Delving into alumni perceptions about the impact and effectiveness of two certificate programs: meeting their mission?

The purpose of the study was to analyze two certificate programs in regard to the impacts on alumni professional career and strengths and weaknesses of certificate programs in the views of their alumni. The sample consisted of 58 participants who completed one of the certificate programs. The results showed that alumni rated self-improvement as the biggest benefit, career advancement benefit as average, and career change benefit as low from the certificate programs. Also, alumni thought that all program components were of strong quality, but the majority of alumni still wanted to see an increased emphasis on teaching, interaction with other students, support, and assessment feedback focus of the program.     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OCCUPATIONAL-TECHNICAL CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS: ASSESSING STUDENT CAREER GOALS

ABSTRACT

A traditional way of assessing program effectiveness of academic programs has been by determining the percentage of students who complete programs and receive degrees or some other acknowledgment of completion. This method of assessment is particularly problematic for community colleges because only 4% of students who enroll in occupational-technical certificate programs do so with the intention of earning a certificate. These circumstances pose significant problems for certificate institutions as well as for those in coordinating/governing units at various levels who must assure that these programs are meeting the goals of the students and institutions in addition to the needs of a region or state. The purpose of this study was to investigate an alternative way of evaluating the effectiveness of occupational-technical programs to determine if they are meeting the goals of the students and institution by providing students with entry-level skills into the workforce or the ability to advance in their careers. Data were collected from the institution and from noncompleters in occupational-technical certificate programs at an urban community college. The study investigated when students choose to drop out and why. It concluded that these students are very pragmatic in terms of their education and that they enroll for specific reasons and drop out when they achieve their goals. This study not only confirmed that students meet their career goals, but also that the institution meets its goals as well since it is successful in preparing students for the workforce or in advancing them in existing jobs.     

Sports and the deaf child

The increasingly sedentary American lifestyle has resulted in a growing number of overweight and out-of-shape school-age children. Deaf children are not exempt from this trend, yet there is little evidence that public school programs for these children are doing anything to counter it. Much can be done to assist deaf students, not only in becoming more active movers but in gaining knowledge of opportunities and benefits associated with Deaf sport. The authors provide an argument for schools that expose deaf children to the role of sports in the Deaf community and for designing programs that will enable these children to become active participants in Deaf sport activities as athletes and organizers, or, later in life, when they no longer have the inclination or ability to compete, as spectators, with all the socialization benefits that form of involvement provides.     

Student Veterans’ Outcomes by Higher Education Sector: Evidence from Three Cohorts of the Baccalaureate and Beyond

We use nationally representative survey data from three cohorts of bachelor’s degree recipients to examine military veterans’ student loan debt at graduation and their employment and earnings 1, 4, and 10 years after graduation, relative to observably similar graduates. We also examine whether the effects of veteran status depend on college sector. Using propensity score weights with covariate adjustment, we find employment and earnings premiums for veterans 1 and 4 years after graduation, and an employment penalty but earnings premium (conditional on employment) 10 years after graduation. We find no clear evidence of a for-profit employment or earnings penalty among bachelor’s degree recipients, including veterans. We do find that veterans are as likely as similar non-veterans to graduate with debt, and that graduating from a for-profit institution yields markedly higher debt amounts, especially for veterans, despite the availability of Montgomery GI Bill benefits for these cohorts.     

Which ingroup,when? Effects of gender,partisanship, veteran status,and evaluator identities on candidate evaluations

Military service is acknowledged as one of many elements voters use to evaluate candidates, but it has primarily been studied as a univariate element of a candidate’s biography. This project experimentally manipulates veteran status, gender, and partisanship as potentially interactive heuristics for evaluation of a hypothetical candidate specifically regarding military issues. We found an almost universal benefit enjoyed by veterans over civilians regardless of whether the candidate was a member of the participant’s partisan ingroup or outgroup. We also found little evidence of a gender penalty, and even a benefit for women candidates who were veterans, though this benefit was restricted to evaluations from Republican women. We also found that Democratic respondents assigned a penalty to outgroup veteran men candidates. We explain these nuanced findings in the context of moderation by gender mis/alignment between participant and candidate. Implications of the study are offered.     

