The Florida Department of Education’s Research Agenda for 2014-15
Introduction
The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) takes pride in its commitment to making anonymized data
from the statewide longitudinal data system available and accessible to researchers. FLDOE has a history
of providing researchers access to its data including areas such as student assessment results, student
course‐taking patterns, a student‐teacher link, and teacher certification results.
Research Agenda Criteria
The current research agenda is for the period of July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015. The items on the agenda
will be reviewed annually and updates will be published on or before June 30th. Items placed on the
agenda reflect FDOE research interests for the current period. Research efforts that are currently
underway or will be completed through other activities are not included in this list. For instance, the
Department has a dedicated evaluator for some of the key initiatives around Great Teachers and
Leaders. Similarly, items for which data are not yet available are excluded (e.g., assessments that will
not be developed until later years of the grant). All requests for data from FDOE should support the
research needs outlined below.
NOTE: Research requests that address the department’s highest priority research topics will receive
priority. These topics are underlined below.
Research Agenda Content
The research agenda is organized into nine broad topic areas intended to leverage the wealth of data
available at the FDOE. Some research topics may require data that is not collected by the FDOE and/or
may require the combination of FDOE data with data from other sources. Researchers are encouraged
to incorporate qualitative components into the research proposal, if appropriate.
Research Agenda
1) Standards
a) Determine if the Florida Standards are implemented with fidelity (data collection required at the
local level)
2) Assessments
a) Compare state and national data to identify factors associated with internationally competitive
levels of performance
b) Identify students’ learning needs based on the results from the End of Course Exams and
investigate how classroom instruction can be further improved to meet the needs in those areas
(data collection required at the local level)
3) Technology and Student Achievement
a) Analyze the impact of access, or lack of access, to technology on student achievement
b) Determine the impact and effectiveness of the use of technology on student achievement (may
require data collection at the local level)
4) Great Teachers and Leaders
a) Routes to Certification - Determine the outcomes from Florida’s various routes to certification
for the following. Also include critical shortage areas.
i) Production
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The Florida Department of Education’s Research Agenda for 2014-15
ii) Placement
iii) Retention
iv) Overall evaluation results
v) Value Added results
b) Professional Development - Identify and describe funding of professional development in K‐12
schools including, but not limited to the following (data collection required at the local level):
i) Funding sources
ii) Spending amounts and priorities
iii) Return on investment
iv) Outcomes
c) Educator (Teacher) Effectiveness – Determine relationships between individual educator valueadded scores and
i) Principal’s evaluation of instruction
d) Certification Exam – Determine relationships between
i) Principal/supervisor score on the FELE overall and by subtest and educator effectiveness
ratings in his/her school
(1) By VAM
(2) By Principal Observation
ii) Educator scores on certification exams (tests and subtests) and
(1) VAM
(2) Principal observation score
5) Turning Around Lowest‐Achieving Schools
a) Differentiated Accountability Teams and F Schools
i) Identify strategies that have the most impact on improving student achievement
ii) Examine the impact of data driven decision making on student achievement
iii) Examine the impact of supplemental education services on student achievement
b) School Improvement Grants
i) Determine the impact of requiring that voluntary pre‐K be offered in the feeder patterns of
intervene schools on long term student achievement
ii) Determine the impact of extended learning opportunities for low‐income and lowperforming students on student achievement
c) Career and Technical Education
i) Determine the impact of career and technical education on student achievement in the
lowest-achieving schools
ii) Determine the impact of career and technical education on high school graduates and their
postsecondary and/or workforce success
iii) Determine the differential effect of Industry Certification earned by students in the lowestachieving schools on the following:
 Student achievement
 Graduation rate
 Postsecondary placement
 Postsecondary retention and completion
 Employment placement and earnings
6) Charters/Choice
