teachers) to translate components of the STP to a school-based after-school setting to help ameliorate the mental health gap of children in an elementary school in South Florida. Various components of the ATP were translated from the STP. Many components (e.g., parent training, monitoring treatment progress) were modified in consultation with community stakeholders. Feedback from both children and parents was obtained on how they liked the various components of the program. Results Overall, parents found the program to be helpful in teaching them how to set rules, and children enjoyed the various components and felt welcome at the program. Conclusions Lessons learned include working with community stakeholders to adjust programs, and using a tiered intervention system in school to identify students that have more intensive needs and may require additional assistance in the after-school setting.

Rural–Urban/Suburban Differences in the Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Delinquency☆

AbstractAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are recognized as significant precursors to delinquency. However, to date, no studies have explicitly examined the interconnectedness of ACEs, residency in rural or urban/suburban areas, and delinquent behavior to discern potential variations among youths residing in these distinct areas. This study aims to address this important gap in existing literature. Data from the 2022 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS), comprising a statewide representative sample of students enrolled in public high schools in Florida (N = 23,078), were analyzed using negative binominal regression models. Our findings demonstrate a significant correlation between ACEs and delinquent behavior, with notable variations in this association among youths residing in rural versus urban/suburban environments. In particular, the impact of ACEs on the anticipated frequency of delinquent behaviors appears to be marginally greater among adolescents residing in urban/suburban locales compared to their counterparts in rural areas. Implications are provided.

Real-World Experiences in Higher Education: Contributing to the Developing a Systems Thinking Paradigm

Background: Systems thinking has been proposed as a means to address complex and wicked problems. Systems thinking involves moving beyond looking at an issue from a static perspective and seeing interrelationships between parts and wholes. Students will be better prepared to handle the complexity of the world if they develop a systems thinking paradigm. Yet, little research exists on how individuals develop a systems thinking paradigm. Purpose: This phenomenological research study focuses on “What real-world experiences contribute to developing a systems thinking paradigm?” Methodology/Approach: Phenomenological interviews were conducted with 11 faculty affiliated with the University of Florida School of Natural Resources and the Environment. Data were coded using Colaizzi's seven-step approach. Findings/Conclusions: The essence of the study was that real-world experiences contribute to developing a systems thinking paradigm. Fieldwork, laboratory, and research experience develop the knowledge needed to understand the concept of complexity. Immersive academic experiences create opportunities for people to interact with others who have varying perspectives. Nonacademic work in the real world gives people a holistic view of the system. Implications: It is recommended that faculty focus on incorporating real-world experiences into their pedagogy and obtain support to create these opportunities.

Adverse childhood experiences, gender, and suicidality among Florida high school students: Examining intervening mechanisms

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) represent a key risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents. However, the intervening mechanisms linking ACEs and suicidality, and whether such processes vary by gender, remain underexplored. ObjectiveThe present study examines whether the relationships between ACEs and the likelihood of experiencing suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide are indirect through depressive symptoms and low self-control. This study also investigates whether these direct and indirect paths might be moderated by gender. Participants and settingThe analyses make use of data on a statewide representative sample of students enrolled in public high schools in Florida (N = 23,078) from the 2022 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS). MethodsGeneralized structural equation modeling (GSEM) was used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of ACEs on the likelihood of suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide. The indirect effects were assessed using bootstrapping, and between-gender differences in the coefficients were tested. ResultsACEs has direct associations with depressive symptoms, low self-control, and both suicidality outcomes. The effects of ACEs on suicidal thoughts are indirect through both depressive symptoms and low self-control, and the effects of ACEs on suicide attempts are indirect through depressive symptoms. Limited gender differences in these pathways emerge. ConclusionsFor male and female youth, ACEs are associated with heightened depression symptoms and reduced self-control, and both of these factors partially explain the previously established relationship between ACEs and suicidality.

The Use of Augmented Reality in Teaching students with Learning Disabilities in Elementary School in Florida

The Use of Augmented Reality in Teaching students with Learning Disabilities in Elementary School in Florida

More about being fun: Making friends to maximize social status.

