New members initiated into the OTT-Alpha Gamma Chapter

Tampa, FL - December 9, 2013. The Alpha Gamma Chapter of the Omicron Tau Theta professional organization, established at the University of South Florida in 2013, held an initiation ceremony to welcome new members on board. Shetay Ashford, Treasurer and Membership Secretary, reported that 16 new members were inducted into OTT’s Alpha Gamma Chapter at USF on December 7th in the Tampa campus.

Sponsored by our OTT chapter, Prior to the initiation ceremony, Dr. William Underwood presented the results of his dissertation research to the group. In his dissertation study Bill examined the relationship of community college Opticianry student outcomes with instructional delivery methods and student age. He defended his dissertation on November 7, 2013.

After lunch, which was provided by Chef Bonnie James, Shetay Ashford’s mom, Dr. Johanna Lasonen, Chapter Advisor, introduced the ceremony providing some historical background about OTT and the Alpha Gamma Chapter at USF. Dr. Lasonen also sponsored the cake to celebrate the initiation of new members.

The new members are Dian Ginsberg, Deborah Lanigan, Candice Pietri, Paula Rich, Cheryl Rizi, Lori Scribner, LaTonya Williams, Jenny Burrell, Denise Skivers, Marilyn Leon, Corella Edwards, SharlTonya Weathers, Dioan Johnson, Norma Bedell, Simone Brookins, Anthony Grant. The new members are currently in the process of completing the Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education. Congratulations on your induction to OTT’s Alpha Gamma Chapter!

In an upcoming ceremony scheduled on January 4th, 2014, doctoral students will be inducted into our OTT chapter as well. Below are some pictures of the initiation on December 9th.

  

 

 

 

OTT presents awards at national meeting in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV - December 6, 2013. The OTT Executive Board had a busy meeting at the annual meeting in Las Vegas as several awards were presented in recognition for service and scholarship.  As a national professional organization with a core mission to acknowledge the achievement of graduate students, professional educators, leaders in business, industry and government in career and technical education, the Executive Board presented the following awards:

Dr. Elaine Adams presenting award
to Dr. John Cannon

OTT Service Award. Dr. John Cannon, Coordinator of CTE Programs at the University of Idaho-Boise Center, was presented with a plaque for distinguished service on the Omicron Tau Theta (OTT) professional organization at the annual meeting in Las Vegas held on December 3-4, 2014. Dr. Elaine Adams of the University of Georgia, and OTT Advisor/Director, presented Dr. Cannon with the service award. Dr. Cannon has served on the OTT Executive Board as President-Elect, President, Past-President, and is currently serving on the national Executive Board.

Outstanding Chapter Award. This award has been established to recognize outstanding OTT Chapters based on the activities reported in annual reports. The outstanding chapter is selected based on activities that revolve around the active involvement, membership activities, chapter activities, and national participation. There are currently twelve active chapters and based on historical reports for 2012 submitted to the National Secretary/Historian, the 2012 Outstanding Chapter Award was presented to the Upsilon Chapter at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

Dr. Daisy Stewart receiving
dissertation award on behalf of
Dr. Rosemaliza Mohd
Kamalludeen

Outstanding Dissertation Award. An award for outstanding doctoral research is presented annually in the form of a plaque. The award is named Omicron Tau Theta Outstanding Doctoral Research Award. The award recognizes original research completed by doctoral students and this year’s award was presented to Rosemaliza Mohd Kamalludeen for her dissertation entitled “Curriculum Track and Its Influence on Reducing High School Dropout Likelihood.” The award was received by Dr. Daisy Stewart Cartwright, Associate Professor Emerita in the School of Education in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia.

Outstanding Journal Article. An award for outstanding JCTE article of the year is presented annually in the form of a certificate.  The award is named Omicron Tau Theta Outstanding Journal Article Award and seeks to recognize high quality research reports published in the Journal of Career and Technical Education. This year’s award was presented to Holly Yettick (University of Colorado at Boulder), Fred Cline and John Young )Educational Testing Service) for their article entitled, "Dual Goals:  The Academic Achievement of College Prep Students with Career Majors:.” The article was published in volume 27, Issue No. 2, in 2012.

Congratulations to award recipients your achievements!

New OTT officers installed

Steve McCaskey in his role of OTT President installing
Kristin Stair and Ryan Foor.

Las Vegas, NV. – December 5, 2013. At the Annual OTT Meeting held in Las Vegas on December 3-4, new officers were installed to begin service in executive roles in 2014. Dr. Sally E. Arnett-Hartwick, currently service as OTT President-Elect was installed as President. Dr. Arnett-Hartwick was not able to attend the meeting as she is in maternity leave. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) at Illinois State University since Fall 2013.  She also serves as the FCS Teacher Education Coordinator for the department and teaches courses in FCS teacher education. She earned her B.S. degree from Illinois State University in Home Economics Education and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in Workforce Education and Development.

