Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

<p> Transitioning youth in the foster care system to successful young adult living is essential. They must be able to achieve a high school diploma, which is challenging for many. Too often, foster youth and those in kinship care are at higher risk of homelessness, unemployment and incarceration. The purpose of this <i>Commitment Initiative</i> was to create a grant proposal to enhance the <i>Empowering Children to Achieve Academic Success: A Curriculum for Kinship Caregivers and Foster Parents,</i> by adding additional materials and making this updated resource available for use nationwide. This <i> Commitment Initiative</i> aims to provide foster parents, kinship caregivers, and child welfare workers who have 11^th and 12^th grade students in their care with resources to achieve postsecondary education, financial aid and employment. Included in the grant proposal is a budget, timeline, and staffing. Submission of this grant proposal was not required for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> This study investigated the construct of the learning organization in the restaurant industry. Descriptive accounts of learning were gleaned from face-to-face interviews, focus groups, observations, document analysis, and data from the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) from 52 participants employed in three US non-national chain restaurants in the Suburban Maryland / Washington D.C. area. This multiple-site case study extends the conversation of the learning organization by focusing on an industry that was not previously explored and offers new insight by providing a qualitative picture of how learning occurs in restaurants. </p><p> Five overall themes emerged from the data. Participants cobble together learning experiences from pre-shift meetings, formal training, learning from mistakes, and being thrown into the fire. Participants learn from customers through conversation and through trial and error as they adapt their service behaviors. Managers at each restaurant served as a learning champion by promoting dialog and prompting questions often in conjunction with food and beverage tastings. Informal and incidental learning was ever-present as participants naturally shared bits of knowledge through everyday interactions. Learning also took place off-the-clock as participants discussed their personal learning pursuits, such as accessing mobile apps or websites related to food and beverage, going to wineries, breweries, and specialty food markets, as well as reading cookbooks and magazines. Lastly, job rotation is a frequent learning practice during new hire training to expose individuals to the various roles within the restaurant. Cooks often rotate through different stations as they acquire and build up their technical skills. </p><p> In consideration of the evidence gathered, three conclusions are offered: (1) collaborative, informal learning practices are well pronounced learning strategies in restaurants; (2) leaders encouraging the development of new products (e.g., beverage / food) facilitate learning and experimentation in restaurants; and (3) a climate of consistent learning practices and procedures exist in restaurants. Overall, Watkins and Marsick&rsquo;s (1993; 2003) learning organization model did not fully depict the learning culture in restaurants. Future learning organization research is needed to better capture the unique workplace realities of high employee turnover, tip-based compensation, and more narrowly defined jobs (e.g., bartender, cook, server) that comprise the occupational culture of restaurant workers.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this mixed methods study is to examine the degree to which Washington State community and technical college workforce education administrators perceive their institutions to be labor market-responsive based on the Community College Labor Market Responsiveness assessment&rsquo;s seven dimensions of labor market responsiveness (leadership and governance, organizational structure and staffing, organizational culture, resources and funding, information and data, relationship-building, and partnerships) and to explore the factors impacting each of the seven dimensions. </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> This mixed methods study described 39 Washington State community and technical college workforce administrators&rsquo; perceptions of community college labor market responsiveness. An explanatory design was employed to collect quantitative data to describe, followed by qualitative data to further explain. Data was collected using a web-based survey instrument with fixed-choice Likert-type and open-ended questions. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Overall, 62% of workforce educational administrators perceive the community colleges in Washington to be somewhat or almost always labor market responsive. The two most displayed dimensions were leadership and governance and organizational culture, however, the weakest dimension was organizational structure. The most impactful factors identified were: resources, leadership, workforce focus, organizational factors and external engagement. An unexpected finding was the absence of the practitioners&rsquo; reference to entrepreneurial characteristics, even though this is emphasized by scholars. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> Washington State community and technical colleges are experts in workforce development although many factors impact their ability to effectively respond to labor market needs. This study concludes that Washington State community and technical colleges are perceived to be moderately labor market responsive, yet committed to external relationships and partnerships, and in need of more adequate financial, human and information resources to reach their full potential. Secondly, although there is strong leadership supporting labor market responsiveness efforts, unsupportive organizational structures limit their impact. In addition, entrepreneurial approaches are necessary to navigate resource-limited environments and this is not adequately supported by community colleges. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> Further research is recommended to include other populations, correlate perceptions with other indicators, and compare perceptions between more than one sample. An exploration of entrepreneurial characteristics and vocational program review processes of community colleges should also be studied.</p>

