Making the CETE Mission Happen

I am pleased to report that the updated CETE Pattern of Administration (POA) was unanimously approved by perhaps its most important stakeholder group—our own staff. In a general sense, the POA makes explicit what we do and how we do it. Thanks again to all those who participated in this year-long process.

Part of the discussion was finalizing CETE’s mission statement:

The Center on Education and Training for Employment engages with state, national, and international clients from education, governmental agencies, organized labor, and public and private entities to:

• Generate knowledge useful for understanding workforce development;
• Develop, implement, and evaluate workforce development programs and policies that are informed by best practices and research;
• Develop workforce development leaders who serve in a variety of roles and contexts; and
• Provide technical assistance in ways that will positively influence the actions of educational professionals, organization managers, and scholars involved in developing the current and future global workforce.

Upon reflection, developing the mission statement was clearly a worthy challenge unto itself. But, perhaps the greater challenge now is to carry out our mission. In a sense, this is the responsibility of all CETE staff and associated faculty. My role is to ensure that the processes to achieve our mission are the most efficient and effective and to ensure that the mission continues to be reconciled with the strategic direction of our newly merged college—Education and Human Ecology.

In recent initiatives and projects that reflect our mission CETE has:

• Implemented the CETE Research Award program to support OSU researchers focusing on workforce development issues and encouraging the subsequent development of proposals for external funding.
• Engaged with the Ohio Department of Development and the Adult Workforce Education component of Ohio’s career centers to help implement ISO 10015—Quality of Training among small-and-medium sized manufacturing companies. This initiative also has a partnership research component to it.
• Begun the development of a partnership between CETE and the KnowledgeWorks Foundation to conduct funded research and evaluation studies for the state of Ohio.
• Been awarded a contract to develop a plan with the Laborers’ International Union of North America and Associated General Contractors to evaluate the over 70 training centers in the U.S. and Canada.
• Concluded a letter of agreement between CETE and the Korea Management Association to provide structured on-the-job training workshops and ISO 10015 programs to KMA members.

These activities point to how we seek to carry out our mission. As stated in our vision statement, we aspire to be recognized as the preeminent resource of research, inquiry-based information, and technical expertise dedicated to meeting the educational challenges of developing the global workforce.

Ronald L. Jacobs
Professor and Director

ABLE Update

For over 10 years CETE has offered a variety of products and services to address the core challenges of Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) programs both locally and nationally. Center staff members routinely complete projects broadly organized within the evaluation design and standards-based education areas. Some of these activities include:

Evaluation Design Activities. Using various research methods, staff members study processes and outcomes through needs assessment, surveys, site visits, focus groups, content analysis, and archival data analysis. Working closely with sponsors, staff members develop and conduct evaluation studies to monitor the effectiveness of ABLE local programs, resource centers, literacy coalitions, and state-level services.

Standards-Based Education Activities. Staff members facilitate the development and validation of standards and assessment systems for ABLE. After managing the development of academic content standards for Adult Basic Education (ABE) students and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students, staff members conduct standards validation studies and develop materials to assist in teaching and learning. In addition, they evaluate the feasibility of standardized tests and performance assessments as well as advising sponsors on assessment policy.

One avenue for the center’s adult literacy efforts is the ABLE Evaluation Design Project, which is sponsored by the Ohio Department of Education. This project provides leadership and coordination activities of statewide significance that better enable programs to provide quality ABLE services for adults, families, and workers. Although the emphasis is on Ohio’s ABLE system, staff members have been nationally recognized for their efforts in adult education. Examples of products resulting from this project include:

• Indicators of Program Quality Resource Guide
• Study of Program Practices Report
• Staff Evaluation: Linking Program Accountability and Continuous Improvement
• Adult Literacy Coalition Alignment and Evaluation Instrument Design Report
• Content standards for ABE (i.e., math, reading, writing) and ESOL (i.e., listening, reading, speaking, writing)
• Learning Activities: Connecting Ohio’s Revised Math, Reading, and Writing Standards to Student Performance
• Voices From the Field: Statewide ABE/ESOL Assessment Feasibility Study
• Connecting Policy and Practice: A Guide to the Revised ABLE Portfolio System

