Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Career Development Year (Program) Evaluation'

With the increase in employer-sponsored career development programs (CDPs) there has been the need to evaluate the effects of CDP interventions on the both individual and the organization. Previous-follow-up evaluations of participants in workshop oriented CDPs have focused on the effects of CDP intervention services in terms of individual outcomes (i.e., career/life planning, decision making, stress management), but have not dealt directly with the impact of CDPs on the organization, nor compared the CDP participant group with a group of nonparticipants. The subjects for this study were all employees of NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. The CDP services are offered in a neutral on-site area, the Career Development Center (CDC), housed in the Technical Library. Using follow-up questionnaires and interviews, this study replicated many aspects of previously reported CDP evaluations. The results were generally comparable to those studies with respect to the positive impact of the CDP intervention on the individual. Specifically, participants evaluation of the CDC services received were: 1. positive with respect to the CDC process meeting their needs, 2. positive with respect to staff responsiveness, 3. positive with respect to questions they wanted answered, and 4. positive with respect to using the services again if the need arose. The matched groups of nonparticipants and participants scores (fifty in each group) were compared on the dependent variables of job satisfaction, job. commitment, and "actions taken" related to training services offered by the organization. The statistical analyses indicated nonsignificant differences with respect to job satisfaction, and significant differences with respect to job commitment and "actions taken" in the direction of the control group of nonparticipants. This study concluded from the comparative findings, with the equivocation of the job satisfaction measures, the differences noticed in job commitment were an attempt to use the services of the CDP to "self-actualize" their careers and better utilize their skills both on the job and in nonjob related activities. The "actions taken" variable did not show a high degree of involvement of the CDP participants in the organization's training services, but they did become more involved in nonjob related activities. Finally, questions were raised concerning the appropriateness of the dependent variables and matched groups design used in this study for measuring CDP effectiveness. Alternative approaches were suggested for future research.
Ed. D.

This research effort was designed to analyze the current federal career and technical education legislation to determine methods of â operationalizingâ the policy at the state and local levels. In performing the policy analysis, organizational and systems viewpoints were consistently used in determining the intent of the legislation and then how to structure a program evaluation system to fulfill the policy goals. The research methodology is a hybrid interdisciplinary method that combined policy and system analyses. Secondary career and technical education legislation served as a test case to develop the program evaluation system strategies and requirements because the researcher was familiar with this segment of education and the policies associated with it. Program evaluation theoretical foundations were presented as means to understand the policy intentions and to develop a conceptual system model. The resulting system model was presented with actual examples of system constructs. Detailed process flowcharts were developed to show the system structure and functions. Organizational responsibilities and requirements were addressed in the system model development. An additional component of the systems analysis was to determine the system implementation sequence. The implementation sequence is based on a longitudinal program evaluation design that spans a five-year interval for each graduation year cohort. The system model resulting from this research is one of many possible variations that could be developed to satisfy the requirements of the federal Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1998. The system analysis and model development strategies can be applied to other education and socioeconomic policies that deliver human services with accountability requirements. No attempt was made to perform a system cost analysis in this research effort.
Ph. D.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University
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This study provided an evaluation of a career development program called the Health Education and Careers Network (HECN). Designed for inner city high school students with and without disabilities the program has been in existence since 1991, focusing on preparing students for education or careers in the allied health care industry. The program's overall goal was to increase the rate of positive high school outcomes, in particular for students at risk for high school drop out, unemployment and other negative post-high school outcomes. Based on anecdotal reports, the program appeared to facilitate successful student outcomes. However, no systematic analysis of the outcomes had been conducted. The researcher collected outcome data on 111 students with disabilities who had participated in the program since 1993 and who had left high school since 1995. She disaggregated the data and performed statistical analyses to evaluate whether there were any differences in outcomes based on race or type of disability. Additionally, she used case profiles of six randomly selected students to offer more insights about the complexity of providing transition services to inner city students with disabilities and the kinds of strategies that might be most effective. The analysis revealed that students with serious cognitive impairments had the highest rate of employment as compared to students with other disabilities, and that white students had the highest rate of achieving a certification and employment in an allied health care field as compared to students from other racial groups. Overall, data from the study revealed that students who participated in the program surpassed the local and national rates on the graduation of students with disabilities, and that independent of race or disability, the program's strategies effected positive transition outcomes for all students.
2031-01-01

