An Educational Needs Assessment of Pennsylvania Workforce: Opportunities to Redefine Secondary Career and Technical Education to Meet Food Industry Needs

ABSTRACT: This article describes the outcomes of a needs assessment concerning current training needs and performance targets for non-degreed employees in the food industry. Focus groups were used to gather data from 5 food-processing companies: a fresh vegetable company, a canned vegetable company, 2 snack food companies, and a meat company. Focus group participants consisted of 1 senior-level manager each from human resource, production, quality assurance, purchasing, and product development departments within each company. The needs assessment identified 4 major themes that employers indicated as beneficial knowledge and skills for employees to possess: safety training, knowledge of food and production systems, learning and applying mathematical skills, and professional conduct. The authors anticipate that the knowledge of industry needs, with respect to the desired incoming workforce competencies and knowledge, will facilitate the development of integrated curriculum modules for secondary career and technical education programs (high school grades). These integrated curriculum modules will address the growing needs of the food industry and facilitate the development of employment skills required to function and prosper in the new global economy.     

Every change needs a champion

Lamaze International is pleased to launch the newly revised and updated (as of May 2007) six care practice papers that synthesize best practices that promote, support, and protect normal birth, bonding, and breastfeeding for pregnant women and their support teams. The updated six care practice papers are available as resource materials to start and support conversations of change. Childbirth educators are encouraged to be change champions and to incorporate the six care practices into the maternity care that women receive in their communities.     

Impact of a statewide home visiting program on parenting and on child health and development

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of a voluntary, paraprofessional home visiting program on promoting child health and development and maternal parenting knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. METHODS: This collaborative, experimental study of 6 Healthy Families Alaska (HFAK) programs enrolled 325 families from 1/00 to 7/01, randomly assigned them to HFAK and control groups, interviewed mothers at baseline, and followed families until children were 2 years old (85% follow-up). Child outcomes included health care use, development and behavior. Parent outcomes included knowledge of infant development, parenting attitudes, quality of the home environment, and parent-child interaction. HFAK records were reviewed to measure home visiting services. Home visitors were surveyed to measure knowledge, perceived effectiveness and perceived training adequacy. RESULTS: There was no overall impact on child health, but HFAK group children had more favorable developmental and behavioral outcomes. HFAK and control mothers had similar parenting outcomes except that HFAK mothers had greater parenting self-efficacy (35.1 vs. 34.6 based on the Teti Self-Efficacy Scale, p<.05). Fewer HFAK families had a poor home environment for learning (20% vs. 31%, p<.001). HFAK families were more likely to use center-based parenting services (48% vs. 39%, p<.05). The impact was greater for families with lower baseline risk (Family Stress Checklist scores<45). There was little evidence of efficacy for families with a higher dose of service. CONCLUSIONS: The program promoted child development and reduced problem behaviors at 2 years. Impact could be strengthened by improving home visitor effectiveness in promoting effective parenting. Future research is needed to determine whether short-term benefits are sustained.     

The incidence and utility of the ACID,ACIDS, and SCAD profiles in a referred population

THE ACID, ACIDS, and SCAD profiles are examples of subtest patterns from the WISC-III that have been proposed as potentially helpful in differential diagnosis of exceptionalities. This study investigated the prevalence and utility of these profiles in a large referred population. Although the incidence rates of the ACID and ACIDS profiles in some groups were greater than rates reported for the standardization sample, incidence levels were found to be low in all clinical groups studied. The SCAD profile evidenced generally higher incidence rates but none greater than the rates reported for the standardization sample. The findings support the use of conditional probabilities and incremental gains based on the actual incidence from a referred population to assist in differential diagnosis; however, none of the profiles are recommended as a criterion for determining exceptionality.     

Effects of small-group reading instruction and curriculum differences for students most at risk in kindergartenL: two-year results for secondary- and tertiary-level interventions

This article describes the implementation of small-group reading instruction as secondary- and tertiary-level components of a three-tier model of prevention and intervention. The study consisted of 83 students who were targeted in the winter of kindergarten as being at high risk for reading failure. Intervention consisted of evidence-based curriculum delivered in groups of one to six students during 30- to 40-min sessions a minimum of three times per week over a 2-year period. Outcome data were collected for early literacy skills, using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills and Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, with comparisons across the different curricula. Results indicated that students in the more directed, explicit intervention groups generally out-performed students in the comparison group. Implications for future research and practice implementing schoolwide three-tier prevention models are discussed.