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Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC), the third largest community college in the nation, is tackling the area's need for skilled workers. The number of jobs available in the northern Virginia region increased 103% in the last year. But there are substantial numbers of students at NVCC who are lacking the skills necessary to obtain employment in an information-based economy. The numbers of students enrolling at NVCC with sub-standard English skills are increasing. The average developmental English student at NVCC is white and under the age of 21. These students are equally divided between male and female. NVCC developed the pilot NOVA Gold program with three objectives in mind: to increase student success in the classroom, to increase retention of remedial language students through completion of their remedial program, and to give remedial students an early opportunity to achieve success that will boost student self-confidence. Follow-up research results indicate that ESL and developmental English students, especially males, need goal clarification, structure, and direction. ESL and developmental students both preferred one-on-one interactions with their teachers. Prior to the NOVA Gold program, retention from fall to fall for developmental students was 62.8%, and 67.0% for ESL. With the program, retention increased to 70.4% for developmental students and 82.1% for ESL students. (NB)

The Board of Registry (BOR) certifies medical technologists and other laboratory personnel. The BOR has studied adaptive testing for over 6 years and now administers all 17 BOR certification examinations using computerized adaptive testing (CAT). This paper presents an overview of the major research efforts from 1989 to the present related to test equating. The comparability of both candidate ability estimates and pass/fail decisions on fixed-length paper and pencil (PAP) and CAT tests was initially confirmed in a study in which 645 prospective candidates took both PAP and CAT tests. Two additional studies were then completed using actual certification data. The first study divided the test population into two randomly equivalent groups, 1,669 taking a PAP and 1,699 a CAT examination. Items for both modes were equated to the benchmark scale on which the pass point had been established. Mean ability estimates, standard deviations, and pass rates were comparable. Finally, item recalibrations from CAT were studied with samples of 30, 50, and 100 examinees, and ability estimates correlated at 0.99. These studies confirm that equating with PAP or CAT item calibrations produces comparable candidate ability estimates. (Contains 2 tables, 3 graphs, and 35 references.) (SLD)

This paper explores the comparability of item calibrations for three types of items: (1) text only; (2) text with photographs; and (3) text plus graphics when items are presented on written tests and computerized adaptive tests. Data are from five different medical technology certification examinations administered nationwide in 1993. The Rasch model was used to calibrate items for the two test formats. Item calibrations obtained from each administrative mode were then compared. No significant differences were found between text only item calibrations obtained from the written tests and the computerized adaptive test. While some items with photographic or figure accompaniment showed slightly different item calibrations between the administrative modes, nonstatistical explanations explain most of the minor differences discovered. The results of this investigation confirm that Rasch item calibrations from written tests are appropriate for use on computerized adaptive tests. Included are four tables and six figures. (Contains 7 references.) (Author/SLD)

In an attempt to determine their role in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of skill training programs, existing standards and certification systems in 20 selected occupations were reviewed to identify the following: their common characteristics, barriers to their development and use, benefits of standards and certification to employers and workers, and actions taken by the federal government concerning their development and use. Eight systems were selected for further review: automobile mechanic; medical records technician; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning service technician; operating engineer; medical or clinical laboratory technician; welder; printing technician; and craftworker (stone mason and carpenter). Information gathered about these programs included origin, examinations, recertification, size, and funding. Information on planned federal actions was gathered through interviews with labor and education officials and perusal of announcements from the government. Findings were as follows: (1) organizations and industries sponsoring skill standards and certification systems believe that the systems are worthwhile, but little data are available to assess such beliefs; (2) the six most commonly identified obstacles to the development of standards and certification systems were high costs, long time periods for acceptance, difficulties in developing industry coalitions and reaching agreement on standards, lack of structure, and lack of uniform occupational definitions; and (3) the Departments of Education and Labor believe the systems have value and are promoting them. Common elements among systems that were reviewed included the following: industry ownership and control, recertification requirements to keep certificate holders' skills current, national portability of credentials, integration of industry standards with education providers through an accreditation program; and a requirement for recertification. (This report includes four appendixes: a table of occupations selected and criteria for selecting them; profiles of certification systems for the eight occupations selected; a list of skill standards development grants; and a list of major contributors to the report.) (KC)