Female mentoring success was investigated as an undergraduate intervention utilizing career development practices to reduce dysfunctional career thinking and STEM major retention in first year freshmen females within a living-learning community. Repeated measures MANOVAs and canonical correlations in the causal comparative research design evaluated mentoring's influence on first year females. Male voluntary participants (n = 126) formulated the comparison group, and female voluntary participants (n = 75) filled the treatment group. Repeated measure multivariate analyses of variances compared differences between the interaction of mentoring and gender over time on dysfunctional career thinking using two assessments: Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) and Career Decision Scale (CDS) and their five subscales (decision-making confusion, commitment anxiety, external conflict, certainty and indecision). Canonical correlations analyzed the effect participation rates had on student change scores on the CTI and CDS, indicating mentoring intervention effects on reducing dysfunctional career thinking and decidedness. Conclusions included: (a) females had higher levels of dysfunctional career thinking than males; (b) overtime both groups decreased dysfunctional thoughts,and solidifying their STEM career choices; (c) females had reduced levels of career decidedness compared to males; (d) both groups increased certainty overtime, solidifying their STEM career choice, and (e) when the STEM career choice was made, female certainty was more solidified than males. The study adds to the career development research within STEM at the undergraduate level providing colleges and universities with a structured first year female mentoring program in STEM. The GEMS model may be ideal for colleges and universities utilizing living-learning communities to increase underrepresented female retention and those without STEM career planning courses.?
Ph.D.
Doctorate
Education and Human Performance
Education; Science Education

Under No Child Left Behind legislation of 2002, school principals shoulder the burden of school success determined by test scores of students. Challenges principals face demand school leaders possess greater knowledge and skills than administrators of the past. The need for well-trained, skilled school leaders makes it important to study the subject of school leadership training. This study examined a school leadership preparation partnership between the University of North Texas and Dallas Independent School District. Primary supporting references include work by Bottoms and O'Neill (2001) calling for the 16-member states of the Southern Regional Education Board to train a new breed of principal to meet the current demands for student achievement in public schools. This research adds to the body of knowledge of school leadership development programs, particularly those that involve cohort-based study groups and shared service partnerships between school districts and universities. Major questions investigated: 1) How did participation in the program change the involvement of administrative interns in campus-based decision-making? 2) How has participation in the program changed the ways participants perceive themselves? 3) What actions have members of the cohort group taken in their teacher-leader/administrative positions to affect student achievement? 4) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the UNT/DISD/SREB Leadership Development Program partnership? Information was gathered from 16 of the 26 program participants through questionnaires, interviews, and document study.

While traditionally underrepresented groups are attaining degrees at a higher rate than ever before, these students still receive bachelor’s degrees at significantly lower rates than other groups of students (Avery & Kane, 2004; Wilds, 2000). As a result of the educational attainment gap in the United States, precollege outreach programs have been established to provide resources for underrepresented youth to aid them in completing a post-secondary degree. Current research focuses on these participants’ college enrollment and, as a result, minimal information is available to describe these programs and their outcomes concerning students’ first year experience and college success (Hooker & Brand, 2009; Orr et al., 2007; Swail & Perna, 2002; Yeung, 2010). Framed around resiliency theory, this phenomenological study exams college access program alumni’s acclimation process into a four-year, post-secondary institution. Through the data analysis, four essentials features emerged: 1) Program Connections as External Factors, 2) Connections as External Factors in the College Setting, 3) Determination, Self-Advocacy and Willingness to Try New Things as Internal Protective Factors, and 4) Nurturing College Knowledge. Recommendations are shared to further the program in being a degree attainment intervention, in addition to a college access strategy. These include: providing development to educators in behavior management and inclusion, integrating parent involvement throughout the curriculum, providing continual support to alumni and establishing stronger partnerships with surrounding colleges. As a result of this study, leaders in secondary and post-secondary education as well as policymakers are able to gain insight on how Upward Bound services in Louisiana can nurture external and internal protective factors of resiliency that assist participants in embracing constructive responses to stressors in the first year of college.