CSCC & CETE Collaborate on Curriculum Quality

Every community college wants to make certain that their technical training programs are meeting the needs of its students and their potential employers. Columbus State Community College (CSCC) administrators have taken many steps to accurately determine the content of their technical courses. The college has collaborated extensively with CETE and OSU to develop new course curriculum and to validate and update existing training programs using the DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) process.

The college and the Center have worked together to conduct 38 different 2-day DACUM workshops to date, with many more planned for the future. The cooperation has been mutually beneficial as the college involves local stakeholders (expert workers in the technical areas of concern) to gain valuable data about the knowledge, skills, and worker behaviors that are currently needed to meet the requirements of employers in the Columbus labor market area. Jay Benedict, Administrator of Curriculum Management, stated, “Since Columbus State’s programs are outcome based, the results of the DACUM process have enabled Columbus State to revise program outcomes and content, thus improving the overall quality of them.” The college administrators strive to have existing programs validate their program outcomes and content every 3 years. The college selects one third of the program areas each year needing to be validated and reviewed: One of two methodologies external to the college are required for validation and review. One of the methods recommended is the DACUM process. The program undergoing valid­ation and review recruits expert workers from as many as 8-12 local employers to serve on a DACUM panel. In addition, DACUM’s are recommended for new programs that are being developed. The DACUM results provide relevant information for new program curricular content. Columbus State continues to enjoy an excellent relationship with CETE. The timing of these activities is coordinated with CETE’s DACUM Facilitator Training Institutes to keep the cost low and to meet the needs of both partners.

CETE benefits from this cooperation by being able to provide demonstration DACUM workshops and first-time workshops for its many DACUM facilitator trainees. The DACUM facilitator trainees, who have come to CETE DACUM Institutes from every state and over 40 countries thus far, are able to observe firsthand how the DACUM process should be facilitated and then are organized into three-person teams to conduct their first workshop under the guidance of an experienced team leader. This type of observation of a real workshop followed by their facilitating an actual workshop guarantees that the participants will be able to successfully conduct DACUM workshops for their employer as needed. Upon successfully completing the training, the participants receive official certification as OSU/CETE trained DACUM facilitators which is widely recognized nationally and internationally. The college has also sent several of its faculty to CETE’s institutes for training.

Some of the recent jobs/occupations analyzed for the college include:

• Software Developer, 2006
• Massage Therapist, 2005
• Networking Technician, 2005
• Physical and Recreation Specialist, 2006
• Surveyor, 2005

CETE has conducted week-long DACUM facilitator training institutes for over 500 community colleges in the USA and Canada since 1982. CETE has also conducted DACUM facilitator training for over 400 companies, including companies like General Motors, Motorola, Kodak, Ericsson, American Electric Power, United Airlines, Toyota, General Electric, and General Mills. A number of organizations such as the American Powder Metal Institute and the Recreational Vehicle Dealer’s Association have also been customers. Most of the colleges, companies, and organizations have also been repeat customers.

In summary, the collaboration between Columbus State and CETE/OSU has proven to be a very beneficial one for both partners. The college receives valuable assistance in developing and keeping its occupational programs relevant and CETE/OSU is able to provide the highest quality training possible by providing for the direct observation of experienced DACUM facilitators and a supervised experience in conducting their first workshop all within one week. Dr. Robert E. Norton, DACUM Program Director at CETE/OSU, says: "The partnership has been a win-win situation for both partners and for the students at Columbus State and elsewhere who benefit from higher quality education and training programs." For more information about DACUM or the companion SCID program, see www.dacumohiostate.com.

