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SNIDER, Bernard Alan, 1936IDENTIFICATION OF ROLES AND RELATED
VARIABLES OF PARAPROFESSIONAL YOUTH
WORKERS IN THREE COUNTY 4-H STAFFING
MODELS IN THE MICHIGAN COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION SERVICE.
Michigan State University, Ph.D., 1974
Education, adult
Xerox University Microfilms,
Ann Arbor, M ichigan 48106
IDENTIFICATION OF ROLES AND RELATED VARIABLES OF
PARAPROFESSIONAL YOUTH WORKERS IN THREE COUNTY
4-H STAFFING MODELS IN THE MICHIGAN
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
By
Bernard Alan Snider
A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State U niversity
in p a r tia l f u l f i l l m e n t o f the requirements
fo r the degree o f
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department o f Administration and Higher Education
1974
ABSTRACT
IDENTIFICATION OF ROLES AND RELATED VARIABLES OF
PARAPROFESSIONAL YOUTH WORKERS IN THREE COUNTY
4-H STAFFING MODELS IN THE MICHIGAN
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
By
Bernard Alan Snider
The purpose of th is descrip tive study was to id e n tify the
roles of 4-H paraprofessional youth workers in the Michigan
Cooperative Extension Service and to analyze variables related to
these roles in three basic county models.
The study employed
Bowman and Klopf's concept th at professional-paraprofessional role
development is a product o f dynamic in te ra c tio n o f a professional
with a paraprofessional w ithin a given structure responding to th e ir
shared s itu a tio n .
Roles o f the 4-H program assistant were id e n t if ie d by
re s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned by the supervising agent to the program
assistant and the s e l f reported frequency with which 4-H program
assistants performed 22 selected 4-H tasks.
Data were collected by
the use o f a survey Instrument developed from previous re lated studies.
Each respondent indicated his or her frequency o f performance on each
4-H task on a forced choice ch ecklist as:
times, or Often.
Never, Very Seldom, Some
The respondent also Indicated frequency o f h is /h e r
ro le mates' performance of each task.
Bernard Alan Snider
The population was sixty-tw o 4-H program assistants*
eighteen county extension directors and tw en ty-five 4-H agents in
the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service.
This included a l l of
43 possible county ro le sets, 18 in counties without 4-H agents, and
13 in urban counties and 12 in rural counties with 4-H agents.
Paraprofessional youth workers were found to be performing
a wide range o f tasks in the 4-H program, including many of the same
tasks performed generally by the professional 4-H agents.
In counties
without resident 4-H agents, they were found generally performing as
acting 4-H agents, and county extension directors were found to be
expecting such performance.
4-H program assistants in counties without 4-H agents were
found performing f i f t e e n 4-H tasks very s im ila r to those o f 4-H agents
in rural counties.
Presence or absence of a resident 4-H agent in the ro le set
was an influencing va ria b le on the ro le of the 4-H program assistant.
4-H agents, when present, were performing the major 4-H leadership
tasks.
Though not as fre q u e n tly , 4-H program assistants were found
also performing major 4-H leadership tasks in these counties.
In
counties without 4-H agents, program assistants were found performing
major 4-H leadership tasks more frequently than were 4-H program
assistants in counties with resident 4-H agents.
The study indicates th a t 4-H program assistants can perform
more o f the 4-H tasks presently being performed by 4-H agents.
It
Bernard Alan Snider
was recommended th a t 4-H agents share more o f the 4-H tasks with 4-H
program assistants and th a t 4-H agents perform more functions re la tin g
to the o verall program management o f the 4-H program.
Program assistants in counties without 4-H agents were not
performing a l l the 4-H professional leadership tasks a t the Very High
frequency l e v e l.
I t was recommended th a t additional 4-H leadership
be provided to support the program assistants in these counties.
One o f the roles 4-H program assistants were assigned was
working closely with 4-H volunteers.
High reported frequency with
which they are v i s i t i n g , re c ru itin g and determining the needs of
volunteer 4-H leaders revealed performance consistent with the assign
ment.
Level o f formal schooling o f program assistants was not
found to c o rre la te with the frequency with which 4-H program assistants
perform 4-H tasks.
Program assistants with more employment experience
in the 4-H program were found doing more long range planning and work
ing with other youth agencies and county boards.
Previous experiences
of program assistants generally were not found to co rrela te with the
performance frequency of 4-H tasks.
Fewer than o n e-third o f the 4-H program assistants aspire
to be agents.
Most o f those were employed in urban counties, had
attended college and were between the ages o f 22 and 30 years old.
4-H agents have placed more emphasis upon supervisory
functions and less emphasis on d ir e c t contact with volunteer leaders
since 4-H program assistants have been employed in t h e ir counties.
Bernard Alan Snider
The study recommended th a t e ffo r ts be continued to estab
lis h and appropriately recognize the 4-H program assistant as an
important s t a f f position in the Michigan Extension Service.
I t was recommended th a t s t a f f analyze the needs and
in terests in t h e i r ro le set s itu a tio n to determine the ro le fo r
each s t a f f member in the 4-H program.
Due to the d iffe ren c e o f
program assistan ts' roles in various county s ta ffin g models, i t
was recommended i f fu tu re s ta ffin g models are developed, considera
tion continue to be given to the ch a ra c te ris tic s o f the county
s ta ffin g needs.
The study recommended th a t an area youth development
s p e c ia lis t position be developed whose primary ro le would be to
provide leadership to 4-H s t a f f in counties.
4-H agents with
these s k i l l s who "turn over" county 4-H coordination leadership
to program assistants may be possible candidates f o r th is position.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express sincere appreciation to those who have
contributed to the development o f th is study:
To Professor Russell J. K le is , and Dr. Melvin Buschman
fo r t h e i r guidance and assistance in this research;
To other members o f n\y doctorial committee fo r assistance,
Drs. Margaret Bubolz and Mason E. M i l l e r ;
To the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service and my
fellow colleagues fo r t h e i r understanding and support;
To my w if e , Marty, and c h ild re n , J u l i e , Tom and Janie,
fo r t h e i r s a c rific e s and fo r the encouragement and assistance they
provided; and
To Mr. Jim M ullin fo r his help in analyzing the data of
the study.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................................................
v ii
Chapter
I.
II.
III.
.............................................................................................
1
Statement o f Problem on Which
This Study W ill P rim a rily F o c u s .......................................................
4
Objectives .............................................................................................
Assumptions ........................................................................................
D e fin itio n o f Terms ........................................................................
Need fo r the S t u d y ............................................................................
Lim itations o f the S t u d y ...............................................................
5
6
6
9
10
O v e r v i e w .....................................................................................................
10
BACKGROUND AND RELATED LITERATURE
RELATING TO THE PARAPROFESSIONAL ..................................................
12
Recent Emergence o f
the Paraprofessional
............................................................................
12
Roles o f the Paraprofessional
Youth W o r k e r ............................................................................................
14
Marginal i t y .................................................................................................
18
Role and Relationship o f Paraprofessional
and P r o f e s s i o n a l ....................................................................................
19
Role Theory C o n c e p t s ............................................................................
28
Pos i t i o n .....................................................................................................
28
Role
E x p e c t a t i o n ...................................................................................
31
Role
C o n f l i c t ...........................................................................................
32
Summary.........................................................................................................
34
R a t i o n a l e ............................................................................................
38
INTRODUCTION
METHODOLOGY
............................................................................................
39
Determination o f Study Population ..........................................
Development o f Survey Instrument ..............................................
41
41
Major R esp on sib ilities
...........................................................
Scoring o f Respondents Performance
Frequency o f 4-H T a s k s ...........................................................
Design o f the Questionnaire
fo r Other Variables
...............................................................
iii
44
46
47
Page
Chapter
Grouping of Counties
Into Three Types ...................................................................
County 4-H Effectiveness ......................... f . . . . .
.
Role Change o f A g e n t ...............................................................
Analysis o f 4-H Professional
Leadership R o l e ...................................................................
IV.
49
49
50
51
Surranary o f Variables Developed
in the Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ...............................................................
Testing o f Questionnaire ...............................................................
C ollection o f D a t a ...........................................................................
52
53
53
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA..................................................
56
Part I .
Demographic Information on
4-H Program Assistants . . . . . . . .
......................................
56
Age o f Program A s s i s t a n t s ...........................................................
Sex o f Program A s s i s t a n t s ...........................................................
Length o f Employment o f 4-H
Program Assistants ...................................................................
Schooling o f 4-H Youth Workers ..................................................
Experience Working With Youth
P rio r to Employment...................................................................
Most Helpful Entry Level Experience ......................................
Aspirations o f 4-H Program Assistants . . . .
.................
S a tis fa c tio n of 4-H Program
A s s i s t a n t s ....................................................................................
56
57
57
58
60
61
62
64
Part I I .
Id e n tific a tio n of Assigned
Roles o f 4-H Program A s s i s t a n t s .......................................................
65
S u m m a ry................................................................................................
69
Part I I I .
Id e n tific a tio n of 4-H Tasks as
Performed by 4-H Program Assistants by
Expected Roles ........................................................................................
69
S u m m ary................................................................................................
73
Part IV. Analysis o f Roles and Role
Relationships by S ta ffin g Patterns ..............................................
75
Urban Counties with 4-H A g e n t s .........................................
75
Related Variables ....................................................................................
76
Sex and Age o f Program A s s i s t a n t s ..........................................
Length o f Employment.......................................................................
Formal S c h o o lin g .........................................
Previous Employment Experience ..................................................
Employment Aspirations ...................................................................
Id e n t if ic a tio n o f Advisor ...........................................................
Role E x p e c ta tio n .................................
76
77
77
78
78
78
79
iv
Chapter
Page
Program A ssistant's Performance
o f 4-H T a s k s ....................................................................................
Agent's Performance o f 4-H Tasks ..............................................
Role Relationship on 4-H Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Role Change o f the 4-H A g e n t .......................................................
Rural Counties with 4-H Agents
Related Variables
81
84
85
88
,
89
....................................................................................
89
Length o f Employment .......................................................................
Formal Schooling ................................................................................
Age and Sex
........................................................................................
Most Helpful Previous Experience ..............................................
Employment A s p i r a t i o n s ......................................, .........................
Id e n t if ic a tio n o f Advisor ...............................................................
Role E x p e c t a t i o n ................................................................................
Program A s sistant's Performance of 4-H Tasks
. . . . . .
Agent's Performance o f 4-H Tasks ..............................................
Role Relationship on 4-H T a s k s ...................................................
Role Change of the 4-H A g e n t ...........................................................
89
89
90
90
90
91
92
94
96
98
100
Counties Without 4-H A g e n t s ..............................................
Related Variables
.........................................................................................
101
Length o f Employment ............................................................................
Formal S c h o o l i n g .....................................................................................
Sex and Age of Program A s s i s t a n t s ...................................................
Previous Employment Experience ...................................................
Employment Aspirations ........................................................................
Id e n t ific a tio n of Advisor ....................................................................
Role E x p e c t a t i o n ....................................................................................
Program A s sistant's Performance
o f 4-H T a s k s .........................................................................................
Comparison o f Program A s s is ta n t’ s and
Rural Agent's Frequency Level on
Twenty-One 4-H Tasks ........................................................................
Agent Performance qf 4-H T a s k s .......................................................
Role Relationship on 4-H T a s k s ................................................... .
Role Change o f County Extension
D i r e c t o r .................................................................................................
101
101
102
102
103
104
104
Summary o f Role Set A n a l y s i s ...............................................................
Performance o f Professional
Leadership T a s k s ................................................................................
Part V. Correlation o f Related Variables
With Frequency o f Performance o f 4-H T a s k s ..................................
Previous E x p e rie n c e ......................................................................
Length o f Employment
. . . . .
Effectiveness o f County
4-H Program .............................................................................................
v
106
108
109
112
114
115
115
119
121
121
123
Chapter
Page
Aspirations o f ProgramAssistants .....................................................
Age o f Program Assistants ....................................................................
Summary..........................................................................................................
V.
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................
124
125
126
129
S u m m a ry..............................................................................................................
129
C on clusio n s.................................................................................................
Recommendations .........................................................................................
140
143
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................
146
APPENDICES
A -l.
A-2.
A-3.
Cover L e t t e r .....................................................................................
4-H Program Assistant Questionnaire ...................................
Agent Questionnaire
...................................................................
149
150
156
B -l,
Frequency Count, Mean and Standard
Deviation o f 4-H Tasks as S e lf Reported
by Program Assistants by Type o f County,
Michigan Cooperative Extension Service,
1974 .....................................................................................................
161
Frequency Count, Mean and Standard
Deviation o f 4-H Tasks as S e lf Reported
by Supervising Agents by Type o f County,
Michigan Cooperative Extension Service,
1974 .....................................................................................................
164
B-2.
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8f
9.
Page
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants
by Age and Type o f County in the Michigan
Cooperative Extension Service, 1974 ...........................................
f>7
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants by
Sex and by Type o f County in the Michigan
Cooperative Extension Service, 1974 ...........................................
58
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants by
Length o f Employment with 4-H Youth Programs
and Type o f County, Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service, 1974 .................................., .............................
58
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants by
Highest Level o f Schooling Completed and
Type o f County in the Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service, 1974 ..................................................................
59
Experience with Youth Before Employment as
Reported by 4-H Program Assistants in
Michigan Cooperative Extension Service,
1974
60
4-H Leader Experience P rio r to Employment
by Type o f County as Reported by 4-H Program
Assistants in the Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service, 1974
61
Entry Level Experiences Id e n t if ie d as Most
Helpful f o r Success as Reported by Program
Assistants by Type o f County in Michigan
Cooperative Extension Service, 1974 ..........................................
62
4-H Employment Aspirations Five Years From
Now as Id e n tifie d by Program Assistants by
Type o f County in Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service, 1974 ..................................................................
63
Program Assistant S a tis fa c tio n Levels by
Type o f County in Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service, 1974 ..................................................................
64
vi i
Page
Table
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Major R esponsibilities o f 4-H Program
Assistants as Assigned by Supervising
Agents by Type of County in Michigan
Cooperative Extension Service, 1974 ..........................................
67
Rank Order o f Performance Frequency Scores
(Range is 1-4) of 4-H Tasks by Role Type as
Reported Performed by Sixty-two 4-H Program
Assistants in Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service, 1974
71
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants
Employed in Urban Counties by Age and
Sex in the Michigan Extension Service,
1974
77
Major R esp on sib ilities of 4-H Program
Assistants Assigned by the Supervising
Agents in Urban Counties with 4-H Agents
in Michigan Cooperative Extension Service,
1974
80
Major R esp on sib ilities of 4-H Program
Assistants as Assigned by the Supervising
Agents in Rural Counties with 4-H Agents
in Michigan Cooperative Extension Service,
1974
92
Major R esp on sib ilities o f 4-H Program
Assistants as Assigned by the Supervising
Agents in Counties Without 4-H Agents in
Michigan Cooperative Extension Service,
1974
v iii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Like many other organizations designed to serve the needs
of people, the Cooperative Extension Service faces many challenges
created by rapid social change.
Conspicuous among the attempts to
respond c re a tiv e ly to changing needs is the development o f new s t a f f
ing patterns.
A prominent and p lausible a lte r n a tiv e being t r i e d by
many o f the human services agencies, including the Cooperative
Extension Service, is the employment o f paraprofessionals.
In the mid 1960's the United States Department of A g ri
cu ltu re (USDA) and the National Association o f State U n ive rsities
and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC) appointed a Jo int Study Committee
on Cooperative Extension to study changing social needs and make
recommendations fo r changes in program, structure and s ta ffin g
patterns.
That j o i n t committee's re p o rt, A People and a S p i r i t ^
recommended th a t 46,960 subprofessional aides be employed by 1975
to meet the projected s t a f f i n g . needs fo r a proposed "Quality of
Living Program" emphasis.
A professional agent, when employed by the Cooperative
Extension Service, receives a j o i n t appointment with the Federal
^A People and a S p i r i t . A report o f the Jo in t USDA-NASULGC
Extension Study Committee, P rin tin g and Publication Service, Colorado
State U n iv e rs ity , Fort C o llin s , 1968, p. 63.
1
2
Extension Service and the State Extension Service a t the Land Grant
U n iversity,
The youth program o f Cooperative Extension Service, palled
4-H, is an informal educational program conducted la rg e ly through
local community clubs.
I t is designed p rim a rily fo r boys and g ir ls
from the ages o f 9 to 19.
The youth clubs are normally led by volun
teer 4-H leaders (parents, other a d u lts , or older youth) who are
recruited and supported by an employed county extension f i e l d s t a f f .
U n til recently a typ ica l county f i e l d s t a f f consisted o f
professional agents, a t le a s t one o f whom was a 4-H agent.
The 4-H
agent l i k e his counterpart fo r a g ric u ltu r e , or fam ily l i v i n g , was
required to have a t le a s t a baccalaureate degree and meet professional
requirements o f the Land Grant College and the Federal Extension
Service.
In 1966 the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service became
one of the f i r s t extension services to h ire 4-H paraprofessional$,
Since th a t time, over 80 have been employed in Michigan.
In most cases, the 4-H paraprofessionals in the Michigan
Extension Service (re fe rre d to in th is study as 4-H program assistants)
have been hired by county professionals to f i t various county s itu a
tio n s .
They are not required to hold baccalaureate degrees or to
meet requirements fo r appointment by Federal Extension Service.
The
4-H program assistants possess a v a rie ty o f s k i l l s and work experiences;
t h e i r levels of formal schooling vary w idely.
From t h e i r f i r s t appear
ance, however, some program assistants have been performing tasks
very s im ila r to those performed by 4-H professionals (4-H Agents).
3
In the present county s ta ffin g models, employees in
several d if f e r e n t positions are seemingly performing somewhat s im ila r
functions.
The county 4-H leadership is seemingly being provided by
f u l l y q u a lifie d fe d e r a lly appointed professional 4-H agents and by
county and Michigan State U n iversity funded paraprofessional 4-H
program assistants.
In the Michigan 4-H youth program, 4-H program assistants
have been employed in county 4-H programs since 1966.
A comparison
of enrollment s t a t is t ic s indicates increased p a rtic ip a tio n o f the
enrolled 4-H membership in counties which employ 4-H program assistants.
Membership, as reported in ES Form 237, increased 42 percent
from 94,350 enrolled 4-H members in 1970 to 134,360 in 1973.
During
th at same period, membership in the 48 counties which employed 4-H
program assistants increased from 57,186 to 86,931, an increase o f
29,745, or about 52 percent.
During th a t same time period, 4-H mem
bership in the 35 counties not employing 4-H paraprofessionals in
creased from 37,164 to 47,429, an increase o f 10,265, or about 28
percent.
Approximately 13 4-H paraprofessionals were working during
1970 as compared with about 65 in 1973.2
This comparison between increases in 4-H enrollment does
not t e l l the whole sto ry , fo r i t does not measure the learning ex
periences or the behavior changes o f the p a rtic ip a n ts .
o
But enrollment
B. Alan Snider, "Eight Years o f Becoming— The 4-H Program
Assistant in Michigan," Paper presented a t the 4-H Paraprofessional
Seminar, National 4-H Center, Washington, D. C ., April 4 , 1974.
4
s t a t is t ic s can be one way o f ind icatin g trends.
This new s ta ffin g p o s itio n , the 4-H program assistant-,
having been employed fo r about 8 years, has raised some challenging
questions.
What role is the 4-H program assistant performing?
Does th is ro le vary in d if f e r e n t county s itu a tio n s , such as those
with and those without 4-H agents, those in urban or in rural
counties?
Do the program assistants personal c h a ra c te ris tic s , such
as level o f formal schooling, tenure, and previous experiences work
ing with youth and adults seem to influence h is /h e r role?
What
s ta ffin g models u t i l i z i n g the 4-H program assistant position are
appropriate fo r the future?
What r a tio n a le , i f any, exists fo r
wide v a ria tio n 1n program assistant roles?
This d escrip tive study
w il l focus on id e n tify in g the roles o f these r e l a t i v e ly new s t a f f
members, the 4-H paraprofessional youth workers.
Statement o f Problem on Which This
Study W ill P rim arily Focus
The purpose o f this descrip tive study is to id e n t if y the
roles o f 4-H paraprofessional youth workers in the Cooperative
Extension Service and to analyze variables related to those roles in
three basic county models.
One model is th a t o f a county with
100,000 people or more and where one or more program assistants work
with a resident professional 4-H agent; the second model is th a t of
a county which is predominantly rural (less than 100,000 population)
and where one or more program assistants work with a resident pro
fessional 4-H agent; the th ir d model is th a t o f a county (most l i k e l y
r u r a l) in which one (u su ally) program assistant works without any
5
resident professional 4-H agent.
Objectives
The study w i l l seek answers to the following questions:
1)
What re s p o n s ib ilitie s are assigned and what tasks
are performed in the roles o f 4-H program assistants in those
counties without a resident 4-H agent and in those urban and rural
counties with a resident 4-H agent?
In th is study, roles o f 4-H
paraprofessional youth workers are id e n t ifie d as:
Acting County
4-H Agent, County 4-H S p e c ia lis t, Assistant County 4-H Agent, and
County 4-H G eneralist.
2)
Are the following variables re la te d to the frequency
with which selected 4-H tasks are performed by 4-H program assistants:
- Amount o f formal schooling o f the program assistant?
- Previous experiences o f the program assistant?
- Length o f employment with the 4-H program?
- Effectiveness o f county 4-H program?
- Employment aspirations o f the program assistant?
- Age o f program assistant?
3)
How has the professional 4-H (or other supervising) agent's
role changed with the addition o f one or more 4-H program assistants
to the county sta ff?
4)
Who are performing the county 4-H professional leader
ship tasks in counties with 4-H program assistants?
6
Assumptions
The following assumptions were made to conducting the study:
1}
Roles o f 4-H program assistants can be defined by
id e n tify in g the major re s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned and the selected
4-H tasks performed.
2)
Tasks reported by 4-H program assistants and agents
are representative o f tasks performed.
3)
Respondents in the study responded o b je c tiv e ly to the
questions asked in the survey instrument.
4)
Some or a l l o f the tasks o f professional 4-H agents
may be performed by paraprofessionals when the l a t t e r are appointed
to 4-H s t a f f positions.
5)
In the absence o f designated 4-H professional agents
the tasks they would normally perform may be performed by county
extension d ir e c to r s , by other professional extension workers or by
paraprofessional workers, or by some combination of these.
6)
The work ro le of the program assistan t varies in urban
and rural counties and with the presence or absence o f a resident
4-H agent.
7)
The work ro le o f the professional 4-H agent changes
with the appointment o f one or more paraprofessional 4-H program
assistants to his or her county's 4-H s t a f f .
D e fin itio n of Terms
In order to enhance communication, the following concepts
are defined as they are used in th is study:
7
4-H— is an Informal educational program fo r youth conducted
by the Cooperative Extension Service which has voluntary p a rtic ip a tio n
and functions around clubs, and/or groups which are normally led by
volunteer leaders.
4-H Program A ssistant— is an employee o f the Cooperative
Extension Service who is not required to have a college degree, who
does not have an appointment with the United States Department of
A g ric u ltu re , who performs tasks and assumes re s p o n s ib ilitie s w ith in
a county 4-H youth program, and who normally functions under the
supervision o f a professional 4-H or other extension agent.
Extension Agent— is an employee o f the Cooperative Exten
sion Service with dual appointment with Michigan State U niversity
and the United States Department o f A g ric u ltu re .
For th is study,
the extension agents o f primary in te re s t are ( ! ) the 4-H youth agent,
who performs tasks and re s p o n s ib ilitie s p rim a rily with the 4-H pro
gram and, (2) the county extension d ir e c to r , who provides leadership
f o r the county extension program.
Supervising Agent-- i s the extension agent, employed in the
same county as the 4-H program a s s is ta n t, who assumes supervisory re
s p o n s ib ilitie s fo r the 4-H program a s s is ta n t.
In counties with a
resident 4-H youth agent, the 4-H youth agent serves as the 4-H super
vising agent.
In counties which employ a 4-H program assistan t without
a resident 4-H youth agent, the supervising agent is the county extension
d ire c to r.
Roles o f the 4-H Program A ssistant—There are four ro le
types o f 4-H paraprofessional youth workers to be considered in th is
8
study.
They are d if fe r e n t ia te d on.three dimensions:
in s t it u t io n a l
versus c lie n t e le work o r ie n ta tio n , county wide versus local area
o rie n ta tio n , and general versus s p e c ific program o rie n ta tio n :
Acting County 4-H Agent— A 4-H program assistant whose
position involves a high degree of re s p o n s ib ility to the organization
fo r coordinating t h j 4-H program generally throughout the county in
a l l 4-H program areas.
Assistant County 4-H Agent—A 4-H program assistan t whose
position requires th a t he/she work closely with the 4-H agent in
coordinating and carrying out the 4-H program generally throughout
the county in a l l program areas.
County 4-H S p e c ia lis t—A 4-H program assistan t whose posi
tion requires working in a ce rtain p a rt o f the county or in s p e c ific
program areas.
County 4-H G e n e ra lis t--A 4-H program assistan t whose
p rin c ip le re s p o n s ib ility is to work with volunteer 4-H leaders and
members throughout the county and in a l l program areas.
County type—Three groups o f counties employ 4-H program
a s s is ta n ts :
County Type A— Rural counties without a resident 4-H agent
and with less than 100,000 population.
County Type B--Urban counties with a resident 4-H agent and
a population over 100,000.
County Type C— Rural counties with a resident 4-H agent and
with a population o f less than 100,000.
9
County 4-H Professional Leadership Role— is th at combination
of tasks th a t is presumed to require advanced t r a in in g , knowledge,
and experience to manage and d ir e c t a county 4-H program.
County 4-H Program Effectiveness— is the assessment o f the
effectiveness o f a county 4-H program on the ra tin g scale of Very High,
High, Average, and Low, by administrators o f the Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service.
C r it e r ia considered in ra tin g were:
1.
Scope o f youth and adult p a rtic ip a tio n in county
4-H program.
2.
Involvement o f volunteer leadership in decision
making.
3.
Support from county government and other support
groups.
4.
Involvement o f p articip an ts in meaningful learning
experiences,
5.
Overall ra tin g o f effectiveness o f county 4-H program.
Role Change of Supervising Agent— is the d ifferen ce between
the Supervising Agent's self-p ercep tio n o f the importance o f ten 4-H
functions to his ro le before h irin g the f i r s t 4-H program assistant
and a f t e r h irin g one or more 4-H program assistants.
Congruence o f 4-H Program A ssistant's Role— is the degree
of agreement between a 4-H program assistant and h is /h e r supervising
agent in reporting frequency o f performing selected tasks by the 4-H
program as sis tan t.
Need fo r the Study
The 4-H program as s is ta n t's position is a r e l a t i v e l y new one
in the Cooperative Extension Service.
The number of incumbents has
10
increased over the past eight years, with predictions being fo r con
tinued growth.
In an attempt to provide guidance fo r fu tu re s t a f f in g ,
th is study w i l l id e n t if y the roles the 4-H program assistant is
presently performing in three d if f e r e n t s ta ffin g patterns and analyze
the variables re la te d to those ro les.
This study w il l help define and develop a cle a re r under
standing o f roles of 4-H program as sis tan ts, and roles of supervising
agents and factors which influence those varying roles in the performance
of 4-H tasks.
I t w i l l also provide recommendations fo r u t i l i z i n g 4-H
program assistants and 4-H agents in the fu tu re .
Lim itations of the Study
The population fo r the study included 4-H paraprofessional
youth workers and supervising agents in the Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service.
The population did not include Extension s t a f f
members from other states.
The assessment o f the ro le o f 4-H program assis tan t does not
include
data from the c lie n t e le o f the 4-H program, the 4-H volunteer
leaders or 4-H members.
The data employed in the analysis are lim ite d to those
obtained from a survey instrument completed by 4-H program assistants
and supervisory agents.
Overview
The purpose o f th is study, i t s o b je c tiv e s , i t s assumptions
and the lim ita tio n s were stated in Chapter I .
Terms to be used in
n
the study have been defined.
A review o f the p ertin en t l i t e r a t u r e and an explanation
of the theory fo r the study are presented in Chapter I I .
Chapter I I I includes the study's design, explanation of
the instruments used f o r the study, the organization o f the data
and a n a ly tic a l procedures used.
The findings are presented and analyzed in Chapter IV,
Chapter V contains a summary o f the fin d in g s, conclusions
and recommendations fo r p ractice and fu tu re research.
CHAPTER I I
BACKGROUND AND RELATED LITERATURE
RELATING TO THE PARAPROFESSIONAL
I t appears appropriate, since paraprofessionals are r e la
t iv e ly new in the Extension Service, to review a sampling o f appro
p ria te l i t e r a t u r e fo r in s ig h t and understanding.
The review focuses
on a b r i e f description o f the s e ttin g and the emergence o f para
professionals; roles o f paraprofessionals and t h e i r influence; r e la
tionships between the roles o f paraprofessionals and professionals;
and role theory concepts o f p o s itio n , ro le expectation and role
c o n flic t .
Recent Emergence of
the ParaprofessionFl
The decade o f the 1960's saw a new concern fo r the q u a lity
o f l i f e , p a r t ic u la r ly as i t was affe cte d by educational, h ealth , and
welfare in s t it u t io n s .
As the concern fo r increased and improved
services grew, so too grew a dual r e a liz a t io n th a t on the one hand
ex istin g professional manpower resources were inadequate and, on the
other hand, opportunities fo r s ig n if ic a n t work and s e lf -h e lp were too
few to meet newly acknowledged needs o f the society and economically
disadvantaged.
Thus, along with the concern fo r new services came
an in te re s t in new manpower, p a r t ic u la r ly from among those with less
12
13
formal t r a i n i n g . 1
National Extension Service publications e n t it le d 4-H in the
Seventies
2
and A People and a S p i r i t
3
both recommend an expansion of
4-H p a rtic ip a tio n w ith in the decade o f the 7 0 's.
This expansion, fo r
the most p a rt, is predicted to take place in the more urban areas o f
the country.
The National 4-H Urban Program Development Committee
presents in the re p o rt, A Plan fo r A c tio n , the following challenge:
The Cooperative Extension Service has a rich background of
service to rural America, and i t has proven i t can d e liv e r
educational programs th a t are v it a l to the growth and pros
p e rity o f th is country. A new challenge is now before
Extension— the challenge o f providing meaningful educational
programs fo r an urban audience. As a public youth program,
4-H is obligated to provide educational opportunities fo r
a l l segments o f society regardless o f income, educational
le v e ls , race, c o lo r, national o r ig in , sex, creed, or place
o f residence.4
As an approach fo r reaching th is new audience fo r the
Cooperative Extension Service, A People and a S p i r i t recommends
employing subprofessional aides from the ta rg e t population, thus
providing both employment opportunities and more e ffe c tiv e access.
