Teaching and Research Interests
- Organizational and program assessment
- Work-based learning: professional
development and program design
- Special needs learners: instruction
accommodations
- Diversity in education and work settings
Dr. James M. Brown is professor and director of graduate
studies in the Department of Work and Human Resource Education
at the University of Minnesota. He also coordinates the WHRE
department’s course scheduling processes and the assignment of
instructors for those courses.
He previously served for 17 years as director of that
department's Minnesota Research and Development Center for
Vocational Education (MRDC) and was co-director/co-founder of
the Corrections Education Research Center. Examples of his past
research initiatives at the University of Minnesota include: (a)
design and implementation of Minnesota’s first federally-funded
postsecondary school-to-adult community integration transition
project for persons with disabilities, (b) design, direction,
and validation of a state-wide external evaluation system for
Minnesota’s Tech Prep Consortia, and (c) technical advisor for
professional development and external evaluation for the
Minneapolis Public School District’s secondary and postsecondary
school-to-careers programs.
As president of the National Association of Special Needs
Personnel, Dr. Brown testified before a U.S. House of
Representatives’ Education Committee regarding how vocational
education legislation should address the unique needs of
learners with disabilities. He also assisted in the development
of the State of Minnesota’s 1994 proposal for a five year $25
million proposal requesting federal School-to-Work Opportunity
Act funding.
Selected Publications
Selected Works
McLure, J. & Brown, J. M. (In press).
Belonging at work. Human Resource Development International.
Berkell-Zager, D., Brown, J., Stenhjem, P.,
& Maloney, A. (In press). Transition practices for persons with
developmental disabilities. In Parette, P, Peterson-Karlan, G. &
Ringlaben, R., (Eds.), Research-based and emerging practices
in developmental disabilities. Austin, TX: Council of
Exceptional Children, Division on Developmental Disabilities:
Arlington, VA, Pro-Ed.
Brown, J., Capadona, L., & Wulle, B. (In
press). Cockpit resource management really does work! Flight
Training Magazine.
Conbere, J., Brown, J. M. (In review). A
cost-benefit analysis of employee conflict reduction strategies.
Conflict Resolution Quarterly.
Brown, J. M., (2007). A critical-outcome
analysis of the outcomes of the US transportation security
administration’s conflict coaching services. University of St.
Thomas, Minneapolis, MN.
Brown, J. M. (2002). Enhancing on-line
learning for individuals with disabilities. In R. S. Anderson,
J. F. Bauer, & B. W. Speck (Eds.), Assessment strategies for
the on-line teacher: From theory to practice. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Brown, J. M. & Streumer, J. N. (1999). An
international perspective on school-to-work systems and the
participation of persons with disabilities. Mahwah, New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
This article focuses on comparing strategies for
enhancing the school-to-work transition of persons with
disabilities in a variety of Western European countries with
those now being promoted by federal legislation in the United
States. Since this article was published, I have used the
concepts identified in it to help me identify and analyze
post-secondary training and employment practices for persons
with disabilities within the United Kingdom. In addition, I have
worked with a major metropolitan school district in Minnesota to
explore ways to adapt identified practices in the United Kingdom
within Minnesota settings. In addition, distance learning
practices in Scotland are being adapted for use in rural
settings within the United States.
Kuchinke, K. P., Brown, J. M., Anderson, H.,
& Hobson, J. (1998). Assessing training needs of manufacturing
employees in rural Minnesota: A model and results. Journal of
Industrial Teacher Education, 36(1), 79-98.
Brown, J. M. & Kuchinke. (1998) A
comparison of the design and uses of the workkeys and Minnesota
math and reading assessments within the Oakland tech prep
consortium. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Research and Development
Center, Department of Work, Community, and Family Education,
University of Minnesota.
These two publications both address the
effectiveness of assessment strategies for current and
prospective employees with rural business-education
partnerships. The research findings and recommendations have
been applied in several rural businesses. In addition, the
potential value of this research is likely to be very useful in
many rural settings throughout the United States as
business-education partnerships implement strategies to identify
pre-instructional assessment measures to determine trainees'
existing skill levels prior to participating in career and
technical training programs and/or on-the-job training within
their employment settings.
Brown, J. M., Pucel, D. J., Twohig, C.,
Semler, Steve, & Kuchinke, K. P. (1998). Minnesota's tech prep
outcome evaluation model. Journal of Industrial Teacher
Education, 35(3), 44-66.
Brown, J. M, Pucel, D. J, & Twohig, C.
(1999).
Minnesota tech prep consortia evaluation system: 1997/98
cohort self-assessment summary report. St. Paul, MN:
Minnesota Research and Development Center, Department of Work,
Community, and Family Education, University of Minnesota.
These two research reports summarized the
conceptual design and implementation outcomes of an external
evaluation for a statewide Tech Prep System that uses both
accountability and continuous quality improvement approaches.
These publications continue to be used to guide the expansion
and revision of Minnesota's Tech Prep System. In addition, staff
responsible for Tech Prep efforts in several other states have
obtained these publications in order to apply the evaluation
concepts and strategies in those states.
Updated October 2007
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