The Competent Use of Competency-Based Strategies for Selection and Development

Many organizations are getting into the competency act, selecting and developing employees against standards of performance needed for present and future business success. This article focuses on critical elements of successful competency-based performance strategies from the practical vantage points of two performance consultants with significant experience in a variety of business settings. Definitions and examples are provided for Key, Team, Functional, and Leadership competencies. The competency strategy process defined in the article outlines a four-step cycle including business alignment, project planning, competency model-building, and rollout and ongoing performance management. Tools and approaches for use with selection, training and development, coaching, multi-rater assessment, and performance review are discussed from the viewpoint of the hands-on practitioner. “Lessons learned” are noted in all phases of the process to emphasize the rationale for continuous involvement of stakeholders and for attention to project management. Also included are behavioral competency profiles for 1) the competency practitioner and 2) change management.     

Parents' comprehension of psychological reports

The purpose of this study was to investigate parents' comprehension of psychological reports, employing the same method used by Wiener (1985) in a similar study of teachers. Forty-five parents of handicapped children completed questionnaires and semantic differentials to assess their comprehension of and preference for three formats of psychological reports. As in the earlier study with teachers, it was found that parents comprehended better reports that organize information by functional domain, that describe strengths and problems in clear behavioural terms, that describe the child's learning style fully, and that state specific and elaborate program recommendations. Parents preferred these reports over shorter reports that did not have the above features. They especially liked reports that explicitly respond to the referral questions.     

Preparing Professionals to Face Ethical Challenges in Today's Workplace: Review of the Literature,Implications for PI,and a Proposed Research Agenda

Ethics is very much in the news today and on the minds of those who teach and/or train current and future professionals to work successfully in today's workplaces. While there seems to be agreement that organizations need to address the topic of ethics, there is also a concern about how best to proceed. Ethics and compliance offices, professional codes, ethics conferences, institutes, and centers, formal and informal ethics courses, and ethics hotlines are only some of the ways in which organizations have responded to the need for ethics preparedness. The diversity of our organizations and the global nature of our economy demands attention to multicultural/international issues as well. In this review, we examine the diverse body of literature research that explores teaching and training practices used to address ethical issues in corporations and institutions of higher education and include a special focus on multicultural environments. We discuss implications for PI professionals and propose a research agenda.     

Going Public: Teaching Students to Speak Out in Public Contexts

Many students find speaking in large group, whole class or ‘public’ contexts intimidating. Over the last 30 years, a model of collaborative talk in small groups has been favoured within English teaching in British education but, with the new generation of GCSE syllabuses, students are required to speak effectively to larger audiences. This article explores what constitutes an effective ‘public’ speaker at GCSE level, and suggests various teaching strategies as starting points.     

The Design of Learning Software: Principles Learned from the Computer as Learning Partner Project

This paper describes general curriculum design principles and specific software design implementations resulting from an ongoing collaboration between software designers and programmers, researchers, and a classroom teacher and his students. Research and observations in the classroom setting led to both the emergence of useful learning principles as well as the design of a specific piece of software, E-LabBook. The paper traces the development of the software in the context of the principles that emerged during the design process.     

Inclusion of children with special needs in school-age child care programs

From an ecological perspective, the inclusion of children in school-age child care (SACC) requires collaboration among policy makers, educators, parents, and child care providers. Both typically and atypically developing children benefit from inclusive programs, yet they pose challenges for care-givers primarily due to lack of training, resources, and identification of successful inclusive program components. The process of successful SACC inclusion should be at the forefront of human service and research agendas.     

Decreasing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms utilizing an automated classroom reinforcement device

Psychologists and physicians are frequently approached by parents and, indirectly, by classroom teachers to diagnose and treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Requests are also frequently made for psychostimulant medication to control ADHD behavioral symptoms. One reason for such requests is that alternative classroom approaches to treating ADHD have focused on positive reinforcement, response cost, and token reinforcement programs, all of which can require extensive teacher involvement. One of the major problems with such behavioral approaches is the fact that teachers have limited time to reinforce positive, attentive behaviors, and/or alternative behaviors to ADHD symptoms. This study examined the efficacy of an automated reinforcement device, the Attention Training System (ATS), in decreasing off-task behavior in an 11-year-old, fifth-grade student who had been diagnosed as being affected with ADHD and had been placed in Special Education Resource Room programming. The Attention Training System provides automated token reinforcement in the form of points on a fixed interval schedule when the youngster is on-task. When distractible, impulsive, or hyperactive behavior occurs, the Attention Training device can be activated by a teacher to provide a response-cost consequence of loss of points. The device in this study was coupled with a token reinforcement program whereby points could be exchanged for selected reinforcers at the end of each day. Results indicated that the ATS plus token reinforcement was successful in reducing off-task behavior across classes of three subject areas: Science, Reading, and Social Studies. Results have implications for psychologists and physicians in their attempts to assist families and schools in their management of youngsters with ADHD.