School districts face tremendous budget challenges and, as a result, professional development has been "trimmed" from many school budgets. (Habegger & Hodanbosi, 2011). School administrators responsible for planning professional development face a daunting task and often focus on PowerPoints, district mandated training, one-shot presentations, and workshops that are delivered by expensive experts. These types of activities lack teacher collaboration, time for sharing of ideas and opportunity for reflection and analysis (Torff & Byrnes, 2011, Coggins, Zuckerman & Mckelvey, 2010). The problem addressed in this study is that teacher professional development is usually planned by school administrators who are provided little support or training. This study used the problem-based learning approach designed by Bridges and Hallinger (1995) to determine the usefulness of a handbook for principals to utilize as they plan professional development. The handbook was developed, field tested and revised using Borg and Gall's (2003) research and development cycle. This qualitative study included surveys, observations, interviews and workshops to determine the usefulness of the handbook. The study consisted of preliminary field testing and product revision followed by the main field testing. The main field test was a workshop for K-12 school and district level administrators on how to use the handbook in planning meaningful, ongoing teacher professional development. The data collected in this study determined that the handbook,Teachers Teaching Teachers: Designing Successful Teacher Professional Development on a Shoestring Budget, is a useful tool for school administrators responsible for planning teacher professional development.

With the ratification of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) in 2006, states were required to permit public schools to provide varying levels of intervention for students who showed that they were struggling in one or more core educational areas (Department of Education 300.307(a) (2), 2006). This recommendation supported the use of the framework known as Response to Intervention (RtI) that was familiar in the research literature (Department of Education, 2006). The theoretical framework chosen to support the RtI process in which three RtI programs are being analyzed is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is a theory that suggests interventions initiated to create improvement for an area in which a person has learning or developmental challenges needs to be carefully evaluated individually with each case and then a series of proactive responses to the data are initiated with the goal of having the individual experience improvement and growth (Axelrod, 2012). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to compare the CST reading proficiency scores of socio-economically challenged middle school students who participated in one of three interventions: low reading students who participated in an intensive reading program, low reading students who participated in the English Language Development (ELD) program, and low reading students who only participated in a Sustained Silent Reading program. The methodology chosen was a quasi-experimental study because there were three independent variables: the Intensive Intervention Group (II), the English Language Development Intervention Group (ELD), and the Silent Sustained Reading Intervention Group (SSR). A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted on all three independent variables using the dependent variable to establish any significant differences and to measure any possible academic mean growth. Two research questions were analyzed, including how the three groups scores would compare using the MANOVA and the impact of the interventions when comparing sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to each other as separate groups. The results indicate that the use of Applied Behavior Analysis Creating research based intervention systems at the middle school can have positive results and can justify utilizing financial resources at the middle school level to provide RtI systems.

Organizations that deliver programs to promote the entry of students from marginalized populations into the U.S. health workforce often struggle to demonstrate the effective achievement of outcomes, and face diminishing fiscal resources. This study was an empirical examination of the extent and manner that a statewide, precollege, health careers exploration program fostered the matriculation of underrepresented minority students into health degree education programs. Schneider and Stevenson's aligned ambitions framework provided the theoretical foundation. The research questions for this study examined the relationship between program participation and the successful health degree matriculation of racial minority students based on the extent of participation, the type of participation, and the extent and type of participation controlling for gender, profession, and region using a quantitative trend analysis of archived program data and longitudinal, preexisting matriculation data. Completion of the analysis used sequential logistic regression. The selection criteria for study included high school students who participated in the program between 2006 to 2010 and who subsequently enrolled in college (N = 246). No statistically significant relationships between program participation and matriculation into health care education programs were found resulting in the recommendation to reassess and revise data collection and analysis processes for future official program evaluation. The resulting white paper recommends that Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC) career exploration program designers create continuous and effective review and evaluation processes to ultimately enable the positive social impact of a more representative number of students from marginalized populations into the U.S. health workforce.

