Mission & Goals
Program Areas
Key Staff Expertise
Publications & Resources
Technology Transfer Lab
WSU Partners
External Advisers
Clients and Funders

Site Map | Contacts

Training Effectiveness Research Project

This research project is a two-phased effort related to a comprehensive training and certification program of the Florida Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) working in conjunction with the Professional Development Center. It is a project that seeks to establish an empirical basis for understanding those conditions that create successful, cost-effective training programs for Florida child protection counselors. The first phase of this research will determine the extent to which the job training impacts individual employee performance, and the second phase will determine the impact that this training enterprise has on the performance of the organization as a whole. As such, the research will address both transfer of training and organizational improvement. The project includes an analysis of both existing, as well as newly collected, data.

An Overview of the Research

Background of the Study. In 1996 The Florida Department of Children and Family Services began a new approach to training and certifying all state child protection counselors. This two-part program involves:

• Six months of classroom training followed by a controlled knowledge demonstration on a 100 item test and a 5% salary increase upon passage; and
• Supervised on-the-job training with mentoring concluding with a systematic performance demonstration after no more than one year of training and supervised service, after which the employee either is either certified, going on a permanent status and receiving a 5% salary increase, or dismissed.

In 1996 knowledge and performance measures were obtained from approximately 2800 child protection employees, and since November 1997, all newly hired child protection counselors entered this program. Data from over 7,000 persons are now available.

Phase I. The Phase I research is designed to: 1) determine the extent to which knowledge and skills acquired during training are subsequently demonstrated on the job; 2) identify other factors that contribute to such transfer; and 3) validate a model of transfer of training in the social services environment. The variables studied have proven significant in current transfer of training research, conducted primarily in manufacturing environments. This study provides an opportunity to determine its validity in a social service setting. It addresses the interactive effects of: 1) aspects of the trainee's background, the training team, the organizational work environment, the mentor, and the supervisor; and 2) the quality of the training, the job supervision, and the mentoring. Existing data will be supplemented through interviews of key department leaders, representative child protection workers, and mentors.

Phase II. Building upon the Phase I findings, the second part of the research is designed to determine the extent to which the training of individuals influences the performance of the organization as a whole. The factors studied focus on key elements of the climate and culture of the organizational setting. Organizational impact research is more problematic than is the study of transfer of training. This is the result, to a great extent, of two key methodological problems - identifying appropriate impact measures and linking these measures to individual employees. This study will determine organizational impact by using: 1) financial data related to unit operation, and 2) criteria employed in federal and state monitoring reports. However, instead of linking these measures to the performance of individuals, they will be related to the clustered performance of all child protection workers in a given office.

Implications of the Research for Practice
This research has the potential of answering important questions about effectively training child protection workers and managing social service agencies, including:

• What facilitates long-term transfer of training?;
• What are the financial returns on training investments?;
• How do differing work climates affect job performance?;
• What are the performance effects of salary incentives, varying supervision and mentoring tactics?
• How can you decrease employee turnover rate?; and
• What are the effects of privatization?