Employers and policymakers have traditionally sought to manage skill shortages in technical and other occupations through initiatives predicted in one of two broad definitions of skill: skill-as-input and skill-as-artifact. A weakness of both these perspectives is that focusing on the inputs and outcomes of a labor process obscures or ignores the process itself. These two perspectives could be complemented by considerations of skill-in-practice. Recent attempts to address the growing demand for medical technicians and technologists illustrate how a practice-oriented approach to skill might shed light on the nature of skill shortages and lead to more effective policy. In response to skill shortages in medical technology, Congress has proposed two bills: the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) calling for increased technical education, and the Rural Clinical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Act, which would relax some of the stringencies of CLIA. Medical technicians and technologists endorse the bill designed to downgrade skill requirements; physicians favor the bill aimed at enhancing skill requirements. The technicians' endorsement may reflect their conviction that the bill is more congruent with the work they actually perform. An ethnographic study investigated technicians' definitions of skill-in-practice and the implications for resolving skill shortages in technical occupations. At the hospital observed, the technicians' notions of skill were based not on education or job design but on specific work practices: ability to troubleshoot machines, demonstration of improvisational techniques, and social pooling of knowledge and experience to interpret ambiguous results. (Contains 52 references.) (YLB)

The most useful method of item selection for making pass-fail decisions with a Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) was studied. Medical technology students (n=86) took a computer adaptive test in which items were targeted to the ability of the examinee. The adaptive algorithm that selected items and estimated person measures used the Rasch model and a version of maximum likelihood estimation. The stopping rule was based on confidence in the pass/fail decision. Results indicate that when test length is sufficient, targeting items at the ability of the examinee and using a confidence level stopping rule results in the most efficient computer adaptive test for making a pass/fail decision. Examinees whose ability is clearly above or below the pass/fail point then take a minimum number of items, but those whose ability is near the pass point take a test of precision comparable to a test of items targeted at the pass/fail point. An appendix contains an examinee map for the test and a map key. (Contains two tables, three figures, and six references.) (SLD)

A partnership was formed to address the crisis that rural health care facilities in rural Nebraska face in attracting and hiring trained health care workers. The Rural Allied Medical Business Occupations (RAMBO) project trained economically disadvantaged individuals in high technology medical fields. Five objectives were outlined in the project: (1) to solve allied medical shortages; (2) to provide economically disadvantaged individuals with training; (3) to refer disadvantaged individuals for occupational training; (4) to provide training over a 12- to 18-month period; and (5) to provide on-the-job training/classroom opportunities. To arrive at an acceptable level of service, six steps were conducted: (1) develop a program purpose; (2) identify target occupations (respiratory therapists, surgical technicians, laboratory assistants, practical nurses, histology technicians, and drug and alcohol counselors); (3) determine educational requirements; (4) establish curricula; (5) implement the program; and (6) conduct evaluation. Thirty-nine economically disadvantaged individuals were placed in RAMBO; 28 successfully completed the program and 11 dropped out. By providing these individuals with training, RAMBO has given them an opportunity to improve their economic circumstances and help solve the rural health care crisis. (Success stories of participants, participant training information, and periodical clippings are included.) (NLA)

The equivalence of pencil and paper Rasch item calibrations when used in a computer adaptive test administration was explored in this study. Items (n=726) were precalibarted with the pencil and paper test administrations. A computer adaptive test was administered to 321 medical technology students using the pencil and paper precalibrations in the item selection algorithms and in the computation of examinee ability estimates. The response data from the computer adaptive test administration were analyzed yielding recalibrated item difficulties and examinee ability estimates. Item precalibrations were compared with item recalibrations. Examinee ability estimates obtained using the item precalibrations on the computer adaptive administration were compared with the examinee ability estimates obtained from using the item recalibrations on the computer adaptive administration. The correlation for examinee ability estimates was 0.99 and for item correlations it was 0.90. Some item calibrations shifted but most remained consistent within the limits of error. Item shift, however, did not affect the ordering of examinee ability estimates. (Contains 1 table, 3 figures, and 23 references.) (Author/SLD)

This report presents results of a project to assess the adequacy of existing data sources on the supply of 21 allied health occupations in order to develop improved data collection strategies and improved procedures for estimation of manpower needs. Following an introduction, chapter 2 provides a discussion of the general phases of the project and makes general recommendations for procedures to improve supply estimates and to improve estimations of requirements for allied health personnel. Chapters 3 to 11 contain individual reports and recommendations for each of the 21 occupations within the nine occupational clusters in this study. For each occupation, the discussion includes an overview of the occupation, definition of the population within the occupation, a description and assessment of data sources, and recommendations for estimating the supply within each occupation, current requirements, and future requirements. Each chapter also contains a summary of findings of the interviews conducted with individuals knowledgeable of the cluster and personnel-to-population ratios for each occupation for which data were available. (YLB)