The purpose of this study was to survey information systems (IS) curriculum in Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited information systems programs across the United States, to evaluate current adherence to the IS 2010 curriculum guidelines, and to assess the number and type of career track developments initiated as a result of less stringent requirements in the new curriculum guidelines. In addition, an analysis was conducted to see if curriculum in AACSB-accredited information systems programs across the United States changed significantly since other similar evaluations reported in 1996 and 2006, and whether it is closer in adherence to the IS 2010 curriculum guidelines. The results of this study provided a current-state description of IS curriculums in the United States, specifically: (a) percentage adherance relationships and between AACSB-accredited information systems programs to IS 2010 curriculum guidelines; (b) defined curriculum profiles or latent class cluster characteristics of recent career track developments that have emerged; and (c) perceptions of adherence by the IS department faculty compared to the assessed adherence to IS 2010 curriculum guidelines. In the findings, a comprehensive view of the landscape for adherence to IS curriculum guidelines is discussed, including the following. (a) There is a wide range of adherence to the IS curriculum guidelines. In addition, none of the IS program assessed were either entirely compliant or not compliant at all. (b) Some topics are widely covered (over half) as core curriculum while other topics are offered as core curriculum in less than half of IS programs. (c) Very few IS programs have formally implemented the IS 2010 career track guideline recommendations. (d) IS programs implementing formal career tracks specify a reasonably small number of track options for students to consider. (e) IS programs that include career tracks provide unique offerings beyond the proposed sample tracks depicted in the IS 2010 curriculum guidelines. (f) There appear to be reasonably well-defined categories or clusters of IS programs as related to IS 2010 curriculum guideline adherence. (g) IS program faculty describe a higher perceived adherence to IS curriculum guidelines than what is actually assessed in this study. (228 pages)

An adequate understanding of the aural and theory aspects of music literacy eludes many students; moreover, the limited time allocated to its teaching is an ongoing problem faced by classroom practitioners, (Smith and Southcott, 2004). A solution to this dilemma in music education is imperative. Without a basic understanding, students are not equipped to progress in their musical education. Inspired by the effectiveness of a Direct Instruction intervention in mathematics by Farkota (2003), this study explores the possibilities of a similar Direct Instruction intervention for the teaching of basic aural and theory skills in the music classroom. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a 15 minute Direct Instruction Program to advance the music literacy (aural and theory components) of Year 7 students in the Victorian music classroom. In doing so, the researcher hoped to offer music educators an effective tool to help maximize the diminishing amount of curriculum time music receives as just one of the Arts. (The Arts are comprised of five learning areas – dance, drama, media, music and visual arts.) This study involved: The identification of progressive essential basic knowledge and skills students require by year 7 to achieve music literacy. The development and testing of a time-efficient and effective Direct Instruction program which ensured a developmentally appropriate, sequential program of music instruction and learning to improve students’ basic music literacy in the music classroom at Year 7; and The implementation, measurement and evaluation of students’ level of music literacy (aural and theory) through the acquisition, retention and use of identified knowledge and skills at pre and post test stages of the Direct Instruction intervention. The method involved the use of two classes that participated in a Direct Instruction intervention and two control classes that did not. All four classes were tested using “The Iowa Tests of Music Literacy” (Gordon, 1991) at the start and end of their Year 7 classroom music program. The results of each class were then analysed and compared to ascertain whether the Direct Instruction program impacted upon students’ levels of music literacy. According to the results of this study, a Direct Instruction approach to the teaching of the aural and theory aspects of music literacy had a positive effect on student learning in terms of building their literacy skills.

