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.