A follow-up study to discover to what extent the education provided by the Medical Laboratory Technician program at Western Wisconsin Technical Institute has benefited the graduates and their employers was conducted. It was determined that 17 of the first 22 graduates were working successfully as medical laboratory technicians in eight states; nine graduates were employed in Wisconsin. Responses to questionnaires obtained from 20 graduates and 15 employers indicated the program is meeting the needs of both groups with a high degree of success. Both groups also indicated skills and knowledge learned are being used in the graduates' current employment. Professional advancement potential of graduates was rated by employers between average and excellent. Graduates indicated satisfaction with their chosen profession. (Data tables and the questionnaires are included.) (AG)

This study assesses the curriculum strategies indicated by the intellectual orientation and personality dimensions of students in a Health Technology Program at a community college. When designing curriculum, educators in allied health programs frequently overlook the characteristics of the students the program must serve. This study explores the influence of several dimensions of personality, as measured by the Omnibus Personality Inventory, and the effect these behavioral attributes might have on academic success. The Inventory Instrument uses 14 scales to measure personality and intellectual dispositions. The mean and standard deviations for each scale of the Inventory and Grade Point Average were plotted for the students, and the composite student (or mean score) was plotted on an Inventory Graph, showing the distribution of students in medical laboratory technology by types and degrees of learning orientation. The practicum presents a learning process for medical laboratory technology students based on program goals and student characteristics including a sample program for learning hematology. The author suggests that the results and the recommendations from this practicum are applicable to other associate degree health technology programs. (Author/MJK)

This report describes a nationally coordinated program development project whose purpose was to catalyze the implementation of needed postsecondary educational programs in the field of nuclear medicine technology (NMT). The NMT project was carried out during the six year period 1968-74 in cooperation with more than 36 community/junior colleges and other institutions in 22 states. It involved more than 400 hospitals, 12 industrial employers, 29 universities, and particularly close cooperation with leading nuclear medicine practitioners, major NMT professional societies, and the American Medical Association on Medical Education. In addition, this report generalizes on the difficult problems which emerging occupations present to our nation's educational system and makes recommendations for systematic new approaches to keep our education relevant to the changing needs of new and emerging occupational fields. (Author/EB)

The report investigates production and the cost effects of teaching within hospital departments. Models of primary production show that the cost effects of teaching are determined by the salaries paid to students (including residents, interns, medical students, and technical trainees) and physicians, by the levels of student inputs used in production, and by the productivity of student and nonstudent inputs. The models of departmental production developed permit costs to be related to the level of student inputs rather than to the more abstract variable, teaching output. Empirical analyses of radiology costs in 90 general medical and surgical hospitals in the Veterans Administration system were conducted. The empirical results suggest that, with the exception of one variable whose interpretation is suspect, teaching reduces costs for most individual radiology procedures. Although the VA system differs from non-VA hospitals in many respects, the apparent cost reductions for many radiology outputs suggest that students can be substituted for nonstudent inputs in radiology. If costs of primary products can be reduced through teaching, as the radiology results suggest, it would be possible for teaching hospitals to provide a given medical program for patients at lower costs than in nonteaching hospitals. (Author/JR)

Objectives of the project briefly described here were (1) to develop curriculum for a two-year nuclear medical technology program based on a working relationship between three institutions (community college, university health center, and hospital) and (2) to develop procedures for the operation of a medical imaging and radiation technology core program for radiologic, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, radiotherapy, and biomedical technology. Methods used in the interinstitutional cooperative curriculum development effort are summarized, followed by a general description of the curriculum, a curriculum outline, and brief descriptions of the courses. A time schedule for students and an outline of student hours are presented. Twenty pages of instructional objectives for each course are provided, followed by recommended texts, laboratory manuals, and references. A general description of the medical imaging and radiation technology core program is included, along with an explanation of the cooperative relationship of the core program with the community college and hospitals. Conclusions and recommendations regarding the cooperative curriculum development effort are presented, followed by a bibliography. Essentials of an Accredited Educational Program for the Nuclear Medical Technologist are appended. An outline of Naval training programs for nuclear medicine technician, x-ray technician, x-ray technique, clinical nuclear medicine technician, and radioactive isotope technician is also appended. (BL)