a) Student Achievement - Analyze student achievement at charter schools and other choice
options including, but not limited to the following:
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The Florida Department of Education’s Research Agenda for 2014-15
i) Public schools
ii) Private schools
iii) Virtual schools
iv) Voucher programs
v) Magnet programs
vi) Career academies
b) Identify characteristics of charters with the highest and lowest rates of growth in student
achievement
c) Determine if and how well charter operators are educating the most disadvantaged students
7) PK‐20 Topics that Span the Education Delivery Systems
a) Workforce Outcomes
i) Identify the critical workforce needs of the future (2020 – 2030)
ii) Identify the credentials/degrees that most effectively meets the identified workforce needs
including, but not limited to Applied Baccalaureate degrees
iii) Identify sub‐baccalaureate and Applied Baccalaureate credentials/degrees that lead to
family sustaining wages
iv) Compare licensure pass rates, placement rates, and other workforce outcomes for students
earning bachelor degrees in nursing and teaching from state colleges versus universities
v) Identify ways Florida can increase enrollment in programs with strong workforce outcomes
b) Florida’s 2+2 Articulation Policies
i) Determine if colleges and universities implement Florida’s 2+2 policies efficiently and
effectively (may require data collection at the local level)
ii) Identify gaps in Florida’s 2+2 policies
iii) Identify ways Florida can best meet the need for increased baccalaureate production
iv) Estimate Florida’s supply and demand for baccalaureate degrees
c) Leaks in the Education Pipeline
i) Analyze ways Florida can increase postsecondary enrollment for high school graduates
ii) Analyze ways Florida can increase completion rates within the postsecondary sector
iii) Measure the performance of state college baccalaureate degree recipients in graduate
degree programs
iv) Analyze ways Florida can increase transfer rates to baccalaureate programs from Associate
degree programs
v) Analyze early warning indicators for students that drop out or don't complete
postsecondary courses and/or programs
d) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
i) Examine the impact of STEM on curriculum, courses, and/or programs on student
achievement, high school graduation, postsecondary readiness/success, and workforce
outcomes
e) Digital Education
i) Analyze the impact of digital education on student achievement
ii) Analyze the effects of digital education on the following factors:
(1) Instructional methods and flexibility
(2) Schools and school districts
(3) Teachers
(4) Accessibility for students with disabilities
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The Florida Department of Education’s Research Agenda for 2014-15
8) Career and Adult Education
a) Secondary Career and technical Education, Including Professional Education Act (CAPE)
Academies and Career-themed courses - Determine the differential effect of enrollment in
CAPE on the following:
i) Math and science assessments
ii) High school graduation rate
iii) Postsecondary placement
iv) Postsecondary retention and completion
v) Employment placement and earnings
vi) Middle school students
b) Industry Certification - Determine the differential effect of Industry Certification on the
following:
i) Graduation rate
ii) Postsecondary placement
iii) Postsecondary retention and completion
iv) Employment placement and earnings
v) Outcomes of Department of Juvenile Justice sub‐populations including recidivism rates (may
require data from other sources)
c) Adult Education - Determine the differential impact and effectiveness of adult education on the
following:
i) Retention
ii) Completion
iii) Transition to postsecondary
iv) Postsecondary placement
v) Employment placement
vi) Effectiveness of career pathway policies linking adult and career education
d) Effect of tuition on student enrollment and achievement
9) Florida Policy
a) Class Size
i) Determine the impact of school and class size on student achievement
ii) Determine the impact and effectiveness of high quality teachers in various class size settings
b) Voluntary Pre-kindergarten
i) Determine the impact of voluntary pre-kindergarten programs on student achievement
c) Communication
i) Examine the types of communication used to inform students, teachers, principals, parents,
and other community members and their effectiveness
Data Request Process
Researchers may submit a Unit Record Data Request or Additional Years Request Form using the online
Research Data Request Processing System (see link at http://www.fldoehub.org). To be approved for a
specific unit-record data request by FDOE, researchers must clearly show how the request for data will
support the needs outlined in this research agenda. Questions or concerns about the research agenda
may be e-mailed to datarequest@fldoe.org.
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