Children perceived by peers as someone who is fun reap interpersonal rewards, but little is known about what makes someone fun or how being fun leads to social success. The present study is designed to identify what qualities makes someone fun and how being fun leads to social success. Two studies of children in primary and middle school are reported. Participants in the present investigation attended a public-school representative of Florida school children in terms of ethnicity and income. In the first study, 351 (179 girls, 172 boys) students (8-11 years old) completed surveys twice (M = 8.5 weeks apart) during an academic year, describing the qualities of "someone who is fun." At both time points, kindness and humor were rated as more important than buffoonery. In the second study, 394 (210 girls, 184 boys) students (8-13 years old) completed peer nomination surveys thrice (M = 8.5 weeks apart) during an academic year. Replicating previous findings, being fun predicted increases in social status (i.e., likeability and popularity). Unique to this study, full longitudinal mediation analyses indicated that being perceived as fun early in the school year predicted friend gain from the beginning to the middle of the school year, which, in turn, predicted increases in perceived likeability and popularity from the middle to the end of the school year. The findings were unique to being fun. Kindness and humor did not predict friend gain.

Youth mental health first aid training with diverse educators.

Schools are the most likely place for students to receive formal or informal mental health services and support. Classroom educators often provide informal mental health support to students and referrals to school-based services. Despite their key role, educators often feel underprepared in recognizing concerning symptoms in youth and supporting student mental health. This mixed-methods study explored the effectiveness of in-person Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training on a diverse sample of 106 educators (Mage = 22, SD = 1.9 years, 96% ethnic minorities): City Year AmeriCorps members who work in diverse low-income schools in Florida. We culturally adapted the program to better meet the needs of the participants and the students they serve as over 95% of the students they served were people of color. Quantitative survey data were collected at three time points (pre, post, and 3 months after the training) to examine whether YMHFA training better equipped classroom educators to support students' mental health. Overall, training was associated with improvements in mental health literacy, knowledge of school-based mental health providers, confidence, and intentions to engage in mental health first aid (MHFA) behaviors. Notably, educators reported greater engagement in mental health first aid behaviors at the 3-month follow-up than before training. No improvement in mental health stigma was observed. Some improvements (i.e., mental health literacy, intentions to help) were not sustained at the follow-up. Qualitative data generally supported quantitative findings and suggested that the YMHFA program with cultural consideration is suitable for this diverse sample of classroom educators. Educators' suggestions to improve the training to support culturally and linguistically diverse students' mental health are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

From slavery to prison: necropolitics and the (neo)slave narrative in Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys

In his seventh novel Colson Whitehead focuses on the recent scandalous discovery of clandestine mass graves found at Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, a reform school in Florida. During its 111 years of existence the school became the target of various investigations as rumors about maltreatment of its juvenile detainees were sporadically spread. Whitehead focuses on the mass graves and specifically on the black corpses and produces a fictional narrative out of these corpses as a form to reject forgetting and unbury a scandalous event that most Americans would prefer not to be informed. Through Mbembe’s concept of necropolitics I claim that The Nickel Boys reveals another scandal: the persistent necropolitical nature of US incarceration system. My argument is that the palimpsest structure of the novel as it juxtaposes the prison novel with the (neo)slave narrative eventually creates a precise illustration of Mbembe’s critique on modern democracies as postulated in his concept of necropolitics.

The Weaponisation of Public Comment Rules in Policy Deliberations

The Covid-19 pandemic heightened already intense and increased scrutiny of public education in recent years. The administrative impulse to stage community engagement efforts to deliberate upon these questions, however well-intentioned, rarely realises full community engagement and reflection. Based on an examination of public engagement events held at Florida schools related to the Covid-19 health crisis, the proposed essay identifies a more concerning transformation of “public comment” into a weaponisable prop for lawmakers seeking the public legitimacy necessary for their agenda, marrying the worlds of critical studies with those of public administration and its orientations. More than merely failing to genuinely engage the public, we argue that such events forestall a more productive arrangement of the democratic form that does not rely on publicness and the leader that secures that space. Ultimately, we suggest a path that affords the possibility of public engagement, but that does not seal off the possibility of that more radical democratic future to come.

State-Funded Pre-K and Children’s Language and Literacy Development: The Case of COVID-19

Research on how COVID-19 school closures impacted the learning of young children is still sparse, and the broader implications of these findings have yet to be fully explored. In this study, we examine the impacts of COVID-19 school closures on language and literacy development in a state-funded pre-K program in a Florida school district. Using COVID closures as a natural experiment, we additionally explore the implications of these findings for the literature on the efficacy and dosage of state-funded pre-K programs. We used propensity score matching to compare children from the COVID cohort ( n = 1,211) to children from a pre-COVID cohort ( n = 1,167). Results revealed no significant difference on the Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener (FLKRS) assessment between the two cohorts at kindergarten entry. The COVID cohort had significantly higher scores on each of the individual subdomains of the FLKRS than the pre-COVID cohort, with especially large positive effect sizes for constrained literacy skills. Results indicate that COVID-19 closures did not have significant negative impacts on pre-K children’s language and literacy skills at kindergarten entry. Findings further suggest that state-funded pre-K programs with comparatively less funding and lower quality ratings may not provide adequate support for children’s language and literacy outcomes.