Kristin Stair, currently serving as OTT Secretary was installed as President-Elect for the 2014 term. Dr. Stair is Assistant Professor in the Agricultural and Extension Education Department at New Mexico State University.  She earned her B.S. in Agricultural Information Science and Education from Mississippi State University and taught high school agriculture in North Carolina before completing her M.S. in Agricultural Education and her PhD in Agricultural Education at North Carolina State University.

Further, recognizing the need to enhance internal OTT communication and visibility in the field, the office of Communications Director was created to help with related supports and strategies. Dr. Ryan Foor was installed to serve as Communications Director in 2014. Dr. Foor is

an Assistant Professor and is the Director for Graduate Studies in the Department of Agricultural Education at Arizona State University.  He taught high school agriculture for five years in Iowa before going to The Ohio State University for graduate where he earned his master and doctoral degrees in Agricultural and Extension Education.

Congratulations to Drs. Arnett-Hartwick, Stair, and Foor for their installation into new executive OTT roles.

Steve McCaskey recognized for OTT service

Las Vegas, NV. – December 4, 2013. Stephen McCaskey (Indiana State University) was recognized at the Annual OTT Meeting held in Las Vegas for his service as President of the organization. Dr. McCaskey stepped up at a time when service in that capacity was needed and agreed to serve in an extended period to help OTT achieve stability. Typically, executive officers serve for one year in their respective roles, but during certain periods extended service is needed to help an organization regroup. Dr. McCaskey represents such case and his service to the OTT is greatly appreciated. Dr. Elaine Adams, OTT Advisor/Director, presented Steve with a plaque recognizing him for his service to the organization.

During his tenure he renewed OTT synergy, brought members together, and facilitated the transition of new editors for the Journal of Career and Technical Education (JVTE). Dr. McCaskey will continue serving on the OTT Executive Board as Past-President in 2014. Thank you Dr. McCaskey for the continued service on the organization.

OTT presents awards for best poster presentations at ACTER

Las Vegas, NV. – December 4, 2013. As is customary, Omicron Tau Theta (OTT) was responsible for the selection and organization of poster presentations conducted at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Career and Technical Education Research (ACTER).  At this annual meeting, OTT accepted 20 poster presentations featuring a variety of topics of interest in the field. During the meeting, poster presentations were further evaluated as they were conducted and the three best poster presentations were recognized with an OTT Poster Presentation Award.

Based on the results of the evaluation, the poster presentation entitled “Moving toward career readiness: Teacher and exhibitor perceptions of a ninth grade career exploration fair” was identified as the Best Poster Presentation. Congratulations to authors Chaney Mosley and Beverly Creul of Metro Nashville Public Schools!

Karen Shaw of the College of Southern Nevada also received an award for 2nd Best Poster Presentation on the results of a project entitled, “Credentialing success in respiratory therapy: Revisiting Bordiue’s of field and capital.” In turn, Jodi K. Walker, Karen L. Alexander, Kimberlee Davis, Sue Couch, and Betty Stout of Texas Tech University, were recognized with an award for 3rd Best Poster Presentation on the results of the project “Texas high school counselors’ perceptions of local implementation of the achieve Texas College and Career initiative.”

Congratulations to OTT Poster Presentations Award winners! Please mark your calendars for next year’s meeting at Nashville, Tennessee, on November 20-22, 2014.

Daniel Cox, Victor Hernandez, and Edward Fletcher presented at ACTER

Las Vegas, NV. – December 4, 2013. Drs. Daniel Cox, Victor Hernandez, and Edward Fletcher presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Career and Technical Education held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 3-4. The presentation entitled, “Who participates in high school career academies? A descriptive analysis of six-year enrollment trends in a local district,” was based on Dr. Cox’s dissertation research completed in 2013.

Dr. Cox is CTE Specialist at Volusia County Schools in Daytona, Florida. Dr. Hernandez is Associate Professor and Director of the Career and Workforce Education program at the University of South Florida. Dr. Fletcher, also at the University of South Florida, is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Career and Technical Education.

The purpose of this study was to describe the demographics of students participating in career academies.  The major question driving the study was: What are the participation trends in career academies over a recent six-year period (2007-2012) based on demographic variables including gender, race/ethnicity, and socio-economic status (SES)? The findings of this study indicated that more students are participating in career academies.  The findings also suggested that there continues to be a gender gap across career academies and that within specific career academies based on Career Cluster™ some gaps remain considerable.  In addition, the findings suggested there has been an increase in the participation rates among students of color, albeit these data do not yet correlate to population ratios of high school students across the school district.  While there are pockets of diversity in corners of the district, the metropolitan statistical area is still heavily Caucasian.  More to the point, Caucasian students continue to hold more seats across career academies compared to their peers.  This concern warrants additional research.