Further, the report recommends th a t program assistants and program
^ l a n Gartner, Paraprofessionals and Their Performance,
(New York: Praeger Publishers , 1971), p. 3.
2
4-H in the 7 0 's , Extension Service, U.S. Department of
A g ric u ltu re , Washington, D .C ., n.d.
^A People and a S p i r i t , A report o f the j o i n t USDA-NASULGC
Extension Study Committee, P rin tin g and Publication Service, Colorado
State U n iv e rs ity , Fort C o llin s , 1968, p. 63.
A Plan f o r A c tio n , Report by the National 4-H Urbap Program
Development Committee, Extension Service, USDA, Washington, D .C ., 1973,
p. 1.
14
aides be used ex ten sively, with increased use o f local residents as
5
teachers o f s p e c ific subjects.
I t has been noted th a t increased involvement o f more
people, and a broader scope o f subject matter in te re sts increase
the demands on the professional s t a f f .
One p lausible solution to
this problem--advanced f o r many o f the educational, medical, and
social work f i e l d s — is the use of program aides (paraprofessionals,
c
subprofessionals, program a s s is ta n ts ).
Rlesman states in the foreword o f Paraprofessionals and
Their Performance
th a t the rapid acceptance of the paraprofessional by the
professionals and the agencies is re la te d to the c r is is
in professional p ractice produced by the highly vocal
demands.. .expressed s p e c if ic a lly in the community— con
t r o l movement which c a lls fo r ac c o u n ta b ility , relevance,
and r e v i t a l i z a t i o n of the s e rv ic e s .7
Roles o f
the Paraprofessional
Vouth Worker
During 1965-70 the National Council o f Boy Scouts of America
invested 1.5 m illio n dollars in selected rural and urban councils to
experiment with new approaches fo r reaching audiences.
The Research
5
A People and a S p i r i t , op. c i t . , p. 75.
C
John A. Kiesow, "Role Model fo r the Paraprofessional Youth
Worker in the Extension Service," (Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n , North Carolina
State U n iv e rs ity , Raleigh, 1972), p. 3.
7
Frank Reisman, Foreward, Paraprofessionals and Their
Performance (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971), pp. 7-8.
15
Service o f the Boy Scouts o f America reported from analyzing the
experimental programs th a t there were 51 d is t in c t obstacles confronting
scouting in th is type of community.
A fu rth e r evaluation o f the 51
obstacles indicated th a t 32 could be "spoken d ir e c t ly to" through the
use o f indigenous paraprofessionals.
The Boy Scouts of America con
cluded th a t the paraprofessional can, in a sense, act as a two-way
transceiver between the Boy Scouts and the resident o f a low-income
community— receiving information at one l e v e l , in te rp re tin g i t , and
Q
transm itting i t at the new le v e l.
A 4-H paraprofessional has been variously described by a
number o f authors.
Parsons describes program assistants as f u l l - t i m e ,
g
tra in e d , indigenous adults hired to work in t h e i r own neighborhoods.
Banning d if f e r e n t ia te s between program assistants and program aides.
According to him, program assistants are recognized community or
county leaders with some professional tra in in g and/or other q u a lifyin g
experience which enables them to function e f f e c t iv e ly as assistants to
the professional Extension youth program leaders (Program Coordinators),
on a p art-tim e or f u ll - t im e basis.
The program assistan t deals p rim a rily
with organization, leadership development, and public support.
Banning
describes program aides as recognized leaders in the neighborhoods, on
O
Boy Scouts of America, "Paraprofessional Employment
Program Training Plans and Procedures," North Brunswick (1973),
pp. 28-29.
g
Jerry Parsons, "Inner C ity Youth Programs:
Journal of Extension, 9 (Summer, 1971), p. 34.
Guidelines,"
16
the c it y block, in the h ig h -ris e apartment b u ild in g , or in other
appropriate areas, who w i l l arrange f o r youth p a rtic ip a tio n and
parental cooperation, and do much o f the d ir e c t subject matter
teaching.
Program aides w i l l supervise the young people in t h e i r
various group a c t i v i t i e s and w i l l normally serve on a part-tim e
basis and be compensated a t an hourly rate or a specified amount
fo r a given j o b j 0
As presented in A Plan fo r A ction, the 4-H paraprofessional
is an urban program assistant who is responsible to the urban 4-H
youth agent.
I t is desirable fo r the program assistant to be in
digenous to the community and to r e la te to and be accepted by the
c lie n t e le .
This s t a f f person contributes to Extension e ffo r ts
e ith e r as a f u ll - t im e or a p art-tim e employee.^
While the t i t l e o f th is new position ( i . e . , Michigan 4-H
Program A ssistants, Wisconsin 4-H S t a f f A ssistants, e t c .) may not be
c le a r , i t s incumbents have demonstrated t h e i r worth to the 4-H youth
programs.
They generally work under the supervision o f a professional
agent and they have demonstrated t h e i r a b i l i t y to r e c r u it leaders and
members, to organize 4-H clubs, to teach leaders and members, and to
John W. Banning, "New Dimensions fo r Cooperative Exten
sion Youth Programs in the 7 0 's ," Paper presented a t 1970 Annual Meeting
o f the National Association o f Extension 4-H Agents, Purdue U n ive rsity ,
November, 1970, p. 19.
^ A Plan fo r A c tio n , Report by the National 4-H Urban Program
Development Committee, Extension Service, USDA, Washington, D .C ., 1973,
p. 12.
17
assist with 4-H events and many other tasks.
1
2
One o f the apparent
roles paraprofessional youth workers are providing is a rather close
working re la tio n s h ip with c l i e n t e l e .
An often cited use o f paraprofessionals is to increase
the e ffic ie n c y and adequacy o f an agency's social services by over
coming the manpower shortage and by freeing the professional to do
the tasks f o r which he has been tra in e d .
In a report o f a recent study evaluating an ideal role
model fo r a paraprofessional youth worker, the following remarks
concluded the report:
Perhaps the most important conclusion reached in th is study
is th a t from a costwise standpoint, 4-H paraprofessionals
provide a means fo r e f f i c i e n t use o f funds in terms o f pro
gram expansion. The 4-H program assistants can d e f i n i t e l y
perform many o f the routine roles normally performed by
professional youth workers. The paraprofessional also
brings many individual s k i l l s and competencies to the pro
gram, and they are e f f e c t iv e in terms of communicating and
building productive relationships with adult volunteer
leaders and youth. As the paraprofessionals assume broader
roles and become more competent, the professional youth
worker can devote additional time to tasks which require
u t i l i z a t i o n of s k i l l s which he has acquired through pro
fessional tr a in in g . Thus, the paraprofessional as well as
the professional adds e ffic ie n c y to the youth program.13
Paraprofessionals have the potential to reduce the social
distance between a change agency such as the Extension Service and
John A. Kiesow, Charles E, Lewis, Susan Y. Lyday, "The
Functional Development and Evaluation o f a Youth S ta ffin g Model
U t i l iz i n g the Ideal Role of the Paraprofessional Youth Worker,"
(Extension Service Special Project Report, North Carolina State
U n ive rsity , Raleigh, March, 1974), p. 57. Glen H. Krohn, "Aide U t i l i z a
tion in Voluntary Youth Educational Programs," (Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n ,
University o f Nebraska, Lincoln, 1972), p. 109.
13
Kiesow, Lewis and Lyday, op. c i t . , pp. 59-60.
18
i t s c li e n t e l e .
As i t establishes programs fo r new audiences, the
Extension Service appears to meet wider gaps which paraprofessionals
can help narrow.
The Expanded N u tritio n Program is a case in point.
To bridge the gap between the professional change agent and the lowincome homemaker, i t , l ik e 4-H, used the strategy o f h irin g aides.
M arg in ality
Since the main function o f most change agents is to lin k
t h e ir c lie n ts and the change agency, two very unlike systems, the
agent, and the agent's a id e , face problems o f m arg inality.
Caught
between the c o n flic tin g demands o f these two systems the agency and
c lie n t s , the change agent is marginal in both.
14
One of the great problems experienced by the
is ro le ambiguity or lack o f role i d e n t i t y
know who he is or who he is becoming. He is
simple member o f the community.. .nor is he a
A c tu a lly , he is a highly marginal p e rs o n J 5
nonprofessional
.He doesn't
no longer a
professional.
But, while i t causes social-psychological problems of
id e n t it y and lo y a lty f o r the aide, his m a rg inality is functional fo r
lin kin g purposes.
Aides occupy an intermediate position in halving
the gap between the professional change agency and the c lie n t s .
Were
they not in a marginal p o s itio n , the aides could not e f f e c t iv e ly
^ E v e r e t t M. Rogers, Communication Strategies f o r Family
Planning. (New York: The Free Press, 1973), p. 129.
15
Frank Riesman, "The Challenge: New Careers f o r the Poor,"
in Proceedings o f the American Home Economist Workshop {Chicago:
American Home Economics Association, 1966), p. 205.
19
perform t h e i r lin k in g function.
So while t h e i r m a rg in a lity may be
unpleasant, i t is almost a necessary ingredient in the a id e 's r o le .
16
Rogers raises an in te re s tin g question as to the possible
complementary e f f e c t developed by professional and paraprofessional
as they bridge the gap between the i n s t it u t io n and the c lie n t s .
Role Relationship o f Paraprofessional
and Professional'
When paraprofessionals were i n i t i a l l y employed they were
thought of as helping the professional.
Some have expanded th is
concept to encompass a much broader approach.
The Vice President
of the College of Human Services, a college fo r paraprofessionals
in New York, defined the New-Careers program as one which goes beyond
helping professionals.
Following is her l i s t o f f i v e basic premises
fo r the establishment o f the college:
1,
D iffe r e n t kinds o f people should be able to enter
the helping p ro fe s s io n s ...
2.
T ra d itio n a l routes to professionalism should be
re e v a lu a te d .. .
3.
Experimentation and innovation in s ta ffin g patterns
in the human services can give much needed new
dimensions to the q u a lity o f the human s e r v ic e s ...
4,
"New professionals" should be trained and challenged
to develop t h e i r ind ividu al p o te n tials to make t h e i r
own contribution to s e r v i c e . . .
^ E v e r e t t M. Rogers, op. c i t . , p. 129.
2
0
5.
New Careers programs can contribute to the
competence and resources o f ind ividuals and
communities.. . 17
As indicated by Houston, the ro le o f paraprofessional is not merely
a segment o f a s t a t ic r o le , only helping the professional, but i t
has the p o tential o f expanding the scope o f th a t ro le through a
close re la tio n s h ip with the professional.
Paraprofessionals have affe cte d professionals.
Grosser
provided evidence o f the e f f e c t o f paraprofessionals on the pro
fessionals with whom they worked in various federal manpower pro
grams:
“Not only is the presence o f nonprofessionals very much
f e l t by neighborhood populations but they also a f fe c t professional
practices in these agencies."
18
Grosser fu rth e r suggested:
"Pro
fessionals in these projects are more e ff e c t iv e with the poor than
t h e i r counterparts in ongoing agencies."^9
Grosser remarked on the contrast between what may h^ive
been the agency's in te n t in in s t it u t in g a paraprofessional program
and the actual consequences.
The introduction of a program device as innovative as th is
one, even i f the o rig in a l in te n tio n is to improve se rvice,
17
Laura Pi res Houston, "Black People, New Careers and Humane
Human Services," Social Casework, L I , 5 (May, 1970), p. 292.
18
Charles G. Grosser, The Role o f the Nonprofessional in the
Manpower Development Programs (Washington, D .C .: U.S. Department
of Labor, 1966), p. 48.
19Ib i d . , p. 50.
2
1
must soon produce strain s which a l t e r the patterns o f the
agency's fu n c tio n .20
Almost without exception, discussions involving the use
of aides point to the fa c t th a t working with and through program aides
introduces a whole new dimension in ro le re la tio n s h ip .
Silverman
paints the p icture very c le a r ly :
The great problem in the u t i l i z a t i o n of the subprofessional
is j u s t as much in the professional as i t is in the sub
professional.
I t doesn't make any d iffe re n c e i f we're t a l k
ing about the professional county agent or home economist,
professional social worker, a professional teacher o f
English, a nurse, or a d ir e c t o r .o f mental health . There
are c e rta in problems th a t a l l professionals are facing: a
certain level o f t h r e a t - a b i l i t y ( i . e . , th a t the professional
w i l l be out-competed and replaced; th a t many o f the s k i l l s
he possesses and id e n t if ie s with professional pride are not
th a t d i f f i c u l t to le a r n ). We are in such a d ra s tic social
change th a t professionals in a l l helping services have to
change— the professional has to learn to move over, to re
define his r o le . And he must give up his need f o r ro le
id e n t it y in the part of the ro le th a t can be transm itted
to the subprofessional .21
A wide range of l i t e r a t u r e alludes to or d ir e c t ly speaks
to the problems o f ro le and ro le re la tio n s h ip s .
Professional reactions
to paraprofessionals vary extensively from acceptance through real
anxiety and concern to o u trig h t h o s t i l i t y and r e je c tio n .
Some pro
fessionals see paraprofessionals as a th re a t to job secu rity and s ta tu s ,
while others view them as handymen fo r a l l o f the d ir t y job s.
S till
20
Charles G. Grosser, "Manpower Development Programs," in
Charles G. Grosser, e t a l . , ( e d s . ) , Nonprofessionals in the Human
Services (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, I n c . , 1969), p. 130.
21
Saul A. Silverman, "Subprofessionals in Extension,"
of Cooperative Extension, 7 (Spring, 1969), p. 45.
Journal
2
2
others see the paraprofessional as an asset, but express anxiety as
to what he should do.
22
Without a doubt there is considerable confusion and mis
understanding about professional and paraprofessional ro le s .
confusion can e a s ily lead to ro le c o n f li c t .
This
When roles are ambiguous
and/or undefined, or when people consider them competitive rather
than complementary, they can c o n f li c t .
In a complementary r e la t io n
ship, people in both roles work together as a u n it , a " ro le s e t,"
to f u l f i l l
the agency's o b jec tiv es .
23
The p ro fession al's ro le changes as paraprofessionals
become a p a rt of the s t a f fin g model in a school system.
From t h e i r
study o f f i f t e e n paraprofessional programs, a Bank S tre e t College o f
Education team reported th a t the introduction o f the paraprofessional
served as a c a t a ly t ic force in developing new roles fo r a l l the
p arties in the school system.
They found t h e i r p a rtic ip a tin g teachers
perceived new roles fo r themselves which included a higher level o f
professionalism with emphasis on diagnosis, planning, and coordination.
Teachers, themselves, saw th is new ro le as an addition t o , ra th e r than
a su b stitu te f o r teacher-pupil in te ra c tio n .
24
The e ffe c ts Bowman and
22
C h ristin e S. Tennant and James W. Longest, "Professional
and Paraprofessional Role D i f f e r e n t ia t io n ,"
(A g ric u ltu ra l Experiment
S ta tio n , College Park, Maryland, 1973J, p. 2.
23Ib 1 d ., p. 5.
24
Garda W. Bowman and Gordon J. Klopf, New Careers ar.d Roles
in the American School: A Study o f A u x ilia ry Personnel in Edu'ca'tTon
(New York: Bank S tre e t College o f Education, 1968), p. 220.
23
Klopf uncovered went beyond the classroom s itu a tio n to involve adminis
tra to rs and others in the new in s tru c tio n a l system:
A s a lie n t outcome was th a t a l l concerned— adm inistrators,
supervisors, teachers, and a u x ilia r y personnel— had to re
think t h e i r roles and relationships when aides were i n t r o
duced in to a school system,25
Anderson adds the notion th a t very few teachers can do
everything well and th a t judicious assignment o f aides can help to
fill
natural gaps in the teacher's a b i l i t y .
For example, the teacher
completely devoid o f musical sense could u t i l i z e an aide fo r the
musical portion o f his class.
This view suggests th a t paraprofessionals
would be competent to take over the teaching function completely in
certain kinds o f s itu a tio n s .
This is an in te re s tin g v a ria tio n on
the theme and one with a great deal of logic behind i t .
Bennett in d ic a te s , i t also confuses the issue.
But, as
Educational commenta
tors sta te th a t a n o n ce rtifie d teacher can never assume actual teach
ing d u tie s , but must always be supervised.
In numerous confrontations
in several s ta te s , teachers and other school people have been firm on
this p o in t .2^
Anderson points out one seldom admitted b a r r ie r to using
aides c r e a tiv e ly :
many teachers and adm inistrators, derive s a tis fa c tio n
25I b i d , , p. 14.
nc
Anderson, R .A ., "Organizational Character o f Education:
S t a f f U t i l i z a t i o n and Development; Subprofessional and Paraprofessional
Personnel," Review o f Educational Research, Volume 34 (October, 1964),
pp. 458-459.
27
Bennett, W illiam S ., J r . , and Frank R. Folk, New Careers
and Urban Schools, New York: H o lt, Rinehart and Winston, I n c . , (1970)
p7 31.
24
and comfort from c le r ic a l and housekeeping functions.
They ( c le r ic a l tasks) are u sually discharged with r e l a
t i v e ease, and when they are ca rrie d out with accuracy
and e f f ic ie n c y , they often bring disproportionate re
w ard s ... By co n tras t, to solve a real educational problem
is usually f a r more d i f f i c u l t
28
Bennett suggests th a t some teachers may r e s is t the super
visory ro le in order to re ta in the chance to do menial tasks in
which they can demonstrate real competence.
To the extent th a t th is
form of resistance a c tu a lly e x is t s , ra tio n a l discussion o f the use
of aides and the movement o f teachers in to supervisory positions is
impossible.
OQ
This s itu a tio n may e x is t in non-forma! educational
programs as w el1.
On the question o f ro le o f paraprofessionals in the school
system, Tanner and Tanner observe " . . . t h e absence of a th e o re tic a l
basis f o r determining the kinds o f tasks they (aides) should and
should not perform."
30
Matheny and Oslin cited as a major impediment
in ro le d e f in itio n f o r paraprofessionals the
inadequacy o f current ro le d e f in itio n f o r professional
persons.
( I t should also be noted th a t) the in s e c u rity
of the supervisory professional often placed severe
lim ita tio n s upon the functioning o f the subprofessional.
28
Anderson, op. c i t . , pp. 458-459.
29
Bennett and Folk, op. c i t . , p. 31.
30
Daniel Tanner and Laurel N. Tanner, "Teacher Aides: A Job fo r
Anyone in Ghetto Schools," The Record, LXIX, 8 (Hay, 1968), p. 744.
^Kenneth B. Matheny and Yvonne O s lin , " U t iliz a t io n o f Para
professionals in Education and the Helping Professions: A Review
of the L ite r a tu r e ," Paper presented to the American Educational
Research Association, Minneapolis:
(March, 1970), pp. 19-20.
25
Esbensen has suggested th a t fo r aides to perform in s tru c tio n a l
tasks should not be threatening to the professional p ractice of teachers:
The distinguishing c h a ra c te ris tic o f the q u a lifie d teacher
is his a b i l i t y to analyze the in s tru c tio n a l needs of his
students, and to prescribe the elements of formal school
ing th a t w i l l best meet these n e e d s . 3 2
A ro le model th a t has been constructed and tested fo r a new
organizational worker can have many im plications.
Every organizational
position exists in re latio n sh ip to other organizational positions.
Therefore, when i t adds new positio ns, an organization must make
appropriate adjustments.
This is especially true when the new worker
w il l change the tr a d itio n a l h ie ra rc h ica l s tru c tu re , as the program
assistant is doing by intervening between the youth agent and the volun
teer in the 4-H youth program s ta ffin g model.
Agents and paraprofessionals do not completely agree on what
aides are to do.
In a study to determine appropriate tasks fo r aides,
Krohn reported th a t aides f e l t there were more tasks in a voluntary
youth educational program than they were capable o f performing than did
the professionals.
Krohn also found the re s p o n s ib ilitie s o f aides to
be most acceptable in areas o f recruitment, teaching, and a c t i v i t i e s ,
and/or recognition.
The re s p o n s ib ilitie s o f the professionals were
found most acceptable in the major areas o f administration and planning.
3*Thornwald Esbensen, "Should Teacher Aides Be More Than
Clerks?", Phi Delta Kappan, X L V II, 5 (January, 1966), p. 237.
33Glen H. Krohn, "Aide U t i l iz a t io n in Voluntary Youth
Educational Programs," (Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n , U niversity o f Nebraska,
Lincoln, 1972), pp. 116-117.
33
26
Kiesow found th a t youth agents did not agree with volunteers
on tasks in which program assistants worked in d ir e c t re la tio n s h ip
with volunteers.
He concluded th a t youth agents desire to maintain
d ir e c t re la tio n s h ip with the volunteers.
34
Keisow and others reported th a t the professional 4-H agent
plays an important ro le in the performance o f the 4-H paraprofessional.
They s ta te :
For the paraprofessional to function s a t i s f a c t o r i l y , the
4-H agent must learn to successfully carry out supervisory
r e s p o n s ib ilitie s and to become exceptionally q u a lifie d in
performing planning fu n c tio n s .35
Kiesow concluded from the analysis o f tasks by functional
category th a t the program a s s is ta n t's ro le was seen as appropriate
in a l l aspects o f the organizational l i f e o f the youth program.
How
ever, agents were r e l a t i v e l y more cautious than were volunteers about
agreeing to allow program assistants to carry out execution tasks.
This find in g was supported in o ther functional categories.
Kiesow
noted th a t e f f o r t s w i l l be needed to bring expectations o f a l l position
groups into g rea ter congruence on the question o f tasks th a t the program a s sis tan t can and should perform.
In t h e i r studies o f a u x ilia r y school personnel in 15 t r a i n
ing programs as reported in New Careers and Roles in the American
Schools, Bowman and Klopf s ta te th a t the p rin c ip a l dilemma in the
re la tio n s h ip between teachers and teacher-aides appeared to be the
34
35
Kiesow, op. c i t . , p. 109.
Kiesow, Lewis, and Lyday, op. c i t . , p. 58,
^K iesow , op. c i t . , p. 111.
27
c o n f lic t between ro le d e f i n i t i o n , which was recognized as necessary
fo r i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z a t i o n , and ro le development, which was a dynamic
o f each classroom s itu a tio n which u t i l i z e d a u x il i a r i e s .
The degree
o f re s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned to an a u x ilia r y depends upon the i n t e r
action o f a p a r t ic u la r teacher and a p a r t ic u la r a u x ilia r y operating
w ith in a given structure and responding to the special needs of
individual p u p ils .
A d e lic a te balance seems to be required in order
to provide the s p e c i f ic it y th a t means s e c u rity , along with the f l e x i
b i l i t y th a t promotes growth.
Bowman and Klopf in d ic a te th a t the development o f the role
o f the paraprofessional requires an understanding o f the whole com
plex of ro le s , r e s p o n s ib ilitie s , and relationships involved in the
learning-teaching process.
When aides and teachers p a rtic ip a te d to
gether in tr a in in g p ro je c ts , ro le development was f a c i l i t a t e d and
understandings developed.
37
Bowman and Klopf's observations of the ro le set r e la t io n
ship between the teacher and teacher-aide suggests an important
inq uiry fo r th is study o f searching fo r factors o f influence re la tin g
to ro le development.
I t also suggests developing an understanding
o f the dynamics o f the ro le set which includes the professional and
paraprofessional in the Cooperative Extension Service.
37
Bowman and Klopf, op. c i t . , p. 25.
28
Role Theory Concepts
From the previous discussion o f the paraprofessional i t
becomes obvious th a t a review o f p ertin en t concepts o f ro le theory
may be helpful in the development o f a th e o re tic a l framework fo r
understanding the dynamics involved with paraprofessional employment.
Three basic ideas which appear in most o f the conceptuali
zations about r o le , i f not in the d e fin itio n s o f roles themselves,
are th a t in d ivid u als :
(1) in social location s; (2) behave; (3) with
reference to expectations.
38
Gross reports th a t almost a l l o f the authors have used the
ro le concept to embrace the normative element o f social behavior.
People do not behave in a random manner; t h e i r behavior is influenced
to some extent by t h e i r own expectations and those o f others in the
groups or society in which they are p a rtic ip a n ts .
Some authors have
included th is idea in the concept o f status or p o s itio n , others in
r o le , but nearly a l l include i t somewhere.
39
Position
Biddle and Thomas report th a t the notion of position is
among the most widely used concepts in ro le theory, and most w rite rs
in the f i e l d have followed the example set by Linton40 o f defining
‘ Neal Gross, Ward S. Mason and Alexander W. McEachern,
Explorations in Role Analysis: Studies o f the School Superintendent
Role (New York: W iley, 1957), p. 17.
39
Ib id .
40Ralph Linton, The Study o f Man (New York:
Century Company, 1936), pp 1T5-116"!
D, Appleton-
29
ro le in re la tio n s h ip to a p osition.
41
Biddle and Thomas say th a t the key to understanding the
idea o f position is th a t i t v i r t u a l l y always re fers to a c o lle c t iv e ly
recognized category of persons.
The category must be d is t in c t in
the minds of most persons in the category ( e . g . , those who teach ).
But given th a t category o f persons is recognized c o lle c t i v e l y ,
there is usually more than one basis upon which the members o f the
position are d if f e r e n tia t e d from others, and th is may be one reason
f o r d e fin itio n a l disagreements.
42
Gross has presented the concept o f position in a useful
manner which may have some im plications in studying the ro le o f
the paraprofessional.
Gross uses the term "position" to r e f e r to
the location o f an actor or class of actors in a system o f social
re latio n sh ip s .
The general idea of social location has been repre
sented by some authors with the term s ta tu s , and by others with
positio n.
The meaning o f location in a system o f social r e la t io n
ships is not, however, e n t i r e ly s e lf-e v id e n t .
I t is d i f f i c u l t to
separate the idea o f location from the relationships which define i t ,
ju s t as in geometry a point cannot be located without describing
i t s re la tio n s to others; the points imply the re la tio n s h ip s , and
the relationships locate the points.
43
^B ruce J. Biddle and Edwin J. Thomas, Role Theory; Concepts
and Research (New York: W iley, 1966), pp. 28-29.
42Ib1d.
43Gross, Mason and McEachern, op. c i t . , p. 48.
30
The labels assigned to positio ns, as distinguished from
the bases f o r these p ositions, serve the cognitive function of
d if f e r e n t ia t in g among them.
In the case o f ascribed p o s itio n s , the
labels which r e f e r to them are generally derived from the "presocial
system" ch a ra c te ris tic s on which the patterns are based.
Whatever
the source o f the labels which allow cognitive discrim inations among
actors, id e n t it ie s do not become positions u n til they are placed in
a re la tio n s h ip system.44
Nearly every ro le t h e o r is t , regardless o f the frame o f
reference in which his analysis is couched, adopts the view th a t a
position is an element or a p a rt o f a network or system o f positions.
In Newcomb's scheme th is point is given special emphasis:
Thus the p o s itio n s , which are the smallest element— the
construction blocks— o f so cieties and organized groups,
are in te r r e la te d and consistent because they are organi
zed to common ends. Since every position is a p art o f an
inclu sive system o f p o sitio n s, no one position has any
meaning apart from the other positions to which i t is
r e la t e d .45
Gross re la te s Newcomb's conclusion to a p ra c tic a l problem
fn research in the area o f ro le and position theory.
The la s t sentence in the statement from Newcomb suggests
the nature o f the present problem.
( I f a p a r tic u la r
position has no meaning apart from other positions, i t
is necessary f o r an in v e s tig a to r focusing on one p o s itio n ,
to specify the other positions which w i l l concern his
analysis. Some positions in our society seem a t f i r s t
glance to be associated with only one other positio n;
44I b i d . , p. 49.
45
Theodore H. Newcomb, Social Psychology (New York: Dryden
Press, 1951), p. 277.
31
closer Inspection usually reveals they are re la te d to
more than one. Whatever the im plication o f the la b e l,
a position cannot be completely described u n t il a l l o f
the other positions to which i t is re la te d have been
s p e c ifie d . Of course a complete s p e c ific a tio n o f re
la tio n s is a lim itin g case with which i t would be im
possible to deal e m p iric a lly . For a given research
problem i t may be necessary to take in to account only
a lim ite d number o f counter p o s itio n s .46
Role Expectation
The concept o f ro le expectations is described as the
conceptual bridge between social structure and ro le behavior and as
a cognitive concept, the content o f which consists o f b e l ie f s , ex
pectancies, subjective p r o b a b ilit ie s , and so on.
The units of
social structure are positions or statuses (in sp ecialized contexts,
jobs and o f f i c e s ) .
These units are defined in terms o f actions
and q u a lit ie s expected o f the persons who a t any time occupy the
p o s itio n .47
Role expectations are comprised o f the rig h ts and p r i v i
leges, the duties and o b lig a tio n s , o f any occupant o f a
social position in r e la tio n to persons occupying other
positions in the social stru c tu re . Role expectations
are co llectio ns o f c o g n 1 tio n --b e lie fs , subjective proba
b i l i t i e s , and elements o f knowledge—which specify in
re la tio n to complementary roles the rig h ts and d u ties ,
the appropriate conduct, f o r persons occupying a p a r t i
cu lar positio n. Role expectations operate as imperatives
pertaining to a person's conduct and cognitions w hile he
enacts a ro le . These Imperatives, by specifying "how,"
"should," and " is , " ensure th a t the ro le enactment w i l l
be ap p ro p ria te .48
dfi
Gross, Mason and McEachern, op. c i t . , pp. 50-51,
47Gardner Undzey and E l l i o t t Aronson ( e d s ,) , The Handbook
o f Social Psychology, Sec. Ed., Vol. I (Reading, Mass.: Addison,,
Wesley, 1968), p. 497.
48 I b i d . , pp. 497-498.
32
To assess ro le expectations, the same techniques th a t are
used
to measure cognitive structures in general are suggested:
s e lf
reports, fo r example, with questionnaires and in te rv ie w s , or i n f e r
ences from overt behavior.
The in v e s tig a to r can ask, fo r example,
"How should a person behave who is a teacher (or f a th e r , or daughter,
and so on)?"
From such a question we may expect to obtain a con
s is te n t and integrated view o f some respondent's description o f the
clu ste r o f rights and duties o f the social positio n.
49
Role C o n flic t
That an actor sometimes finds himself concurrently in two
or more
positions requiring contradictory ro le enactments is a fa c t
well known to readers o f comedy and tragedy.
Role c o n f lic t is the
term used to denote th is c o n d itio n .50
Two types o f role c o n f lic t are id e n t if ie d :
c o n f lic t and in t r a - r o l e c o n f li c t .
in te r-ro le
The f i r s t is due to simultaneous
occupancy o f two or more positions having incompatible ro le expecta
tions.
