Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Diane Bryant
Committee Member
Richard Conrath
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
antidiscrimination laws, case studies, civil rights, civil rights curriculum, civil rights training, curriculum design, curriculum evaluation, customer service, employee training, evaluation instruments, federal funds, federal programs, Georgia, implementation plans, instructional delivery, instructional design, instructional objectives, instructional resources, instructional strategies, instructional materials, learning modules, local agencies, Massachusetts, national survey, process evaluation, product evaluation, program development, program evaluation, state agencies, telephone surveys, Texas, training curriculum, training implementation, training programs, videotapes, WIC, Women
Abstract
The problem was that the state of Georgia Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program was noncompliant with antidiscrimination laws and therefore, risked the loss of federal funds to operate the WIC Program. The purpose of this applied dissertation was to conduct a national survey of civil rights training programs with plans for development, implementation, and evaluation of training for Georgia WIC Program employees.
A combination of the development and evaluation methodologies was used to complete this study. The development methodology was used to develop the civil rights training program for Georgia WIC employees. The evaluation methodology that included process and product evaluation helped to determine how effective the training would be, once implemented, in meeting the needs of WIC Program employees. In addition, the evaluation method was used to review civil rights training programs developed by state WIC agencies nationwide. The components of each participating state’s civil rights training curriculum was evaluated against the Kemp, Morrison, and Ross (1996) curriculum design model.
A telephone survey method was used to gather data from state WIC agency directors regarding the scope of civil rights training currently used by their agency. Six components of each state’s civil rights training curriculum were rated against the Kemp, Morrison, and Ross curriculum design model. The components included instructional objectives, content sequencing, instructional strategies, instructional delivery, evaluation instruments, and instructional resources.
An analysis of the data revealed that many states used minimal and sometimes no instructional design in the development of their civil rights training program. Two states, Texas and Massachusetts, provided comprehensive training. The learning modules covered not only civil rights laws but also customer service. Some instructional materials such as case studies, videotapes, and curriculum content, shared with the project director, were useful in developing the civil rights training program for Georgia WIC Program employees. A plan for implementation and the procedures needed for evaluation were also the results of the study. The training program will be presented to the state of Georgia WIC Program Branch with a recommendation for use in local WIC agencies in the state of Georgia.