Career and Technical Education: A Best Kept Secret in Modern Education

The educational community continuously searches for the most proven and effective methods that enhance learning. One of the most successful and proven methods for academic success for all students is career and technical education. This article provides a description and explanation of why CTE is effective, as well as presents empirical finding to support CTE as a sound educational tool for the modern learner

What Attributes do Educators Use to Assign Early Childhood Special Education Students to a Federal Classroom Setting (Inclusion vs. Non-inclusion

Inclusion and non-inclusion are two very common models used in the early childhood education profession. Given the two models, it is unclear currently how to decide what setting would best benefit a student. Is non-inclusion a better option for a student with social-emotional deficits? Or perhaps they would better benefit from typical peer models in an inclusive setting. The following research was designed to survey early childhood educators and ask what qualifications, strengths, and deficits would lead them to place a student in an inclusive early childhood classroom. With a small number of respondents, data showed that many educators seemed to have no preference as to what developmental area the strengths or deficits emerged. Further, educators seemed to be unclear as to what skill levels would determine a non-inclusive or inclusive preschool placement

Web Tools: Keeping Learners on Pace

One of the greatest challenges in teaching technology and engineering is pacing. Some students grasp new technological concepts quickly, while others need repetition and may struggle to keep pace. This poses an obstacle for the technology and engineering teacher, and is particularly true when teaching students to build a website. However, there are a plethora of online tools available that can assist learners in building a website. This article identifies some of the tools that may be used in the classroom and for classroom-oriented, teacher-hosted websites. While specific examples are provided, Web search terms are denoted at the end of each section to help determine which tools are best suited for the classroom. Understanding the capabilities of free online tools is a key to building a tool kit for both the teacher and his or her students

Creating Space for the Physically Challenged Competitor in Individual Events

Recently I have written about the challenges of creating a space for physically challenged students in individual events competition (Kosloski, 1994). My research suggests that attitudes and inexperience among coaches and critics are preventing the total integration of physically challenged students into the forensics activity. Many coaches have admitted that while they will not discourage students with disabilities from participating in forensics, certain barriers make such participation difficult, if not impossible. These barriers include budget constraints, building/room accessibility, transportation, peer rejection, and judging concerns, among others. While increasing gender and minority diversity in forensics has recently been given much needed attention in the forensics community little attention has been given to the issue of physically challenged students in forensics. Yet their integration is important to the idea of total diversity in forensics

INFERENCE GENERATION AND STORY COMPREHENSION AMONG CHILDREN WITH ADHD

Academic difficulties are well-documented among children with ADHD. Exploring these difficulties through story comprehension research has revealed deficits among children with ADHD in making causal connections between events, and using causal structure and thematic importance when recalling stories. Important to theories of story comprehension and implied in these deficits is the ability to make inferences. Often, characters’ goals are implicit and explanations of events must be inferred. The purpose of the present study was to compare the ability of 7- to 11-year-old children with ADHD and their comparison peers to make inferences during story comprehension. Children watched two televised stories, each paused at five points. In the experimental condition, at each pause children told what they were thinking about the story, whereas in the control condition no responses were made during pauses. After viewing, children recalled the story. Several types of inferences and accuracy of inferences were coded. Children with ADHD generated fewer of the most essential inferences, accurate coherence inferences, than did comparison children, both during story processing and during story recall. The groups did not differ on production of other types of inferences. Generating fewer coherence inferences has important implications for story comprehension deficits in children with ADHD

The effect of prisonization on female criminality

Prisonization theory asserts that inmates who internalize the attitudes and behaviors of a criminal lifestyle are most likely to continue their criminal careers and thus less likely to desist from crime. Unfortunately, virtually all prior studies of prisonization have used male samples and ignored female inmates. Using official data from 174 female inmates in Arizona, the current study examined predictors of 10 forms of institutional misconduct. Net the effects of demographic, social history, criminal career, and other risk factors, women who had served prior prison terms were significantly likely to commit all forms of misconduct. The effect of prior prison experience was separate from other measures of criminal career/criminal propensity, which suggests that recurrently going to prison exerts a unique and powerful effect on inmate behavior. Implications for prisonization research are provided

Peering beyond the bars: Institutional confinement of female inmates

Criminal behavior does not cease when an individual is removed to the confines of the prison walls. Correctional violence is a exists among America\u27s modern prison system. Criminology has built a vast body of research on the institutional misconduct of male offenders, while at the same time has ignored the misconduct of female offenders. This study extends the importation model of inmate behavior to a cohort of female offenders through an examination of demographic characteristics, criminological history, victimization history, and personality disorders on institutional misconduct in a maximum security female prison

Advancement Experiences of Women in Academic Senior Leadership Positions in STEM Disciplines: A Delphi Analysis

This article explores structural support systems that lead to women\u27s advancement and hindrance factors that either catalyze or delay women\u27s career acceleration in higher education, specifically within STEM-related and workforce education disciplines. Through a consensus building approach, a four-round Delphi analysis explored the experiences and perceptions of 17 panelists who currently or formerly served in a senior-ranked position within a higher education setting at five institutions in the Southeast United States. The panel included women who met the eligibility criteria as subject matter experts and held positions as deans in a STEM discipline, principal investigators over federally funded STEM and workforce education programs, and Assistant Vice Presidents. A consensus was reached on nine factors supporting advancement and three factors inhibiting advancement for a total of 12 factors that were considered relevant to the research questions based on the mean score of 3.50. The panelists identified the following factors as relevant for supporting advancement: Support Systems, Personal Attributes, Willingness to Advance, Leadership Skills, Curiosity about New Experiences, Role Models, Opportunities for Leadership Roles, Experiences in Undergraduate and Graduate Studies, and Awareness of Institutional Environments; and those for inhibiting advancement: Conflicting Family Obligations, Lack of Compensation, and Personal Concerns. Support Systems and Personal Attributes were the top-rated factors contributing to advancement, while Conflicting Family Obligations and Lack of Compensation were the leading hindrances

Relationship Between Membership in DECA, An Association of Marketing Students, and Grade Point Average as an Indicator of Academic Success

Stakeholders in career and technical education, and more specifically marketing education, tout member benefits of applied learning through career and technical student organizations. However, there is little empirical evidence to support the notion that such student organizations help students to achieve academic gains. As a result, the purpose of this study was to collect and analyze empirical data to determine whether there is a relationship between DECA, An Association of Marketing Students, and academic gains as indicated by grade point average. The study examined three relationships. The first was the relationship between DECA membership and grade point average movement, the second examined the impact of multiple years of membership, and the third analyzed the relationship between grade point average as it related to an individual\u27s level of engagement in DECA\u27s annual activities. Two-hundred twelve students across Virginia (n=212) completed an inventory identifying their involvement in DECA, and they also provided entry, midpoint, and exit grade point averages. It was determined that DECA members showed significant increases in grade point averages during their memberships. It was also determined that multiple years of membership amplified the grade point averages. Finally, it was determined students who were more heavily engaged in DECA\u27s annual activities showed greater academic gains than did their more passive member counterparts