This type of role c o n f lic t is l i k e the paradigm of motor
c o n f lic t in which one l ig h t signals "go" and another simultaneously
signals "stop."
Examples of i n t e r - r o l e c o n f lic t are numerous.
A
frequently cited i l l u s t r a t i o n is the "man in the middle," such as
the foreman in industry.
Another example is the "marginal man" a
person who simultaneously belongs to two subcultures but is not f u l l y
49I b i d . , p. 500.
50
Lindzey and Aronson, op. c i t . , p. 540.
33
accepted by e it h e r .
51
The second type o f ro le c o n f lic t is called in t r a - r o l e con
f l i c t , because i t involves contradictory expectations held by two or
more groups o f relevan t others regarding the same r o le .
52
For
example, Gross, Mason, and McEachern found f o r the ro le o f school
superintendent th a t expectations o f school board members sometimes
c o n f lic t with expectations held by teachers.
53
In th is instance
c o n flic t is inherent in the occupancy o f the social position of
superintendent, because the ro le behavior expected o f the incumbent
by one group is contrary to behavior expected o f him by another
group.
54
The paraprofessional in service organizations is another
example.
Tennant and Longest indicated th a t the paraprofessional is
a marginal worker who, as y e t , has not been assigned any w ell-d efin ed
place on conventional occupational ladders.
He l iv e s , works and
operates w ith in a subculture and y e t , a t the same tim e, he works with
and represents professionals who come from a d if f e r e n t subculture.
The paraprofessional worker is expected to operate smoothly and
e f f i c i e n t l y in both subcultures and y e t he must be careful not to
lean too much toward one o f them.
I f he aligns himself too strongly
51 ibid.
52ibid.
53
Gross, Mason and McEachern, op. c i t . , pp. 258-2(50.
5\ i n d z e y and Aronson, op. c i t . , p. 540.
34
with the professional, he may do so at expense o f re je c tin g his own
subculture, in which case he may come to be viewed by his community
as a sort o f indigenous "cop o u t."
55
On the other hand, i f the para
professional aligns himself too strongly with the subcommunity, he
stands to do so a t the r is k o f incurring h o s t i l i t y and estrangement
on the part o f professionals and the la rg e r community.
Role ambiguity and c o n f lic t fo r the paraprofessional can
also occur when the professional and paraprofessional f a i l to communi
cate and negotiate r ig h t s , r e s p o n s ib ilitie s , and regulations f o r the
paraprofessional and to make adequate d is tin c tio n s between professlpnal
and paraprofessional positions.
56
Summary
This review o f background inform ation, re lated l i t e r a t u r e ,
and p e rtin e n t research consists o f eig ht major sections re la tin g to
the study:
1) Recent emergence of the paraprofessional; 2) Roles of
the paraprofessional youth worker; 3) M a rg in a lity ; 4) Role r e la t io n
ship of paraprofessional and professional; 5) Role theory concepts;
6) Position; 7) Role expectation; and 8) Role c o n f lic t .
An analysis o f the recent emergency o f paraprofessionals
reveals th a t during the 1960's a concern was expressed fo r human
service agencies to serve the disadvantaged more adequately.
In
a d d itio n , a simultaneous concern fo r new manpower development and
55
Tennant and Longest, op. c i t . , p. 5.
56I b i d . , pp. 5-6 .
35
fo r s ig n if ic a n t new employment opportunities emerged.
of paraprofessionals spoke to these expressed concerns.
The employing
As reported,
the Cooperative Extension Service was one agency challenged to im
prove services and o f f e r new employment opportunities by employing
paraprofessionals.
The reported roles o f the paraprofessional youth worker
included acting as a two-way transceiver between a human service
agency and the c lie n t communities.
D iffe r e n t types o f 4-H para
professionals, as described, arranged fo r youth p a r tic ip a t io n , per
formed d ir e c t subject matter teaching, and assisted in leadership
development programs.
While the m a rg inality o f paraprofessionals causes s o c ia lpsychological problems, 1t is functional fo r helping lin k change
agencies and t h e i r c lie n t s .
One of the paraprofessional's c o n tri
butions to the role set is the sharing of m a rg inality with the
professional change agent.
New relationships emerge as a re s u lt o f introducing para
professionals in to human service agencies.
Examples of professional
ro le changes as paraprofessionals become a part o f s ta ffin g models
in a school system and the extension service were reported.
D iffe re n
t i a t i n g between the roles o f paraprofessionals and professionals may
be undertaken through formal job descriptions, but i t f i n a l l y hinges
on the in te ra c tio n between the ro le mates in a given s itu a tio n .
An important problem in relationships between professionals
and paraprofessionals appears to arise from the d is tin c tio n between
36
ro le d e fin it io n and ro le development.
A d e lic a te balance seems to
be required to provide the s p e c if ic it y (in ro le d e f i n i t i o n ) th at
means se cu rity along w ith the f l e x i b i l i t y ( f o r ro le development)
th a t promotes growth.
This d e lic a te balance, i t appears, must be
in te rn a l to each ro le set ra th e r than imposed f o r a l l paraprofessionals.
Bowman and Klopf suggest th a t ro le development is a dynamic o f each
in te ra c tio n of a p a r tic u la r professional with a p a r tic u la r para
professional w ith in a given structure responding to special needs.
The l i t e r a t u r e indicates the importance o f not only
c la r if y in g the roles o f the professional and the paraprofessional,
but o f structurin g ro le sets which can fo s te r ro le development fo r
both the professionals and the paraprofessionals.
An in q u iry raised
by the l i t e r a t u r e is what are the factors th a t r e la t e to the develop
ment o f ro le in the various ro le sets o f paraprofessionals and pro
fessionals in the Cooperative Extension Service?
Concepts o f ro le theory were discussed to understand more
f u l l y the dynamics involved in paraprofessional employment.
The basic
concept o f ro le is th a t ind ividu als in social locations behave with
reference to expectations.
The in q u iry suggested is what are the
expectations o f the 4-H program assistan t and how do these expecta
tions influence the ro le performed.
P o sitio n , as a concept of ro le theory, re fers to the
location o f an actor or class o f actors in a system o f social r e la t io n
ships.
When a researcher focuses on a p o s itio n , he must r e a liz e th a t
such a position has no meaning apart from other positions and th a t
he must be concerned w ith the other positions re la te d to the subject
37
of his in v e s tig a tio n .
As reported, however, a given research problem
may require taking in to account only a lim ite d number o f counter
positions.
Role expectation is described as a cognitive concept con
s is tin g o f b e l ie f s , expectations, and subjective p ro b a b ilitie s th at
bridge between social structure and ro le behavior.
The same techniques
used to measure cognitive s tru c tu re , in general, may be used to assess
ro le expectations.
Some techniques suggested were s e l f report
techniques such as questionnaires and interviews by the individu als
who do the cognitive d e fin in g , such as members o f any ro le s e t.
This
suggests the importance o f an assessment o f the ro le expectation o f
the 4-H program a s s is ta n t, at minimum, by the supervising agent.
I n t e r - r o l e c o n f l i c t , due to simultaneous occupancy o f two
or more positions which have incompatible ro le expectations, was one
type o f ro le c o n f lic t described; the marginal position of the paraprofessional is l i k e l y to a ffo rd examples.
Another typ e, i n t r a - r o l e
c o n f l i c t , involves contradictory expectations held by two or more
relevant others regarding the same ro le .
Role c o n f li c t and ambiguity fo r the paraprofessional can
occur when there are inadequate d is tin c tio n s between professional and
paraprofessional positio ns, as when the professional and the para
professional f a i l to communicate and negotiate r ig h ts , re s p o n s ib ilitie s
and regulations fo r the paraprofessional.
38
Rationale
The l i t e r a t u r e suggests the importance o f analyzing the
(dynamics o f ro le development involved in the ro le set o f the para
professional and professional.
A case fo r study o f such development,
and a case worthy of study in i t s own r i g h t , is the s itu a tio n o f the
4-H program assistant in the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service,
Program assistants have been employed there to f i t the local county
s itu a tio n somewhat autonomous o f an in s t it u t io n a l ro le d e f in it io n .
The 4-H program assistan t has been hired to work with the county
4-H program in various county situ atio n s throughout the s ta te ranging
from 4-H program assistants "replacing 11 the resident 4-H professional
agent to others jo in in g a m u ltip le 4-H s t a f f of agents and other
program assistants.
The l i t e r a t u r e suggests th a t with a v a rie ty of expectations,
r e s p o n s ib ilitie s and s e ttin g s , roles may develop in various ways in
r e la tio n to the various circumstances surrounding the ro le s e t.
What
are the dynamics in the ro le set o f the 4-H paraprofessional and pro
fessional th a t may have an influence on the present ro le of the 4-H
program assistant?
To study th at question the l i t e r a t u r e suggested an analysis
of the s itu a tio n along with the expectations and behaviors o f the role
mates.
The following chapter explains the procedures used fo r the
c o lle c tio n and analysis of data fo r a study which undertook such an
analysis.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
As stated in Chapter I * th is in vestig atio n has attempted
to id e n tify the roles o f the 4-H paraprofessional youth worker in
the Cooperative Extension Service and to analyze basic variables re
lated to those roles in three county 4-H s ta ffin g models.
The study is based on the Bowman's and Klopf's theory o f
ro le development, i t s p ra c tic a l application to the u t i l i z a t i o n and
development o f paraprofessional youth workers, and the following
assumptions:
1)
Role can be defined by e ith e r one or the other ro le
mate or a combination o f the two in the ro le s e t.
For th is study i t
can be defined in terms o f the major re s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned by the
supervising agent, in terms o f the tasks performed by the 4-H program
assistan t o r, as is the case in p ra c tic e , by both o f them.
2)
Tasks
id e n tifie d by the 4-H program assistants and agents are representative
o f tasks performed or expected to be performed.
3)
Respondents in
the study responded o b je c tiv e ly to the questions asked in the survey
instrument.
4)
Some or a l l of the tasks of professional 4-H agents
may be performed by paraprofessionals and th is is e s p ec ia lly l i k e l y
to occur when, without a 4-H agent as a ro le mate, the l a t t e r are
appointed to 4-H s t a f f positions.
5)
In the absence o f designated
county 4-H professional agents the tasks they would normally perform
39
40
may be performed by county extension d ir e c to r s , by other professional
extension workers or by paraprofessionals or by some combination o f
these.
6)
The work s itu a tio n fo r the program assistant varies in
urban and rural counties and with the presence or absence o f a resident
4-H agent.
The operational problem.in th is descriptive study has been
to gather data which would:
1) Id e n tify the roles performed by 4-H
program assistants and the ro le expectation fo r the 4-H program
assistants in counties w ithout a resident 4-H youth agent and in those
counties with a resident 4-H youth agent.
2)
Id e n tify the relevant
experiences 4-H program assistants had p r io r to entering into the
Extension Service.
3)
Id e n tify selected personal ch a ra c te ris tic s of
the 4-H program as sis tan t.
4)
Id e n tify the change, i f any, in the
supervisor agent's ro le when one or more 4-H program assistants are
added to h is /h e r county extension s t a f f .
5)
Id e n tify the 4-H tasks
performed by the supervising agent in counties employing 4-H program
assistants,
6)
Determine the congruence o f the ro le description of
4-H program assistant as id e n tifie d by 4-H program assistant and
supervising agent.
7)
Id e n tify who performs the county 4-H pro
fessional leadership roles in the various ro le sets.
possible correlations between and w ith:
8)
Id e n tify
ro le type, county type,
previous employment experiences, formal schooling, age, employment
as p iratio n s, length o f employment, and s a tis fa c tio n s re la te d to
employment.
41
Determination of Study
Population
Understanding ro le .th e o ry makes i t apparent th a t to assess
the ro le o f the paraprofessional youth worker, counter positions must
be considered as w e ll.
The counter.position which re lates most
d ir e c t ly to the 4-H program a s s is ta n t's position is the incumbent's
d ir e c t supervisor.
Data could be collected from the 4-H program a s s is ta n t's super
visor agent in each o f the counties employing 4-H program assistants.
The apparent v a rie ty 1n ro le performance suggested obtaining assess
ments from as many d ir e c t supervisory positions as possible.
Because o f the apparent v a rie ty of roles 4-H program assistants
perform in the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, a c o lle c tio n o f
data from the to ta l population o f program assistants would provide a
more v a lid assessment than sampling.
Considering the number of
potential respondents, 65 program assistants and 50 supervising agents,
the v a rie ty o f data to c o l le c t , and the a v a i l a b i l i t y o f fin a n c ia l support,
an appropriate method f o r c o lle c tin g data was judged to be a questionnaire.
Development of Survey
Instrument
A major function o f the survey instrument was to c o lle c t data
th a t would In d ic a te the roles 4-H program assistants were performing.
A fte r a review o f several research techniques and much d e lib e ra tio n with
agents and others to determine which technique would most accurately
d if f e r e n t i a t e what a 4-H program assistant was doing in comparison to
42
agents, the follow ing method was developed.
B a s ic a lly , the approach
selected was a forced choice check-1ist o f twenty-two 4-H tasks fo r
each o f which the respondents were to ind icate the frequency o f t h e i r
own and t h e i r ro le mates' performance.
The selectio n of tasks was based on several factors:
1) in d ic a tio n from other studies as to tasks 4-H program assistants
frequ en tly perform, 2) th a t tasks selected be representative o f a
continuum of tasks possible or l i k e l y to be performed in a county 4-H
program, 3} th a t tasks selected be representative o f the types o f
roles which might be performed, 4) th a t l i s t o f tasks would contain
an adequate number to be repres en tative , but not overwhelming, so
respondents would not be discouraged from completing the questionnaire.
A review o f two studies^ provided a prelim inary l i s t of
tasks 4-H paraprofessionals could be performing.
Interviewing 4-H
program assistants and agents suggested additional tasks th a t could
make up the job description o f a 4-H program a s s is ta n t. Raw data from
2
a prelim inary analysis by Artabasy o f the salary adm inistration system
John A. Keisow, "Role Model fo r the Paraprofessional Youth
Worker in the Extension S ervice,"
(Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n , North Carolina
State U n iv e rs ity , Raleigh, 1972), p. 3; and Glen H. Krohn, "Aide U t i l i
zation in Voluntary Youth Educational Programs," (Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n ,
U n ive rsity o f Nebraska, Lincoln, 1972), pp. 116-117.
2
James T. Artabasy, Preliminary Evaluation Analysis o f 4-H
Program A ssistant Salary Administration System, an in te rn a l study by
the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, Michigan State U n iv e rs ity ,
January, 1974.
43
f o r the 4-H program assistant in the Michigan Extension Service
provided tasks id e n t i f i e d by the respondents' own statements in th at
study.
Tasks were l is t e d on cards and given to 4-H adm inistrators.
Administrators were asked to place each task in to one o f f i v e fo llo w
ing groups:
1.
Which o f these 4-H tasks do you consider to be
done only by an agent?
2.
Which o f these 4-H tasks do you consider to be
done more by agent than by 4-H program assistant?
3.
Which o f these 4-H tasks can be done by e it h e r
4-H program assistan t or agent?
4.
Which o f these tasks do you consider to be done
more by 4-H program assistan t than agent?
5.
Which o f these tasks do you consider to be done
only by a 4-H program assistant?
Tasks were then categorized and a l i s t i n g made,
Since one
of the instrumental objectives o f the study was to id e n t if y the roles
the 4-H program assistants were performing, the goal was to provide a
continuum o f representative 4-H tasks f o r which respondents could
in d ica te t h e i r frequency of performance.
To determine the roles the 4-H program as sis tan t was per
forming, the questionnaire was designed f o r the incumbents to in d ica te
how often they performed the selected 4-H tasks by choosing one o f
four frequencies:
Never, Very Seldom, Sometimes, and Often.
The
questionnaire was fu r th e r designed so the supervising agent would also
In d ica te on the same four frequency lev els his assessment o f the f r e
quency with which the 4-H program assis tan t performed the tasks.
44
In addition to an assessment o f the 4-H program a s s is ta n t's
performance o f tasks, a counter-role p o s itio n , supervising agent,
was also o f in te r e s t in th is study.
Supervising agents were asked
to in d ic a te how often they performed the same selected tasks.
The
questionnaire was also designed so the 4-H program as sis tan t could
id e n t if y how often the agent performed the selected tasks.
In addition
to measuring the 4-H program a s s is ta n t's understanding of the agent's
ro le s , the program a s s is ta n t's assessment o f the agent's performance
o f 4-H tasks would also help place 4-H tasks on a continuum.
The
4-H agents frequency performance would.also help to i d e n t if y county
4-H professional leadership ro le s .
Major R esp on sib ilities
To id e n t if y roles o f 4-H program a s s is ta n ts , ro le theory
concepts suggest a careful examination o f the expectations and
s itu atio n s in which the incumbent functions.
To measure the i n s t i
tutions ro le expectation o f the 4-H program as sis tan t the questionnaire
was designed fo r the supervising agent to id e n t if y the major responsi
b i l i t i e s of the 4-H program a s s is ta n t(s ) employed in t h e i r county.
The l i s t i n g of representative re s p o n s ib ilitie s in the survey instrument
were id e n t if ie d from 4-H program assistants job d es crip tio n s, d is
cussion with program as sis tan ts, supervisory agents, and responses
given in the Artabasy study.
Supervisory agents were asked to indicate
from the representative l i s t i n g o f 4-H program as sis tan t r e s p o n s ib ilitie s ,
the major (30% or more o f the t o t a l ) r e s p o n s ib ilit y (s ) they f e l t 4-H
program assistants were assuming in t h e i r county.
45
The re s p o n s ib ilitie s id e n tif ie d indicated the type o f ro le
expected o f the 4-H program assistant by the in s t it u t io n as id e n t i
fie d by the supervising agent.
Listed below are the four ro le types
considered in th is study with the appropriate id e n tify in g responsi
b ility ^ ):
Role:
Responsibility:
Role:
R esp on sib ilities:
Role:
R esp on sib ilities:
Role:
R esp on sib ilities:
Acting 4-H Agent
Coordinate and carry out the to ta l
county 4-H program.
Assistant 4-H Agent
Assist agent
tasks of the
Assist agent
carrying out
by carrying out ongoing
county 4-H programs;
in coordination and
county 4-H program.
4-H S p e c ia lis t
Expand the 4-H program in urban areas;
Expand 4-H program in c e rta in geographic
areas of the county; Expand 4-H pro
gram through special program e ffe c ts .
4-H G eneralist
Provide more d ir e c t contact with people
not involved in 4-H; Provide necessary
personal contact with volunteers in the
4-H program.
The performance frequency of the 4-H tasks was then analyzed
fo r each o f the program assistants according to the expected ro le as
Id e n t if ie d by the supervising agent.
presented in Chapter IV.
A display o f the findings is
However, an explanation o f how the performance
frequency score on the 4-H tasks was computed fo r analysis may be
h e lp f u l.
46
Scoring o f Respondents
Performance Frequency
o f 4-H Tasks
4-H program assistants were asked to ind icate how often
they perform ce rtain selected 4-H tasks in comparison to a l l tasks
they do.
Each 4-H program assistan t was asked to respond to a
forced choice check l i s t of 2,2 selected 4-H tasks by in d ica tin g t h e i r
frequency o f performance on a fo u r-p o in t scale:
Never, Very Seldom,
Sometimes, or Often,
Using the same performance frequency s c ale , agents were
asked to indicate how frequently 4-H program assistants employed
in the county performed the same 22 tasks.
By placing a number value on each frequency (Never » 1,
Very Seldom c 2, Sometimes = 3, Often = 4) an average frequency
score was computed fo r each task by dividing the to ta l score fo r
the task by the number responding.
The performance frequency scores were grouped in to fiv e
lev els on the basis of the following breakdown o f scores:
Very High
High
Average
Low
Very Low
-
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.00
to
to
to
to
to
4.00
3.49
2.99
2.49
1.99
A score o f 2.00 would indicate the respondents' in te rp re ta tio n
of the frequency level in performing a 4-H task as Low.
The score of
2.00 would correspond with the "Very Seldom" category on the survey
instrument.
A score o f 4.00 would indicate the respondents' i n t e r
p reta tio n o f the frequency level in performing a 4-H task as Very High.
47
The score o f 4.00 would correspond with the "Often," the highest
possible category on the questionnaire.
Design o f the Questionnaire
fo r Other Variables'
In addition to the above mentioned data, the questionnaire
was designed to c o lle c t information from the 4-H program assistants
regarding t h e i r sex, age, length o f employment, basis o f employment,
amount o f formal schooling, previous experiences before employment
as a 4-H program a s s is ta n t, employment a s p ira tio n s , and s a tis fa c tio n s
re lated to employment as a 4-H program as sistan t.
A b r i e f description o f the method used to c o lle c t th is
data may be h e lp fu l.
The demographic data on age, sex, length and
basis o f employment as a 4-H program a s s is ta n t, and amount o f formal
schooling was obtained by checking the appropriate categories on the
survey instrument.
A more descrip tive statement follows fo r data
c o lle c tio n on previous experiences, employment aspirations and s a tis
fa c tio n .
On the survey instrument program assistants were presented
a 11st o f nine statements o f experiences they may have had previous
to being employed as*a 4-H program a s s is ta n t.
The respondents were
asked to mark 2 or 3 o f those experiences th a t they thought have been
most important to them fo r t h e i r success in working in the 4-H program.
The questionnaire was designed to measure the possible
aspirations o f the 4-H program a s s is ta n t.
Assessment o f th is variable
was made by grouping responses made by 4-H program assistants to the
48
question, "What would you l i k e to be doing 5 years from now in
r e la tio n to employment in the 4-H program?"
Responses were coded
by t h e i r f i t t i n g one o f the follow ing seven groupings:
Be an agent;
Same as now; Go back to college; Not be employed in 4-H; Undecided
or no response; Be a 4-H Volunteer; and R etired.
As an assessment of s a tis fa c tio n re la te d to employment
as a 4-H program a s s is ta n t, f iv e questions were asked o f respondents.
The questions were developed from Taylor and Bowers.
3
Assistants
were asked to c i r c l e the number under the answer th a t indicated t h e i r
degree o f s a tis fa c tio n .
■o
0)
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A ll in a l l , how s a t is f ie d are you
with the Extension s t a f f in your
county?
2
3
4
5
A ll in a l l , how s a t is f ie d are you
with your supervisor?
2
3
4
5
A ll in a l l , how s a t is f ie d are you
with your job?
2
3
4
5
A ll in a l l , how s a t is fie d are you
with Extension as an employer
compared to others?
2
3
4
5
A ll in a l l , how s a t is fie d are you
with your pay?
2
3
4
5
3
James C, Taylor and David G, Bowers, Survey of Organizations:
A Machine - Scored Standardized Questionnaire Instrument. (Ann Arbor:
U n iversity o f Michigan, 1972), p. 166.
49
Averages o f these scores were computed fo r each Item with
a score as follows:
Very d is s a tis fie d = 1; Somewhat d is s a tis fie d = 2;
N either s a tis f ie d nor d is s a tis fie d = 3; F a ir ly s a t is f ie d = 4; Very
s a t is f ie d = 5.
Grouping of Counties
Into Three Types
As indicated before the county s itu a tio n in which the role
set o f the paraprofessional and professional work vary which suggests
the hypothesis th a t roles may have developed d if f e r e n t l y from county
to county.
Therefore, the fo rty -th re e counties in the study have been
divided into three groups based on two va riables:
the 4-H program
a s sis tan ts' supervisor (County Extension D ire cto r or Extension 4-H Youth Agent) and the population o f the county.
ploying 4-H program assistants without
Youth Agent are county
The 18 counties em
aresident Extension
type A. Theth irte e n urban counties
4-H (popula
tio n of 100,000 or more) which employ 4-H program assistants and have
a resident Extension 4-H - Youth Agent are county type B.
County
type C represents a group o f twelve non-urban counties th a t employ
4-H program assistants and have a resident Extension 4-H - Youth Agent.
County 4-H Effectiveness
As discussed in Chapter I , County 4-H program effectiveness
is defined as the assessment o f the effectiveness o f the county 4-H
program by administrators o f the Cooperative Extension Service.
Eight
administrators with supervisory re s p o n s ib ilitie s fo r the Cooperative
Extension Service program were asked to ra te the effectiveness o f the
50
county 4-H program o f each o f the 43 counties in th is study in compari
son with other county 4-H programs in the sta te on a 4-p o in t scale:
Superior, Good, F a ir and Poor.
They were asked to determine a ra tin g
fo r each county on the f i v e follow ing categories:
1.
Scope o f youth and ad u lt p a rtic ip a tio n in the
county 4-H program.
2.
Involvement o f volunteer leadership in decision
making.
3.
Support from county government and other support
groups.
4.
Involvement p f p artic ip an ts in meaningful learning
experiences.
5.
Overall ra tin g o f effectiveness o f county 4^H
program.
From the ratin g s o f the administrators f o r each county, a
score was assigned to each ra tin g on the basis o f Superior = 4,
Good = 3, F a ir = 2 , and Poor = 1 .
On each o f the fiv e categories an
average score was computed, and each county was placed in one of
fo ur ratings fo r each category as follows:
Score
4 to 3.5
3.4 to 2.5
2.4 to 1.5
1.4 to 1
Rating
Superior
Good
F a ir
Poor
Role Change o f Agent
As a measure o f ro le change fo r the agent with the addition
o f a 4**H program assistan t to the s t a f f , agents were asked to indicate
from a l i s t o f ten 4-H functions how v i t a l each was to t h e i r ro le in
51
having an e ffe c t iv e county 4-H program; 1) before a 4-H program
assis tan t was hired in the county and 2) now, a f t e r a program
assis tan t has been hired.
Agents indicated how v it a l each function
was to his ro le by checking one o f three forced choice responses:
L i t t l e , Some, or Very.
I f a program assistant had been employed
in the county before the agent, the agent was instructed to complete
only the now section and th a t data was not figured in the ro le change
ca lcu la tio n s.
Scoring o f responses was based on assigned numerical
values:
L i t t l e = 1, Some = 2, Very = 3.
Responses from each agent
f o r each function were summed and averaged to compute an agent ro le
score fo r each function fo r the Before and Now sections.
The d i f f e r
ences between the Before and Now score o f each function is considered
as an ind icatio n o f the agent's ro le change.
Analysis o f 4-H Professional
Leadership Role
Who is providing the county's 4-H "professional leadership"
ro le in counties with 4-H youth workers?
As stated in Chapter I , the county 4-H professional
leadership ro le is defined as th at combination o f tasks th a t is pre
sumed to require advanced t r a in in g , knowledge, and experience to
manage and d ir e c t a county 4-H program.
The county 4-H professional
leadership ro le w i l l be id e n t ifie d by the performance frequency level
o f seven selected 4-H tasks designed to measure this v a ria b le .
52
Seven 4-H tasks were selected by having a panel o f 4-H
administrators id e n t if y from a l i s t o f 4-H tasks those they con
sidered should be performed by 4-H agents.
The seven tasks which
the administrators rated highest were included in f in a l l i s t i n g o f
the 22 tasks in the survey instrument and are being considered as
the professional leadership tasks o f th is study.
The seven tasks by task number are as follows:
5 - Provide leadership to develop long range plans
(2-5 years) f o r county 4-H programs.
8 - Provide leadership to determine resources needed
f o r county 4-H program.
16 - Provide o verall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H
program.
18 - Represent 4-H program to governing boards fo r
determining effectiveness of county program.
19 - Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r
determining effectiveness o f county programs.
20 - Coordinate t o ta l county 4-H program.
21 - Administer to ta l county 4-H program.
These seven tasks w i l l be tested
along with the other
f i f t e e n 4-H tasks considered in th is study by analyzing the
performance
frequency o f a l l the 4-H tasks by the 4-H agents responding 1n the
study.
Summary o f Variables Developed
in the Questionnaire
The variables considered fo r th is study as mentioned above
are:
4-H tasks, major r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s , demographic information of
program as sis tan ts, previous experience, employment as p ira tio n s ,
53
employment s a tis fa c tio n , type o f county, county 4-H program e ffe c tiv e
ness, ro le change o f agent, and professional 4-H leadership ro le .
Testing o f Questionnaire
The agent and youth workers questionnaires were i n i t i a l l y
tested with the 4-H Extension s t a f f in Wisconsin.
Fifteen Extension
4-H youth agents completed the agent questionnaire and made sugges
tions fo r improvement and c l a r i f i c a t i o n by responding to an evalua
tion form.
T h irty 4-H s t a f f assistants employed by the Wisconsin
Extension Service also completed both the questionnaires and the
evaluation forms.
were revised.
As a re s u lt o f suggestions several questions
In a d d itio n , a review o f the data indicated several
minor changes in wording and rearranging o f several questions.
The questionnaires were then tested with three agents and
two former 4-H program assistants in Michigan.
Several more minor
changes were made.
Collection o f Data
The fin a l forms o f the survey instrument (Program
Assistant) were mailed to the 65 employed 4-H program assistants
located in 48 counties in the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service
with a cover l e t t e r from the State 4-H Program D ire cto r and the
author on April 12, 1974.
The agent questionnaire was sent on the
same day with an accompanying cover l e t t e r to an Extension 4-H youth agent in each o f the 29 counties th a t employed 4-H program
assistants and 4-H - youth agents.
In 19 counties without a 4-H
54
agent the questionnaire was se n t.to the County Extension D ire c to r.
A copy o f both questionnaires and the cover l e t t e r appear in the
appendix.
On April 23, 1974, a reminder l e t t e r with a questionnaire
was sent to 4-H program assistants and agents who had not y e t
responded.
A reminder phone c a ll was made to the program assistants
and agents who had not responded a t th a t time.
A ll questionnaires were returned by the program assistants
and the agents.
However, due to lack o f complete ro le se ts, the
data fo r th is study are taken from survey instruments completed by
sixty-tw o 4-H program assis tan ts, eighteen county extension d ire c to rs ,
and tw en ty-five Extension 4-H - youth agents in the Michigan Coopera
tiv e Extension Service.
This accounted fo r a t o t a l o f fo rty -th re e
complete ro le sets o f a supervisory agent and at le a s t one 4-H
program assistan t.
The data collected from the questionnaires were coded and
transferred to computer coding sheets fo r key punching.
Some o f the
data were analyzed by inspection while other data were programmed
into the CDC 6500 computer a t Michigan State U niversity fo r computation
and presentation in Analysis o f Contingency Tables and s t a t i s t i c a l
analysis.
CISSR DATA Analysis System ACT was the major analysis
program used.
The chi-square te s t o f significance was used to compute
the degree o f association between variables a t the .05 level of
significance.
These tables were analyzed to determine the information
and knowledge sought fo r th is study.
55
In th is chapter* basic assumptions and the operational
problem are o u tlin ed.
The procedures used in gathering the data
with explanations fo r analyzing the data was given.
