Date of Award

Winter 1987

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Program/Concentration

Urban Services - Urban Education

Committee Director

John M. Ritz

Committee Member

John DeRolf

Committee Member

Betty Ricks

Committee Member

William Cunningham

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine vocational supervisors' perceptions of staff development needs of urban vocational teachers. The population for this study consisted of the vocational education supervisors in the urban areas of Virginia with a population of 50,000 or more. The Delphi technique was employed to gather the data from the supervisors.

The first research goal of this study was to determine the most pressing staff development need of urban vocational teachers as perceived by their supervisors. The results showed that the supervisors perceived the most pressing staff development need to be "Projection of a positive image of vocational education programs; promotion of programs." This need received a mean score of 4.63 out of a possible five points.

The second research goal of this study was to determine additional staff development needs of urban vocational teachers as perceived by their supervisors. "Marketing vocational programs to students, parents, the community, and school administrators; improving the image of vocational classes and teachers" received the highest group mean score among additional staff development needs. The data indicated that the supervisors perceived improving the image of vocational education to be an important staff development need in that it was the most pressing staff development need as well as the need with the highest mean score among additional staff development needs. Clearly, this was an important finding.

The third research goal of this study was to determine how the supervisors believed their perceptions would differ from those of the teachers they supervise. In every instance, more of the supervisors agreed than disagreed that their teachers would believe each of the statements was a staff development need. This was an important aspect of the study since it revealed how the supervisors believed their perceptions would differ from those of the teachers they supervise.

These findings should be helpful to urban school systems in Virginia contemplating staff development activities for their vocational teachers. They would be beneficial in determining the content to be covered. The Department of Education should also find this information useful in planning staff development activities for urban vocational teachers.

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DOI

10.25777/pyyc-x753

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