Awareness Seminar about Online Testing

An awareness seminar about online testing will be held on Thursday, January 18, 2007, from 8-11am at the Center on Education and Training for Employment, 1900 Kenny Road, Columbus, Ohio. There is a $75 charge for this seminar.

At the workshop the lead presenter, Jim Austin, will familiarize users with the basics of online testing. Sample topics include:

• Introduction to online testing
• Advantages and disadvantages of online testing
• Explanation of online testing as a tool for certification
• Discussion of standards for online testing systems
• Implementation of online testing
• Business Process Analysis for online testing

To attend the workshop, please RSVP by e-mail to austin.38@osu.edu or summerfield.1@osu.edu, and provide your name and contact information. You will then be sent a confirmation e-mail within 3 days. The workshop is limited to 50 participants, so if you sign up but are unable to attend, please cancel your reservation so that others may attend.

If you would like further information, please contact Jim Austin at 614/292-9897 or austin.38@osu.edu.

New NDCCTE Publication Studies Math Learning in CTE

Building Academic Skills in Context: Testing the Value of Enhanced Math Learning in CETE (Final Study), by James R. Stone III, Corinne Alfeld, Donna Pearson, Morgan V. Lewis, and Susan Jensen, National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, University of Minnesota, 2006

This report presents the results of an experimental study that tested a model for enhancing mathematics instruction in five high school career and technical education (CTE) programs (agriculture, auto technology, business/marketing, health, and information technology). The model consisted of pedagogy and intense teacher professional development. Volunteer CTE teachers were randomly assigned to an experimental (n=57) or control (n=74) group. The experimental teachers worked with math teachers in communities of practice to develop CTE instructional activities that integrated more mathematics into the occupational curriculum. After 1 year of the math-enhanced CTE lessons, averaging 10% of class time, students in the experimental classrooms performed significantly better on 2 tests of math ability—TerraNova and ACCUPLACER—without any negative impact on the measures of occupational/technical knowledge. Full text is available at no charge from the NDCCTE website, https://www.nccte.org/publications/shop/index.aspx. Bound printed copies are available from the NDCCTE Product Sales Office. Order Code: RR6001. Price $21 plus a $5 shipping and handling fee up to $50, over $50 add 10% of your total order.

Events

NDCCTE Webcasts

October 3, 2006: Decreasing the Dropout Rates in the United States Panel Discussion. Presenters: Terry Cash, National Dropout Prevention Center, Clemson, SC; Stephen B. Plank, Center for Social Organization of Schools, Johns Hopkins University; Samuel Coburn Stringfield, University of Louisville

November 9, 2006: Career Pathways: The New Career Technical Education. Presenter: Ann Benson, Education Consultant, Oklahoma

November 16, 2006: Implementation of Career Clusters, Career Pathways. Speakers to be announced—check the NDCCTE website http://www.nccte.org/webcasts

Assessment

Test Construction Workshop, October 4-6, 2006, presented by CETE, Columbus, OH; $850. Constructing valid, reliable assessments of job-specific knowledge and skills is critical to effective human resource practice. This workshop provides participants with practical knowledge and skills to understand the creation of valid, reliable, and legally defensible assessments. For information: Kathy Summerfield, summerfield.1@osu.edu or 614/688-4000.

DACUM/SCID

DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) Institute, November 6-10, 2006, hosted by CETE/OSU, Columbus, OH, $1,395.

SCID (Systematic Curriculum Instructional Design) Workshop, November 13-17, 2006, hosted by CETE/OSU, Columbus, OH, $1,195

DACUM International Seminar, November 27-28, 2006, Atlanta, GA; $350

For information: Robert Norton, norton.1@osu.edu
Debbie Weaver, weaver.22@osu.edu
http://www.dacumohiostate.com

ISO 10015 Awareness Session: JISO 10015-Quality of Training, October 17, 2006, 8:45am–12pm, hosted by CETE, Columbus, OH; $75. For information or to register, contact Ron Jacobs, jacobs.3@osu.edu.

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