Students selected for 2023 Chemistry Olympiad Study Camp

The American Chemical Society’s US National Chemistry Olympiad program has selected the 20 high school students that will attend the 2023 Chemistry Olympiad Study Camp. The camp will take place from June 4 to 17 at the University of Maryland, College Park. The students have already completed local and national chemistry olympiad exams. At the camp, they will be competing for a place on the four-member team representing the US at the 55th International Chemistry Olympiad, to be held July 16–25 in Zurich. Representing 16 ACS local sections and 14 states, the students are Anantshri Asthana , John Foster Dulles High School in Texas; Luke Chen , Blue Valley North High School in Kansas; Nipun Dour , Mira Loma High School in California; Mingwen Duan , East Lyme High School in Connecticut; Canaan He , Carmel High School in Indiana; James Jiang , F. W. Buchholz High School in Florida

The infected and the affected: A longitudinal study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schoolchildren in Florida.

To identify risk factors associated with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) among children during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic. A longitudinal study with three cross-sectional timepoints [April 2020 (n = 273), October 2020 (n = 180), and April 2021 (n = 116)] was conducted at a K-12 public school in Florida. Infection and sero-positivity for SARS-CoV-2 was determined by molecular and serologic approaches. Adjusted odds ratios using mixed effect logistic regression models for symptom-derived indicators of anxiety, depression, and OCD in children in April 2021 are presented; past infection and seropositivity were included in the models. The prevalence of anxiety, depression, or OCD moved from 47.1, to 57.2, to 42.2% across the three timepoints during the study. By endline of the study, in April 2021, non-white children were at higher risk for depression and OCD. Risk for anxiety, depression, and OCD was associated with students who lost a family member due to COVID-19 and who were identified as at-risk in previous timepoints. Rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and seropositivity were low and not statistically associated with assessed outcomes. In situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, targeted mental health interventions and screenings are needed in children and adolescents, especially among minority children.

Teaching in Black and White: The Sisters of St. Joseph in the American South by Barbara E. Mattick

Reviewed by: Teaching in Black and White: The Sisters of St. Joseph in the American South by Barbara E. Mattick James M. Woods Teaching in Black and White: The Sisters of St. Joseph in the American South. By Barbara E. Mattick. Washington, DC: Catholic University of Press, 2022, 275pp. $34.95. Barbara Mattick, a woman with a background in public history, has produced a welcome contribution on women religious orders and their impact on black and white pupils, patients, and orphans in the American South. My history of the Catholic Church in the American South from 1513–1900 did not deal directly with this topic and so this book is needed. This work starts when the Sisters of St. Joseph from France arrived in the mainly Catholic community of St. Augustine in 1866 until they affiliated with another order of women religious in 1922. [End Page 98] Her book follows no overall narrative but covers different aspects of their history. The first chapter covers the Irish Sisters of Mercy who came to Florida’s oldest city in 1859 and stayed a decade. The next chapter deals with the coming of the French Sisters of St. Joseph in 1886 and follows their ministry for the next quarter century to white and black students. The third chapter is on the intense religious rivalry between the Catholic sisters and the female Protestant missionary associations for the souls of “black folk” in Florida. The next chapter covers the sisters and their ministry during the Yellow Fever epidemics of 1877, 1888. The next two chapters deal with personnel and provincial changes, including the awkward situation when the sisters were ordered in late 1899 to sever their relationship with the motherhouse in France. The penultimate chapter is on anti-Catholicism and racism in early twentieth century Florida. The final chapter covers the Sisters of St. Joseph in Savannah, Washington, and Augusta until the early 1920s. The book draws upon a rich array of primary sources especially the hundreds of letters in French to the motherhouse in Le Puy, France. Such correspondence provide a rare look at these remarkable women “and their inner thoughts, struggles and hopes and even their sense of humor” (xiv). The work is augmented with pictures of the sisters and their ministry with white and black students in Florida and Georgia. This reviewer found it pleasing that the footnotes were located the bottom of the page. This book highlights areas of nineteenth century religion often overlooked; for example, ecumenism. As Mattick observes, “salvation was only possible through the Roman Catholic Church; Protestants were heretics . . . . The Protestant Missionaries . . . just as adamantly considered Roman Catholics to be lost souls” (82). When in 1913 a Florida bill passed forbidding whites from teaching in black schools, public or private, three sisters of St. Joseph were arrested on April 24, 1916, for violating this law. Two sisters were bonded out but Sister Thomasine Hehir refused and was put back into the convent for running a black Catholic school in St. Augustine. On May 21 a local judge [End Page 99] ordered her released as the law did not apply to private schools. While this was an interesting event, Mattick has three locations for this St. Benedict the Moor school. She once listed it near St. Augustine in Lincolnville, a picture of Sister Thomasine has the school in 1916 as being in St. Augustine, and another locates the school in Ybor City (185, 186, 249). This caveat aside, the Sisters of St. Joseph founded the “first recognized convent school in Florida, the first Roman Catholic white order to minister for freedmen after the Civil War, and the first Catholic orphanage in Florida” (235). Even after the religious order transferred its affiliation after 1922, it continued to minister with black and white students for decades later. With this book being published, it is hoped that their legacy will not be ignored or overlooked. [End Page 100] James M. Woods Georgia Southern University Copyright © 2023 American Catholic Historical Society