The presentation and analysis o f the data collected are
presented in Chapter IV.
CHAPTER IV
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
The data presented and analyzed in th is chapter are organized
into the following f i v e parts:
Demographic information on 4-H Program
Assistants; Id e n t if ic a tio n o f Assigned Roles o f 4-H Program Assistants;
Id e n tific a tio n o f
4-H Tasks as Performed by 4-H ProgramAssistants by
Expected Roles; Analysis o f
Roles and Role Relationship by S ta ffin g
Patterns; and Correlation o f Related Variables with Frequency o f
Performance o f 4-H Tasks.
Part I
Demographic Information on
4-H Program Assistants
Age o f Program Assistants
Table 1 shows the age as reported by the incumbents o f the
4-H program
the time
assistants employed in the Michigan Extension
o f th is study.
Service at
The la rg e s t group* 40 percent or 25 program
assistan ts, are in the 22-30 age range.
Over 48 percent o f the program
assistants are 30
years old or younger. T h irty percent o f the program
assistants are 41
years old or over.
In the urban counties, 15 program
as sis tan ts, who represent 54 percent o f the to ta l in urban counties,
are 22 to 30 years old.
56
57
Table 1.
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants by Age and Type o f
County in the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, 1974.
Type of County
Without
4-H Agent
N=21
Age
Percent
With 4-H Agent
Urban
N=28
Rural
N=13
Percent
Percent
Total
N
Percent
18-21 years
10
11
0
5
8
22-30 years
24
54
39
25
40
31-40 years
24
17
23
14
22
41-50 years
28
14
23
12
20
51 and over
14
4
15
6
10
Total
10Q
100
100
62
100
Sex o f Program Assistants
A large m a jo rity , 46, or 74 percent o f the program assistants
are female, as Table 2 reports.
In comparing types o f counties, 12, or
92 percent females are employed in rural counties as compared to 61 per
cent in urban counties and 81 percent in counties without 4-H agents.
Length of Employment o f 4-H
Program Assistants'
As Table 3 in d ic a te s , 25, or 41 percent o f the program assistants
have been employed one year or less a t the time o f th is study.
percent have been employed over three years.
Ten, or 16
There seems to be a ra th e r
uniform d is trib u tio n o f the employment experience fo r program assistants
in each o f the county groupings, with program assistants in counties w ith
out 4-H agents having s lig h t ly more experience than the others.
58
Table 2.
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants by Sex and by Type o f
County in the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, 1974.
Type o f County
With 4-H Agent
Without
4-H Agent
N=21
Sex
Percent
Urban
N=28
Rural
N=13
Percent
Percent
Total
N
Percent
Male
19
39
8
16
26
Female
81
61
92
46
74
100
100
100
62
100
Total
Table 3.
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants by Length of Employ
ment with 4-H Youth Programs and Type o f County, Michigan
Cooperative Extension Service, 1974.
Type o f County
Experience
as 4-H
Program
Assistants
With 4-H Agent
Without
4-H Agent
N=21
Urban
N=28
Rural
N=13
Percent
Percent
Percent
Total
N
Percent
Under 6 mos.
10
7
15
6
10
6 mos. to
1 year
24
32
39
19
31
Over 1 year
to 2 years
28
21
23
15
24
Over 2 years
to 3 years
19
21
15
12
19
Over 3 years
19
19
8
10
16
100
100
100
62
100
Total
Schooling o f 4-H Youth Workers
Four, or 6 percent of the program assistants have not graduated
from high school, as reported in Table 4.
Sixteen, or 26 percent have
59
graduated from high school but have not attended co llege.
Three, or
5 percent have attended a vocational or technical school.
Nine, or
15 percent o f the program assistants have received a bachelor's
degree from colleg e, with four others having taken additional courses
a f t e r receiving a degree.
Table 4.
T h irty -n in e percent, or 24 program assistants
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants by Highest Level of
Schooling Completed and Type of County in the Michigan
Cooperative Extension Service, 1974.
Type o f County
Schooling
Without
4-H Agent
N=21
Percent
With 4-H Agent
Urban
N=28
Rural
N=13
Percent
Percent
Total
N
Percent;
" 1" 1 1
Attended high school
but did not graduate
1
9
4
8
4
6
Graduated from high
school
33
18
31
16
26
Attended college but
did not receive
bachelor's degree
33
50
23
24
39
Received bachelor's
degree
10
18
15
9
15
Received bachelor's
degree plus addi
tio n al courses
5
6
8
4
6
Received master's
degree
5
4
0
2
3
Attended a vocational
or technical school
5
0
15
3
5
100
100
100
62
100
Total
1~
60
have attended college but have not received a degree.
14, or 58 percent are employed in urban counties.
Of those 24,
This is 50 percent
of a l l urban program assistants.
Experience Working with Youth
P rio r to Employment
4-H program assistants were asked to indicate experience
they had with youth before being employed as 4-H program assistants.
Table 5 displays t h e i r responses.
Being a 4-H leader and a Sunday
School teacher were the most frequent experiences reported with 30,
or 48 percent of the program assistants having been 4-H leaders and
28, or 45 percent Sunday School teachers.
Table 5.
Experience with Youth Before Employment as Reported by 4-H
Program Assistants in Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service, 1974.
■
• ~
1
Program Assistants
Type o f Experience
N
Percent
4-H Leader
30
48
Sunday School Teacher
28
45
Teacher
11
18
Scout Leader
8
13
No experience with youth
2
3
YMCA Volunteer
2
3
YWCA Volunteer
1
2
1»----------
N=62
Table 6 reports the number o f 4-H program assistants who
have been 4-H leaders in the three county types.
In the rural counties
without 4-H agents and with 4-H agents, over o ne-half of the youth
61
workers have been 4-H leaders; 57 and 77 percent* re sp ec tively .
E ight, or 29 percent, have had 4-H leadership experience as volun
te e r 4-H leaders in the urban counties.
Since the age o f the program
assistants in urban counties is lower, they may not have had thq
opportunity fo r 4-H volunteer leadership.
However, even considering
th is fa c to r , experience in volunteer 4-H leadership d if f e r s very
noticeably between the urban and rural county groups.
Table 6.
4-H Leader Experience P rio r to Employment by Type o f
County as Reported by 4-H Program Assistants in the
Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, 1974.
County Type
Without 4-H Agents
Number o f 4-H Program Assistants
were 4-H
were not
Leaders
4-H Leaders
Percentage 4-H
Leader
Experience
12
9
57
With 4-H Agents Urban
8
20
29
With 4-H Agents Rural
10
3
77
30
32
48
Total
Most Helpful Entry
Level Experience
4-H program assistants were asked to in d ica te from a repre
sentative l i s t which of the experiences they had had previous to employ
ment were the most important in helping them be successful.
displays t h e i r responses by type o f county.
Table 7
"Worked with youth" was
the most frequently marked and was recognized by 29, or 47 percent of
the program assistants as most important.
"Was a 4-H leader" was an
62
experience id e n tifie d as most important f o r success by 19, or 31 per
cent o f the program assistants.
fo r 17 program assistants.
"Worked with groups" was important
"Established 1n the community," and
"Recognized as 'le a d e r 1 in community," were id e n t if ie d by 16 program
assistants as important.
Table 7.
Entry Level Experiences Id e n tifie d as Most Helpful fo r
Success as Reported by Program Assistants by Type o f
County in Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, 1974.
Type of County
Without
4-H Agent
N-21
Experience
Percent
With 4-H Agent
Urban
N=28
Rural
N=13
Percent
Percent
Total
N=62
N
Percent
Worked with youth
57
46
31
29
47
Was a 4-H leader
33
18
54
19
31
Worked with groups
33
29
15
17
27
Established in
community
24
21
38
16
26
Recognized as 'lea d e r'
in community
19
25
38
16
26
Worked with adults
29
21
15
14
23
Managed own time
14
21
38
14
23
Had college tra in in g
10
14
31
10
16
No preconceived experi
ences to block present
performance
10
21
0
8
13
Aspirations o f 4-H
Program Assistants
When 4-H program assistants were asked what they would l ik e to
be doing f i v e years from now in re la tio n to employment in the 4-H program
63
they responded as reported In Table 8.
Fourteen of the 16 program assistants who would l ik e to be
agents, or 88 percent, are employed in urban counties.
One-half of
the program assistants employed in urban counties indicate they would
l i k e to be agents.
F ifte e n out of the 21 4-H program as sis tan ts, or 71 percent,
in counties without a 4-H agent in d ica te they would l ik e to remain
employed in the same way in fiv e years.
This compares to 9 o f 28, or
32 percent in urban counties and 8 o f 13, or 61 percent in rural
counties with 4-H youth agents.
Table 8.
4-H Employment Aspirations Five Years From Now as Id e n tifie d
by Program Assistants by Type o f County in Michigan Coopera
t i v e Extension Service, 1974.
Type o f County
With 4-H Aaent
Response
4-H Agent
N=21
Urban
N=28
Rural
N=13
Percent
Percent
Percent
N
Total
Percent
Same as now
71
32
61
32
52
Be an agent
5
50
8
16
26
Undecided or
no response
9
7
23
7
11
Be 4-H volunteer
5
4
0
2
3
Not be employed
in 4-H
0
7
0
2
3
Reti red
5
0
8
2
3
Go back to college
5
0
0
1
2
100
100
100
62
100
Total
64
S a tis fac tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants
An assessment o f several items re la tin g to the s a tis fa c tio n
with employment was id e n tifie d by 4-H program assistants.
Chapter
I I I explains 1n more d e ta il the method o f analyzing responses.
The
range of s a tis fa c tio n score is from l , very d is s a tis fie d to 5, yery
s a t is fie d .
Table 9 shows the ra tin g on each o f the f iv e items by type
o f county.
A lower ra tin g o f s a tis fa c tio n fo r pay at 3 ,0 3 , is noted
fo r a l l program assistants and esp ecially fo r program assistants in
counties without 4-H agents, with a ra tin g o f 2.62,
The s a tis fa c tio n
with the other 4 items fo r a l l program assistants range from 4.11 fo r
s t a f f in t h e ir county to 4.42 fo r t h e ir supervisor.
Table 9.
Program Assistant S a tis fac tio n Levels by Type of County
in Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, 1974.
S a tis fa c tio n Level
by Type o f County
Items o f S a tis
factio n With:
Without
4-H Agent
With 4-H Agent
Urban
Rural
A ll Program
Assistants
Extension s t a f f in
your county
4.24
3.74
4.56
4.11
Your supervisor
4,48
4.41
4.38
4.42
Your job
4.05
4.22
4.13
4,14
Extension service as
an employer
4.15
4.35
4.56
4.34
Yoyr pay
2,62
3.15
3.38
3.03
The program assistants Id e n tify in g t h e i r s a tis fa c tio n generally
above the f a i r l y s a tis f ie d l e v e l, seems to indicate a group of 4-H
65
program assistants s a tis f ie d with t h e i r employment.
The l it e r a t u r e
suggests th at the paraprofessionals are sometimes placed in a marginal
r o le , which can generate some c o n f lic t and discomfort in t h e i r ro le .
I t appears th a t the 4-H program assistant in a marginal ro le between
the professional and 4-H c lie n t e le is somewhat s a tis fie d with this
role at the cu tting edge o f the 4-H program.
Part I I
Id e n t if ic a tio n o f Assigned Roles
1
of 4-H Program Assistants
As indicated from the review of ro le theory and assumed in
th is study, roles can be defined in a ro le set by id e n tify in g one
role mate's expectation of the other.
Another assumption 1s th at
roles can be id e n t if ie d by the behavior performed by the in d iv id u a l.
For this study, roles o f 4-H program assistants are being
defined in terms o f the major re s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned by t h e i r role
mate, t h e i r supervising agent and also defined in terms o f the tasks
performed by the 4-H program as sis tan t.
This section of the findings
w ill deal with the id e n t if ic a tio n of the expected ro le o f the 4-H
program assistants by the assigned major re s p o n s ib ilitie s as reported
by the supervising agent in the ro le set.
The cooperative extension has ce rtain ro le expectations of
the 4-H program as sis tan t.
To id e n tify the expected ro le o f the
program as sis tan t, supervising agents were asked to ind icate the major
(30% or more o f the t o t a l ) re s p o n s ib ilitie s o f the 4-H program
assistants employed in t h e i r county.
66
Displayed in Table 10 are the assigned major re s p o n s ib ilitie s
o f 4-H program assistants as reported by the 43 supervising agents
with Individual county types.
The counties have been grouped as ex
plained in Chapter I I I on the basis o f the presence or absence o f a
4-H agent and the population o f the county.
The two major responsi
b i l i t i e s o f 4-H program assistants most frequently id e n tif ie d by the
supervising agents were “Provide necessary personal contact with volun
teers in the program," and "Provide more d ire c t contact with people
not involved in 4-H."
Twenty-two, or 51 percent and 18, or 42 percent
o f the agents id e n tifie d the two re s p o n s ib ilitie s resp ectively.
As defined in th is study, both o f these re s p o n s ib ilitie s
indicate a g e n e ra lis t ro le expectation to be performed by the program
assistants as reported by supervising agents.
"Expand 4-H program through special program e f f o r t s , " was
indicated by 17, or 40 percent o f the supervisory agents as a major
re s p o n s ib ility f o r program assistants in t h e i r counties.
"Expand 4-H
program in ce rta in geographic areas of the county," and "Expand 4-H
program in urban areas," were id e n tifie d by 12, or 28 percent and 11,
or 26 percent o f the agents re sp ec tively .
These three above mentioned
re s p o n s ib ilitie s indicate by d e fin itio n o f th is study an expectation
o f the 4-H program assistant to perform a s p e c ia lis t ro le .
Of the 11
agents id e n tify in g , "Expand 4-H in urban areas," seven are 4-H agents
in urban counties.
"Expand 4-H program in a l l geographic areas in the county,"
was id e n tifie d by 16, or 37 percent o f the agents as a major
67
Table 10.
Major R esponsibilities o f 4-H Program Assistants as Assigned
by Supervising Agents by Type o f County in Michigan Coopera
t iv e Extension Service, 1974.
Type o f County
Major
Responsibility
Without 4-H
Agent.
18
County Exten
sion Directors
Urban
Counties
13 4-H
Agents
Total 48
Supervising
Agents
%
N_
%
3
23
6
50
22
51
56
3
23
5
42
18
42
8
44
3
23
6
50
17
40
Expand 4-H program
in a l l geographic
areas in the county
9
50
3
23
4
33
16
37
Expand 4-H program
in c e rta in geographic
areas of the county
4
22
4
31
4
33
12
28
Expand 4-H program
in urban areas
4
22
7
54
0
0
11
26
Coordinate and
carry out the to ta l
county 4-H program
10
56
0
0
0
0
10
23
Assist agent in
coordinating and
carrying out of
county 4-H program
4
22
3
23
2
17
9
21
Assist agent in
carrying out of
ongoing tasks of
the county 4-H
program
2
11
2
15
2
25
7
16
N
%
Provide necessary
personal contact
with 4-H volunteers
13
72
Provide more d ir e c t
contact with people
not involved in 4-H
10
Expand 4-H program
through special
program e ffo rts
N
Rural
Counties
12 4-H
Agents
N_
%
68
re s p o n s ib ility f o r 4-H program assistants in t h e i r county.
Nine o f
the 16 supervisory agents are county extension d irec to rs in counties
without 4-H agents.
Ten, or 23 percent o f supervising agents in d ica te 4-H pro
gram assistants are to "Coordinate and carry out the to ta l county
4-H program."
A ll ten o f those agents are county extension directors
in counties without 4-H agents and as defined by the study they are
expecting an acting 4-H agent ro le to be performed by the 4-H program
assistants in t h e i r county.
"Assist agent in coordination and carrying out county 4-H
program," and "Assist agent in carrying out ongoing tasks o f the
county 4-H program," were id e n t if ie d by 9, or 21 percent and seven,
or 16 percent o f the agents as a major r e s p o n s ib ility o f the program
a s s is ta n t.
These two re s p o n s ib ilitie s in d ic a te an expected ro le as
defined in the study o f an assistan t agent ro le o f the program
assistants.
In counties without 4-H agents, the county extension
directors id e n t if ie d on the average about 1 more major re s p o n s ib ility
fo r the 4-H program assistants than did 4-H agents.
An average of
3.6 re s p o n s ib ilitie s were id e n t if ie d by the county extension directors
as compared to 2.2 by 4-H agents in urban counties and 2.5 in rural
counties.
More re s p o n s ib ilitie s expected by the county extension
directors would seem to indicate th a t 4-H program assistants in
counties w ithout 4-H agents are expected to perform apparently more
roles than program assistants in counties w ith 4-H agents.
69
Summary
In viewing the r e s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned to 4-H program
assistants by the supervising agents, there does appear to be In d ica
tions o f some ro le types emerging.
The 4-H g e n e ra lis t ro le as defined
in th is study was e s p ec ia lly found with 4-H program assistants in
counties without 4-H agents.
The assigned r e s p o n s ib ility o f coordina
ting and carrying out the to ta l county 4-H program was reported by
10 county extension directors and in te rp re te d as an expected acting
agent ro le fo r program assistants in these counties without 4-H agents.
The 4-H s p e c ia lis t roles were expected to be performed by
program assistants in urban counties with special programs and in
c e rta in geographic areas of the county.
One-half o f the 4-H agents
in rural counties and 8, or 44 percent o f the county extension
d irectors in counties without 4-H agents are expecting 4-H program
assistants in t h e i r counties to perform a 4-H s p e c ia lis t ro le with
special program e f f o r t s .
The assistant agent ro le was found a t the le a s t frequent
rate with assigned re s p o n s ib ilitie s by supervising agents.
Less than
one-fourth of the agents ind icated , by reported major r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s ,
an expected ro le o f the assis tan t agent ro le in t h e i r county.
Part I I I
I d e n t if ic a t io n o f 4-H Tasks as Performed by
4-H Program Assistants by Expected Roles
The in s t it u t io n has assigned 4-H program assistants various
re s p o n s ib ilitie s with expected ro le s .
What tasks do 4-H program
70
assistants perform who have been assigned the re s p o n s ib ilitie s and
roles o f 4-H s p e c ia lis t , 4-H acting agent, 4-H g e n e ra lis t and 4-H
assistant agent?
follows:
Data to analyze th is question were computed as
The assigned re s p o n s ib ilitie s by the supervising agents
fo r each 4-H program assistan t were grouped in to expected ro le types
as described in Chapter I I I ,
The performance frequency o f 4-H tasks
by the 4-H program assistants were computed by c a lcu la tin g the per
formance frequency o f tasks o f program assistants who were assigned
the r e s p o n s ib ility .
The frequency scores f o r each appropriate
re s p o n s ib ility were combined fo r each ro le type as explained in a
previous section.
In Table 11 are displayed in rank order by ro le type the
performance frequency score and id e n tify in g number fo r each o f the
22 4-H tasks as reported performed by the 4-H program as sistan t,
Chapter I I I describes the procedure o f computing performance frequency
scores which has a range o f 1 to 4 , with 4 being highest.
In viewing the data in Table 11 there appears to be 4-H
tasks which are reported being performed a t d if f e r e n t frequency
levels with c e rta in expected ro les .
4-H program assistants assigned
the acting 4-H agent ro le by supervising agents in d ica te they are
performing task 20, "Coordinate to ta l county 4-H program" a t the
frequency level o f "o ften ," with a frequency score of 4.00 which is
the highest ranked task fo r the acting agent ro le .
In co n trast, the
ranking o f task 20 fo r the s p e c ia lis t ro le is nineteenth, assistant
agent r o le , tw e n tie th , and the g en eralis t r o le , eleventh.
Task 16,
71
Table 11.
Rank Order o f Performance Frequency Scores (Range is 1-4)
o f 4-H Tasks by Role Type* as Reported Performed by S ix ty two 4-H Program Assistants in Michigan Cooperative Extension
S ervice, 1974.
Role Type
Ranking
S p e c ia lis t
Assistant Agent
Acting Agent
G eneralist
Task
No. Score
Task
No.
Score
Task
No.
Score
Task
No, Score
1st
2
3.59
17
3.45
20
4.00
2
3.55
2
3
3.49
2
3.36
14
3,91
15
3.51
3
10
3.44
14
3.30
15
3.82
3
3.43
4
1
3.26
3
3.25
17
3.73
14
3.38
5
11
3.20
15
3.16
16
3.64
1
3.34
6
14
3.16
1
3.14
21
3.64
10
3.34
7
7
3.10
7
3.11
1
3.64
17
3.13
8
6
3.04
10
3.10
2
3.60
22
3.12
9
8
3.04
6
3.09
3
3.55
16
3.05
10
15
3.00
11
3.00
10
3.50
11
3.02
11
17
2.99
22
2.87
22
3.38
20
2.98
12
9
2.95
8
2.70
7
3.36
7
2.96
13
12
2.95
12
2.59
19
3.36
8
2.94
14
13
2.95
19
2.50
8
3.18
12
2.87
15
19
2.66
13
2.49
9
3.18
18
2.85
16
22
2.66
4
2.48
5
3.10
6
2.81
17
4
2.65
5
2.44
12
3.09
9
2.68
18
5
2.64
9
2.41
6
3.00
19
2,68
19
20
2.55
16
2.41
18
2.90
13
2.57
20
16
2.51
20
2.35
11
2.84
21
2.53
21
18
2.44
18
2.21
4
2.55
5
2.47
22
21
2.12
21
2.12
13
1.91
4
2.38
*Role type is id e n t if ie d by the assigned r e s p o n s ib ilitie s by the
Program A ssista n t's Supervising Agent.
72
"Provide overall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program," has a ranking
of f i f t h fo r the acting agent ro le as compared to tw e n tie th , nineteenth,
and nineth fo r the s p e c ia lis t , assistant and g e n e ra lis t roles re
spectively.
Task 21, "Administer the to ta l county 4-H program," has
a ranking o f sixth fo r the acting agent ro le as compared with
twenty-second, or l a s t , fo r the s p e c ia lis t and assis tan t ro le and
twentieth fo r the g en eralis t ro le .
Task 13, "Work in ce rta in geo
graphical areas o f the county ra th e r than t o ta l county," was ranked
lowest by 4-H program assistants assigned the acting agent ro le with
a performance frequency score o f 1.91.
The ranking f o r task 13 fo r
s p e c ia lis t , assistant and g e n e ra lis t roles were fourteenth, f if te e n t h
and nineteenth re sp ec tively .
An additional observation o f the acting
agent ro le is th a t 4-H program assistants are generally performing
the 4-H tasks at a higher frequency performance level than program
assistants in other roles.
Tasks performed by 4-H program assistants assigned the
s p e c ia lis t ro le were a t somewhat d if f e r e n t frequency lev els and
rankings than with other ro le s , however, not to the degree o f con
t r a s t as the acting agent ro le tasks.
Task 11, "Use s p e c ific programs
to introduce 4-H," was ranked f i f t h by program assistants in the
s p e c ia lis t ro le as compared with twentieth fo r the acting agent role
and tenth f o r both the assistant and g e n e ra lis t ro le s .
Task 10,
"Promote 4-H programs in low income areas," was ranked th ir d 1n the
s p e c ia lis t ro le as compared w ith te n th , eighth and six th fo r the
acting agent, assistant and g e n e ra lis t roles re sp ec tively .
Task 17,
73
"Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council and committees," is
being performed a t a lower frequency l e v e l, eleventh, by program
assistants in the s p e c ia lis t ro le as compared with f i r s t , fourth
and seventh fo r a s s is ta n t, acting agent and g en eralis t resp ectively.
Task 15, "Work in a l l geographic areas o f the county," was also
ranked lower in the s p e c ia lis t ro le a t tenth compared with second,
th ir d and f i f t h fo r g e n e r a lis t, acting agent and assistant re sp ec tively .
Comparing the performance frequency score ranking o f tasks
in the assistant agent r o le , indicates one task th a t seems to d if f e r e n
t i a t e from the others.
Task 17, "Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H
council and committees," is ranked f i r s t by the 4-H program assistants
assigned the assistant agent ro le which compares to a ranking of
eleventh, seventh and fourth fo r s p e c ia lis t , g e n e ra lis t and acting
agent roles re sp ectively.
There does not seem to be any 4-H tasks as i d e n t if ie d in
th is study which d if f e r e n t i a t e the ro le o f g e n e ra lis t from the other
three ro le s .
Task 2 , "Recruit new 4-H leaders," 3, "Organize new
4-H clubs" and 1, " V i s i t 4-H leaders 1n t h e i r homes," are ranked in
the top fiv e tasks by the 4-H program assistants assigned the g en eralis t
ro le .
These three tasks which appear to be frequently performed by
the program assistants ind icate a close working o rie n ta tio n with
c lie n t e le which v/as a d if f e r e n t ia t in g dimension in the d e f in itio n of
the 4-H g en eralis t ro le .
Summary
There does appear to be a co rrela tio n between the assigned
re s p o n s ib ilitie s and expected roles o f the 4-H program assistants by
74
supervising agents and the frequency o f performing the 4-H tasks by
4-H program assistan ts.
Most noticeable c o rre la tio n was found with
the acting agent ro le and 4-H tasks 20, 16, 21, and 13.
Tasks 20,
16 and 21 were being performed as reported by the program assistants
assigned the acting agent r o le , a t a much higher performance frequency
level than 4-H program assistants assigned the s p e c i a l i s t , assistant
or g e n e ra lis t ro le .
Task 13 was being performed a t a lower frequency
level by program assistants in the acting agent r o le .
Program assistants assigned the s p e c ia lis t ro le ranked
tasks 10 and 11 a t a higher frequency lev el ranking than program
assistants in the other three ro le s .
The program assistants in the
s p e c ia lis t ro le were performing Tasks 17 and 15 a t a lower frequency
level than the program assistants in the other three ro le s .
Program
assistants assigned the assistant agent ro le ranked Task 17 a t a
higher frequency level ranking than the other program assistants in
the other three ro le s .
The contrast o f d iffe re n c e f o r the tasks with
the s p e c ia lis t ro le and the assis tan t ro le were not as great when
compared with the acting agent ro le .
From the data obtained, none o f the frequency performance
rankings o f 4-H tasks fo r the g e n e ra lis t ro le appeared to d if f e r e n t i a t e
from other ro le s .
There appeared to be generally overlapping o f roles
expected to be performed by the program assistants as id e n t if ie d by
supervising agents.
Also the tasks performed in d ica te an overlap of
roles performed by 4-H program as sis tan ts.
The acting 4-H ro le seems
75
to be the most c le a r ly i d e n t if ie d ro le o f the fo u r.
Part IV
Analysis o f Roles and Role Relationships
by S ta ffin g Patterns
The three basic ideas which the review o f ro le theory
suggest is th a t in d ivid u als :
(1) in social location s; (2) behave;
(3) with reference to expectations.
This section w i l l focus on the
three types o f counties to analyze the expectation o f the program
as sis tan ts, the performance o f 4-H tasks by program assistants and
t h e i r supervising agent, and the ro le re la tio n s h ip between the
program assistant and the supervising agent.
Urban Counties with 4-H Agents
Thirteen counties with a population range from approxi
mately 120,000 to 2,700,000 people and with 4-H program assistants
and 4-H agents employed, make up the urban county type group fo r
th is study.
Twenty-eight 4-H program assistants were employed work
ing with the 4-H program in the 13 counties at the time o f the study.
For the purpose o f th is study, the 4-H agent in the county
was id e n t if ie d as the program a s s is ta n t's ro le mate and supervising
agent.
In eleven counties where there was only one 4-H agent employed,
th a t person was the respondent.
In the two counties employing more
than one 4-H agent, the program a s s is ta n t's supervising agent was
id e n t if ie d as the 4-H agent providing county 4-H coordinating leader
ship.
The 4-H a c t i v i t i e s in urban counties gen erally involve youth
and adults in both urban and ru ra l areas.
76
Related Variables
Sex and Age o f Program Assistants
The d is tr ib u tio n o f the 4-H program assistants employed
in urban counties by t h e i r age and sex are displayed in Table 12.
Seventeen, o r 61 percent o f the program assistants employed in the
urban counties are women.
Nine, or 53 percent o f the women i d e n t i f i e d
t h e i r age between the range o f 22 to 30 years old.
Three, or 18 per
cent o f the women reported t h e i r age between the range o f 31 to 40
with four or 24 percent reported as between the ages o f 41 to 50.
The other women in the urban counties indicated t h e i r age as between
18 and 21 years old.
Eleven, or 39 percent o f the program assistants employed
in the urban counties were men.
Of these eleven, s i x , or 55 percent
reported being in the age range of 22 to 30 years o ld .
Two, or 18
percent reported in the age range o f 18 to 21 and 31 to 40 years old
re sp ec tively .
One, or nine percent o f the men were over 51 years old.
I t appears from the data the program assistants employed
in the urban counties are a younger s t a f f with 18 of the 28 program
assistan ts, or 64 percent, 30 years old or less.
Another fin d in g of
in te re s t is the la rg e r number o f men employed in the urban counties
with 11, or 39 percent as compared with program assistants employed
in the other county types.
77
Table 12.
D is trib u tio n o f 4-H Program Assistants Employed in
Urban Counties by Age and Sex in the Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service, 1974.
Sex
MALE
AGE
FEMALE
TOTAL
N
%
N
%
N
18-21 years old
2
1
1
4
3
11
22-30 years old
6
21
9
32
15
53
31-40 years old
2
7
3
11
5
18
41-50 years old
0
0
4
14
4
14
51 years old & over
1
4
0
0
1
4
11
39
17
61
28
100
TOTAL
%
Length o f Employment
Length o f employment data in d ic a te th a t eleven, or 39 per
cent o f program assistants in the urban counties were employed one
year or less a t the time o f th is study.
Twelve, or 43 percent were
employed f o r over one year and under three years.
F iv e , or 19 per
cent were employed f o r over three years.
Formal Schooling
A ra th e r high percentage o f the program assistants employed
in urban counties had college experience a t the time o f the study.
Twenty-two or 79 percent o f the 28 program assistants reported having
attended college with seven o f these 21 receiving a bachelor's degree
and one receiving a master's degree.
college but had not received a degree.
The other fourteen had attended
Five program assistants had
graduated from high school and one had not.
78
Previous Employment Experience
Thirteen or 46 percent o f the program assistants employed
in urban counties reported th a t working with youth was most helpful
before being employed as a 4-H program assistan t in t h e i r experience
as a 4-H program a s s is ta n t.
E ig h t, o r 29 percent reported working
with groups as a most help entry lev el experience.
Only f i v e of the
28, or 18 percent o f the program assistants reported volunteer 4-H
leader experience as being most h e lp fu l.
Employment Aspirations
When 4-H program assistants in urban counties were asked
what they would l ik e to be doing f iv e years from now in r e la tio n to
employment in the 4-H program, o ne-half o f them indicated they would
l ik e to be employed in a position s im ila r to a 4-H agent.