For further information about the study or copies of the manuscript submitted for the presentation, you may contact Dr. Cox at ecox@volusia.k12.fl.us.

Kristin Pierce and Victor Hernandez presented at ACTER in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV. – December 4, 2013. Drs. Kristin Pierce and Victor Hernandez presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Career and Technical Education held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 3-4. The presentation entitled, “Do mathematics and reading competencies integrated into career and technical education courses improve high school student state assessment scores?” was based on Dr. Pierce’s dissertation research completed earlier in 2013.

Dr. Pierce is CTE Specialist at Volusia County Schools in Daytona, Florida. Dr. Hernandez is Associated Professor and Director of the Career and Workforce Education program at the University of South Florida.

The results of a quasi-experimental study that tested a contextual teaching and learning (CTL) model for integrating reading and mathematics competencies through 13 introductory Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses were shared in this presentation. The purpose of the study was to determine whether students who participated in CTE courses that integrated core mathematics and reading standards performed better on a test of mathematics and reading skills compared to students who participated in traditional, non-integrated courses.  The treatment group consisted of students in the 13 introductory courses taught by the CTE Lead Teachers and the control group consisted of students in all other sections of the 13 introductory courses not taught by CTE Lead Teachers.  After a 26-week intervention, 9th and 10th grade student FCAT reading and mathematics scores were analyzed to determine if the mean change in post-test scores was greater in the treatment group than the mean change in scores in the control group.  An ANCOVA and multiple regression analysis of quantitative data revealed that the integrated CTE courses were statistically significant in improving reading treatment group scores, but not statistically significant in improving mathematics treatment group scores.

For further information about the study or copies of the manuscript submitted for the presentation, you may contact Dr. Pierce at kbpierce@volusia.k12.fl.us.

JCTE status discussed at ACTER symposium

Las Vegas, NV. – December 4, 2013. Representatives of the Journal of Career and Technical Education (JVTE) Editorial Board conducted a symposium at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Career and Technical Education held in Las Vegas on December 3-4. The symposium was chaired by Edward Fletcher (University of South Florida) and conducted in collaboration with Board members Paul Asunda and Barbara Hagler of Southern Illinois University, Stephen McCaskey (Indiana State University), and Victor Hernandez (University of South Florida).

This symposium was aimed at discussing the role and purpose JCTE, a journal affiliated with Omicron Tau Theta (OTT). The symposium provided an opportunity for ACTER members to meet the new co-editors of the JCTE, Edward Fletcher and Victor Hernandez (University of South Florida) and to learn more about the journal. Editorial board members discussed the journal’s content, emphasis, and scope in terms of targeted manuscript submissions; the expectations of quality for publishing in the journal; and the submission and review process. Panelist also engaged the audience in a discussion about the current status and quality of the journal as well as future directions for its viability.

For further information about the journal and/or manuscript submission, you may visit the JCTE site at the University of South Florida.

OTT Executive Board convened at annual meeting in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV. – December 5, 2013. The National OTT Executive Board and the Journal of Career and Technical Education (JCTE) Editorial Board convened at the Annual Meeting held in Las Vegas on December 3-4, 2013. The meeting is typically conducted in conjunction with the Career and Technical Education Research and Professional Development Conference of the Association for Career and Technical Education Research (ACTER).

Attending the OTT/JCTE Board meeting were Steve McCaskey (Indiana State University), President; David Jones (North Carolina State University), Treasurer; Kristin Stair (New Mexico State University), Secretary; John Cannon (University of Idaho-Boise Center), Past-President; Elaine Adams (The University of Georgia), Advisor/Director; Ryan Foor (Arizona State University), Communications Director; Barbara Hagler (Southern Illinois University-Carbondale), JCTE Editorial Board Chair; and JCTE Co-Editors Edward Fletcher and Victor Hernandez (University of South Florida). The Executive Board discussed the status of the organization and the journal, issues requiring specific actions, and changes in organizational service.

At these annual meetings OTT was responsible for the selection and organization of poster presentations conducted during the reception following the ACTER Business meeting.  For this meeting, OTT accepted 20 poster presentations featuring a variety of topics of interest in the field. The Board also conducted a symposium on the status and new directions for the Journal of Career and Technical Education (JCTE).

Finally, the Board also started the planning process in preparation for the 2014 Conference to be held in Nashville, Tennessee, November 20-22. See you then!