Graduates from two residential postsecondary technical-vocational schools in Georgia were surveyed and served as treatment Group II. Group I was composed of employees who had similar types of jobs and similar qualifications, but did not graduate from either schools. / The mailout survey had two sections: one section had six relevant questions which were incorporated into the survey in an effort to better understand the working environment; a second section addressed two major attitudinal variables which were further subdivided into 20 minor dimensions for rating purposes. Two moderator variables were introduced into the model: age expressed in three categorical levels; 18-28, 29-39 and 40 and older; work experience at three levels, 1-2, 3-4 and 5 or more years. / The major attitudinal variables (factors): job satisfaction and a feeling of success were ranked from highly dissatisfied to highly dissatisfied on a 1-to-4-point scale establishing levels of Vertical Mobility. Vertical Mobility levels were calculated from the data submitted. / Graduate response totaled 445, while nongraduates totaled 238. Graduates had a 16.52% return rate, while other employees had a 13.52%. The cross-sectional study spanned six years (1979-1985). / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-02, Section: A, page: 0423. / Major Professor: Willie H. Hinely. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This study was designed to examine whether having teachers participate in material development activities is an effective strategy for producing instructional material that teachers will adopt. The primary purpose was to determine if teachers who reviewed a traditional chapter revised on the basis of teachers' suggestions would have significantly different attitudes toward adopting that chapter than teachers who reviewed the original, unrevised version or a modified version which incorporated changes suggested by student data and instructional designers. The study was also designed to compare the instructional effectiveness of the original version with the effectiveness of the teacher-designed and designer-designed versions. / Teachers from a vocational school were randomly assigned to review one version of the chapter, and were asked to complete an Instructional Materials Acceptance Questionnaire. Students were asked to read the chapter randomly assigned to them and to complete a posttest. / Contrary to expectations, the teacher-designed chapter was as effective as the designer-designed chapter and more effective than the original chapter, yet it was not more acceptable to teachers. As expected, the designer-designed chapter was more effective than the original chapter. However, teachers were no more favorably disposed to the designer-designed chapter than to the original chapter. / Perhaps the teacher-designed chapter would have been more acceptable if the teachers who participated in the material development activities had discussed the material with the teachers who participated in the material review sessions. It is generally believed that a major reason why individuals adopt a new product is because other individuals in the social system are influencing them. / Although the effects of the designer-designed and teacher-designed chapters were similar in this study, these results should not be viewed as conclusive. Differences in the qualifications of teachers and designers could vastly alter the instructional quality of materials revised on the basis of teacher and designer input. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: A, page: 1098. / Major Professor: Robert Reiser. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Public Law 94-142 requires that vocational educators are to provide input into the placement and programming of students into special programs. The Vocational Education Act of 1984 emphasizes supplemental services for special students within the mainstream rather than separate vocational programs. It is essential that vocational educators understand the process whereby a student can become eligible for special services. This investigation explored the outcomes resulting from involving a group of vocational education teachers in a training session providing information on how to make sound educational decisions for exceptional students in their classes. / Stufflebeam's context, input, process, product (CIPP) model was used in collecting and analyzing data from the vocational teachers in this study. The extent and manner in which vocational teachers refer students for evaluation, as well as participate in program planning, will provide data vocational educators may use in future educational decisions for handicapped students. / Data were collected from vocational instructors during a two-day workshop and during a four week consultation period. The instructors who participated in the study were from selected secondary area vocational education centers in rural Eastern Kentucky. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: A, page: 2191. / Major Professor: Robert L. Lathrop. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