This study examines the effectiveness of implementing a modified cognitive behavioural (CBT) anxiety intervention/prevention program to meet the specific needs of speech and language impaired (SLI) children enrolled in a Language Development Centre (LDC), as they prepare to exit the LDC and enter into mainstream education. The study implemented the anxiety CBT program over two consecutive school years incorporating two different Year 3 cohorts (age range 7 to 9 years) and is reported in three stages. The first study aimed to modify an anxiety CBT intervention/prevention program (namely the FRIENDS for Life program) for SLI children enrolled in Year 3 at a LDC as they prepared to exit the LDC and enter into mainstream education. All children offered the program participated in the study however, parent participation was low. Previous research (Barrett et al, 1996, Barrett, 1999; Bett, 2002; Mendlowitz, 1996 & Rapee et al, 2005) found that in order for anxiety intervention/prevention programs to be efficacious for children, the program focus needed to include parents. The inclusion of parent participation for children with language impairment is considered essential, as the children are more likely to benefit from having the CBT strategies consolidated and supported at home (Bett, 2002). Therefore, the second study involved a re-implementation of the modified FRIENDS for Life program to a second cohort of SLI children in Year 3 the following year. Due to low participation of parent involvement in the first study, this study aimed for improved parent involvement and participation of the parent FRIENDS for Life sessions. Thirty-two children participated in study one and thirty-three children participated in study two. Both studies used an action research mixed method evaluation approach to gain a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the program. The outcomes, using standardised outcome measures showed no significant difference between the control group and the intervention group. However using program specific descriptive and nontraditional measures indicate that differential and positive changes were attained for the intervention group. Investigation of a complex data set using a variety of methods during various points in the evaluation process provided complementary information, this formed the foundation for more comprehensively assessing children with speech/language impairment. The intervention groups developed an increased awareness of their own and other people’s emotions and most importantly they developed a wider array of ‘emotion language’ when compared to the control group at post intervention. In addition, the intervention group attained a sound understanding of the FRIENDS plan and skills at post intervention. A one year follow-up, of the original study, to explore the long-term benefits of the FRIENDS program for SLI children was not completed following a poor response rate. This is discussed and explored as it may benefit the way future research is conducted for families of children with SLI. The studies highlighted the benefits of the FRIENDS program for children with SLI and the need to explore more effective ways to increase parent participation at the FRIENDS for Life parent sessions. Implications of the findings are examined, alongside limitations and directions for future research.

This qualitative case study was designed to investigate mentors and mentees and their relationships in a formal group-mentoring program. Results and findings were expected to contribute to the literature on how to best support future new faculty and senior faculty careers by providing data on the opinions of those who participated in the mentoring program. The study may also add to the limited literature on the successes and challenges of using a group mentoring model. The researcher interviewed 20 faculty members who participated in a formal mentoring program. The interviews examined how and in what ways faculty mentors and mentees describe what they understand, integrate, and implement in their relationship after going through this program; the mentors’ and mentees’ perceptions of the materials and activities in the program in supporting their efforts in developing a mentoring relationship; and after completing the mentorship program, the success and challenges in sustaining an effective mentoring relationship. In addition to interviews, a focus group was conducted and archival documentation was reviewed. The study site was a private 4-year college in the eastern region of the United States. Data collection included interviews, a focus group, and documents. Interpretation analysis was used to identify themes. An analysis of the data revealed the importance that experiences, resources, knowledge, trust, support, and feelings of connection to the institution have on an a successful mentoring relationship in a group mentoring model.

Professional development (PD) is often viewed as essential to improve classroom practices--as a way to create changes in districts, changes in classrooms, and changes in teachers--which, in turn, strives to improve student learning. Many insist that for a PD initiative to be successful, it needs to create changes in teachers’ classroom practices, who are indeed at the ground level of interpreting, implementing, adapting, and enacting what PD offers. Researchers claim that teacher resistance is the central problem of PD failure (Janas, 1998). Confined to the duality of compliance vs. resistance to PD, teachers either change or do not change according to the grading system that the administrators and researchers impose. A binary view of teachers who meet the expectations and those who do not meet the expectations of the district and PD personnel is, then, inadequate to studying the process of what happens beyond that narrow conception of teachers who participate in district/school-wide PD. V. Richardson (2003) argues that teacher resistance is a symptom of a disconnect between a structural reform agenda and teachers’ concern for teaching students well. Within the context of a locally initiated PD program that included elements of effective PD proposed by a body of research, I examined a select group of participating teachers’ experiences. Based on the classroom practice of a teacher whose students have shown drastic growth on high stakes tests despite social factors, the district had expanded the program as a district-wide initiative. Using care theory, I specifically explored changes in 12 teachers’ beliefs and practices as a result of their PD participation, in addition to identifying factors that facilitated program implementation. The results showed that the “caring teacher” identity mediated classroom practice changes, that teachers selectively used PD based on the feedback from their students rather than changes to their knowledge and beliefs. Based on this reciprocity, teachers’ self-identification as caring teachers defies traditional labeling of participating members as “compliant” or “resistant”; all teachers in the study described how caring about and caring for their students led to program implementation with a varying degree of fidelity.

