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Restructured extracurricular activities are a component in many of the proposed solutions for the educational problems of minority students in urban schools. This study investigates the relationships between participation in traditional extracurricular activities and the academic achievement levels of minority male and female students in poor urban schools. Using a national data base, we found that, in almost 50 percent of the cases, male student participation in extracurricular activities was associated with lower achievement levels. For female students, the results were mixed. In 23 of the 90 different analyses run, females who participated in extracurricular activities were found to have higher achievement levels than nonparticipating females. In 6 cases, female participants had lower achievement levels. In the remaining cases, no differences were found. Reasons for and implications of the results are examined.

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This study investigates the efficacy of awarding single, all-encompassing certificates to teachers of hearing-impaired students. To determine whether more than one type of certification could be justified, 190 teachers and professionals rated the importance of 55 competencies for teachers of hearing-impaired students. The ratings were analyzed with a nonparametric analysis of variance. The findings presented evidence of the need to modify the practice of providing the same certification for all teachers of hearing-impaired students. The results indicated significant differences between the ratings of the teachers from the state residential school and the teachers from the day school and significant differences between the ratings of teachers of various grade levels.

The problem of identifying competencies for Florida's competency-based teacher certification system was investigated in this study utilizing a consensus model for identifying necessary competencies. Two groups of professionals conducted the study. Group 1 consisted of nine professionals who developed a list of 55 competencies to be submitted to a second, larger group of professionals for rating. Group 2 consisted of 190 professionals including teachers, administrators, and support services personnel serving hearing-impaired students in public and residential schools. Thirty-seven of the 55 competencies rated by Group 2 met the predetermined criteria for retention. Several conclusions concerning the types of competencies which were retained and not retained were drawn based on the results of the study. Overall, the results indicated that the consensus model was a valuable method of generating an initial list of competencies.