In order to obtain information on the current and future job market for 12 health technology occupations, a random sample of area physicians and 100% of 9 distinct types of health occupations employers were surveyed. The major employers, hospitals and nursing homes, were interviewed by college nursing faculty; all other employers were surveyed by mail. The employers were asked to provide the following information: (1) the number of full-time and part-time employees in 1975, 1977, and the number projected for 1981, by occupation; (2) the number of current employees without minimum certification and the additional number needed to provide optimum care for the current service level, by occupation; (3) the average length of time a job is vacant and the starting salary for each occupation; (4) an assessment of the supply of trained manpower in each occupation; (5) previous experience with graduates of the college; and (6) new occupations emerging in the health field and the employer's community education needs. The data were aggregated for all employers and by employer type. Weighted means were calculated for each occupation on the ratings of available trained manpower. Study procedures, findings, and conclusions are presented in the report, and the survey instrument and job descriptions for the 12 occupations are appended. (RT)

The vocational curricular evaluation model (MCC) developed by the Division of Planning and Development at the Metropolitan Community College Administration Center is used to evaluate the University of Connecticut's School of Allied Health Professions. The three undergraduate programs focused on are physical therapy, clinical dietetics and medical technology. Five of six major criteria suggested in the MCC Model were used in the program evaluation: (1) a program's relationship to the job market profile; (2) a program's success in meeting career aspirations of clientele; (3) a program's success in terms of student job performance; (4) a program's level of community support; and (5) a program's success in reaching the handicapped and disadvantaged student. Several results and recommendations are offered such as: the undergraduate programs in physical therapy, medical technology and clinical dietetics are producing students needed in the job market; areas requiring improvement are evaluation of patients, orthopedics, neurology, pharmacology, management, cardiopulmonary, professional development, and interpersonal skill training; follow-up activities should be conducted by both the medical technology and physical therapy programs with respect to supportive services; and the physical therapy program needs to examine where areas of improvement can be focused with regard to clinical skills training. Tables, appendices and a glossary are provided. (LC)

A study was conducted to determine what mathematics skills were needed for Dental Laboratory Technology, Medical Laboratory Technology, and Respiratory Therapy. Data obtained from studies, course outlines, textbooks, and reports were used to construct a 79-item mathematics skill questionnaire. This questionnaire was administered to employers, employees, technical instructors, licensing bodies, and mathematics instructors, who indicated skills considered important. The information was then rank ordered. Findings were that a wide range of mathematics content was being taught to students in the health occupations under investigation, within a technical area respondents agreed as to which skills were considered important, mathematic skills needed by the dental laboratory technician were different from that needed by other health technicians, and there were high levels of agreement between rankings of mathematics skills by mathematics faculty and other respondents. Some conclusions and implications from the data analyses included agreement as to importance of skills indicating communication between schools and employers, a common core of mathematics needed by dental laboratory technicians that is different from that needed by other health technicians, and implementation of the study through use of the survey for needs assessment and development of a curriculum responsive to local needs. (Three data tables are appended.) (YLB)

A program of service provision by medical technology program faculty at Northern Illinois University is described. The faculty offer their laboratory expertise to other university faculty and to graduate students who require blood testing in their research design. The services requested and the reimbursement for the services can be negotiated by the faculty involved. Since it is the affiliated hospitals of a university with a 3+1 program that have the instrumentation for clinical instruction, testing cannot be managed at the university. The university can provide phlebotomy services and interpretation of the laboratory test results. As a test, services have been provided to researchers in the physical education and home economics departments. No revenue was generated for these services for two reasons: the feasibility of offering the service was still being determined, and the graduate student researchers had limited funds. Based on the initial test, however, charges for the services will be implemented. As the project grows, a course in phlebotomy may be developed. Responsibilities of the researchers using the services are outlined. (SW)

Criteria related to merit evaluations of medical technology faculty were evaluated, based on a survey of members of the American Society for Medical Technology's scientific section on education. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 27 academic institutions. Criteria included publications, institutional committee activity, research, clinical practice, and involvement in professional organizations. The effects of institution size, type, and level as well as program administrative placement within the institution were studied. There were some differences that related to institutional size, but generally, requirements for positive personnel decisions paralleled those of the liberal arts and sciences faculty: research and publication. The need for additional requirements of professional practice and for activity within a professional organization were apparent. It is concluded that medical technology faculty who must maintain professional competence along with the standard teaching and service responsibilities have less available time for traditional scholarly activities that are rewarded with positive personnel decisions. A questionnaire is appended. (Author/SW)