碩士
臺北市立大學
人文藝術學院國民小學教師在職進修公民與社會教學碩士學位班
104
This study aims to evaluate the degree of recognition and the willingness to participate of the career ladder program and professional development system in New Taipei City. To compare the acceptance of the system between teachers who have different background variables, and the correlation of participation and acceptance. This study first to reference the relevant literature, establish the research infrastructure, and then use questionnaire as a research tool which issuing to the elemetary school of New Taipei City. The research got 492 valid questionnaires.The returned data were analyzed statistically through mean-test, one-way analysis of variance, pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient , and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The conclusions are as following: 1. Recognition of the “Teacher Career Ladder Program” in New Taipei City has significant differences in the "Age", "years of service", " participation experience of Professional Development Evaluation", and the "size of the school." 2. Recognition of the “Professional Development Evaluation” in New Taipei City has significant differences in the "job","age", "years of service", " participation experience of Professional Development Evaluation", and the "size of the school". 3. Recognition and participation of “Teacher Career Ladder Program” in New Taipei City showing a moderatly positive correlation. 4. Recognition and participation of “Professional Development Evaluation” inNew Taipei City showing a moderatly positive correlation. 5.Teachers of elementary school in New Taipei City agree that teachers should be involved in evaluation, and in favor of participation in the new program combining advanced system of evaluation and professional development. Finally, acocording to the results, the suggestions were proposed to theauthorities of educational administraition,the administration of elementary schools , teachers, and even for further studies.

Objective: This thesis aimed to advance the study of sustainability through the exploratory use of a conceptual framework for the investigation of a collaborative project. Methods: A qualitative case study design, utilizing document analysis and key informant interviews, was used to conduct a three-year follow-up of a collaborative mental health project. The study design and directed content analysis were informed by the Scheirer and Dearing (2011) conceptual framework. Results: The sustained outcomes identified by the six participating agencies included: institutionalized project components, maintained client benefits, continued collaboration and sustained attention to the issue. The sustainability of project components was associated with complex interactions between the innovation, organization, and community factors investigated. Conclusions: The study illustrated the importance of evaluating multiple aspects of sustainability to fully capture a project’s long-term effect. Complex systems theory was proposed to describe the interactions observed and as a direction for further development of the conceptual framework.