Nine, or
32 percent indicated they would lik e to be employed s im ila r to t h e i r
present employment as a 4-H program as sis tan t.
Two, or seven percent
indicated they would not want to be employed in 4-H.
The large
number o f program assistants in d ica tin g an in te re s t in becoming a
4-H agent is s ig n if ic a n t.
This find in g relates to the higher per
centage, 79 percent, o f program assistants in urban counties who
have attended college.
Id e n t if ic a t io n o f Advisor
When 4-H program assistants in urban counties were asked
to ind icate with as many responses as appropriate who they go to fo r
help when they are not sure how to handle a problem, 25, or 86 percent
79
indicated they go to the 4-H agent in the county.
Sixteen, or 57
percent reported going to the county extension d ir e c to r , as did the
same number reported going to other 4-H program assistants fo r
advice.
This finding seems to support the notion th a t fo r 86 percent
of the program assistants in urban counties, the 4-H agent is viewed
as a helpful ro le mate in the ro le se t.
I t also indicates th a t the
county extension d irec to rs and other program assistants in the
county are a s ig n if ic a n t others fo r over o ne -h a lf o f the program
assistants.
Role Expectation
Analyzing the ro le expectations by the i n s t it u t io n f o r the
program assistants employed in the urban counties was studied by
Id e n tify in g the re s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned to the 4-H program assistan ts.
The th irte e n 4-H agents have id e n t i f i e d a t o ta l o f 28 major responsi
b i l i t i e s fo r the program assistants in t h e i r th irte e n counties.
The
most frequent ro le as indicated by the r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s , appears to
be a s p e c ia lis t ro le assigned to the 4-H program a s sis tan t.
In
Table 13 are lis t e d the major re s p o n s ib ilitie s o f 4-H program
assistants as Id e n t if ie d by 4-H agents in urban counties.
In the urban counties seven, or 54 percent o f the 4-H agents
have indicated a ro le expectation of program assistants to expand the
4-H program in urban areas.
The second most frequent r e s p o n s ib ilitie s
i d e n tif ie d by 4, or 31 percent o f 4-H agents in urban counties was
expanded 4-H program in c e rta in geographic areas o f the county.
o f these re s p o n s ib ilitie s in d ic a te an expectation o f these 4-H
Both
80
Table 13.
Major R esponsibilities o f 4-H Program Assistants
Assigned by the Supervising Agents in Urban Counties
with 4-H Agents in Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service, 1974.
Number Id e n tifie d by
4-H Agents
N=l3
Major Responsibility
N
Expand 4-H program in urban areas
7
54
Expand 4-H program in ce rtain
geographic areas of the county
4
31
Provide necessary personal
contact with 4-H volunteers
3
23
Provide more d ire c t contact
with people not involved in
4-H
3
23
Expand 4-H program through
special program e ffo r ts
3
23
Expand 4-H program in a l l
geographic areas in the
county
3
23
Assist agent in coordination
and carrying out county 4-H
program
3
23
Assist agent in carrying out
o f ongoing tasks o f the
county 4-H program
2
15
program assistants to perform a 4-H s p e c ia lis t ro le .
Also can be noticed
%
a rather uniform d is trib u tio n o f major re s p o n s ib ilitie s id e n t if ie d in the
urban counties.
This ra th e r uniform ity of re s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned by
4-H agents o f 4-H program assistants in urban areas may ind icate more
diverse ro le expectation o f the program assistants employed.
81
Program A ssistants1 Performance
o f 4-HTasks^
As indicated e a r l i e r , one o f the assumptions made in th is
study was th a t ro le can be defined by the i d e n t if ie d behavior o f an
incumbent.
The method used to id e n t if y behavior o f 4-H program
assistants in this study has been to c o lle c t performance frequency
responses on 22 representative 4-H tasks normally performed by some
or a l l 4-H s t a f f in a county 4-H program.
In ad d itio n , an analysis o f the dynamics In the ro le set
of 4-H program assistants and 4-H agents in urban counties was made
by studying the performance frequency levels o f 4-H tasks by the 4-H
program assistants as well as the supervisory agent.
This was done
by comparing the s e lf-re p o rte d frequency levels o f each, as well as
a comparison o f the i d e n t if ic a t io n of the performance frequency o f
4-H tasks o f the ro le mate.
As explained in Chapter I I I ,
the range o f scores fo r
ta?ks
performed is 1 to 4, with 4 being highest.
To aid in communieating the frequency a t which
the various
4-H tasks were performed by respondents, the performance frequency
scores were grouped in to f i v e levels o f frequency on the basis o f the
following breakdown o f scores:
Very High High
Average
Low
Very Low
-
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.00
to
to
to
to
to
4.00
3.49
2.99
2.49
1.99
A performance frequency score o f 4,00 would correspond with
the "often" and highest category on the questionnaire and would be
82
described with the term Very High.
Listed below are the 22 4-H tasks grouped by the performance
frequency levels with the performance frequency score as s e l f reported
as being performed by program assistants in urban counties.
Very High
3.61
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
High
3.43
3.39
3.21
3.14
3.04
3.00
3.00
3.00
Organize new 4-H Clubs.
Promote 4-H programs in low income areas.
V i s i t 4-H leaders In t h e i r homes.
Conduct tra in in g f o r 4-H leaders.
Determine tra in in g needs f o r 4-H leaders.
Provide leadership to determine resources needed
f o r county 4-H program.
Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
Make physical arrangements f o r major county
4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
Average
2.96
2.82
2.82
2.82
2.73
2.71
2.71
2.67
2.41
2.30
2.26
2.11
Work in c e rta in geographic areas o f the county
ra th e r than to ta l county.
Work with other youth serving agencies to
develop new programs.
Develop new programs in s p e c ific 4-H p ro je c t area.
Work in a l l geographic areas of the county.
Free agent time fo r new program by carrying out
t r a d it io n a l routine in 4-H program.
Lead group o f 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer
leader,
Provide leadership to develop long range plans
f o r county 4-H programs.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council and
comni t t e e s .
Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r
determining effectiveness o f county program.
Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
Coordinate t o ta l county 4-H program.
Provide o v e ra ll d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program.
Very Low
1.70
Administer t o ta l county 4-H program.
83
Five o f the six highest ranked 4-H tasks as reported being
performed by program assistants are re lated to working with the
primary c lie n t e le o f the 4-H program, the 4-H leader.
Program
assistants in the urban counties ind icate they are promoting 4-H
programs in low income areas at the performance frequency level o f
High.
Seventeen, or 61 percent of the 28 program assistants responded
they were performing th is task “o fte n ," in d ica tin g t h e i r performance
o f an urban s p e c ia lis t ro le .
When comparing the 4-H agents reporting o f the performance
frequency level o f the same 4-H tasks with the program assis tan ts'
s e l f rep o rtin g , a chi-square analysis found no s ig n ific a n t differences
at the .05 confidence level fo r any o f the twenty-two 4-H tasks as
being id e n t if ie d by the two groups ind icatin g a rather congruent
in te rp re ta tio n by the 4-H agents and program assis tan ts.
A closer
examination o f the data fo r the task, "Coordinate the to ta l county
4-H program," reveals th a t none o f the th ir te e n 4-H agents reported
the program assistants in urban counties performing the "coordinating"
task at "often" w hile f i v e , or 19 percent o f the program assistants
indicated t h e i r performance as "ofte n ".
This finding could in d ica te
possible ro le c o n f li c t between some 4-H program assistants in urban
counties and 4-H agents in the program a s s is ta n ts ' involvement in
coordinating the 4-H program.
With the high percentage o f program
assistants in d ic a tin g a desire to become 4-H agents, some may be t r y
ing to perform th is agent task.
84
Agent Performance o f 4-H Tasks
Listed below are the 4-H agents s e lf-r e p o rtin g o f 21 tasks.
Task 22, "Free agent time f o r new programs..." was not rated by agents.
Very High
4.00
4.00
4.00
3.92
3.92
3.85
3.85
3.69
3.69
3.58
Provide overall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program.
Coordinate to ta l county 4-H program.
Administer to ta l county 4-H program.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council and
committees.
Work in a l l geographic areas o f the county.
Provide leadership to develop long range plans fo r
county 4-H programs.
Provide leadership to determine resources needed
fo r county 4-H programs.
Determine tra in in g needs o f 4-H leaders,
Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r
determining effectiveness o f county program.
High
3.38
3.31
3.23
3.15
3.08
3.08
3.00
3.00
Conduct tra in in g fo r 4-H leaders.
Develop new programs in s p e c ific 4-H p ro je ct area.
Promote 4-H programs in low incomeareas.
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
V i s i t 4-H leaders in t h e i r homes.
Organize new 4-H clubs.
Work with other youth serving agencies to
develop new programs
Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
Average
2.77
Make physical arrangements fo r major county
4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
2.08
Work in c e rta in geographic areas o f the county
ra th e r than t o t a l county.
Lead group o f 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer
leader.
1.54
4-H agents in urban counties reported performing the group
o f 4-H tasks at a much higher ra te generally than 4-H program assistants.
85
Included in the task performed a t the Very High level by agents are
the seven professional 4-H leadership tasks.
When comparing the program assistants reporting o f the
performance level o f the 4-H tasks by 4-H agents w ith the 4-H agents
s e l f re p o rtin g , a chi square analysis found three 4-H tasks which were
reported d if f e r e n t l y by the two groups.
The three tasks with the
calculated chi-square s t a t i s t i c a l value which is s ig n ific a n t a t t;he
p ro b a b ility of less than .05 are l i s t e d as follow s:
"Make physical
arrangements f o r major county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s , " 9 .0 0; "Develop new
programs in s p e c ific 4-H p ro je c t area," 5.30; and "Determine t r a i n
ing needs o f 4-H leaders," 4.2 5 .
Program assistants rated the f i r s t
mentioned tasks above as being performed by agents a t a higher f r e
quency than did 4-H agents and the other two tasks as lower than
4-H agents.
A closer examination o f the data regarding the physical
arrangement task, indicate th a t 17, or 63 percent o f the program
assistants responding indicated 4-H agents were performing the task
a t "often" as compared with th re e , or 23 percent o f the agents.
Possibly this task may not be considered a "proper" task f o r agents
to perform and the agents indicated a lower frequency level o f per
formance,
However, t h e i r ro le mate may have reported on the behavior
observed and indicated a performance which was a t a higher le v e l.
Role Relationship on 4-H Tasks
To compare the re la tio n s h ip between ro le mates in the ro le
set in regards to performing the twenty-one 4-H tasks, the following
procedure was developed.
86
Each task was designated in one o f four categories on the
basis o f the performance level o f the tasks by both the 4-H program
assistants and the supervisory
4-H agent, and the d iffe ren c e between
the performance frequency score o f
the agent and programassistan ts.
When there was a d ifference between the two performance scores on a
task o f 1.00 or more and a t le a s t one o f the scores was above 3 .0 0 ,
High, the task was designated e it h e r as an Agent Task or Program
Assistant Task depending on which had the higher scoret
I f the
d ifferen ce between the agent and program assistants score was less
than 1.00 and one score was 3.00 or above, the task was labeled a
Shared Task.
A task not performed by the program assistan t or agent
a t a level o f 3.00 or above was labeled an Infrequent Task.
Using the above system, the tasks, as s e lf-re p o rte d by
4-H agents and program assistants in urban counties, were labeled
and in rank order by highest score as follows:
Ageht Tasks
-
Provide o verall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program.
Coordinate t o ta l county 4-H program.
Administer to ta l county 4-H program.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council and committees.
Work in a l l geographic areas of the county.
Provide leadership to develop long range plans fo r
county 4-H programs.
- Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
- Plan evaluation methods and procedures f o r determining
effectiveness o f county program.
Program Assistant Tasks
None
Shared Tasks
- Provide leadership to determine resources needed fo r
county 4-H program.
- Determine tra in in g needs o f 4-H leaders.
87
-
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
Organize new 4-H clubs.
Conduct tra in in g fo r 4-H leaders.
Promote 4-H program in low income areas.
Develop new program in s p e c ific 4-H p ro ject areas.
V i s i t 4-H leaders in t h e i r homes.
Work with other youth serving agencies to develop
new programs.
- Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
- Make physical arrangements f o r major county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
Infrequent
- Lead group o f 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer leader.
- Work in c e rta in geographic area s.o f the county ra th e r
than to ta l county.
As can be observed by the lis tin g s above, the 4-H agents
have been id e n t if ie d as performing eig ht o f the 21 tasks a t a f r e
quency a t lea st one level o f performance (1 .0 0 ) higher than 4-H
program assistants.
This finding would seem to in d ica te th a t 4-H
agents are performing the major 4-H roles between the 4-H agent and
4-H program assistants in urban county 4-H programs.
No 4-H tasks
were i d e n t if ie d as being performed by the program assistan t in urban
counties a t one level o f performance higher than 4-H agents.
Eleven 4-H tasks were i d e n t if ie d as being shared by the
4-H agents and program assistan ts.
These shared tasks id e n t if y an
area fo r p o te n tial opportunity fo r ro le development.
These id e n t i
fie d shared tasks also a£§ an area of possible ro le c o n f li c t between
.
y
the ro le mates and suggest an area fo r the development o f cle a r
understandings and acceptance o f each other's ro le in the performance
o f these tasks.
88
Role Change o f the 4-H Agent
As a measure o f ro le change fo r the agent with the addition
o f a 4-H program assistan t to the s t a f f , agents were asked to in d ica te
from a l i s t o f ten 4-H functions how v i t a l each was to t h e i r ro le 1n
having an e ff e c t iv e county 4-H program: 1) before a 4-H program
assistant was h ired in the county, and 2) now, a f t e r a program assistan t
has been h ire d .
Agents indicated how v i t a l each function was to his
ro le by checking one o f three forced choice responses:
or Very.
L i t t l e , Some,
More d e ta ils of methodology are explained in Chapter I I I .
The nine 4-H agents who were employed in urban counties
a t the time program assistants were h ire d , indicated t h e i r roles had
changed as measured by the s e lf-re p o rte d importance on the ten selected
4-H functions.
The function which changed most as reported by the 4-H
agents was the function "Manage, develop and d ir e c t the work of
employees."
On a scale o f 1 to 3, with 3 as the highest, 4-H agents
indicated the importance of th is function "Now" as 2.56 as compared
to 1.44 before the f i r s t program as sis tan t was hired in the county.
4-H agents in urban counties reported less importance to
the function "Conduct educational a c t i v i t i e s fo r p a rtic ip a n ts In the
4-H program," which was indicated by an agent ro le score o f 2.78
"Before", and 2.22 "Now".
The other e ig h t 4-H functions were reported
with less than a .5 d iffe re n c e , in d ica tin g l i t t l e or no change f o r the
other functions by the 4-H agents in urban counties as a group.
89
Rural Counties with 4-H Agents
Twelve counties with 12 resident 4-H agents employing
t h ir te e n 4-H program assistants have been grouped together to be
considered fo r analysis in rural counties section.
These twelve
counties are located in the lower peninsula o f Michigan with a range
of county population o f approximately 20,000 to 69,000,
One 4-H
agent resides in each of the twelve counties and th a t person was
i d e n t if ie d as the supervising agent in th is study.
Related Variables
Length o f Employment
Responses from the program assistants in these ru ral
counties in d ic a te th a t seven, or 54 percent o f the 13 program
assistants have been employed one year or less a t the time o f the
study.
F ive, or 38 percent were employed over one year and under
three years.
One, or 8 percent has been employed over three years.
Formal Schooling
Four, or 31 percent o f the program assistants have in d i
cated graduating from high school as t h e i r highest level o f formal
schooling a t the time o f th is study.
S ix , or 46 percent o f the
program assistants reported attending college w ith three receiving
a bachelor’ s degree.
Two, or 15 percent o f the program assistants
indicated attending a vocational or technical school.
a ssistan t reported not graduating from high school.
One program
90
Age and Sex
Twelve o f the th irte e n program assistants employed in the
rural counties with 4-H agents were women a t the time o f the study.
The only man employed was in the age range o f 22 to 30 years o ld .
One-third o f the women employed were in the age range o f 22 to 30.
One-fourth o f the women employed were between the ages o f 31-40,
and an ad d itio nal one-fourth between the ages o f 41-50.
over 51 years old.
Two were
T h irty -n in e percent o f the program assistants
are 30 years old or younger.
Host Helpful Previous Experience
Ten o f the th irte e n 4-H program as sis ta n ts , or 77 percent
reported having been a 4-H leader before being employed as 4-H pro
gram a s s is ta n t.
When program assistants in these rural counties
were asked what were t h e ir most helpful experiences p r io r to employ
ment as a 4-H program a s s is ta n t, seven, or 54 percent reported t h e i r
experience as a 4-H leader.
The experiences, "Established in the
community," "Recognized as a leader in the community," and "Managed
own tim e," were each reported as helpful by f i v e , or 38 percent of
the program assistants re sp ec tively .
"Worked with youth" was reported
by 31 percent o f program assistants as most h e lp fu l.
Employment Aspirations
When 4-H program assistants 1n these rural counties were
asked what they would l i k e to be doing f i v e years from now in r e la tio n
to employment in the 4-H program, e ig h t, or 61 percent reported they
91
would l ik e to be employed s im ila r to t h e i r present employment as a
4-H program a s s is ta n t.
not respond.
Three, or 23 percent were undecided or did
One program as sis tan t indicated a desire to be a 4-H
agent and one other program as sis tan t indicated he would be r e t ir e d .
The above data on aspirations o f the 4-H program assistants in these
rural counties in d ica te an apparent d iffe ren c e in the aspiratiops
of 4-H program assistants with urban counties, e s p e c ia lly in regards
to becoming a 4-H agent.
One o f th ir te e n rural program assistants
indicated th a t in t e r e s t , as compared to fourteen o f tw enty-eight
employed in urban counties reporting an in te r e s t in becoming a 4-H
agent.
I d e n t if ic a t io n o f Advisor
When 4-H program assistants in these ru ra l counties were
asked to in d ic a te , with as many responses as ap p ro p ria te, who they
go t o f o r h e l p with a problem, a l l th ir te e n indicated going to the
4-H agent in the county.
Eleven, or 85 percent o f the program
assistants also indicated going to the county extension d ir e c to r .
The extension home economist was a person f i v e , or 38 percent o f the
program assistants indicated going to .
Three, or 23 percent o f the
program assistants indicated going to other program as sis tan ts.
These findings in d ica te th a t fo r the th ir te e n program assistants in
these counties, the 4-H agent is id e n t i f i e d as a person f o r help and
gives support to the notion th a t the 4-H agent is a close ro le mate
in the ro le s e t.
The data also indicates th a t the county extension
d ire c to r is looked upon by a large m a jo rity o f the program assistants
92
as a helpful person in the ro le set.
Role Expectation
What ro le expectations does the i n s t it u t io n have fo r the
th ir te e n 4-H program assistants in the twelve rural counties with
4-H agents?
Analysis o f ro le expectation o f program assistant by
the i n s t it u t io n was done by id e n tify in g the assigned re s p o n s ib ility
o f the 4-H program as sis tan t by the representative o f the i n s t i t u t i o n ,
the supervising agent.
The 4-H agent, as the i n s t it u t io n a l repre
se n tative in the ro le s e t, assigned re s p o n s ib ilitie s as reported in
Table 14.
Table 14.
Major R esp o n s ib ilitie s o f 4-H Program Assistants as
Assigned by the Supervising Agents in Rural Counties
with 4-H Agents in Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service, 1974.
Number Id e n t if ie d b.y
4-H Agents
N=12
Major R esponsibility
N
%
Provide necessary personal contact
with volunteers in the 4-H program
6
50
Expand 4-H program through special
program e ffo r ts
6
50
Provide more d ir e c t contact with
people not involved in 4-H
5
42
Expand 4-H program in a l l geographic
areas in the county
4
33
Expand 4-H program in c e rta in geo
graphic areas o f the county
4
33
Assist agent in carrying out ongoing
tasks o f county 4-H program
2
17
Assist agent in coordination and
carrying out county 4-H program
2
17
93
In rural counties s ix , or 50 percent of 4-H agents have
indicated th a t 4-H program assistants in t h e i r counties are to pro
vide necessary contact with volunteers.
"Expand the 4-H program
through special program e f f o r t , " was reported a major re s p o n s ib ility
f o r program assistants in six o f the counties.
Five or 42 percent
are expected to provide more d ir e c t contact with people not involved
in 4-H.
Four, or 33 percent of 4-H agents indicated the following
two re s p o n s ib ilitie s :
"Expand 4-H program in a l l geographic areas
in the county," and "Expand 4-H program in ce rtain geographic areas
o f the county,"
The twelve 4-H agents in these counties id e n t if ie d a to ta l
o f 29 major re s p o n s ib ilitie s f o r the 4-H program assistant employed
in t h e ir counties which is an average o f 2.5 major re s p o n s ib ilitie s
per agent.
The major re s p o n s ib ilitie s as reported by six 4-H agents
ind icate an expected g e n e ra lis t ro le to be performed by the 4-H
program assistants in those counties.
Program assistants employed
in counties with the six 4-H agents who have id e n t if ie d the responsi
b i l i t y to expand 4-H programs through special program e f f o r t s are
expected to perform
With some
a program s p e c ia lis t ro le .
of these expectations o f the i n s t it u t io n onthe
*
4-H program assis tan ts, the nfext question is what roles are they per
forming?
To answer th is question we w i l l look a t some o f the repre
s en tative
4-H tasks 4-H program assistants are
performing.
In a d d itio n , an analysis o f the ro le re latio n sh ip o f per
forming the various tasks in th is ro le set w i l l be conducted.
94
Program A ssistant's Performance
of 4-H Tasks
As a means o f communicating the performance frequency of
the 4-H tasks, the twenty-two 4-H tasks are lis te d in rank order be
ginning with the highest performance frequency score.
The frequency
score with a possible range o f 1 to 4, with 4 as highest, gives an
ind icatio n of the average performance frequency by the respondents
fo r each task.
A 4.00 corresponds to an "often" as the highest f r e
quency level marked by the respondents.
Chapter I I I explains in
more d e ta il the score procedure.
Listed below are the twenty-two 4-H tasks as se lf-re p o rte d
being performed by 4-H program assistants in rural counties with 4-H
agents:
High
3.38
3.38
3.38
3.23
3.15
3.08
3.08
3.00
3.00
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
Work in a l l geographic areas of the county.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council
and committees.
V i s i t 4-H leaders in t h e i r homes.
Promote 4-H programs in low income areas.
Make physical arrangements fo r major county
4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
Organize new 4-H clubs.
Free agent time fo r new programs by carrying
out t r a d it io n a l routine in 4-H programs.
Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
Average
2.92
2.77
2.77
2.69
2.69
2.54
Determine tra in in g needs o f 4-H leaders.
Lead group of 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer
leader.
Develop new programs in s p e c ific 4-H p ro je c t areas,
Conduct tra in in g 4-H leaders.
Work 1n c e rta in geographic areas o f county rather
than to ta l county.
Provide leadership to determine resources needed
f o r county programs.
95
2.54
Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r
determining effectiveness o f county programs.
Low
2.46
2.15
2.00
2.00
Provide o verall d ire c tio n to county 4-H program.
Work with other youth serving agencies to develop
new programs.
Provide leadership in developing long range plans
fo r county 4-H program.
Coordinate the to ta l county 4-H program.
Very Low
1.92
1.83
Represent 4-H programs to governing boards.
Administer the t o ta l county 4-H program.
I t can be observed th a t there were no 4-H tasks performed
a t the Very High level as reported by the group o f program assistants
in rural counties with 4-H agents.
Two 4-H tasks, "Recruit new 4-H leaders," and " V i s i t 4-H
leaders in t h e i r homes," have been ranked in the top four tasks in
the performance frequency level o f High by the s e lf-re p o rte d frequency
performance o f the program as sis tan ts.
S ix , or 46 percent and 4, or
31 percent o f the th irte e n program assistants in d ica te they performed
the two respective tasks a t the level " o fte n ."
This find in g corres
ponds with the expected g e n e ra lis t ro le of the program assistants in
these urban counties.
The tas k, "Use s p e c ific programs to introduce
4-H," was reported by fo u r, or 31 percent o f the program assistants
in these counties as being performed "often" in d ic a tin g a s p e c ia lis t
ro le being performed.
When comparing the 4-H agents reporting of the performance
frequency level o f the same 4-H tasks by the program assistants with
the program assistants s e lf -r e p o r t in g , a chi-square analysis found
96
no s ig n ific a n t differences at the .05 confidence level fo r any of
the twenty-two 4-H tasks as being id e n tifie d as performed d iff e r e n t ly
between the two groups.
This indicates an apparent congruent i n t e r
pretation between the s e lf-rep o rted program assistants tasks and the
4-H agents reporting.
Agent's Performance o f 4-H Tasks
The 4-H agents reported t h e ir own performance frequency
level on twenty-one of the twenty-two tasks.
t i m e . . . " was not rated by agents.
One task, "Free agent
The twenty-one tasks are lis t e d
below by performance frequency score and grouping.
As is obviously noted by the l i s t i n g o f se lf-rep o rted 4-H
agent tasks, the 4-H agents in rural
group the 4-H
counties are performing as a
tasks a t a much higher frequency level than the 4-H
program assistants.
Very High
4.00
4.00
3.92
3.92
3.83
3.83
3.75
3.75
3.58
3.50
Provide overall direction to the county 4-H programs.
Administer to ta l county 4-H program,
Coordinate to ta l county 4-H program.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t ie s with 4-H council and
committees.
Provide leadership to determine resources needed
fo r county 4-H program.
Work in a ll geographic areas of the county.
Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
Provide leadership to develop long range plans
fo r county 4-H program.
Determine tra in in g needs of 4-H leaders.
Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r
determining effectiveness o f county program.
High
3.45
3.42
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
Conduct tra in in g o f 4-H leaders.
97
3.36
3.25
3.17
3.09
3.08
3.08
3.08
Organize new 4-H clubs.
V i s i t 4-H leaders in t h e i r home.
Develop new programs in s p e c ific 4-H p ro je c t area.
Work with youth serving agencies to develop
new programs.
Promote 4-H programs in low income areas.
Make physical arrangements f o r major county
4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
Average
2.55
Work in c e rta in geographic areas o f county ra th e r
than t o ta l county.
2.00
Lead group o f 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer
leader.
Ten o f the 4-H tasks are reported as being performed by the
4-H agents a t the Very High level and nine a t the High le v e l.
A ll
seven o f the professional 4-H leadership tasks are being performed at
the Very High level by 4-H agents in rural counties.
In other words,
a l l but two o f the selected twenty-one 4-H tasks are being performed
by the 4-H agents a t a High or above frequency l e v e l , in d ica tin g the
major 4-H ro le 4-H agents are performing.
When comparing the program assistants reporting o f the per
formance level of the 4-H tasks by 4-H agents with the 4-H agents
s e lf-r e p o r tin g , the chi-square analysis found two 4-H tasks which were
reported d if f e r e n t l y by the two groups.
The two tasks with the calcu
lated chi-square s t a t i s t i c a l value which is s ig n if ic a n t a t the proba
b i l i t y level o f less than .05 are lis te d as follows:
Provide leadership to determine resources needed fo r county
4-H program - 4.26.
Make physical arrangements f o r major county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s 4 .0 2 .
98
Agents rated the former task
lower than program assistants.
higher and the l a t t e r task
A closer examination o f the data
regarding the l a t t e r task of making arrangements fo r 4-H a c t i v i t i e s
show th a t f i v e 4-H agents reported performing the tasks "often" as
compared to ten 4-H program assistants who reported the 4-H agent
a t the "often" le v e l.
This discrepancy o f ro le description o f the
4-H agent on th is same task was found with 4-H s t a f f in the urban
counties also.
As pointed out in th a t an a ly sis, th is task may be
a task agents do not see as appropriate fo r themselves to perform
and have indicated a lower frequency l e v e l.
However, the program
assistants may have reported what they see and, th e re fo re , have
indicated the 4-H agents do perform th is task a t a higher level than
they have reported.
Role Relationship on 4-H Tasks
When comparing the performance frequencies o f 4-H tasks
as s e l f reported by the 4-H agents and 4-H program assistants fo r
each o f the twenty-one tasks they perform with the system o f d if fe r e n
t i a t i o n o f tasks as explained previously, the tasks in rural counties
sort out in to the following l i s t i n g :
Agent Tasks
5
8
16
18
20
21
Provide leadership to develop long range plans (2-5 years)
f o r county 4-H programs.
Provide leadership to determine resources needed fo r
county 4-H program.
Provide overall program d ire c tio n to the county 4-H
program.
Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
Coordinate to ta l county 4-H program.
Administer to ta l county 4-H program.
99
Program Assistants Tasks
None
Shared Tasks
1
2
3
7
10
14
V i s i t 4-H leaders in t h e i r homes.
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
Organize new 4-H clubs.
Determine tra in in g needs of 4-H leaders.
Promote 4-H programs in low income areas.
Make physical arrangements f o r major county 4-H
a c tiv itie s .
15 Work in a l l geographic areas o f the county.
17 Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council and
committees.
6 Conduct tra in in g f o r 4-H leaders.
9 Work with other youth serving agencies to
develop new programs.
11 Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
12 Develop new program in s p e c ific 4-H p ro je c t area.
19 Plan evaluation methods and procedures f o r determining
effectiveness o f the county program.
Infrequent Tasks
4
13
Lead group o f 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer leader.
Work in c e rta in geographic areas o f the county
ra th e r than to ta l county.
As can be observed by re fe rrin g to the l i s t i n g o f tasks
above, the 4-H agents in rural counties have been id e n t if ie d as per
forming six o f the twenty-one tasks at le a s t one level o f frequency
higher (1 .0 0 ) than the program assistan ts.
No 4-H tasks were found
to be performed by 4-H program assistants a t a frequency level above
the 4-H agents.
These findings in d ica te th a t 4-H agents are performing
the major 4-H roles between the 4-H agent and program assistan t in
rural counties.
Thirteen o f the twenty-one tasks have shared performance
between the
4-H agents and program as sis tan ts.
reported by both the 4-H agents and the program
Two o f the tasks are
assistants as a group
100
as being performed a t below the 3,00 frequency score.
Role Change o f the 4-H Agent
The eight 4-H agents in rural counties who were employed
at the time o f program assistants being hired indicated th a t t h e i r
r o le , as measured by the s e lf-re p o rte d importance on 10 selected 4-H
functions, has changed.
The function 4-H agents indicated the most
changed since h irin g 4-H program assistants was "Manage, develop and
d ir e c t the work o f employees."
On a scale o f 1 to 3, with 3 being
high, agents indicated the importance o f th is function "Now" as 2.63
compared to 1.38 before the f i r s t program assistan t was hired in the
county.
