Larry E. Miller

Increasing Employment Earnings: Extended Transition Services that Make a Difference

A pre-test-post-test control group design examined the effects of extending transition services beyond graduation on employment earnings of vocational students with disabilities. Specific transition services included: vocational assessment, agency contacts, Individualized Educational Program (IEP) meetings, extended vocational training, employability counseling, job club, job interview preparation, job development, and job coaching. The results indicated that youth who received extended transition services had significantly higher earnings for two years following the termination of services than youth who did not receive extended transition services. Through a follow-up survey conducted five years after intervention services ended, we found that youth who received extended transition services were significantly more likely to be employed or in a training program than those without extended transition supports. No significant experimental group differences emerged based on gender, race, or disability.

Instructional Technology Competencies Perceived as Needed by Vocational Teachers in Ohio and Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the perception of the knowledge, importance, and educational needs of instructional technology for vocational and careertechnical education teachers and draw comparisons between Ohio and Taiwan. The objectives of this study were to determine: (a) the demographic characteristics of vocational teachers such as age, gender, highest degree earned, instructional technology experience, and specialty, (b) the perceived knowledge and importance of instructional technology competencies for vocational teachers in Ohio and Taiwan, (c) the perceived need for further education in instructional technology by vocational teachers in Ohio and Taiwan, and (d) the relationships among the demographic characteristics of vocational teachers and their instructional technology education needs. The population was all vocational education teachers working at 44 comprehensive high schools and six Joint Vocational Schools (JVS) in the Central Region of Ohio and 22 vocational high schools in Kaohsiung district, Taiwan, during 2001-02 academic years. The Borich needs assessment model was adapted to determine the need of instructional technology knowledge and skills for vocational teachers and the instrument consisted of two parts: (a) demographic data, and (b) a Likert-type scale, to measure the perceived importance and knowledge of instructional technology for teachers. A questionnaire was designed to gather information about vocational teachers’ school and program characteristics and their perceptions of the instructional technology importance and knowledge in their program. The questionnaire was developed with two parallel versions – English version for Ohio and Mandarin version for Taiwan.

Functional health literacy and smoking cessation outcomes

Purpose – This paper aims to describe the relationship between functional health literacy level and smoking cessation outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – Participants in an inpatient smoking cessation program in a mid‐western city in the USA were enrolled and the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults was administered while the participant was still admitted. A follow‐up telephone call was made three months after the intervention in order to assess self‐reported smoking cessation.Findings – A total of 30 participants were enrolled. At the three‐month follow‐up, 22 patients were currently smoking and eight had quit smoking. Chi‐square analysis indicated that there was no difference in the incidence of successful smoking cessation based on level of functional health literacy. The results of a stepwise logistic regression analysis suggest that predicting whether a study participant will quit smoking or not appears to be a function of the participants environment, since the only variable that ...

Reconsidering Graduate Programs for Students from Developing Countries.

This article examines issues related to graduate programs in agricultural and extension education for students from developing nations who are studying in developed countries. Implications are drawn for developing graduate programs that prepare individuals for their most likely career paths. Such programs may not be congruent given the current graduate programs in universities particularly with the present financial and political pressures on departments and faculty. How can professional associations enter into dialogue to assist in creating more relevant programs of study?