Il y a quelques décennies, l’émergence du discours de la promotion de la santé infléchissait un nouveau tournant à la santé publique, orientant sa pratique vers l’action communautaire, participative et intersectorielle. Parallèlement, au Québec, la réforme du système de santé de 2004 réorganisait le niveau de gouverne locale à travers la création des centres de santé et de services sociaux (CSSS). Ceux-ci doivent articuler les secteurs des soins et de la santé publique à travers un continuum de services qui va de la promotion de la santé aux soins palliatifs. Ces changements ont des implications majeures pour les acteurs de la santé et de la santé publique, qui doivent composer avec de nouveaux rôles professionnels et de nouvelles stratégies d’action. Le développement professionnel est considéré comme un levier potentiel pour soutenir ces changements. En 2009, une équipe de la Direction de la santé publique de l’Agence de santé et des services sociaux de Montréal concevait un programme de développement professionnel appelé le Laboratoire de promotion de la santé. Ce programme mise sur une approche d’apprentissage de groupe pour permettre aux professionnels des CSSS de développer de nouvelles compétences, une pratique réflexive ainsi que de nouvelles pratiques de promotion de la santé. Basée sur une méthodologie générale qualitative et une approche d’évaluation collaborative, cette thèse utilise plusieurs stratégies d’investigation afin d’évaluer le Laboratoire de promotion de la santé sous trois angles, qui renvoient à sa conceptualisation, à son implantation et à ses effets. Plus spécifiquement, elle vise à : (1) examiner la plausibilité de la théorie d’intervention du programme; (2) décrire et comprendre les processus d’apprentissage d’équipe ainsi que les facteurs qui les influencent; et (3) explorer, du point de vue des participants, les effets réflexifs du Laboratoire. Afin de répondre à ces objectifs, la thèse mobilise diverses perspectives théoriques liées à l’apprentissage individuel, d’équipe et organisationnel. Les résultats des analyses démontrent que : (1) malgré quelques améliorations possibles, le modèle du programme est généralement bien conçu pour parvenir aux résultats visés; (2) l’implantation de ce modèle dans deux sites a donné lieu à des processus d’apprentissage d’équipe différents, bien que conditionnés par des facteurs communs liés aux participants, à l’équipe, au contexte organisationnel et à l’implantation du programme; (3) tel que visé, les participants des deux sites ont développé de la réflexivité vis-à-vis leur pratique et leur rôle professionnel – cette réflexivité adoptant une fonction formative ou critique en regard de l’expérience professionnelle. Ces résultats soulignent le potentiel que représente l’évaluation de la théorie d’intervention pour améliorer la conceptualisation d’un programme de développement professionnel, ainsi que l’intérêt et la pertinence d’évaluer les processus d’apprentissage au niveau de l’équipe dans le cadre d’une approche collective de développement professionnel. De plus, ils appuient l’importance de l’apprentissage réflexif pour l’amélioration des pratiques et l’engagement social des professionnels. En ce sens, ils proposent différentes avenues qui ont le potentiel de consolider les capacités de la main-d’œuvre de santé publique et d’influer conséquemment sur son efficacité à améliorer la santé des collectivités dans le prochain siècle.
The emergence of the health promotion discourse a few decades ago steered public health practice into a new direction, orienting it toward community-based, participatory, and intersectoral action. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the 2004 healthcare system reform restructured the local level through the creation of health and social services centres. The mandate of these new organizations is to integrate the public health and the healthcare sector across a continuum of services ranging from health promotion all the way to palliative care.All these changes have significant implications for healthcare and public health practitioners, who must come to terms with new professional roles and new intervention strategies. Professional development is considered to be a potential lever for action to support these changes. In 2009, a team from the Public Health Directorate of the Health and Social Services Agency of Montreal designed a professional development program called the Health Promotion Laboratory. This program builds on a team learning approach to enable participants to develop new competencies, a reflexive practice, and new health promotion practices within the organization. Based on a qualitative methodology and a collaborative evaluation approach, this doctoral thesis used several investigation strategies to evaluate three components of the Health Promotion Laboratory, i.e., the program’s conceptualization, implementation, and outcomes. More specifically, this thesis aims to: (1) examine the plausibility of the program’s intervention theory; (2) describe and understand the team learning processes involved in the program, as well as the factors influencing them; and (3) explore, from the participants’ perspective, the reflexivity outcomes of the program. In pursuing these objectives, this thesis adopts several theoretical perspectives related to adult learning, team learning, and organizational learning. The results show that: (1) while there is room for improvement, the program’s model is generally well designed to achieve the intended outcomes; (2) the model’s implementation in two sites resulted in different team learning processes, both of which depended on common factors related to the participants, the team, the organizational context, and the implementation of the program itself; and (3) as intended, participants from both sites developed reflexivity with regard to their practice and their professional roles, with this reflexivity taking on a formative and a critical function in terms of their professional experience. These results highlight the potential offered by the evaluation of a program’s intervention theory for improving the conceptualization of a professional development program. They also demonstrate the importance and relevance of assessing the learning process at a group level in the context of a collective professional development approach. Finally, the findings support the importance of reflexive learning for improving professional practice and fostering the social engagement of practitioners. Thus, they suggest different avenues having the potential to strengthen the capacities of the public health workforce and thereby to increase its effectiveness in improving the health of communities in the coming century.