James M. Brown Director of Graduate Studies Professor Ph.D., Bowling Green State University Director of Graduate Studies 330A Wulling Hall 86 Pleasant Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 Phone: 612-624-7754 Fax: 612-624-3377 Email: brown014@umn.edu

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.

Research Applications

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