The Use of Personal Data Assistants in Early Childhood Assessment

Four early childhood education teachers, two veteran and two newer teachers, were asked to pilot the use of handheld Personal Data Assistants loaded with Childchart assessment software. The participants were observed in their use of the electronic devices for monitoring student performance and interviewed regarding the use of the devices and their implications for assessment of early childhood learners. Veteran teachers indicated differences in both the use of the software programs and the style in which assessment activities were completed compared to newer teachers. The results indicate the need for professional development of new technologies to focus beyond the utilization of software and hardware and that new technologies implementation may be the catalyst for improvements in assessment strategies.     

Mentoring circles in higher education

Traditionally, mentoring in higher education institutions has either occurred informally or as a planned program where junior staff members are matched with experienced staff members in a formal one‐to‐one program. While such programs have reported benefits to participants, many miss out on the opportunity. Further, mentoring dyads do little to enhance a more collaborative atmosphere in higher education settings. Alternative mentoring methods do exist and can provide advantages to the traditional approach. Mentoring circles are an innovative example of these alternative methods. The mentoring activity and subsequent evaluation described in this paper sought to explore the perceived benefits of a group mentoring model for academic staff.     

Developing Peer Mentoring through Evaluation

Peer mentoring programs are an important component in the strategy to enhance the first year undergraduate experience. The operation of these programs needs to be informed by evidence as to their effectiveness. In this article we report on a six-year study of the development of a peer mentoring program in which feedback is used to improve program implementation. Evidence from surveys of participants in the program shows that this process has significantly enhanced their experiences and that the effects of these benefits have increased throughout the life of the program. Moreover, participation in the program enhanced the leadership, communication, and organizational skills of the peer mentors.     

析新时期社会考试的生源市场

新的历史时期,社会考试的发展面临着难得的机遇与严峻的挑战。社会的发展和教育改革为社会考试的发展打造了良好的生源市场,同时由于自身的缺陷及其它教育形式的快速发展使生源市场竞争日趋激烈。因此,社会考试只有科学合理定位、找准切入点,坚持质量,完善服务,以市场为导向,积极主动地挖掘和开拓生源市场,才能开创社会考试发展的新局面。     

Agreement Between Lay Participants and Professional Assessors: Support of a Group Assessment Procedure for Selection Purposes

This study investigates agreement between professional assessors and laypersons (participants) in a group procedure that draws from assessment center principles designed to evaluate candidates to teacher-education programs. Earlier studies have established the validity of this assessment procedure and indicated high interrater agreement of professionals. Evidence that participants concur with professional evaluators will further increase our confidence in the process. The study was conducted in Israel and encompassed 159 applicants to two different educational programs. Results showed high correlations between professional and participant ratings, suggesting that the interactional process provides sufficient information for lay assessors to reach judgments that agree with expert evaluations. Nonetheless, the finding that professional ratings were significantly lower than peer and self-evaluations seems to imply that participant assessors can enhance, but by no means replace, professionals. The social and economic benefits of including lay participants in the assessment process are discussed.     

利用VFP3.0开发服务器应用程序

服务器应用程序(SERVER)为客户(CLIENT)提供软件资源的过程是采用DDE功能来实现的。本文在对VFP3.0的服务器、客户DDE函数做了深入的探讨后,给出了服务器应用程序的一个实例,通过这个实例读者可以清晰的了解服务器应用程序的设计步骤和编程方法。     

Inclusion of Substance Abuse Training in CACREP‐Accredited Programs

Professional counselors and counselors‐in‐training continue to serve clients who have substance abuse issues, yet systematic training in substance abuse counseling is not available to many counselors. The authors investigated the extent to which students in programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP; 2001) are exposed to clients presenting with substance abuse issues and the relationship between state licensure or certification in substance abuse and the resulting perception of the need for the inclusion of substance abuse training in these programs. Three methods are presented for possibly including substance abuse training in CACREP standards.     