4-H agents indicated less importance to t h e i r ro le to
functions, " Id e n tify and r e c r u it volunteer 4-H leaders," and "Recruit
new members" with an agent ro le score o f 2.88 and 3.00 to 2.25 and
2.38 resp ectively.
The other seven functions were reported with less
than a .5 differen ce indicating l i t t l e or s lig h t change f o r these
functions by the agents as a group.
Counties Without 4-H Agents
Eighteen counties employing twenty-one 4-H program assistants
without a resident 4-H agent are grouped together fo r analysis in th is
section.
Nine of these counties are located in the northern portion
of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and nine in the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan.
The counties have generally rural populations with the
range o f population from approximately 5,700 to 36,000.
The county
101
extension d ire c to r in each o f the eighteen counties was id e n t if ie d
as the supervisory agent fo r the study.
Previous to 4-H program assistants being employed in these
counties, 4-H agents were employed on an area basis with two to three
counties in t h e i r area o f re s p o n s ib ility .
With the p o s itive experiences
o f employment o f 4-H program assistants in the southern part o f Michi
gan, the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service decided to employ 4-H
program assistants in these less populated counties.
S ta rtin g in
1970 as 4-H agents l e f t employment, funds previously used fo r agents'
salaries were used to h ire program assistants in the same counties.
Since th a t time funds from other open 4-H positions have been used
to h ire 4-H program assistants in approximately eleven counties in
Michigan a t the time o f the study.
Related Variables
Length o f Employment
Responses from the program assistants in these rural counties
indicate th at seven, or 33 percent o f the twenty-one program assistants
have been employed one year or less a t the time o f the study.
Ten,
or 48 percent have been employed fo r over one year and up to three
years.
Four, or 19 percent o f the program assistants in these counties
without a resident 4-H agent have been employed over three years.
Formal Schooling
Eleven, or 53 percent o f the program assistants in counties
without 4-H agents indicated they had attended college a t the time of
102
the study.
Of these eleven program assistan ts, three reported re
ceiving a bachelor's degree and one reported receiving a master's
degree.
Seven, or 33 percent o f the program assistants in these
counties reported graduating from high school as t h e i r highest level
of formal education.
Two indicated they had not graduated from high
school.
Sex and Age o f Program Assistants
Seventeen, or 81 percent of the twenty-one program
assistants in counties with 4-H agents are female.
Ten, or 59 per
cent of the 17 women report t h e i r age as being between the ages of
31 and 50 years old.
S ix, or 35 percent of the seventeen women re
ported t h e i r ages as 30 years oldor under.
Five,
ported t h e i r age in the range o f 41 to 50 years old.
or 29 percent re
The four men
which make up 19 percent of the program assistants population 1n
these counties as a group are not as young as the women.
Two, or
50 percent of the men reported t h e ir age as 51 years old or older
and one other in the range of 41 to 50 years old.
The fourth man
reported his age in the range of 22 to 30.
or 34 percent o f
Seven,
the program assistants are under 31 years of age.
Previous Employment Experiences
Twelve, or 57 percent of the 4-H program assistants in
counties without 4-H agents reported having been 4-H leaders p rio r
to employment as a 4-H program assistan t.
When program assistants
in these counties were asked what were t h e i r most helpful experiences
103
p rio r to employment in the 4-H program, seven, or 33 percent reported
t h e i r experiences as a volunteer 4-H lea d e r.
F ifty -sev en percent, or
12 o f the program assistants in these counties reported working with
youth as a most h elpfu l experience.
A t h ir d o f the program assistants
id e n t if ie d t h e i r previous working w ith groups as a most helpful ex p e ri
ence f o r t h e i r ro le as a 4-H program a s s is ta n t.
Employment Aspirations
When 4-H program assistants in the counties w ithout 4-H
agents were asked what they would l i k e to be doing f i v e years from
now in r e la tio n to employment in the 4-H program, 15 o f the 21, or 71
percent reported they would l i k e to be employed s im ila r to t h e i r
present employment.
Two were undecided or did not respond.
One i n d i
cated wanting to be a 4-H agent, another indicated being a 4-H volun
teer.
S t i l l one other indicated going back to college and one other
planned to r e t i r e .
These findings seem to in d ic a te th a t about three-fou rth s
of program assistants in counties without 4-H agents are in te re sted
in continuing as a 4-H program a s s is ta n t.
Aspirations o f program
assistants in these counties correspond ra th e r closely with program
assistants in rural counties with 4-H agents.
The most noticeable
contrast in employment aspirations is found between the program
assistants in urban counties and the program assistants in ru ra l
counties.
One-half o f the program assistants in urban counties re
port aspiring to be an agent.
104
I d e n t if ic a t io n o f Advisor
Program assistants who were employed in counties without
4-H agents were asked to in d ica te with as many responses as appropri
a te , who they go to fo r advice when they have a problem.
Nineteen
o f the 21, or 90 percent indicated going to the county extension
d ir e c to r .
Nine, or 43 percent o f the program assistants indicated
going to other 4-H program assistants f o r help.
The 4-H agents in
the area were also c a lle d upon fo r assistance by nine, or 43 percent
of the program assistan ts.
S ix , or 29 percent o f program assistants
indicated going to the d i s t r i c t 4-H leader.
The extension home
economists were also contacted f o r help, as reported by 6 o f the
program assistants in counties without 4-H agents.
The data seem
to in d ica te th a t a high number o f program assistants in the counties
w ithout 4-H agents, go to the county extension d ire c to r f o r assistance
and apparently more so than to any other s t a f f .
This could be due
to the lack o f p o te n tial opportunity to go to other s t a f f as compared
to counties which employ both a 4-H agent and program as sis tan ts.
Role Expectation
What ro le expectations does the i n s t it u t io n have f o r the
twenty-one 4-H program assistants in the nineteen counties without
4-H agents?
As explained e a r l i e r , the supervising agent o f 4-H pro
gram as sis tan t in these counties, the county extension d ir e c to r was
asked to id e n tif y the major re s p o n s ib ilitie s o f the 4-H program
assistants in the county.
From these assigned re s p o n s ib ilitie s the
expected ro le is id e n t i f i e d .
105
Table 15.
Major R e sp o n s ib ilitie s o f 4-H Program Assistants as
Assigned by the Supervising Agents in Counties With
out 4-H Agents in Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service, 1974
Number Id e n tifie d by
County Extension D ire cto r N=18
Major R e sp on sib ilities
N
%
Provide necessary personal contact
with volunteers in 4-H program
13
72
Provide more d ir e c t contact w ith
people not involved in 4-H
10
56
Coordinate and carry out the
t o ta l county 4-H program
10
56
Expand 4-H in a l l geographic
areas in county
9
50
Expand 4-H program through special
program e ff o r t s
8
44
Expand 4-H program in ce rta in
geographic areas o f county
4
22
Expand 4-H program in urban areas
4
22
Assist agent in coordination and
carrying out county 4-H program
4
22
A ssist agent in carrying out ongoing
tasks of county 4-H program
2
11
As shown in Table 15, th ir te e n county extension d ire c to rs ,
or 72 percent have indicated 4-H program assistants in counties without
4-H agents are to provide necessary personal contact with volunteers in
the 4-H program.
Ten, or 56 percent o f the agents also reported th at
4-H program assistants have the re s p o n s ib ility to provide more d ir e c t
contact with people not in 4-H.
These 4-H program assistants as id e n t f
fie d by the r e s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned are expected to perform a county
4-H g e n e ra lis t ro le .
Another major re s p o n s ib ility assigned to the 4-H
106
program assistants by the county extension d ir e c to r is "Coordinating
and carrying out the t o ta l county 4-H program."
Ten, or 56 percent
of the county extension d irectors have indicated an expected ro le o f
acting 4-H agent f o r the program assistants in those ten counties
without 4-H agents.
One-half o f the supervising agents expect 4-H
program assistants to expand the 4-H program in a l l areas o f the
county.
E ig h t, or 44 percent of the county extension directors are
expecting 4-H program assistants to expand 4-H programs through
special program e f f o r t s , which indicates an expected program s p e c ia lis t
ro le fo r program assistants in these eight counties.
County extension d irectors have id e n t if ie d approximately
3.6 re s p o n s ib ilitie s fo r each county which is about one more responsi
b i l i t y per county than reported by 4-H agents in other counties.
With
out a 4-H agent in the county i t appears the county extension directors
in many of the counties are expecting 4-H program assistants to assume
more 4-H re s p o n s ib ilitie s and some to assume an acting 4-H agent ro le .
Program A s s is ta n t^ Performance
o f 4-H Tasks
With these expectations o f the in s t it u t io n on the 4-H pro
gram a s s is ta n t, what roles are they performing?
To answer th is
question, we w i l l look a t the tasks the 4-H program assistants are
performing.
Listed below are the frequency lev els o f 4-H tasks as
reported by the program assistants in counties without 4-H agents.
The tasks are in rank order lis t e d on the basis o f the performance
frequency scores and are grouped by frequency levels as follow s:
107
Very High
3.80
3.75
3.74
3.60
3.60
3.53
Work in a l l geographic areas of county.
Coordinate to ta l county 4-H program.
Make physical arrangements f o r major county
4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
Provide o ve rall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council and
committees.
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
High
3.47
3.43
3.43
3.35
3.24
3.20
3.15
3.15
3.15
Free agent time fo r new program by carrying out
t r a d itio n a l routine in 4-H program,
V i s i t 4-H leaders in t h e i r homes.
Organize new 4-H clubs.
Administer to ta l county 4-H program.
Provide leadership to determine resources needed
fo r the county 4-H program.
Promote 4-H programs in low income areas.
Determine tra in in g needs o f 4-H leaders.
Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r
determining effectiveness o f the county program.
Average
2.95
2.85
2.85
2.70
2.68
2.32
2.25
Work with other youth serving agencies to
develop new programs.
Conduct tra in in g f o r 4-H leaders.
Develop new program in s p e c ific 4-H project areas.
Provide leadership to develop long range plans
(2-5 years) fo r the county 4-H programs.
Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
Lead group o f 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer leader.
Work in c e rta in geographic areas o f the county
ra th e r than to ta l county.
Program assistants without a resident 4-H agent in the role
s e t, perform as indicated by the responses of the program assistan ts,
many of the 4-H tasks a t a higher level than program assistants in the
counties with 4-H agents.
Six tasks are being performed at the Very
High frequency lev el with nine more tasks being performed a t the High
le v e l.
108
The data in d ica te th a t many o f the 4-H tasks which are being
performed by the 4-H agents a t a High or above level are likew ise
being performed by the program assistants in counties without 4-H
agents.
When comparing the county extension directors reporting of
the performance frequency level o f the 4-H tasks by the program
assistants s e lf -r e p o r tin g , a chi-square analysis found no s ig n ific a n t
differences between the two groups a t the .05 confidence level fo r
any o f the twenty-two 4-H tasks.
On th is basis there appears to be a high congruence between
the ro le mates in the counties without 4-H agents in regards to the
performance o f 4-H tasks by 4-H program assistants j u s t as was found
in the other two ro le sets.
Comparison of Program A s sistant's and
Rural 4-H Agent's Frequency Level on
Twenty-One 4-H Tasks
A comparison of the 4-H program assistants s e lf-re p o rte d
performance frequency scores employed in counties without 4-H agents
was made with the 4-H agents s e lf-re p o rte d performance frequency
scores in rural counties.
A chi-square analysis found six o f the 4-H tasks, as being
performed s ig n if ic a n t ly d if f e r e n t by the two groups a t the .05 con
fidence le v e l.
The other 15 tasks were rated by both the 4-H program
assistants in counties without 4-H agents and the 4-H agents in rural
109
counties as being performed very s im ila r in level o f performance.
This comparison indicates th at fo r these f if t e e n tasks, the program
assistants in counties without 4-H agents are performing e s s e n tia lly
the same tasks as frequently as the 4-H agent in rural counties.
This finding would seen to indicate th a t the roles of the 4-H pro
gram assistants in counties without 4-H agents as a group are very
s im ila r to the 4-H agents in rural counties on the f ifte e n tasks.
The six tasks with the calculated chi-square s t a t is t i c a l
value which is s ig n ific a n t at the p ro b a b ility o f less than .05 are
lis te d as follows:
- Represent 4-H program to governing boards. 11.10
- Provide leadership to develop long range plans fo r
the county 4-H programs. 8.62
- Make physical arrangements fo r major county 4^H
a c tiv itie s .
5.67
- Provide leadership to determine resources needed
fo r county 4-H programs. 5.43
- Provide overall directio n to the county 4-H
programs. 5.17
- Administer the to ta l county 4-H programs. 5.12
Five o f the six tasks were found to be performed a t a
higher frequency by the rural 4-H agents than the program assistants
employed in counties without 4-H agents.
The task, "Make physical
arrangements...," was found being performed a t a higher level by the
program assistants.
Agent's Performance o f 4-H Tasks
The county extension directors self-rep o rted performance
frequency scores on the 4-H tasks are lis t e d below by frequency levels
as follows:
110
Very High
3.67
Represent 4-H programs to governing boards.
High
3.39
3.39
3.28
3.28
3.22
3.11
Provide leadership to determine resources needed
f o r county 4-H program.
Provide o ve rall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H
program.
Provide leadership to develop long range plans
fo r county 4-H program.
Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r
determining effectiveness o f county program.
Administer to t a l county 4-H program.
Coordinate to ta l county 4-H program.
Average
2.89
2.88
2.83
2.67
2.61
2.56
2.50
2.33
2.22
2.22
2.11
2.00
Work in a l l geographic areas of the county.
Determine tra in in g needs o f 4-H leaders.
Promote 4-H programs in low income areas.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council
and committees.
Work with other youth serving agencies to
develop new programs.
Conduct tra in in g fo r 4-H leaders.
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
Make physical arrangements fo r major county
4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
V i s i t 4-H leaders in t h e i r homes.
Develop new programs in s p e c ific 4-H p ro ject area.
Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
Work in c e rta in geographic areas o f county
ra th e r than t o ta l county.
Very Low
1.78
1.28
Organize new 4-H clubs.
Lead group o f 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer leader.
County extension d irectors are performing seven o f the 4-H
tasks a t a level o f High or above.
The tasks the county extension
d irec to rs are performing a t th is level appear to be more o f the
adm inistration or organization type, ra th e r than the tasks which in
volve d ir e c t contact with 4-H leaders and members.
This fin d in g
Ill
corresponds to the normal expected ro le o f the county extension
d ir e c to r whose major ro le is to provide the o verall adm inistration
leadership o f the County Extension Service program.
When comparing the 4-H program as sis tan ts' in te rp re ta tio n
o f the frequency w ith which the county d irec to rs report they perform
the twenty-one tasks, the most noticeable lack o f congruence was
found f o r any two matched reportings o f ro le mates.
A chi-square
analysis found s ig n ific a n t differences a t the .05 confidence level
on f i v e o f the tasks as reported by the two groups.
The 4-H program assistants rated the f i v e tasks lower as
compared to agents s e lf-re p o rte d r a tin g .
In t e r e s t in g ly , the fiv e
tasks were the f i v e tasks the agents had rated the highest.
The f i v e tasks with the calculated chi-square s t a t i s t i c a l
value are lis t e d as follows:
- Provide leadership to develop long range plans f o r the
county 4-H program. 7.17
- Represent 4-H programs to governing boards. 7.50
- Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r determining
effectiveness o f the county 4-H program. 6.04
- Provide leadership to determine resources needed f o r
county 4-H program. 5.23
- Provide overall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program. 5.33
The data seem to in d ica te th a t 4-H program assistants see
the county extension d irec to rs in these counties as performing a less
active ro le in the 4-H program than what the county d irectors have re
ported.
Several factors may be involved with th is in te ra c tio n .
Expectation o f the program assistants to perform the acting 4-H agent
ro le may influence the program assistants perception o f someone e ls e 's
performing these same tasks, and th erefore
do not see or report the
112
county extension d ir e c to r as performing them.
On the other hand, the
county extension d ir e c t o r , as the ad m inistrator o f the county extension
program, is somewhat responsible and has c e rta in expectations to per
form these tasks a t a higher le v e l.
They then may have marked t h e i r
frequency o f performing these tasks with th is in mind.
Role Relationship on 4-H Tasks
The re la tio n s h ip between the ro le mates in the ro le set
regarding the performance o f the twenty-one 4-H tasks, was id e n t if ie d
by comparing the performance score f o r each task by the s e lf-re p o rte d
score of program assistants and county extension d ire c to rs .
Using the
system previously described, the twenty-one tasks were placed in the
four groupings as follows:
Agent Tasks
None
Program Assistant Tasks
1
3
14
11
V i s i t 4-H leaders in t h e i r home.
Organize new 4-H clubs.
Make physical arrangements fo r major county
4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
Use s p e c ific programs to introduce 4-H.
Shared Tasks
2
5
7
8
10
15
16
17
18
Recruit new 4-H leaders.
Provide leadership to develop long range plans
(2-5 years) fo r the county 4-H programs.
Determine tra in in g needs o f 4-H leaders.
Provide leadership to determine resources needed
f o r county 4-H program.
Promote 4-H programs in low income areas.
Work in a l l geographic areas o f the county.
Provide o ve rall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council and
committees.
Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
113
19
Plan evaluation methods and
determining effectiveness
Coordinate t o ta l county 4-H
Administer to ta l county 4-H
20
21
procedures fo r
o f the county program.
programs.
programs.
Infrequent Tasks
4
6
9
12
13
Lead group o f 4-H members s im ila r to volunteer leader.
Conduct tra in in g f o r 4-H leaders.
Work with other youth serving agencies to develop
new programs.
Develop new program in s p e c ific 4-H projects.
Work in c e rta in geographic areas o f the county
ra th e r than to ta l county.
None o f the tasks were designed as agent tasks.
4-H tasks were i d e n t if ie d as performed p rim a rily
assistants
in counties without 4-H agents.
Four
by 4-H program
This is the only county
s itu a tio n where 4-H program as sis tan ts' tasks ever i d e n t if ie d .
This
find in g corresponds with the expected ro le of acting 4-H agent fo r
program assistants in these counties.
Twelve o f the 4-H tasks were id e n t ifie d as tasks shared by
both the 4-H program assistants and the county extension d ire c to rs .
The f i v e tasks indicated e a r l i e r th a t were reported by ro le mates as
being performed d if f e r e n t l y by the county extension directors are
included in the shared tasks.
This finding could be an indication
f o r p o te n tial c o n f li c t between the ro le mates.
Five tasks are indicated as being performed a t an infrequent
level in these counties without 4-H agents.
A question raised by th is
data i s , does the performance o f these tasks have an influence on the
effectiveness o f the county 4-H program?
"Conduct tra in in g f o r 4-H
leaders" has been a task performed a t a High level or above by 4-H s t a f f
in other counties.
114
Role Change of County
Extension D ire cto r
The fourteen county extension directors who were employed
in counties without 4-H agents a t the time o f th is study and were
employed before 4-H program assistants were hired in the county,
indicated some ro le change.
However, i t was found less than th a t
found with 4-H agents.
County extension d ire c to rs , as measured by the s e l f reported
importance o f ten 4-H functions, indicated less importance to two
functions, " Id e n tify and r e c r u it volunteer 4-H leaders," and "Recruit
new members," with agent ro le scores o f "Before" as 2.43 and 2.36 and
scores o f "Now" as 1.79 and 1.85 re sp ec tively .
The other eight 4-H functions were reported with less than
a .5 d ifferen ce in ro le score, in d icatin g l i t t l e or no change fo r
these functions by the county extension directors as a group.
The function which county extension d irectors have reported
as being le a s t important to t h e i r ro le in having an e f f e c tiv e county
4-H program since program assistants were hired i s , "Train volunteer
4-H leaders."
I t has an agent ro le score o f 1.54.
This finding
corresponds with the frequency with which the county extension
directors have reported performing the 4-H tasks, "Conduct tra in in g
f o r a 4-H leader."
The lack o f supervising agents giving leadership
to conducting tra in in g f o r leaders, as well as 4-H program assistan ts,
reported frequency at the average level fo r the tra in in g o f 4-H
leaders indicates a possible void area of 4-H s t a f f leadership in
counties without 4-H agents.
115
Summary o f Role Set Analysis
As was observed in the preceding ro le set a n a ly s is , 4-H
program assistants in the three ro le sets perform the 4-H tasks a t
d if f e r e n t frequencies.
A comparison o f the s e lf-re p o rte d frequencies
o f the 4-H tasks as reported by program assistants was made on the
basis o f the type of county employed.
The chi-square analysis found
eight o f the twenty-two 4-H tasks reported d if f e r e n t l y performed by
the three groups o f program assistan ts.
The e ig h t tasks with the calculated chi-square s t a t i s t i c a l
value which is s ig n ific a n t at the p ro b a b ility o f less than .05 are
l is t e d as follows:
-
Coordinate to ta l county 4-H program. 24.92
Provide o verall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program. 21.93
Administer to ta l county 4-H program. 21.36
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council and
committees. 14.09
Work in a l l geographic areas o f the county. 13.92
Make physical arrangements f o r major county 4-H
a c tiv itie s .
12.34
Plan evaluation methods and procedures f o r determining
effectiveness o f county program. 9.12
Work with other youth serving agencies to develop
new programs. 6.67
A ll o f the eig h t tasks were found being performed a t a higher
level by the 4-H program assistants in counties without 4-H agents
than program assistants in urban and rural counties with 4-H agents.
Performance o f Professional Leadership Tasks
Seven 4-H tasks were i d e n t if ie d by 4-H Administrators as 4-H
professional leadership tasks, as explained in Chapter I I I .
tasks are:
The seven
116
5 - Provide leadership to develop long range plans
(2 -5 years) f o r county 4-H programs.
8 - Provide leadership to determine resources needed
f o r county 4-H program.
16 - Provide o v e ra ll d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program.,
18 - Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
19 - Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r
determining effectiveness o f county programs.
20 - Coordinate to ta l county 4-H program.
21 - Administer t o ta l county 4-H program.
Data from the study in d ic a te th a t 4-H agents are performing
a l l o f these tasks a t the Very High frequency le v e l in the urban and
ru ra l counties in which they are employed.
The 4-H program a s s is ta n ts ,
the data show, are not performing these tasks a t the Very High level
in these same counties w ith 4-H agents.
In counties w ithout 4-H agents, the county extension
d irectors are performing one o f the tas ks , task 18, a t the Very High
level and the other six a t the High l e v e l .
Of the seven professional
4-H leadership tasks, the program assistan ts in counties without 4-H
agents are performing two o f the tasks,
tasks 16 and 20, a t the Very
High frequency
l e v e l , tasks 8 , 19, and 21;
le v e l; three a t the High
and two, tasks 5 and
18, a t the Average le v e l . The
data in d ic a te in
counties without 4-H
agents the 4-H professional leadership
tasks
are not being performed as fre q u en tly by the 4-H s t a f f , which suggest
a need fo r additional 4-H leadership.
The analysis o f the three ro le set s itu a tio n s ind icate th a t
the roles o f the program a s s is ta n t have developed d i f f e r e n t l y and
th a t th is development re la te s to the ro le s it u a t i o n .
o f the program assistants were found to
ro le performed
The expectations
be d i f f e r e n t as w ell as the
in the ro le set s it u a tio n where there was not a 4-H
117
professional agent.
The expected ro le o f ten o f the 4-H program
assistants in counties without 4-H agents was an acting 4-H agent.
The responses from the program assistants and t h e i r supervising
agent, the county extension director, in d ica te th a t program assistants
are performing th a t ro le in counties without 4-H agents.
None o f
the program assistants in the counties with 4-H agents were expected
to perform an acting agent ro le and none were found performing a c t
ing agent ro le tasks a t a high frequency.
The presence or absence o f a county-based 4-H agent was
found to r e la t e to the ro le the 4-H program assistan t performed.
In
counties without 4-H agents the program assistants were found per
forming a t a very s im ila r frequency level, 15 o f the twenty-one 4-H
tasks being performed by the 4-H agents in rural counties.
in te rp re ta tio n s can be made regarding th is fin d in g .
Several
F i r s t , the
program assistants who are performing the 4-H acting agent's ro le
in counties without 4-H agents were in a ro le s itu a tio n with an
expectation o f performing an acting agent ro le as indicated by the
supervising agents assigned r e s p o n s ib ilit ie s .
The ro le set s itu a tio n
did not present a c o n f lic t o f roles between two ro le mates; the 4-H
program assis tan t and the county extension d ir e c to r .
The data i n d i
cate th a t the county extension d irectors perform seven 4-H tasks a t
the High frequency le v e l or above as compared to f i f t e e n tasks fo r
the program a s s is ta n t.
I t appears the ro le set s itu a tio n presented an opportunity
f o r the program assistan t in counties without 4-H agents to come into
the s itu a tio n and develop a ro le in re la tio n to the expectation.
The
118
4-H program assistants seem to have been f l e x i b l e enough th a t with
these expectations they responded and have developed a ro le pattern
in re la tio n to the ro le expected.
This would in d ica te th a t the
expected ro le in the ro le set with support o f the ro le mate to per
form th a t r o le , may be more important than developing a prescribed
ro le or job description th a t may l i m i t the p o te n tial performance of
a 4-H program a s s is ta n t,
An ad d itio nal fa c to r o f influence found, in addition to
the ro le expectation, was the ro le performed by the ro le mate, the
supervising agent.
The ro le performed by the ro le mate appears to
have influenced the performance o f the other ro le mate in the ro le se t.
Role theory suggests th at ro le mates w i l l influence each other in the
ro le set and th a t the professional is more l i k e l y to be more i n f l u e n t i a l
in a ro le set with a p araprofessional.
I t was found th a t the behavior o f ro le mate o f the para
professional , the supervising agent* was d if f e r e n t in the
counties with 4-H agents and counties without 4-H agents.
4-H agents performed more o f the 4-H tasks a t a higher
frequency than the county extension d ir e c to r .
In these ro le set
situ ation s with 4-H agents, the program assistants performed less 4-H
tasks as i d e n t if ie d by the study.
When re a liz in g 4-H program assistants are performing some
of these same tasks as 4-H agents, but in a d if f e r e n t s it u a tio n , i t
raises the question o f the p o s s ib ilit y o f the program assistants in
those counties w ith 4-H agents doing some o f these same tasks ra th e r
than the 4-H agent.
The data .from th is study seems to in d ica te th a t
1
1
9
the program assistants have the p o te n tial to perform many o f these
tasks.
I t seems th a t before th is can happen the ro le mate pro
fessional in the ro le set must be w il lin g to l e t i t happen.
In counties without 4-H agents i t was found th a t the 4-H
program assistants were performing f i f t e e n 4-H tasks s im ila r to the
4-H agents in rural counties.
I t was also found th a t six other tasks
were performed s ig n if ic a n t ly d if f e r e n t .
One ta s k , "Make physical
arrangements f o r major county a c t i v i t i e s , " was reported performed
higher by 4-H program assistan ts.
The other f i v e of these six tasks
were reported performed a t a lower frequency level by program
assistan ts.
These f i v e tasks were:
- Represent 4-H program to governing boards.
- Provide leadership to develop long range plans fo r
the county 4-H programs.
- Administer the to ta l county 4-H program.
- Provide leadership to determine resources needed
fo r county 4-H program.
- Provide o verall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program
The lower performance o f the 4-H tasks by the program
assistants also suggest additional 4-H leadership in counties without
4-H agents.
Part V
C orrelation of Related Variables With
Frequency of Performance o f 4-H Tasks
An attempt has been made to answer the question of the
re la tio n s h ip between the amount o f formal schooling o f 4-H program
assistants w ith t h e i r performance frequency of 4-H tasks by c o rre la tin g
schooling with 4-H tasks.
For analysis the following fiv e formal
schooling groups were developed:
Not graduated from high school;
120
Graduated from high school; Attended vocational school; Attended
co lle g e, but no degree; and Received college degree.
The contin
gency tables displaying the frequencies fo r each task and performance
frequency scores by groups fo r each task vary on the performance
frequencies by 4-H tasks.
However, only one 4-H tas k, "Organize new 4-H clubs," was
found to be performed a t a s ig n if ic a n t ly d if f e r e n t level among the
f iv e groups o f 4-H program assistants on the basis o f levels of
formal schooling.
The actual calculated chi-square s t a t i s t i c a l
value was 9 .5 6 , which is s ig n if ic a n t at the p ro b a b ility o f less than
.05.
In te re s tin g ly enough, the two groups o f 4-H program assistants
ra tin g the task the highest are "Attended co lleg e, but no degree,"
a t 3.60 and "Not graduated from high school," at 3.50.
The program
assistants with the lowest frequency score o f 2.33 had attended
vocational school.
The data in d ica te th a t there was a differen ce
among groups o f program assistants by formal schooling.
However,
there was not a d ir e c t co rre la tio n found between the level o f schooling
and frequency o f 4-H tasks performed.
The program assistants who had not graduated from high
school as a group indicated a higher frequency level on the tasks than
any other group.
T heir frequency scores placed seventeen tasks at
3.00 or above as compared to seven fo r the high school graduate, ten
fo r each o f the college groups, and ten fo r the vocational group.
As noted, there was variance between groups o f 4-H program
assistants with various levels of formal schooling on the performance
121
levels o f 4-H tasks.
However, except fo r task “Organize new 4-H
c lu b s ,11 the s t a t i s t i c a l analysis did not fin d any other differences
in the performance level of 4-H tasks by groups with various levels
of formal schooling.
The data in d ica te
th a t the level o f formal
schooling o f 4-H program assistants in Michigan does not seem to
associate with the frequency of performing twenty-one o f the twentytwo selected 4-H tasks in the study.
Previous Experiences
Four previous experiences were used to group 4-H program
assistants to c o rrela te with the performance frequency o f 4-H tasks.
The four previous experiences reported by the program assistants as
most helpful in t h e i r role which were used fo r grouping were:
Worked
with youth, Was a 4-H leader, Worked with groups, and Established in
the community.
The contingency tables displaying the frequencies fo r
each task and the performance frequency scores by groups fo r each
task indicated th a t the program assistants with these experiences
performed the 4-H tasks at somewhat the same frequency.
Each group's frequency scores on each task placed from 10
to 14 tasks at the 3.00 level and above, ind icatin g very l i t t l e
association with these previous experiences and the performance
frequency o f 4-H tasks.
Length o f Employment
The length o f employment as a 4-H program assistant was
compared with the reported performance frequency o f tasks by program
122
assistan ts.
6 months
The f iv e employment groupings used were:
Under 6 months;
to 1year; Over 1 y e a r, under 2; Over 2 years, under 3; and
Over 3 years. Comparing the performance frequency scores f o r
each
o f the tasks fo r each employment group, in d ica te th a t the more
experienced program assistants reported performing the 4-H tasks at
a higher frequency.
