CEW Annual Reports:

1998-99 ANNUAL REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

• The Center is entering its last year as an active partner in the National Center for Research in Vocational Education, an eight-institution consortium headed by the University of California at Berkeley. In 1998-99 the Center researchers continue to be actively involved in examining effective professional development strategies and programs. Advancing the quality of education-business-community collaborations (e.g., school-to-work programs) requires new ways of organizing and integrating in-service learning for teachers, counselors, administrators and other educators.
   
• The Center received one of three U.S. Department of Education contracts to develop and implement 'models of excellence' for the professional development of teachers interested in contextual teaching and learning strategies. The TeachNET project is designed to demonstrate and document a model inservice program that: (a) provides teachers with opportunities to participate in workplace/community learning experiences, and (b) assists them in applying what they learn to instructional practices that will improve student achievement. Following a national search and competition, teams from fifteen high schools from throughout the U.S. were selected to participate in this three year study.
   
• Center researchers have again taken an active role in evaluating the implementation and impact of the School to Work (STW) initiatives in Wisconsin. Researchers are completing the last phase of a four year study of the implementation and future of STW at the local level, as well as the role of employers in the STW initiative. The Center is also preparing to release three reports related to the Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship program, the results of three surveys conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. These studies describe the benefits of workplace learning experiences and adult mentoring, while noting some of the challenges in implementing widely these relatively high cost programs.
   
• In January, 1999 the CEW was awarded a research project by the U.S. Office of Special Education & Rehabilitation Services to examine how youth with disabilities are engaged in the Youth Apprenticeship program. This three year project will using case-study methods to examine the quality of the learning experiences, accommodation and support strategies, and post-school outcomes of youth with disabilities who have completed the Youth Apprenticeship program in Wisconsin since 1994.
   
• A grant was received from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to seek, screen, evaluate, and disseminate approaches used by two-year colleges to serve rehabilitation services clients with severe multiple functional limitation in highly effective ways. This grant will operate over a three year period.
   
• The Center was awarded the second year funding for the evaluation of the Wisconsin Office of Justice program that measures outcomes for inmates in six Wisconsin jails. The program focus is on job maintenance, alcohol and drug abuse, criminal behaviors, and self integration of training and knowledge.
   
• With support from the Kaufmann Foundation, Center staff initiated a 30-month evaluation study for a K-16 school-to-career business and school partnership (BE2: School-to-Career Partnership) that includes urban school sites from Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO. Representatives of major business and industry from the Kansas City Metropolitan Area serve on the organization's Board. School-to-career is a key component in efforts to improve the Kansas City urban schools.
   
• Center faculty and staff published several chapters and articles in prominent research and practice journals including the Classroom Leadership, Journal of Lifelong Learning Initiatives (Scotland), Techniques, and The Journal for Vocational Special Needs Education.
   

• The Wisconsin Career Information System has changed their name to the Wisconsin Careers (WisCareers) effective July 1, 1999.
   
• Center staff were involved in creating a cluster hiring proposal that, if funded by the campus administration, would create five jointly-appointed faculty positions and new linkages between the Center and seven academic departments in School of Education, as well as the College of Engineering, College of Letters and Science, the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and the School of Business.
   

• The Center has worked closely with the Department of Public Instruction, DWD, and the Technical College System in sharing research studies, conducting research and evaluations of various programs, and the development of and dissemination of equity resource materials.
   
• Several Center projects are designed to strengthen collaborations among and between state agencies, Wisconsin professional associations, and local schools and technical colleges. For example, over the past several years the Center has been a partner with the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the Wisconsin AFL-CIO and the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) in a workplace partnership national conference.
   

• Numerous Center staff have been actively involved in providing targeted technical assistance to local schools, businesses, foundations, and 2-year colleges based on the research conducted at the Center over the past couple of years. Customized workshops and seminars have been designed and delivered on topics ranging from effective career development practices and technology based career information systems to techniques for evaluating employer participation in school to work programs. Workshops have been requested by a wide variety of organizations throughout the Midwest as well as nationally.
   
• The Center continues to be a certified 'technical assistance provider organization' by the National School to Work Office, which creates opportunities for the Center staff to work closely with organizations interested in adapting our ideas, products, and staff expertise to address needs within their schools and communities. During the past year, staff from the Center were contracted for technical assistance and professional development work in fifteen different states.
   
• Over the past 26 years, Wisconsin Careers (WisCareers) has developed and marketed labor market software and print materials to 75% of Wisconsin schools, technical colleges, 100% of the UW campuses, One-stop centers, and other agencies (e.g., rehabilitation offices, libraries, social agencies). The content and focus of WCIS software and products is on Wisconsin careers, education and business. As an example, one software package includes information on over 107,000 employers in the State. To develop this kind of information on Wisconsin careers, information must be obtained directly from Wisconsin educational institutions, employers and the Department of Workforce Development.
   
• The WisCareers outreach staff, during the 1998-99 school year, provided on-site training at approximately 219 sites to more than 7,500 counselors, teachers, and administrators.
   
• A total of over 100 titles in areas of career development resources were disseminated within Wisconsin which includes software, Internet resources, student materials, professional development materials, curriculum materials, and teaching activities.
   
• In collaboration with the Department of Counseling Psychology, a senior Center staff member taught two Career Development Facilitator Classes to approximately 25-30 participants. The participants included working adults from Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois who were involved in public schools system, vocational/technical colleges, state government, or were employed by private businesses such as the Marshfield Clinic. Completion of the two courses leads to a national certification of Career Development Facilitator.
   
• In 1998-99 approximately 30 career development and school-to-work workshops were delivered in Illinois, New York, South Carolina, California, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Maryland, Iowa, Missouri, Oregon, Minnesota, Florida, and North Dakota. The audiences included teachers, counselors, administrators and other staff from K-Adult school systems and staff from the state departments of labor and education.
   
• Wrote and produced on average 25 new or revised publications or products this year aimed at teachers and practitioners. A total of 17,000 copies of publication, videos, and software products sold nationally.
   
• The staff continues to be active in state and national organizations in serving on program evaluation and accreditation committees as they accredit programs and institutions.
   

• TParticipants in two major conferences, The Careers Conference and The Workplace Learning Conference, attracted attendees from Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Total attendance for these conferences reached 2,700 individuals.
   
• For the last four years the Center has coordinated a leadership development and international exchange program for the Wisconsin Technical College System and the Scotland Technical and Further Education Colleges. Administrators and staff from both systems are involved in studying various approaches to setting skill standards, using technology to deliver instruction, designing public and private partnerships, funding, and other topics of current interest.
   

• WisCareers has developed a unique database approach which integrates over 8,000 unique Websites with WisCareers software. The database approach, combined with using the CEW network server, allowed WCIS to maintain, update, and enhance these Websites throughout the year.
   
• Increased use of the world wide web in publishing material our materials. All major research and evaluation studies are put on our web site for use through the world.