FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM CHANGES RESULTING FROM THE FLORIDA STATE STUDENT ASSESSMENT TEST: STATUS AND IMPACT OF CHANGES

This was a survey study with a follow-up interview to determine the status and the impact of the changes which have occurred in three areas of the language arts--language, literature, and composition--in Florida high schools, grades 10-12, since the introduction of the State Student Assessment Test in 1977.;From a review of the literature were established 27 standards for an exemplary high school language arts program. From the standards was developed a questionnaire to obtain the perceptions of language arts teachers and administrators in 17 high schools in ten selected counties of Florida representing socio-economic and demographic factors which may influence curriculum decision making.;In summary the following changes were reported: (1) Greater emphasis was placed on the study of the basic skills of reading, usage, and writing. (2) Less emphasis was placed on the study of literature. (3) More emphasis was placed on the study of basic composition skills rather than written composition per se. (4) More emphasis was placed on the study of language.;The impact of the changes resulted in less integration of the study of literature, language, and composition in many language arts courses.;It attempted to answer the following questions concerning the language arts program: (1) What are the established standards of an exemplary language arts program for grades 10-12 as revealed in the literature? (2) What changes have occurred in the three major areas of the language arts in Florida since the introduction of the SSAT, and what is the nature of these changes? (3) What is the impact of the changes on the Florida language arts program?;The following conclusions were made from this study: (1) Administrators and teachers reported that increased emphasis on basic skills precipitated a change in the balance of the instruction of literature, language, and composition. (2) Teachers did not perceive as much change as administrators. (3) Administrators and teachers perceived the SSAT as a first step in improving instruction for some students, but they did not perceive the students' passing the SSAT as achieving the ultimate goals of the language arts program. They expressed the need to modify the SSAT so as to test the students' actual writing skills, and furthermore, they felt the need to resolve the teachers' problem of the burdensome responsibilities of retesting and recording test results.;Considering the results of this research the following recommendations are made: (1) further study to reveal the extent of the changes which have occurred, the number of students involved in the intensive remediation and compensatory programs, and the validity of the SSAT to determine the students' ability to read and write, (2) further study of the organizational modifications needed to facilitate teachers' becoming better teachers of literature, composition, and language, (3) workshops for language arts teachers which include new technology in the teaching of literature, language, and composition, the restructuring of courses, exploration of current methodology, and the most productive use of time.