In addition to the scores generally being higher
fo r tasks, the more experienced groups had more tasks th a t scored
3.00 or above.
4-H program assistants with over three years o f
experience performed 18 tasks a t the 3.00 score or higher.
The 4-H
program assistants employed between 2 to 3 years had f i f t e e n tasks
scoring 3.00 or above, between 1 to 2 years had ten tasks, between
6 months
to 1year had s ix tasks and the program assistants employed
f o r less
than 6 months had eig h t tasks with a frequency score of
3.00 or above.
The program assistants with 6 months experience or
less reported f i v e tasks which had a frequency score o f 1.83 or less.
When the chi-square analysis was computed with the f iv e
levels o f employment as the independent v a ria b le and the twenty-two
4-H tasks as the dependent v a ria b le , three tasks were found to be
performed by the more experienced 4-H program assistants a t a higher
level o f frequency.
The three tasks are lis te d with the actual calcu
lated chi-square s t a t i s t i c a l values as follows:
- Provide leadership to develop long range plans
f o r county 4-H program. 13.84
- Work with other youth serving agencies to develop
new programs. 12.96
- Represent 4-H programs to governing boards. 10.82
I t is not surprising th a t 4-H program assistants who have
been employed fo r a longer period o f time and gaining experience with
123
the 4-H programs would be more l i k e l y to perform these tasks than a
person f i r s t s t a r t in g .
As factors are considered f o r ro le develop
ment, th is fin d in g suggests th a t the length of experience as a 4-H
program assistan t does appear to be an influence as to what 4-H
program assistants are doing and can do in the fu tu re .
Effectiveness of County
4-H Program
The analysis of association of county 4-H program e f f e c t i v e
ness with the performance o f 4-H tasks by program assistants was
found to have several serious lim it a t io n s .
This somewhat common
method o f program evaluation (Administrators evaluate county 4-H
program on a ra tin g scale) was used in an attempt to have a measure
of effectiveness o f the county 4-H program which would be re la te d to
4-H program as sistan ts' performance o f 4-H tasks.
However, two
problems developed which reduced the v a l i d i t y of the an a ly sis.
F ir s t,
as has been seen by the data, 65 percent o f program assistants were
employed two years or less a t the time o f the study and in th is short
time t h e i r influence on county 4-H programs may be n e g lig ib le .
Second, when effectiveness ra tin g by adm inistrators was summarized,
a disproportionate number o f counties by type were d is tr ib u te d .
Of
the sixteen counties which were rated f a i r by the ad m in istrators, te n ,
or 63 percent were counties without 4-H agents.
Of the nine counties
rated Superior, 22 percent were counties without 4-H agents.
When the analysis was computed comparing the county 4-H
effectiveness level with the performance o f tasks, f i v e tasks were
found by program assistants as s e lf-re p o rte d being performed s i g n i f i c a n t l y
124
d iffe r e n t a t the .05 le v e l.
Program assistants employed in counties
with the higher effectiveness ratings were found performing these
three tasks a t a higher level (with calculated chi-square s t a t is t i c a l
v a lu e ):
- Develop new programs in sp e cific 4-H project area.
- Conduct tra in in g fo r 4-H leaders. 11.63
- Determine tra in in g needs of 4-H leaders. 6.14
12.88
Program assistants employed in counties with lower
effectiveness ratings were found to be performing these two tasks
at a higher frequency le v e l:
- Administer to ta l county 4-H
- Coordinate to ta l county 4-H
program. 10.84
program. 6,39
As previously mentioned, these findings appear to be
biased, since 63 percent o f the f a i r rating
counties from one role set.
Also,
group is composed of
since 65 percent of the program
assistants were employed two years or less before the effectiveness
rating was made, the relationship between the program assistant
performance and the effectiveness of the overall county 4-H program
may be n e g lig ib le .
Therefore, since these factors have reduced the
v a l id i t y of the find in g s, no future mention w i l l be made o f the
effectiveness analysis.
A longitudinal study measuring the change
o f o verall county program effectiveness may be a more v a lid assess
ment o f the influence o f the 4-H program assistant.
Aspirations of Program Assistants
The aspirations as id e n tifie d by the 4-H program assistants
were compared with t h e ir reported performance frequency o f the
125
twenty-two 4-H tasks.
When a chi-square analysis was computed three
tasks were found being performed by program assistants s ig n ific a n t ly
d if f e r e n t a t the .05 confidence
le v e l. The tasks with the calculated
s t a t i s t i c a l value are:
- Provide leadership to develop long range plans
f o r county 4-H programs. 20.34
- Recruit new 4-H leaders. 14.97
- Determine tra in in g needs
o f 4-Hleaders. 14.27
The data in d ic a te
th a t the program assistants who had
indicated an employment asp iration to "Be an agent," were performing
these three tasks a t a higher level than the other 4-H program
assistan ts.
The data seems to in d ica te th a t program assistants who
aspire to be agents, are performing three tasks a t s ig n ific a n t ly
d if f e r e n t levels than other program as sis tan ts.
One of the tasks
which has been i d e n t if ie d previously in th is study as an agent type
ta s k , "Provide leadership to develop long range plans fo r county 4-H
programs," indicates th a t these program assistants are practicing
fo r an an ticip a ted fu tu re ro le .
T heir frequency level fo r the task
is 3.24 as compared to the average performance o f the task by a l l
program assistants a t 2.63.
Age of Program Assistants
The age range levels o f the 4-H program assistants were
compared with the s e lf-re p o rte d frequency on 4-H tasks by the program
assistants in the study.
When a chi-square analysis was computed,
one task, "Develop new programs in s p e c ific 4-H p ro ject areas," was
126
found being performed by the older program assistants at a higher
frequency le v e l .
The calculated chi-square s t a t i s t i c a l value was
12.56 which is s ig n if ic a n t a t a p ro b a b ility level o f less than .05.
I t appears from the data th a t age o f the program assistants
associates very l i t t l e with the performance o f the selected 4-H
tasks except f o r the one mentioned above.
Summary
When the f i v e independent variables of formal schooling,
previous experiences, length o f employment, employment aspirations
and age o f program assistants were each compared with the performance
frequency o f the twenty-two selected 4-H tasks, a to ta l of eig h t out
o f a possible 110 combinations were found to be s ig n if ic a n tly
d if f e r e n t a t the p ro b a b ility level o f less than .05.
combinations found were:
These eight
amount o f formal schooling and the task
"Organize new 4-H clubs;" longer length of employment with higher
frequency of tasks, "Provide leadership to develop long range plans
f o r county 4-H program," "Work with other youth serving agencies to
develop new programs," and "Represent 4-H program to governing
boards;" employment aspirations o f "Being an Agent" with higher f r e
quency o f tasks, "Provide leadership to develop long range plans fo r
county 4-H programs," "Determine tra in in g needs o f the 4-H leader,"
and "Recruit new 4-H leaders;" and older program assistants with
higher frequency o f task, "Develop new programs in s p e c ific 4-H
p ro je ct area."
127
The data in d ic a te , except fo r the mentioned co rre la tio n
above, th a t formal schooling of program assistants does not seem to
associate with the performance level o f 4-H tasks.
I t can be con
cluded, on the basis o f th is lim ite d d ata, th a t the level o f formal
schooling need not be a lim it in g q u a lif ic a tio n f o r the employment
o f 4-H program as sis ta n ts , fo r the data in d ica te
th a t the selected
4-H tasks are being performed a t somewhat the same level by the 4-H
program assistants with various lev els o f formal schooling.
As program assistants become more experienced, the data
in d ica te a change in the frequency level o f tasks involving long
range planning, working with other youth agencies and working with
county boards.
Realizing the possible changes in performance of
tasks as program assistants become more experienced, suggests the
need fo r considering new or d if f e r e n t tasks th a t 4-H program
assistants may perform.
With experience and possible additional
tra in in g and support, program assistants can perform a v a rie ty o f
4-H tasks in a county 4-H program.
Also, a large number o f 4-H
program assistants indicated wanting to stay employed as a program
assistant which
suggests
a p o tential 4-H s t a f f leadership fo r the
county 4-H programs.
The 4-H program assistants who aspire to be an agent have
indicated they do more long range planning, are re c ru itin g leaders,
and determine the leaders1tra in in g needs more o f the time than other
4-H program assistan ts.
The study i d e n t if ie d about one-fourth of
the program assistants as aspiring to become an agent.
128
I t would seem appropriate to recognize the career hopes of
the program assistants and th a t counsel should be provided to help
as sis t the s t a f f member in developing h is /h e r career plans.
Program assistants with the various kinds o f experience
o f working with youth, ad u lts, groups and community were not found
as s ig n ific a n t factors with the performance frequency o f 4-H tasks.
CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
This chapter summarizes the study and presents i t s conclu
sions; i t also presents recommendations fo r possible action and future
study.
The primary purpose o f th is d es crip tiv e study was to id e n tity
roles o f 4-H paraprofessional youth workers in the Michigan Cooperative
Extension Service and to analyze variables re la te d to those roles in
three county s ta ffin g models.
The 4-H program assistant is a rather new s ta ffin g position
in the Cooperative Extension Service.
Since 1966 Michigan Extension
Service has employed 4-H paraprofessionals a t an increasing ra te .
At
the time o f the study more program assistants were employed in the
Michigan Extension Service than 4-H agents.
A major question facing
Extension administrators is what s ta ffin g models u t i l i z i n g the 4-H
program assistant position are appropriate fo r the future?
What
r a tio n a le , i f any, exists fo r wide variatio ns in program assistants'
roles?
Id e n tify in g the roles o f 4-H program assistan ts, along with
an analysis o f the re lated variables which may have influenced the
development and the performance o f those ro le s , was the aim of this study.
129
1
3
0
The concept suggested by Bowman and Klopf th a t ro le develop
ment is a dynamic o f each in te ra c tio n o f a p a r tic u la r professional
w ith 'a p a r tic u la r paraprofessional w ith in a given structure respond
ing to special needs, was the th e o re tic a l framework f o r the study.
This framework is supported by the three basis ideas which Gross and
others ind icate appear in most of the conceptualizations about r o le ,
th a t in d ivid u als :
(1) in social locations; (2) behave; (3) with
reference to expectations.
The roles o f the 4-H program assistants were id e n t if ie d
using two methods:
the major re s p o n s ib ilitie s assigned the 4-H
program assistant as reported by the supervising agent (Role expecta
tio n ) and the frequency with which 4-H program assistants perform
twenty-two selected 4-H tasks (Role behavior).
Data were co llected by the use o f a survey instrument
developed from several re la te d studies and from interviews with
program assistants and agents and re fin e d by tes tin g with 4-H s t a f f
members in another s ta te .
The survey instrument was designed so
th at the respondent indicated the frequency o f h is /h e r own performance
of each o f the selected 4-H tasks on a forced choice ch ecklist with
four levels o f frequency:
Never, Very Seldom, Sometimes, and Often.
The respondents also indicated the frequency o f h is /h e r ro le mate's
performance o f each o f the tasks.
The population f o r the study was sixty-tw o 4-H program
as sis tan ts, eighteen county extension directors and tw en ty-five
extension 4-H youth agents in the Michigan Cooperative Extension
131
Service.
This accounted fo r a t o ta l o f fo r ty -th r e e complete county
ro le sets o f a supervisory agent and a t le a s t one 4-H program
assistan t in each county.
The fo r ty -th r e e ro le sets in the study
represented a l l known complete ro le sets a t the time o f the
c o lle c tio n o f the data.
To analyze the dynamic w ith in the ro le s e t, the population
was divided in to three d if f e r e n t county groupings according to the
presence or absence o f a 4-H agent in the county and the county
population.
The three r o le -s e ts , w ith number o f counties, number o f
program as sis tan ts, and number o f supervising agents are: 18 rural
counties without 4-H agents including 18 county extension directors
and 21 program assistan ts; 13 urban counties with over 100,000
population including 13 4-H agents and 28 program assistan ts; 12
rural counties with 12 4-H agents and 13 program assistan ts.
Data from the study in d ica te th a t f o r t y - e ig h t percent, or
30 o f a l l the program assistants are 30 years old or younger, with
15 o f the program assistants in the 22 to 30 age group employed in
urban counties.
female.
F o rty -s ix program as sis tan ts, or 74 percent are
Of the 16 males employed, 11 were 1n urban counties.
Twenty-five program as sis ta n ts , a fig u re which makes up
41 percent of the to ta l number o f program assistants in the study,
were employed fo r one year or less.
Sixteen percent, or 10 of the
program assistants have been employed over three years.
No major
differen ce in length o f employment seem to appear when comparing
the three types o f counties.
132
The formal schooling o f program assistants varies somewhat
w ith the type o f county in which they are employed.
Program
assistants in urban counties tend to have more college tr a in in g .
Of
the 39 program assistants who attended co lle g e, 22, or 56 percent
are employed in urban counties as compared to 11, or 28 percent in
counties without 4-H agents and 6 , or 15 percent in rural counties
with 4-H agents.
F ifteen o f the 39 program assistants who attended
college have received a degree.
Four, or 6 percent o f the program
assistants in Michigan have not graduated from high school.
T h ir t y , or 48 percent o f the program assistants have been
volunteer 4-H leaders.
counties.
A large m ajority o f these work in the rural
Only e ig h t, or 29 percent of the 28 program assistants
employed in urban counties have been 4-H leaders, as compared to 12,
or 57 percent and 10, or 77 percent in counties without 4-H agents
and rural counties with 4-H agents.
"Worked with youth" was ranked as the most helpful entry
level experience fo r being successful in the 4-H program, as id e n t i
fie d by 29, or 47 percent of the program assistants.
Nineteen, or
31 percent o f the program assistants indicated th a t being a 4-H
leader was the most h e lp fu l.
When 4-H program assistants were asked what they would l i k e
to be doing 1n f i v e years, in re la tio n to employment 1n the 4-H
program, 32, or 53 percent indicated they would l ik e to be employed
1n the same work they are doing now.
F ifte e n , or 71 percent o f these
were in counties without 4-H agents.
Fourteen, or 50 percent o f the
133
28 program assistants in urban counties indicated they would lik e
to be 4-H agents.
response.
Two others in rural counties gave a s im ila r
Of the eighteen 4-H program assistants who have indicated
an in te r e s t in being an agent, sixteen have attended college.
Eight
have attended college but have not received a degree, and eight
others have received t h e i r college degree.
Twelve, or 67 percent
o f the program assistants in urban counties are between the ages of
22 and 30.
The level o f s a tis fa c tio n program assistants reported as
a group was above " f a i r l y s a tis fie d " with respect to other s t a f f ,
t h e i r supervisor, t h e i r jo b , and the Extension Service.
Their
s a tis fa c tio n with pay was lower, at a level o f s a tis fa c tio n near
n e u tr a l.
The expected ro le o f the 4-H program assistants was
id e n t if ie d by the major (30% or more) re s p o n s ib ilitie s reported by
supervising agents fo r program assistants in t h e i r respective
counties.
The acting 4-H agent r o le , with the re s p o n s ib ility of
coordinating and carrying out the to ta l county 4-H program, was
id e n tifie d by ten of the eighteen county extension directors 1n
counties without 4-H agents.
The paraprofessional s p e c ia lis t role
in urban counties was id e n t ifie d by 4-H agents w ith two major
r e s p o n s ib ilitie s :
Expand 4-H program in urban and other geographic
areas o f the county, and Expand 4-H program through special program
effo rts .
In rural counties 4-H agents expected program assistants,
as s p e c ia lis t s , to expand 4-H programs through special program e f f o r t s .
134
The most frequent major re s p o n s ib ility f o r 4-H program
a s sis ta n ts , as reported by supervisory agents, was to provide
necessary d ir e c t or personal contact w ith volunteers in the 4-H
program as well as people not involved in 4-H.
As defined in th is
study, re s p o n s ib ilitie s with close re la tio n s h ip w ith c lie n t e le
in d ica te an expected g e n e ra lis t ro le .
Of the four roles in the
study, the assistan t agent ro le was id e n t i f i e d le a s t frequently
by the supervisory agents.
The frequencies with which 4-H tasks were a c tu a lly being
performed by 4-H program assistants were compared with the four
expected roles o f s p e c i a l i s t , acting 4-H agent, assistan t agent
and g e n e ra lis t.
Program assistants whose assignments required
them to perform the acting 4-H agent ro le reported performing
three 4-H tasks at a much higher frequency level than other program
assistan ts.
program,"
These three tasks were:
"Coordinate t o t a l county 4-H
"Administer the to ta l county 4-H program," and "Provide
o verall d irec tio n to the county 4-H program."
These acting agents
were performing the t o ta l group of 4-H tasks a t a higher frequency
than program assistants in other roles.
Program assistants who were assigned the s p e c ia lis t role
reported performing two tasks a t a higher frequency ranking than did
program assistants assigned the other three ro le s .
were ranked higher were:
The tasks which
"Use s p e c ific program to introduce 4-H,"
and "Promote 4-H programs in low income areas."
135
The 4-H program assistants assigned the assistant agent
ro le ranked the task "Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council
and c o rr a n itte e s h ig h e r than the program assistants in the other
three ro le s .
No tasks were found, as id e n t if ie d in this study,
which d if f e r e n t i a t e the role o f g e n e ra lis t from the other three
ro les.
Three of the f iv e highest ranked tasks performed by program
assistants assigned g en eralis t roles re la te d closely to working
with 4-H leaders.
In the urban counties, 4-H program assistants were found
performing a t a higher level those tasks which re la te clo sely with
the 4-H leaders, such as:
"Recruit new 4-H leaders," "Organize
new 4-H clubs," " V is it 4-H leaders in t h e i r homes," "Conduct t r a i n
ing fo r 4-H leaders" and "Determine tra in in g fo r 4-H leaders."
The
program assistants in urban counties also indicated performing the
task "Promoting 4-H programs in low income areas," at a high le v e l.
The program assistants in rural counties with 4-H agents
were also found performing tasks re la tin g to 4-H leaders, as well
as performing tasks re la tin g to the county 4-H program operation,
such as planning with the 4-H council and committees and making
arrangements fo r county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
In counties without 4-H agents, program assistants were
found performing the acting 4-H agent ro le and performing 4-H tasks
at a higher frequency than the other program assistants.
They also
were performing more 4-H professional leadership tasks and county
wide 4-H tasks.
136
Differences in the tasks 4-H program assistants perform
were found in the study among the three ro le sets.
The most c le a r ly
d if fe r e n t ia t e d ro le id e n tif ie d was the acting 4-H agent ro le found
to be performed by 4-H program assistants in the counties without
4-H agents.
S ig n ific a n t differences were found in the frequency
with which eig h t o f the twenty-two selected 4-H tasks were being
performed by program assistants in the three types o f counties in
the study.
Program assistants in counties without 4-H agents were
found to be performing the following eig h t tasks higher than other
program assistants:
-
Coordinate t o ta l county 4-H program.
Provide o verall d ire c tio n to the county 4-H program.
Administer to ta l county 4-H program.
Plan county 4-H a c t i v i t i e s with 4-H council
and committees.
Work in a l l geographic areas o f the county.
Hake physical arrangements fo r major county
4-H a c t i v i t i e s .
Plan evaluation methods and procedures fo r determining
effectiveness o f county program.
Work with other youth serving agencies to develop
new programs.
I t was found th at the program assistants and the super
vising agents were congruent on the program assistants performance
frequency on the 4-H tasks.
No s ig n ific a n t s t a t i s t i c a l differences
were found a t the .05 confidence level when comparing the s e l f reported frequency by the 4-H program assistants w ith the supervising
agents id e n t if ic a tio n o f the program assistants performance in each
of the three types o f counties.
Differences in the frequency o f performing 4-H tasks were
found between 4-H agents and county extension d ire c to rs .
The 4-H
137
agents were performing the tasks a t a higher frequency than county
extension d ire c to rs .
Also, the 4-H agents were found performing the
4-H tasks a t a much higher frequency than 4-H program assistants in
t h e i r counties.
agents.
The opposite was found in the counties without 4-H
In these counties i t was found th a t generally the program
assistants were performing the 4-H tasks a t a higher frequency than
the county extension d ir e c to r .
Program assistants with the expecta
tio n o f performing an acting 4-H agent ro le seem to be performing th a t
ro le as indicated by th is data.
I t was found th a t f i f t e e n tasks were rated as being per
formed very s im ila r ly by both the program assistan t in counties
without 4-H agents and the 4-H agents in rural counties.
Six o f the
tasks were found to be performed a t a s ig n if ic a n t ly d if f e r e n t level
between the two groups a t the .05 confidence le v e l.
performed more frequ en tly by the 4-H agents were:
The f iv e tasks
"Represent 4-H
program to governing boards," "Provide leadership to develop long
range plans fo r county 4-H program," "Provide leadership to determine
resources needed f o r county 4-H programs," "Provide o verall d irec tio n
to the county 4-H program," and "Administer the to ta l county 4-H
program."
The task "Make physical arrangements fo r major county 4-H
a c t i v i t i e s , " was reported being performed by the program assistants
a t a higher level than the 4-H agents in rural counties.
4-H agents were found performing a l l o f seven 4-H professional
leadership tasks a t the Very High frequency level in the urban and
rural counties.
The 4-H program assistants were found not performing
138
these tasks at the Very High level in these same counties with 4-H
agents.
In counties without 4-H agents, the county extension
d irec to rs were found performing one of the 4-H professional leader
ship tasks a t the Very High level and the other six a t the High
le v e l .
Of the seven professional 4-H leadership tasks, the program
assistants in counties without 4-H agents were found performing
two o f the tasks a t the Very High frequency l e v e l , three a t the High
level and two a t the Average le v e l.
The analysis o f formal schooling, previous experiences,
length o f employment, employment aspirations and age o f program
assistants with the 4-H program a s s is ta n ts ' frequency level f o r the
twenty-two 4-H tasks found eight out o f a possible 110 combinations
s ig n if ic a n t ly d if f e r e n t a t the .05 confidence le v e l.
combinations found were:
These e ig h t
amount o f formal schooling and the task
“Organize new 4-H clubs;" longer length o f employment with higher
frequency o f tasks, "Provide leadership to develop long range plans
f o r county 4-H program," "Work with other youth serving agencies to
develop new programs," and "Represent 4-H program to governing
boards;" employment aspirations o f "Being an Agent" with higher f r e
quency of tasks, "Provide leadership to develop long range plans fo r
county 4-H programs," "Determine tra in in g needs o f the 4-H leader,"
and "Recruit new 4-H leaders;" and old er program assistants with
higher frequency o f task, "Develop new programs in s p e c ific 4-H
p ro ject area."
139
The data r e la tin g to level o f formal schooling indicated
th a t formal schooling o f program assistants does not g enerally
associate with the
frequency
level o f 4-H tasks.
The c o rre la tio n
mentioned above with task "Organize new 4-H clubs," found th a t
program assistants who had not graduated from high school and program
assistants who had attended college but had not received a degree
were both performing the task a t Very High le v e l.
I t was found th a t as program assistants became more ex p eri
enced, they were more fre q u e n tly doing more long range planning,
working with other youth agencies and working with county boards.
The data in d ic a te th a t 100 percent and 86 percent o f 4-H
program assistants in ru ra l and urban counties with 4-H agents,
re s p e c tiv e ly , go to the 4-H agents f o r help with a problem.
Program
assistants also in d ic a te going to the county extension directors fo r
help in these counties as w e ll.
id e n t if ie d as h e lp fu l.
Other program assistants were also
In counties without 4-H agents, the county
extension d ir e c to r was i d e n t if ie d by 90 percent of the program
assistants as h e lp fu l.
I t was found th a t 4-H agents have placed more importance
on the 4-H function o f managing, developing and d ire c tin g the work
of employees since h irin g 4-H program assistan ts.
With the employ
ment o f program as sis ta n ts , 4-H agents in rural counties and county
extension d irec to rs have indicated less importance to the 4-H
functions " Id e n tif y and r e c r u it volunteer ,4-H leaders," and "Recruit
new members."
Conclusions
The evidence from th is study leads to the conclusion th a t
4-H paraprofessional youth workers are performing many tasks in the
4-H program, including many of the same tasks being performed
generally by the professional 4-H agent.
This conclusion supports
other studies in d ica tin g paraprofessionals can perform many o f the
tasks normally performed by professional youth workers, providing
the professional additional time to devote to functions which re
quire generally the u t i l i z a t i o n o f knowledge acquired through
additional tra in in g .
The evidence from th is study leads to the conclusion
th a t the presence or absence o f a resident 4-H agent in the role
set was a major fa c to r influencing the ro le o f the 4-H paraprotessional youth worker in the Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service.
Program assistants without a resident 4-H agent are
g enerally performing an acting 4-H agent ro le by performing
county-wide 4-H coordinating tasks.
Program assistants 1n counties
with 4-H agents are not performing the county-wide 4-H coordinating
ro le .
In these same counties the 4-H agents are performing th is
ro le .
The data from the study in d ica te the program assistants
in counties without 4-H agents generally are not performing a l l the
professional 4-H leadership tasks a t the Very High frequency le v e l.
I t can be concluded th a t additional 4-H professional leadership may
be needed to support the program assistants as reported in th is study.
141
I t can be concluded th a t the dynamics in the ro le s e t,
including the ro le expectations o f the 4-H program assistant and
the ro le performed by the 4-H program as s is ta n t's supervising agent
have generally an influence on the development o f the ro le o f the
4-H program as sistan t.
The data from th is study supports Bowman and Klopf's
theory th a t ro le development is a dynamic of each in te ra c tio n of a
p a r tic u la r professional with a p a r tic u la r paraprofessional w ithin
a given structure responding to special needs.
The evidence from th is study indicates th a t one o f the
major contributions o f program assistants was t h e i r f l e x i b i l i t y to
do what was necessary to be done in the s itu a tio n they are placed.
I t appears th a t 4-H program assistants are expected to
work closely with 4-H volunteers and th a t they are meeting th a t
expectation generally by the 4-H tasks performed; more s p e c if ic a lly ,
v i s i t i n g , re c ru itin g and determining the tra in in g needs of volunteer
4-H leaders.
I t appears th at some program assistants are expected to
concentrate t h e i r e ffo rts in c e rta in geographic areas o f the county
and/or with specialized 4-H program a c t i v i t i e s .
These program
assistants are more l i k e l y to be found in the urban counties.
The evidence from th is study indicates th a t the level of
formal schooling o f 4-H program assistants generally does not corre
la te with how frequent program assistants perform 4-H tasks.
I t can
be concluded, on the basis of th is lim ite d data, th at the level of
formal schooling need not be a lim itin g q u a lif ic a tio n fo r the
142
employment of 4-H program assistants.
I t is concluded th a t program assistants with more employ
ment experience as a 4-H program assistan t are generally doing more
long range planning and working w ith other youth agencies and
boards in the county than inexperienced program assistan ts.
The
evidence from th is study leads to the conclusion th a t previous
experiences generally do not c o rre la te with the performance frequency
o f the 4-H tasks performed by 4-H program assistan ts.
The evidence from th is study leads to the conclusion th at
about tw o-thirds o f the 4-H program assistants do not aspire to
move toward f u l l professional status.
program assistants aspire to be agents.
Fewer than o n e-third o f the
Most of these were employed
in urban counties, had attended college and were between the ages
o f 22 and 30 years old.
I t appears th a t 4-H agents have generally changed th e ir
own roles with the addition o f 4-H program assistants in regards to
the increased importance o f t h e i r supervisory functions with 4-H
program assistan ts.
4-H agent's ro le change, as indicated by less
importance to d ire c t volunteer leader contact, has been generally
assumed by the 4-H program assistants in the county.
I t appears
th a t g enerally 4-H agents are performing the major 4-H roles in
counties with 4-H program as sis tan ts.
In counties without resident
4-H agents, the program assistants are generally performing the major
4-H roles with shared performance from the county extension d ire c to rs .
143
Recommendations
I t is recommended th a t e f f o r t s be continued to establish
and appropriately recognize the 4-H program as sis tan t s t a f f posi
tion as an important position in the Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service.
I t is recommended th a t s t a f f be encouraged in the ro le
set s itu a tio n to analyze the needs and in te re s ts in t h e i r s itu a tio n
to determine the ro le fo r each s t a f f member in the 4-H program.
Due to the d iffe ren c e o f program assis tan ts' roles in various
county s ta ffin g models, i t is recommended i f fu tu re s t a f fin g models
are developed, consideration continue to be given to the characteris
t ic s of the county s ta ffin g needs.
4-H program assistants were found performing many o f the
4-H tasks 4-H agents are presently performing.
For more e f f i c i e n t
use o f both human and fin a n c ia l resources, i t is recommended th a t
4-H agents share more o f the 4-H tasks with 4-H program assistants
and th at 4-H agents perform more functions re la tin g to o verall pro
gram planning, management and evaluation.
I t is recommended th a t a d i s t r i c t or area youth and ad u lt
development s p e c ia lis t position be developed whose primary ro le
would be providing youth and a d u lt development resource leadership
to 4-H s t a f f in counties.
4-H agents with these s k i l l s who "turn
over" county 4-H coordination leadership to program assistants may
be possible candidates f o r th is positio n.
144
I t is recommended th a t additional 4-H leadership and
support be provided by professional s t a f f in counties without 4-H
agents.
The following a lte rn a tiv e s are recommended fo r consideration:
1.
The supervisory agent, county extension d ir e c to r ,
assume more re s p o n s ib ility f o r professional leader
ship fo r the county 4-H program.
2.
D i s t r i c t youth and a d u lt development s p e c ia lis t
provide additional 4-H professional leadership
to county 4-H programs.
3.
A combination o f d i s t r i c t leadership with the
county extension d ir e c to r provide the 4-H pro
fessional leadership.
The data in d ica te differences in roles being performed by
4-H program assistants in the various county s itu atio n s in the
Michigan Cooperative Extension Service.
An understanding o f these
ro le differences and the apparent relationships with county situ atio n s
may decrease ro le c o n f lic t and ro le ambiguity o f program assistants
and agents.
I t i s , th e re fo re , recommended th a t the ro le differences
found among youth workers in the Michigan Extension Service be
communicated to develop b e tte r understanding o f the 4-H program
assistant ro le .
I t is recommended th a t in te re sted program assistants be
provided appropriate counseling regarding q u a lific a tio n s and expecta
tions on employment as an agent in the Cooperative Extension Service.
The follow ing fu tu re research is recommended:
1.
A longitudinal study be conducted to analyze the
variables re la tin g to impact o f the 4-H program
assistants.
2.
An indepth study o f the psychological factors o f
influence involved in the professional-parapro
fessional re la tio n s h ip in a ro le se t.
An indepth study to develop.and analyze additional
approaches to providing 4-H professional leader
ship in counties without resident 4-H agents.