Teaching the Importance and Use of Web-Based Services to Assist Clients in Obtaining Public Benefits

Research suggests that social work students and practitioners are not particularly sensitive to assessing clients' economic hardship, nor when needed to assist clients in accessing relevant resources such as public benefits. To enhance students' understanding of the importance of engaging in these activities, this article provides educational content on the frequent occurrence and negative effects of poverty, advantages of receiving public benefits, barriers to program participation, and social work values and educational requirements. Examples of web-based services, an efficient strategy to assist economically disadvantaged clients in accessing public benefits, are then provided. Finally, teaching applications are drawn from the previous sections.     

Nordic Experiences: Participants' Expectations and Experiences of Short-Term Study Abroad Programs

The purpose of this study was to investigate Finnish high school students' and teachers' perceptions of the effects of short-term Nordic study abroad programs in which they had participated. The data presented were based on a mixed-methods strategy. The data set consisted of responses from 158 students and 92 teachers to a specifically developed Study Abroad Assessment (SAA) instrument. These data were analyzed quantitatively and, in part, also qualitatively. Additional qualitative data in the form of interviews with six participants were also analyzed.

Four factors emerged from the analysis which represented dimensions of what a short-term study abroad (SA) program may offer to its participants. These dimensions were named “Personal growth,” “Social connectedness,” “Development of Nordic awareness,” and “Impact on career or study opportunities.” Composite variables were created on the basis of these factors. The analysis revealed some statistically significant differences between the groups (Period Scholars; Scholars to Sweden; Teachers) concerning the composite variables. The qualitative part of the study provided information on the benefits and challenges of short-term study abroad that were compatible with previous studies. There is evidence that even short-term study abroad programs in a Nordic context provide participants with some core skills needed later in life, and the benefits of SA were perceived to be greater by those who spent more time in the new environment.     

Preparing for War Casualties

In the still early aftermath of the Persian Gulf War and the Somalia expedition, the need for skilled practitioners cannot be ignored. In the years ahead, civilian mental health professionals will encounter war-related stress in clients who fought in both long ago and more recent wars. This article contends that today's training for social workers with its here-and-now, present-oriented foxus is inadequate to the task of dealing with the anguish of emotional trauma. Vietnam veteran studies provide us with a basis for infusion of relevant content into the social work practice curriculum.     

‘They’re a lot cleverer than I thought’: challenging perceptions of disability support staff as they tutor in an adult literacy program

Being literate empowers individuals to be effective consumers, to be informed about lifestyle options, to read aesthetically for relaxation and enjoyment and to further their knowledge of people and places that can enable them to participate more fully in communities. However, there are limited literacy opportunities and programs specifically designed to meet the needs of individuals with intellectual disabilities across their lifespan. The aim of this Australian National Training Authority funded project was to develop and implement a training, teaching and resource package for the development of literacy for adults with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this project was to assess, develop, train and assist support staff in two community‐based services for clients with intellectual disabilities to act as literacy tutors for their clients. The project was undertaken within two disability‐service programs using an applied action research approach. The results indicated that the tutors learnt much about tutoring and about the literacy abilities of their clients. There was some initial resistance from the tutors about the value of literacy learning for their clients. However, resistance decreased as tutors developed confidence, and clients demonstrated interest, engagement and skills in the activities. Implications for the effectiveness of such programs lie in the needs to tailor any training specifically to the needs of the support staff; and to provide time for implementation, on‐going support and access to appropriate resources.     

Examining environmental learning experiences at an earth education summer camp

Many barriers restrict children’s access to nature resulting in negative consequences, including a lack of opportunities to learn and engage with the natural environment. Fortunately, environmental education programs offer participants an opportunity to counteract these challenges. While the benefits of environmental education as measured by pre-determined outcomes are well documented, research focused on participants’ perceptions and preferences related to their environmental learning experiences continues to be under-represented in the literature. Using a pre-/post-test survey approach, this study aimed to explore how an earth education summer camp, Sunship Earth ^TM, contributed to participants environmental learning experiences. Results suggest that Sunship Earth ^TM provides children with various EL opportunities that help to increase their understanding of some ecological concepts. Results also suggest that this learning experience may have helped to broaden participants’ understanding of environmental issues and actions, as well as enhance feelings of care, interest, and responsibility towards the environment.