The purpose of this study was to extend previous research by comparing two career development programs, one computer-based (CHOICES) and the other a pencil-and-paper-based, the Self-Directed Search, on information-seeking behavior. Subjects were randomly selected from the eleventh grade class from the Developmental Research School at Florida State University. These students were assigned to either the CHOICES group or the SDS group. / Basic to this investigation and its findings was the identification and examination of factors and processes that foster information-seeking behavior. Using the six categories of information-seeking behavior as described by Stewart (1969), this investigator developed an Interview Schedule which was used to gather the post-treatment data. The data analysis procedure employed measured the relative frequencies of responses to the questions from the Interview Schedule. / Chi-square and t-tests were used to determine if there were significant differences in the information-seeking behavior of the two groups. Means and standard deviations were used to report satisfaction scores from the Feedback Sheet administration for CHOICES and the SDS. / Sixty respondents were sampled during the data collection. According to the results, there were no significant differences in the information-seeking behavior of the CHOICES group in comparison to the SDS group. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-06, Section: A, page: 1371. / Major Professor: Robert L. Lathrop. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This research was designed to ascertain the effect of student self-evaluation, teacher evaluation, and feedback, and the absence of formal evaluation of college drafting assignments upon student achievement and knowledge retention, and attitudes of students in drafting technology/CAD. More specifically, the study was designed to test the following hypotheses: (1) no significant difference existed among scores representing achievement of college drafting students experiencing three evaluation approaches, (2) no significant difference existed among the scores representing the cognitive achievement (retention) of college drafting students experiencing three evaluation approaches five weeks after treatment, and, (3) no significant difference existed among the attitude scores of students experiencing different evaluation approaches. / The participants in the study were 39 undergraduate students enrolled in the Industrial Studies 123 Technical Drafting class in the Department of Industrial Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville during the fall semester of the 1990-91 academic year. The students were randomly assigned to the three groups as follows: (1) a control group with no-evaluation; and the two experimental groups, (2) a student self-evaluation group; and (3) a teacher-evaluation group. / A one-way analysis of covariance was utilized to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Based on the findings and conditions of this study, the following conclusions were made: (1) the no-evaluation and teacher-evaluation groups did demonstrate an increased growth of achievement and knowledge retention over the self-evaluation group; (2) the evaluation method has no effect on the achievement and knowledge retention of college drafting students; and, (3) the attitude of the students toward CAD was found to be very positive. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-04, Section: A, page: 1136. / Major Professor: Hollie B. Thomas. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

A variety of federal, state, county, and tribal groups and agencies are involved in providing adult vocational education for Seminole Indians living on Florida reservations. Following a series of discussions with concerned groups, it became apparent that there was no clear understanding among the various parties as to the goals, needs, and purposes of Seminole adult vocational education. Using an on-site interview technique, the researcher gathered information on the goals, needs, and attitudes of Seminole students and administrators, and non-Seminole administrators toward Seminole vocational education; then analyzed and compared their attitudes and perceptions. / The study describes the Seminole Tribe's educational services and facilities, vocational programs available to the Seminole on and off the reservations, and vocational enrollment estimates. / The study concluded that: (1) Seminole students mainly enrolled in business and industrial education programs; (2) Seminole administrators thought Seminole students preferred to work on the reservations, but only one-third of the students preferred to do so; (3) there was low correlation between Seminole administrators' and students' "reasons for enrolling in vocational programs"; (4) the groups agreed that business, health, agriculture, and public service education were the areas of vocational training most needed by the Tribe; (5) the groups generally rated on- and off-reservation vocational programs highly but also felt these programs were not successful at keeping Seminole students from dropping out; (6) Seminole administrators and students significantly differed in their opinions as to the degree of difficulty in securing on-reservation employment; and, (7) the study participants generally felt that vocational education was meeting the Seminoles' needs. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-08, Section: A, page: 2901. / Major Professor: Robert L. Lathrop. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.