The identification of special competencies of deafness specialists in postsecondary education programs

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the special competencies of deafness specialists in postsecondary education. This was accomplished by an extensive review of related literature and feedback from a panel of content experts. A list of special competencies was identified. This study was also implemented to study any differences in perception of the special competencies according to selected practitioner and programmatic variables, including hearing status, major area of study, program size, andstaff size.A post hoc survey was designed to gather data from a population of 1,103programs for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. A total of 237 responses from a sample of 422 provided an overall response rate of 56% on the Special Competencies ofDeafness Specialists in Postsecondary Education Settings Inventory that was distributed via the U. S. Postal Service. The Special Competencies of Deafness Specialists inPostsecondary Education Settings Inventory consisted of the competency listing and rating scale and a background segment for gathering demographic, programmatic, and institutional information.Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages, were used to reportdemographic, programmatic, and institutional information. The analysis of the survey items included a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) procedure to determine any areas of significant difference among the competency clusters in the three competency domains (Direct Services to Students, Knowledge and Background, andVIProgram Management) and four independent variables (hearing status, major area of study, program size, and staff size).Major findings of the study were: (a) as program size grew, respondents valued the need for effective communication skills more, (b) respondents with specific training in the field of deafness recognized the ramifications of deafness and impact on the student in a post secondary setting and valued the need to participate in ongoing professional development and share information with others, (c) when there were several staff members designated to work specifically with students who are deaf or hard-of hearing,more emphasis was placed on having a better understanding of the social,cultural, and educational implications that hearing loss may have on a postsecondary student, (d) when there was at least one staff member designated to work specifically with students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, more emphasis was placed on maintaining up-to-date knowledge about issues and strategies and on sharing information with faculty and staff who may have worked with students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and (e)when there was at least one staff member designated to work specifically with students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, more emphasis was placed on disseminating programinformation to students and on conducting outreach activities

Public Health Informatics in Local and State Health Agencies: An Update From the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey

OBJECTIVE: To characterize public health informatics (PHI) specialists and identify the informatics needs of the public health workforce. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: US local and state health agencies. PARTICIPANTS: Employees from state health agencies central office (SHA-COs) and local health departments (LHDs) participating in the 2017 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS). We characterized and compared the job roles for self-reported PHI, "information technology specialist or information system manager" (IT/IS), "public health science" (PHS), and "clinical and laboratory" workers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Descriptive statistics for demographics, income, education, public health experience, program area, job satisfaction, and workplace environment, as well as data and informatics skills and needs. RESULTS: A total of 17 136 SHA-CO and 26 533 LHD employees participated in the survey. PHI specialist was self-reported as a job role among 1.1% and 0.3% of SHA-CO and LHD employees. The PHI segment most closely resembled PHS employees but had less public health experience and had lower salaries. Overall, fewer than one-third of PHI specialists reported working in an informatics program area, often supporting epidemiology and surveillance, vital records, and communicable disease. Compared with PH WINS 2014, current PHI respondents' satisfaction with their job and workplace environment moved toward more neutral and negative responses, while the IT/IS, PHS, and clinical and laboratory subgroups shifted toward more positive responses. The PHI specialists were less likely than those in IT/IS, PHS, or clinical and laboratory roles to report gaps in needed data and informatics skills. CONCLUSIONS: The informatics specialists' role continues to be rare in public health agencies, and those filling that role tend to have less public health experience and be less well compensated than staff in other technically focused positions. Significant data and informatics skills gaps persist among the broader public health workforce

Strengthening High School Teaching and Learning in New Hampshire's Competency-Based System

For a century, most students have advanced from grade to grade based on the number of days they spend in class, but in New Hampshire, schools have moved away from "seat time" and toward "competency-based learning," which advances students when they have mastered course content. This report profiles how two high schools in New Hampshire made this shift and examines the changes that were necessary to make competency-based advancement an important part of New Hampshire's strategy for implementing the Common Core State Standards and ensuring that students graduate ready for college and a career

WEB-TECHNOLOGIES AND MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS IN THE TRAINING OF PROFESSIONALS IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

Contemporary technologies of training specialists in different professions envisage mastering the skills of a 'quality user' of computer technologies. At the same time, the issues of training primary school teachers, specialists in inclusive and remedial education to use more complex multimedia systems with the need to understand programming processes have often been excluded from basic courses as an 'unnecessary' component.But considering the current trends towards distance education, the “rejuvenation” of 'advanced users' and the need to maintain a educator's reputation, the trend towards introducing such systemic courses in the training process for specialists in primary, inclusive and correctional education has become a kind of concept for professional competence. It was based on the needs of today's teachers to transfer knowledge through multimedia systems (creating interactive databases, web pages, blogs or websites, preparing and conducting WebQuests, using computer games from producers or their own development through the platforms Wordwall, Etreniki, Flippity and Scratch programmes, etc.) that became the deciding factor for introducing specific topics on their use into training courses and expanding basic programmes of computer competency. Also, the training process began to include interaction with the training audience through social media. This multi-component work to develop a «modern/advanced» teacher provides the basis not only for improving the quality of the educational process, but also for its individualization according to the needs of each participant and his/her special educational needs, allowing to change the complexity of tasks, the saturation of tasks with audiovisual information.

Information Outlook, October 2003

Volume 7, Issue 10https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2003/1009/thumbnail.jp

Highly Qualified Teachers

One of the key features of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 is a requirement that all teachers in core academic areas be “highly qualified” before the 2005-2006 school year. Even more quickly, by the end of the 2002-2003 school year, all newly hired teachers in Title I schools had to be highly qualified. The core academic areas— which must be taught by a “highly qualified” teacher—are English, reading or language arts, math, science, arts and foreign language, economics, geography, civics or government, and history. Teachers of special education and English language learner students are not required to be “highly qualified” unless they are teaching these core courses. The question, however, concerning many teachers, administrators, and parents is—what does “highly qualified” mean? This brief provides a background for NCLB’s “highly qualified” teachers, defines “highly qualified,” and summarizes the actions taken by the State of Arkansas to ensure a “highly qualified” teacher will be in every classroom by the end of the 2005-2006 academic year

Confronting the Crisis

The eight major focus areas of this document include: schools and education; shelter and housing; jobs and life skills; after-school time; mental health, substance abuse, and HIV;violence and victimization; Latino/a LGBTQ youth; and transgender youth

Examining Literacy Specialist Candidates’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Leadership Competencies Before and After Internships in Schools

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the self-efficacy beliefs of 25 literacy specialist candidates in three key leadership areas before and after 15-week internships in schools. The three leadership areas, identified by university faculty as important to the leadership role of literacy specialists in schools today, are: 1) serving as a resource to classroom teachers, administrators, and parents; 2) conducting staff development; and 3) engaging in literacy program development and coordination. Paired-sample t-tests used to evaluate pre/post-survey scores at the end of the 15 weeks suggest self-efficacy beliefs in all three categories grew significantly over the course of the internships. Using Bandura’s framework and the leadership competencies to code and analyze interviews, electronic communications, and reflective papers, the author shares examples of how candidates at the top and bottom of the group in self-efficacy growth compared in interpreting self-efficacy related information during the course of the internships. Implications for graduate literacy programs are discusse