National Center for Research in Vocational Education

This article reports the results of a study on the current status and future trends in diversity initiatives in the workplace as perceived by a group of twelve experts. The experts were surveyed through in-depth, open-ended telephone interviews. The study identified barriers that have inhibited the employment, development, retention, and promotion of diverse groups in the workplace and the significant factors that are influencing diversity initiatives. It revealed that the primary reasons for managing diversity are to improve productivity and remain competitive, to form better work relationships among employees, to enhance social responsibility, and to address legal concerns. This article presents these findings as well as the best strategies for managing diversity. It also discusses components of an effective diversity training program and future trends related to diversity.

Current status and future trends of diversity initiatives in the workplace: Diversity experts' perspective

The purpose of this study was to build a task list for the clinical experience program for the agricultural teacher education programs in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The objectives were to: (1) compile a list of clinical experiences, both early field and student teaching, that currently are provided in the clinical experiences for students of agricultural education in three selected teacher education programs, and (2) determine which tasks should be included for both the early field and student teaching experiences. A modified Delphi technique was used to collect data via three questionnaires. Data were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviations of tasks rated on a five point Likert-type scale. Those tasks that the panelists rated with a standard deviation of less than or equal to one were considered to have met consensus, as suggested by Shinn (1998). The population for this study consisted of agriculture teachers, secondary school administrators, agricultural education field staff, and agricultural education teacher educators from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Thirty-four Delphi panel members were purposively selected from the population. Thirty-one panel members responded to Round I, 33 panel members responded to Round II, and 29 responded to Round III yielding an overall response rate of 92%. Rounds I, II, and III resulted in 102 tasks for early field and student teaching experiences that met consensus. Based on the findings, the researcher developed a task list for early field experiences and student teaching experiences to be considered for use by the agricultural education programs in the three cooperating states.

/pdf/clinical-experiences-for-agricultural-teacher-education-4ve9tfouk7.pdf

Clinical experiences for agricultural teacher education programs in north carolina, south carolina, and virginia

This study examined the use of training program evaluation results in corporate universities. Specifically, the study attempted to determine which organizational members use evaluation data, and for what purposes, and identify the factors that are related to the use of evaluation results. The study was designed to test the appropriateness of the Cousins and Leithwood (1986) meta-analytic conceptual framework for evaluation utilization. A case study approach was used to collect qualitative data at four corporate universities in the United States. On-site interviews with key personnel and in-depth document review of applicable training program evaluation information were conducted. Results showed a high degree of consensus on evaluation uses and users. Seven of the twelve factors from the Cousins and Leithwood framework were found at all four sites to influence utilization. The findings indicate that factors identified as being influential to evaluation utilization related to implementation dominated over factors related to uses for decision/policy setting.

The utilization of training program evaluation in corporate universities

The gap between evaluation theory and practice is a serious problem for training in industry and business[1]. A recent literature review of the summative evaluation on training noted:

Training Effectiveness Evaluation

Evaluating Occupational Education and Training Programs.

A Proposed System for the Identification, Assessment, and Evaluation of Special Needs Learners.

The Utilization of Mastery Learning in Vocational Education: An Empirical Study.

/pdf/meta-evaluation-applied-the-evaluation-of-a-large-scale-322rmmdlge.pdf

Meta-Evaluation Applied: The Evaluation of a Large Scale Evaluation System.

/pdf/a-study-of-state-wide-perceptions-of-vocational-educational-15c82w6ea5.pdf

Tim L. Wentling

Papers

Evaluating Occupational Education and Training Programs.

A Proposed System for the Identification, Assessment, and Evaluation of Special Needs Learners.

The Utilization of Mastery Learning in Vocational Education: An Empirical Study.

Meta-Evaluation Applied: The Evaluation of a Large Scale Evaluation System.

A Study of State-Wide Perceptions of Vocational Educational Outcomes. Identification and Assessment of Vocational Education Outcomes.