Mental Health Resources for Student Athletes at Secondary Schools

Mental health issues have been notably rising among American teenagers in recent years. Student athletes are particularly vulnerable because of unique stressors including time constraints, physical injuries, and balance between academics and athletics. Although much research exists at the collegiate level, there are no studies examining the mental health policies of secondary schools for student athletes. The goal of this study was to analyze the best practices by secondary schools in South Florida to understand and support their student athletes’ mental health. The method chosen was a mixed method, descriptive study of a quantitative survey sent to athletic directors and a qualitative content analysis of school athletic handbooks. The results show that there is some variability in the mental health resources available to support student athletes in secondary schools. However, few schools have taken the necessary steps to implement the recommended best practices to support the mental health of their student athletes. Without these policies in place, student athletes may not have their mental health concerns properly addressed.

MSW Students' Perspectives on Learning and Delivering a Protocolized, Low-Intensity Transdiagnostic Psychological Intervention: Implications for Experiential Learning.

Problem Management Plus (PM+) is a protocolized, low-intensity, transdiagnostic psychological intervention designed to be delivered by lay individuals. Faculty at the University of South Florida School of Social Work recognized PM + as a potential psychological intervention for master's students to learn to complement their clinical coursework and simultaneously provide an experiential learning experience to support their clinical skills. Before this pilot, the feasibility and acceptability of integrating PM + into a Master of Social Work (MSW) setting were unknown. Upon analyzing the students' feedback using inductive content analysis, it is evident that experiential learning using interventions is crucial to building the self-efficacy of MSW students. Students reported that PM + helped their personal mental health and client interactions, using the tools they learned even a year after the pilot. Future research should focus on integrating PM + into experiential learning experiences within social work and allied academic settings and professions.

The Consequences of Social Media Use Across the Transition Into Adolescence: Body Image and Physical Activity

Children and adolescents spend considerable time online. The current study investigated moderators of short-term longitudinal associations from social media use to changes in body satisfaction and physical activity. Participants (144 girls, 152 boys) were third–sixth grade students (ages 8–13) attending public schools in Florida (USA). Self-reports of social media use, body satisfaction, physical activity, and susceptibility to peer influence were completed twice, approximately 13.5 weeks apart. The results indicated that higher initial social media use was associated with greater subsequent decreases in body satisfaction and physical activity, but only for children high on susceptibility to peer influence. The findings suggest that peer conformity amplifies the risks of social media use. The fact that meaningful change can be identified across a relatively short period of time is noteworthy and demonstrates the need for careful monitoring of those who participate in social media at an early age.

Pandora’s Box:

In 2017 Florida passed into law House Bill 989, which extended the right to challenge instructional and library materials from traditional stakeholders such as parents and school staff to all Florida residents. Given the recent increase in challenges to diverse materials across the nation, the proposed research seeks to shed light on how the law has impacted self-censorship practices among Florida school media specialists.
 Using a mixed-methods approach consisting of surveys of and interviews with Florida school media specialists and informed by Noelle-Neumann’s Spiral of Silence Theory, the proposed research seeks to provide insight into how various factors, including increased political polarization, the rise of parental rights organizations, and the ability of non-stakeholders to challenge school library materials, may influence the propensity of Florida school librarians to engage in self-censorship, particularly concerning LGBTQ+-themed children’s and young adult literature.