An indepth study to more c le a r ly define the pro
fessional leadership tasks necessary fo r an
e ffe c t iv e county 4-H program and id e n t i f y capa
b i l i t i e s needed to most e f f e c t i v e l y perform those
tasks.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, R .A ., "Organizational Character o f Education: S t a f f
U t i l iz a t io n and Development; Subprofessional and Paraprofessional Personnel." Review o f Education Research,
Vol. 34, October, 1964.
Artabasy, James T . ,
Prelim inary Evaluation Analysis o f 4-H Program
Assistant Salary Administration System, an in te rn al study
by the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, Michigan
State U n iv e rs ity , January, 1974.
Banning, John W., "New Dimensions o f Cooperative Extension Youth
Programs in the 70's ." Paper presented a t the 1970 Annual
Meeting of the National Association o f Extension 4-H
Agents, Purdue U n iv e rs ity , November, 1970.
Bennett, W illiam S ., J r . and Falk, Frank R . , New Careers and Urban
Schools. New York: H o lt, Rinehard and Winston, I n c .,
1970.
Biddle, Bruce J. and Thomas, Edwin J . , Role Theory:
Research. New York: W iley, 1966.
Concepts and
Bowman, Garda W. and Klopf, Gordon J . , New Careers and Roles in the
American School: A Study o f A u x ilia ry Personnel in Educa
t i o n . New York: Bank S tre e t College o f Education, 1968.
Boy Scouts o f America, "Paraprofessional Employment Program Training
Plans and Procedures." North Brunswich, 1973.
Brighton, Howard, U t i l i z i n g Teacher Aides in D iffe r e n tia te d S t a f f in g .
Midland, Michigan: Pendell Publishing Company, 1972.
Esbensen, Thornwald, "Should Teacher Aides Be More Than Clerks?" Phi
Delta Kappan, X L V II, 5, January.
Gartner, Alan, Paraprofessionals and Their Performance.
Praeger Publishers, 1971.
New York:
Gibson, O liv e r R. and Hunt, Herold C . , The School Personnel Adminis
t r a t i o n . Boston: Houghton M i f f l i n Company, 1965.
146
147
Godfrey, Lina Rowe, "Role Adaptation and Career Development: A
Study o f Role D e fin itio n and Role In te ra c tio n Among
Teachers and Teacher-Aides in Adult Basic Education
in the State o f Michigan," A Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n ,
Michigan State U n iv e rs ity , East Lansing, 1971.
Gross, Neal; Mason, Ward S .; and McEachern, Alexander W., Explora
tions in Role Analysis: Studies o f the School Super
intendent Role. New York: Wiley, 1957.
Grosser, Charles G ., "Manpower Development Programs," in Charles G.
Grosser, e t a l . (eds.) Nonprofessionals in the Human
Services. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, I n c . , 1969.
Grosser,
Charles G ., The Role o f the Nonprofessional in the Manpower
Development Programs. Washington, D .C ., U.S. Department
o f Labor, 1966.
Houston, Laura P ire s , "Black People, New Careers and Humane Human
Services," Social Casework. LI 5, May, 1970.
Kieson, John A .; Lewis, Charles E .; and Lyday, Susan Y ., "The
Functional Development and Evaluation o f a Youth S ta ffin g
Model U t i l i z i n g the Ideal Role of the Paraprofessional
Youth Worker." (Extension Service Special Project Report),
North Carolina State U n iv e rs ity , Raleigh, March, 1974.
Kiesow, John A . , "Role Model fo r the Paraprofessional Youth Worker
in the Extension Service." A Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n , North
Carolina State U n iv e rs ity , Raleigh, 1972.
Krohn, Glen H.,"Aide U t i l i z a t i o n in Voluntary Youth Educational
Programs." A Ph.D. d is s e rta tio n , U niversity o f Nebraska,
Lincoln, 1972.
Lindzey, Gardner and Aronson, E l l i o t t (e d s .). The Handbook o f Social
Psychology, Sec. Ed., Vol. 1, Reading, Mass., Addison,
Wesley, 1968.
Linton, Ralph, The Study o f Man.
1936.
New York:
D. Appleton-Century Company,
Matheny, Kenneth B. and O s lin , Yvonne, " U t iliz a t io n o f Paraprofessionals
in Education and the Helping Professions: A Review o f the
L ite r a tu r e ." Paper presented to the American Educational
Research Association, Minneapolis, March, 1970.
Newcomb, Theodore M ., Social Psychology.
New York:
Dryden Press, 1951.
148
Parsons, J e rry , "Inner C ity Youth Programs:
Extension, 9 (Summer, 1971).
Guidelines," Journal o f
P e a rl, Arthur and Riessman, Frank, New Careers f o r the Poor.
York: Free Press, 1965.
New
Reisman, Frank, Foreward, Paraprofessionals and T h e ir Performance.
New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971.
Reisman, Frank, "The Challenge: New Careers f o r the Poor," in
Proceedings o f the American Home Economist Workshop.
Chicago: American Home Economics Association, 1966.
Rogers, Everett M ., Communication Strategies f o r Family Planning.
New York: The Free Press, 1973.
Silverman, Saul A ., "Subprofessionals in Extension,"
Cooperative Extension, 7 (Spring, 1969).
Journal of
Snider, B. Alan, "Eight Years o f Becoming—The 4-H Program Assistant
in Michigan." A paper presented a t the 4-H Paraprofessional
Seminar, National 4-H Center, Washington, D .C ., A p ril 4 ,
1974.
T ay lo r, James C. and Bowers, David G ., Survey of Organization: A
Machine-Scored Standardized QiTestionnaire Instrument. Erin
Arbor: U niversity o f Michigan, 1972.
Tanner, Daniel and Tanner, Laurel N ., "Teacher Aides: A Job fo r
Anyone in Ghetto Schools," The Record, LXIX.8, May, 1968.
Tennant, C hristine S. and Longest, James W., "Professional and Para
professional Role D if f e r e n t ia t io n ." A g ric u ltu ra l Experiment
S ta tio n , College Park, Maryland, 1973.
U.S. Department o f A g ric u ltu re , Extension Service, A Plan f o r A ction.
Report by the National 4-H Urban Program Development
Committee. Washington, D .C ., 1973.
U.S. Department o f A g ric u ltu re , Extension Service, 4-H in the 70*s .
Washington, D.C., n.d.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
COVER LETTER AND
SURVEY INSTRUMENTS
Appendix A - l .
Cover L e tte r
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
Michigan State University - East Lansing, Michigan 4 8823
AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COOPERATING
4-H Youth Programs
175 South Anthony
Telephone (517) 355-0180
[This l e t t e r was mailed to in d ivid u al program
as sis ta n ts , 4-H agents and county extension
d irec to rs in Michigan countiesJ
April 12, 1974
Dear
:
You are aware of the expressed interest and concern in the employing of
4-H Program Assistants in counties throughout Michigan. MEA4-HYS and
the State 4-H Office have jointly identified a task force to study the
situation.
The attached questionnaire, completed by you and other Agents,
CED's, and 4-H Program Assistants in counties employing 4-H PA's will
provide valuable information to help understand the situation regarding
the staffing of 4-H PA's.
The questionnaire, designed to obtain your responses with a minimum of
your effort, was tested in March with 17 Agents and 35 4-H PA's in
Wisconsin and Michigan, Many reported completing the questionnaire in
15-20 minutes and a willingness to complete the questionnaire because of
the importance of obtaining the information.
You are asked to take the 15-20 minutes, now as you are reading this letter,
to complete the questionnaire and drop it in the enclosed envelope. As
the instructions indicate, do not visit with others as you fill out the
questionnaire, for we want your individual response.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact one of us.
We look forward to your response in the next few days.
Sincerely,
Norman A . Brown
Program Director
4-H - Youth Programs
B. Alan Snider
Program Assistant
4-H Youth Programs
149
APPENDIX A-2
4-H Program Assistant Questionnaire
INSTRUCTIONS
The purpose of this questionnaire is to obtain your opinions and feelings about your
role as a 4-H program assistant. (4-H PA) Please complete the questionnaire by an
swering all questions. Most questions have no right or wrong answers. We need
your opinion so do not consult others in completing the questionnaire. You will
find that each question can be completed rather quickly.
(Many 4-H PA's In testing
the questionnaire completed it in 15— 20 minutes.) We want your spontaneous reac
tions. Your responses will be kept confidential and reported with others to avoid
identification of individual responses. The questionnaire is only Identified to
assist in data collection. Please be honest and frank with your responses.
Check the response that best describes your situation.
1. Sex
_____Male__________ ____ Female
2* Age
_____18-21_________ ____ 31-40
22-30
____ 41-50
3.
5.
51 and over
Length of time on the job as 4-H PA
1 ._____under 6 months
2 ._____6 months - 1 year
3 ._____over 1 year, under 2 years
4.
What is your:
4 ._____ over 2 years, under 3 yrs
5 ._____ over 3 years
I am employed as a 4-H PA on a basis of:
1/2 time
full-time
other(specify)
What level of formal schooling have you completed? (Mark just the highest
category)
1 .____Some high school but did not graduate
2 .___ Graduated from high school
3 .___ Attended college but less than two years
4 .___ Two or more years of college, but have notreceived bachelor's degree
5 .___ Received a bachelor's degree
6 .___ Received a bachelor's degreeplus additional courses
7 .___ Received a master's degree
8.
A ttended a vocational or technical school
9 .___ Other (specify)
6.
If you attended college, what was your major?_________________________
7.
Before I was hired as 4-H PA I worked with youth as a :
4-H Leader
2 .___ Teacher
3 .___ Scout Leader
4 .___ Sunday School Teacher
5.____ YMCA volunteer
6.
YWCA volunteer
7.____ Others___________________
8.____ No experience with youth
8.
Before I was hired as 4-H PA, I worked with adults as:________________
9.
What would you like to be doing 5 years from now In relationtoemployment
In the 4-H program?
150
151
10.
What previous experiences before you were hired as a 4-H PA do you feel have
been most helpful to you to be successful In working in the 4-H program? Check
(■S) only those statements (one or more) below that apply to you.
Space Is
available to list additional experiences.
1 .___ Was established in the community before employed as 4-H PA
2 .___ Was a 4-H Leader
3.___ Have had college training
4 .___ Have not had college training
5 .___ Was recognized as a "leader" in community by others before hired as 4-H PA
6 .___ Worked with youth before employment as 4-H PA
7.
Worked with groups before employment as 4-H PA
8 .___ Worked with adults before employment as 4-H PA
9.
Managed your own time
10.
Had no preconceived opinion or experiences that might block present
performance.
11. From the list of experiences you have just checked above, put an
3 which you think have been most important for your success.
(X) beside 2 or
12. 4-H PA's have been employed to work with county 4-H programs forvarious
pur
poses. Listed below is a representative listing of responsibilities 4-H PA's
may assume. Please read through the responsibilities and check (■/) the statement(s) that best describe the responsibilities you presently are assuming in
your role as 4-H PA. If an Important responsibility is not listed, please
write it in the additional space.
1.
Expand 4-H program in all geographic areas of county
2.
Expand 4-H program in urban areas
3.____Expand 4-H program in certain geographic areas of county, such as certain
school districts, etc., rather than total county
4 .___ Expand 4-H program through special program efforts such as 4-H TV series,
school conservation, etc.
5.
Assist agent by carrying out ongoing tasks of county 4-H program
6.
Assist agent in coordination and carrying out county 4-H program
7 .____Coordinate and carry out the total county 4-H program
8 .___ Work towards more direct contact with people who have not been involved
in 4-H
9 .___ Provide necessary personal contact with volunteers in 4-H program
13. From the list of responsibilities you have just checked in item 12 above, go
through again and place an (X) for the major (30Z or more) responsibility (s)
you are assuming In your role as a 4-H PA.
-2-
1
5
2
14.
Below and on the next page is a list of 4-H tasks that can be performed in a
county 4-H Program. You are asked to make 2 responses to each task.
First, in comparison to all 4-H tasks you do, indicate how often you perform
each task listed by checking one of the columns headed by: Never. Very Seldom.
Sometimes or Often..
Second, indicate how often in your opinion the agent performs each task by
checking in the column headed by: Never, Very Seldom. Sometimes or Often. An
agent would be considered the 4-H Agent in counties with a 4-H Agent. In
counties where there is not a 4-H Agent, agent is the CED. The following ex
ample illustrates the procedure:
How often do you perform
this task?
EXAMPLE
Never Very
Sometimes Often
Seldom
How often does agent perform
this task?
Never Very
Sometimes Often
Seldom
Visit 4-H members
in their home
Plans 4-H Camp
The above example would indicate that you visit 4-H members occasionally, but not
to a large extent of your time, and that the agent does not visit members in their
home. It also indicates that you do not plan camp and that the agent does spend a
great deal of time planning camp.
— ....................
4-H TASKS
-»
<1
How often do you
perform this task?
Never
■■■
How often does agent
perform this task?
Very Some Often kever Very Some Df ten
Seldom times
Seldom times
1. Visit 4-H leaders in theit.
homes.
2. Recruit new 4-H leaders.
3, Organize new 4-H clubs.
4. Lead group of 4-H members
Bimilar to volunteer leader.
5. Provide leadership to develop
long range plans (2-5 years)
for county 4-H programs.
6. Conduct training for 4-H
leaders.
7. Determine training needs of
4-H leaders.
-3-
153
How often does ag ent
perform this task ?
How often do you
perform this task?
4-H TASKS (cont'd.)
Very Some Often
Seldom times
Never
8. Provide leadership to determine
resources needed for county
4-H program
Never
Very Some Ofte i
Seldom times
'
9. Work with other youth serving
agencies to develop new pro
grams
10. Promote 4-H programs in low
income areas.
11. Use specific programs (sch.
cons., TV series, etc.) to
introduce 4-11
12. Develop new program in spe
cific 4-H project area (such
as Home Ec)
13. Work in certain geographic .
areas of county (twp., sch.
dlst., etc.) rather than
total county.
•
14. Make physical arrangements
for major county 4-H acti
vities.
15. Work in all geographic
areas of the county.
16. Provide overall direction
to the county 4-H program.
17. Plan county 4-H activities
with 4-H council & committees.
18. Represent 4-H program to
governing boards.
19* Plan evaluation methods 6
procedures for determining ef
fectiveness of county program.
20. Coordinate total county 4-H
program.
*
21, Administer total county 4-H
program.
22. Free agent time for new prograi t ■
by carrying out traditional
routine in 4-H program.
not
-4-
appllt able
154
15.
How do you and the agent decide what each is going to do when you are planning
together for an activity or program? An example might be planning a 4-H leader
training program.
Listed below are several statements that may describe what is normally consider
ed by you and the agent as youeach accept tasks to complete an activity. Check
those items(s) below that are most frequently considered by you in deciding
who does what task. If additional considerations were given which are not list
ed* write them in the available space.
1
Ability to perform the task
2___ It was a task expected to be done by the 4-H PA or agent
3___ Interest in doing the task by each person
4___ The task was in the job description of 4-H PA oragent
5
Availability of time
6___ Desire for experience (self-improvement)
16.
When you have a problem which you are not sure how to handle who do you go to
for help? Check appropriate person(s) you have gone to.
1___ 4-H - Youth Agent in county
2___ 4-H - Youth Agent in area
3___ County Extension Director
17.
4___Other 4-H PA
5
District 4-H Leader
6___EHE
7
Other(specify)_____________
Read these answer categories over carefully. Then anhwer each of the following
questions by circling the number under the answer you want to give to Indicate
TJ
your degree of satisfaction.
01"O
•o
x: u
Soj to
«
0 to
0*H
WT3
2
44 *H
(0 44
m (0
44
CO
CO
01*H
H>>
CO
M (0
si'O
44
-t4 k4
OJ o
as d
(4
t4
CO
44
44
CO
(0
P"*
H
(0
01
>
3
4
5
2 - All In all, how satisfied are you with
your supervisor?
1
2
3
4
5
3 - All In all, how satisfied are you with
your job?
1
2
3
4
5
4 - All in all, how satisfied are you witn
Extension as an employer compared to
others?
5
All in all*, how satisfied are you
- / / 'with you* pay?
-
5-
1
2
3
4
5
155
18.
What specific things do you like about your job?
19.
What specific things do you dislike about your job?
20.
If you were In a position of changing things about the role of 4-H PA's,
what suggestions would you make? ______________________________________
Place completed questionnaire in envelope provided and return to the
State 4-H Office.
Thanks I
-
6-
APPENDIX A -3
Agent Questlomaire
INSTRUCTIONS
Purpose of this questionnaire is to obtain your feelings and opinions regarding 4-H
Program Assistants (4-H PA) and your role as their immediate supervisor. PleaBe
complete the questionnaire by answering all questions. Most questions have no right
or wrong answers. We need your opinion so do not consult others in completing the
questionnaire. You will find that each question can be completed rather quickly.
During testing many agents completed it in 15-20 minutes. We want your spontaneous
reactions. Your responses will be kept confidential and will be reported with others
to avoid identification of individual responses. The questionnaire is only Identi
fied to assist in data collection. Please be honest and frank with your responses.
If you are supervising more than one 4-H PA In the
county, respond to an average for
all PA's. If there are extremes among PA Indicatewith note to appropriate
questions.
1. What is your present position?
CED
2. How many years have you held thatposition?
3. How many years in this county?
4-H - Youth Agent
years
years
4. If you are not a 4-H - Youth Agent, have you ever held that position?
yes
If yes, for how many years? _________
5. When was the first 4-H PA hired in this county?
_______________
no
6. What was your role before a 4-H PA was employed
in this county. Listed below are
ten 4-H functions. How vital were these functions to your role in having an ef
fective county 4-H program before 4-H PA washired? How
vitalare theynow?
For
• each function indicate its importance to your role prior to 4-H PA beingemployed
in the county and the importance of each function to your role now. (If 4-H PA
was employed in the county before you came in, complete the now section only.)
4-H FUNCTIONS
Prior to hiring of
4-H PA, how vital How vital is this
was this function function now
to your role?
to your role?
Little
Some Very Little
1. Generate new members and leaders
for 4-H program.
2. Identify and recruit volunteer
4-H leaders.
3. Train volunteer 4-H leaders .
4. Manage, develop and direct the
work of employees.
5. Analyze the situation in the county
to develop new 4-H programs.
6. Work with local support groups in
securing resources for 4-H program.
7. Develop educational activities for
participants in 4-H program.
8. Conduct educational activities for
participants in 4-H program.
9. Analyze existing programs and
activities.
10. Determine and execute the objectives,
budget and management procedures of
the 4-H program.
1
Some
Very
157
7. 4-H PA’s have been employed to work with county 4-H Programs for various pur
poses. Listed below Is a representative listing of responsibilities 4-H PA ’s
may assume. Please read through the responsibilities and check ( u O the
statement(s) that best describe the responsibilities presently assumed by the
4-H PA’s employed under your supervision. If an important responsibility is not
listed, please write it in the additional space.
f
1 .____ Expand 4-H program in all geographic areas of county.
2 .____ Expand 4-H program in urban areas.
3 .____ Expand 4-H program in certain geographic areas of county, such as
certain school districts, etc., rather than total county.
4 .____ Expand 4-H program through special program efforts such as 4- H tT V :series,
school conservation, etc.
5 .____ Assist agent by carrying out ongoing tasks of county 4-H program.
6 .____ Assist agent in coordination and carrying out county 4-H program.
7 .____ Coordinate and carry out the total county 4-H program.
8 .____ Work towards more direct contact with people who have not been involved
in 4-H.
9 .____ To provide necessary personal contact with volunteers in 4-H program.
8. From the list of responsibilities you have just checked in item 7 above, go
through again and place an (X) for the major (30% or more) responsibility(s)
assumed by 4-H PA's in this county.
9. On the next page and
county 4-H program.
one half is a list of 4-H tasks that can be performed in a
You are asked to make two responses to each task.
First, in comparisonto all 4-H tasks, indicate how often in your opinion the
4-H PA In this county performs each task by makinga check in one of the
columns headed:
Never.Very Seldom.Sometimes. or Often.
Second, indicate how often you perform eachtask by making a check In one of the
columns headed:
Never.Very Seldom,Sometimes, or Often.The
following
example illustrates the procedure:
How often does 4-H PA
perform this task?
EXAMPLE
Never
How often do you perform
this task?
Very Sometimes Often Never Very Sometimes Often
Seldom
Seldom
Visit 4-H members in
their home
i /
Plans 4-H Camp
The above example would indicate that the 4-H PA visits 4-H members occasionally,
but not to a large extent of the time; and that you do not visit 4-H members in
their home. It also indicates that the 4-H PA does not plan camp and that you
do spend a great deal of time planning camp.
-
2-
158
4-H TASKS
How often do you
How often does 4-H PA
perform this task?
perform this task?
Never Very Some Often Never Very Some Often
Seldom times
Seldom times
.1. ViBit 4-H leaders in their
homes.
2. Recruit new 4-H leaders.
3. Organize new 4-H clubs.
4. Lead group of 4-H members
similar to volunteer leader.
5. Provide leadership to develop
long range plans (2-5 years)
for county 4-H programs.
6. Conduct training for 4-H leader s.
7. Determine training needs of
4-H leaders.
8. Provide leadership to determine
resources needed for county
4-H program 9. Work with other youth serving
agencies to develop new progran s .
10. Promote 4-H programs in low
Income areas.
11. Use specific programs (school
cons., TV series, etc.) to
introduce 4-H.
12
Develop new programs in specif: c
4-H project area (i.e. Home Ec )
13. Work in certain geographic are* s
of county (twp.,school dist.,
etc.)rather than total county.
14. Make physical arrangements for
major county 4-H activities.
15. Work in all geographic areas oi '
the county.
16. Provide overall direction to
the county 4-H program.
17. Plan county 4-H activities witl ,
4-H council and committees.
18. Represent 4-H program to
governing boards.
(continued on next page)
.
4-H TASKS (Cont’d.)
159
How often do you
How.often do es 4-H PA
perform this task?
perform this task?
Never Very Some Often Never Very Some Often
Seldom times
seldom times
19. Plan evaluation methods and
procedures for determining ef
fectiveness of county program.
20. Coordinate total county 4-H
program.
21. Administer total county 4-H
program.
22. Free agent time for new pro
grams by carrying out trad
itional routine in 4-H
program.
not applic lble
10. How do you and the 4-H PA decide what each is going to do when you are planning
together for an activity or program? An example might be planning a 4-H
leader training program.
Listed below are several statements that may describe what is normally consi
dered by you and the 4-H PA as you each accept tasks to complete an activity.
Check those ltem(s) below that are most frequently considered by you in deciding
who does what task. If additional consideration was given which are not
listed, write them in available space.
1 .____ Ability to perform the task
2 .____ It was a task expected to be done by the 4-H PA or agent
3._____ Interest in doing that task by each person
4 .____ The task was in the job description of 4-H PA or agent
5 .____ Availability of time
6 .____ Desire for experience (self-improvement)
11. What previous experiences did the 4-H PA have before employment as a 4-H PA
that has helped the person to be successful in working in the 4-H program.
Check only those statements (one or more) 'below that you feel apply to the PA
or PA1a in this county.
Space is available to list additional experiences.
1 .____ Was established in the community prior to employment.
2.
Was a 4-H leader.
3 .____ Had college training.
(
4 .____ Had not had college training.
5 .____ Was recognized as a "leader" in community by peers before employed as PA.
6 .____ Worked with youth before employment.
7 .____ Worked with groups before employment.
8 .____ Worked with adults before employment.
9 .____ Managed their own time.
10.
Had no preconceived opinion or experiences that might block present
performance.
12. From the list in item 11 you have just checked above, put an (X) beside the
2 or 3 experiences which you think have been most important in 4-H PA
success.
-4 -
160
13. Listed below are statements which describe personal characteristics 4-H FA*s
could have which could help that person be successful in their role with 4-H
programs. You are asked to respond in two different ways to the list. First,
Indicate with a { y ) check which characteristics you feel the 4-H PA in this
county possesses.
Second, indicate with a check which charactersitics you feel
ideally the 4-H PA should possess.
Space is available for additional
characteristics.
Characteristics
Characteristics
4-H PA has in
County______
Ideally,
Characteristics 4-H PA
Should have______ _
1. Has knowledge of client group's
needs, attitudes, norms
_______________
2. Understands 4-H leaders’ problems_______________
3. Communicates very easily with
clientele
________________
_______________
4. Has a way of motivating others
5. Needs very little supervision
_______________
6. Likes to do tasks which require
less training than an agent
________________
7. Enjoys visiting with 4-11
leaders and members
________________
8. Enthusiastic_____________________ __________
9. Has no racial/ethnic "hang-ups" _______________
10. Sensitive to people______________ ________________
11. Has ability to adjust to
different typeB of people
12
.
14. From the list you have just checked above, put an (X) beside the 2 - 4
characteristics which you think have been the most important for 4-H PA
success.
15. What have been the major results (advantage, costs, benefits, etc.)
of employing 4-H PA's in this county? __________________________________
16. What major problems or concerns do you have regarding the 4-H PA position?
17. What recommendations or suggestions would you make which would be an attempt to
alleviate some of the problems or concerns regarding the 4-H PA position?
Place completed questionnaire in envelope provided and return to State 4-H Office.
ThanksI
-5 -
APPENDIX B
TABLES OF FREQUENCY COUNT, MEAN AND STANDARD
DEVIATION OF 4-H TASKS AS SELF REPORTED BY
RESPONDENTS IN THE STUDY
Appendix Table B - l .
Frequency Count, Mean and Standard Deviation of
4-H Tasks as S e lf Reported by Program Assistants
by Type o f County, Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service, 1974.
Responses
isk
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Type of
County
N
N
VS
S
0
Mean
Std.
Dev.
A
B
C
21
28
13
1
1
0
0
3
1
9
13
8
11
11
4
3.43
3.21
3.23
.75
.79
.60
Total
62
2
4
30
26
3.28
.72
A
B
C
19
28
13
0
0
0
2
4
1
5
3
6
12
21
6
3.53
3.61
3.38
.70
.74
.65
Total
60
0
7
14
39
3.54
.69
A
B
C
21
28
13
0
0
1
3
3
1
6
10
7
12
15
4
3.43
3.43
3.08
.75
.69
.86
Total
62
2
7
22
31
3.32
.79
A
B
C
19
28
13
5
6
2
6
7
3
5
4
4
3
11
2
2.32
2.71
2.77
1.06
1.21
1.09
Total
60
12
16
13
19
2.63
1.14
A
B
C
20
28
12
4
2
3
3
8
6
8
14
3
5
4
0
2.70
2.71
2.00
1.08
.81
.74
Total
60
9
17
25
9
2.63
.96
A
B
C
20
28
13
2
2
2
4
3
4
9
12
3
5
11
5
2.85
3.14
2.69
.93
.89
1.11
Total
61
6
11
24
20
2.98
.95
A
B
C
20
28
13
2
1
1
2
8
3
7
8
5
9
11
4
3.15
3.04
2.92
.99
.92
.95
Total
61
4
13
20
24
3.08
.93
162
Table B - l .
Continued.
Responses
rask
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
N
N
VS
S
0
Mean
Std.
Dev.
A
B
C
21
28
13
0
2
1
4
4
5
8
14
6
9
8
1
3.24
3.00
2.54
.77
.86
.78
Total
62
3
13
28
18
3.03
.85
A
B
C
20
28
13
1
4
2
4
5
7
10
11
4
5
8
0
2.95
2.82
2.15
.83
1.02
.69
Total
62
7
15
27
13
2.72
.92
A
B
C
20
28
13
2
2
1
3
2
0
4
7
8
11
17
4
3.20
3.39
3.15
1.06
.92
.80
Total
61
5
5
19
32
3.27
.91
A
B
C
20
28
13
2
3
1
3
4
2
5
11
6
10
10
4
3.15
3.00
3.00
1.04
.98
.91
Total
61
6
9
22
24
3.03
.99
A
B
C
20
28
13
0
5
1
6
2
4
11
14
5
3
7
3
2.85
2.82
2.77
.67
1.02
.93
Total
61
6
12
30
13
2.84
.88
A
B
C
20
28
13
9
5
2
1
4
2
6
6
7
4
13
2
2.25
2.96
2.69
1.25
1.17
.95
Total
61
16
7
19
19
2.67
1.16
A
B
C
19
28
13
1
2
0
0
5
2
2
12
8
16
9
3
3.74
3.00
3.08
.73
.90
.64
Total
60
3
7
22
28
3.27
.85
A
B
C
20
28
13
0
4
0
0
6
1
4
9
6
16
9
6
3.80
2.82
3.38
.41
1.06
.65
Total
61
4
7
19
31
3.30
.90
Type o f
County
163
Table B - l .
Task
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Continued.
Type o f
County
N
---------- Resfionses----------N
VS
S O
Mean
Std.
Dev.
A
B
C
20
27
13
0
11
2
1
6
4
6
6
6
13
4
1
3.60
2.11
2.46
.60
1.12
.88
Total
60
13
11
18
18
2.70
1.10
A
B
C
20
27
13
2
4
0
1
8
1
0
8
6
17
7
6
3.60
2.67
3.38
.99
1.04
.65
Total
60
6
10
14
30
3.17
1.02
A
B
C
19
27
13
3
7
4
3
8
6
10
9
3
3
3
0
2.68
2.30
1.92
.95
.99
.76
Total
59
14
17
22
6
2.35
.94
A
B
C
20
27
13
0
3
1
4
12
4
9
10
8
7
2
0
3.15
2.41
2.54
.75
.80
.66
Total
60
4
20
27
9
2.73
.83
A
B
C
20
27
11
1
9
4
0
7
3
2
6
4
17
5
0
3.75
2.26
2.00
.72
1.13
.89
Total
58
14
10
12
22
2.72
1.19
A
B
C
20
27
12
2
16
4
2
6
6
3
2
2
13
3
0
3.35
1.70
1.83
1.04
1.03
.72
Total
59
22
14
7
16
2.31
1.21
A
B
C
15
26
13
1
6
1
1
5
1
3
5
8
10
10
3
3.47
2.73
3.00
.92
1.22
.82
Total
54
8
7
16
23
3.02
1.07
Appendix Table B-2.
Task
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Type o f
County
N
Frequency Count, Mean and Standard Deviation o f
4-H Tasks as S e lf Reported by Supervising Agents
by Type o f County, Michigan Cooperative Extension
Service, 1974.
---------- Responses
N
VS
S
O
Mean
std>
Dev.
A
B
C
18
13
12
1
0
0
12
1
1
5
10
7
0
2
4
2.22
3.08
3.25
.55
.49
.62
Total
43
1
14
22
6
2.81
.71
A
B
C
18
13
11
0
0
0
9
2
1
9
7
4
0
4
6
2.50
3.15
3.45
.51
.69
.69
Total
42
0
12
20
10
2.96
.73
A
B
C
18
13
11
4
0
0
14
1
2
0
10
3
0
2
6
1.78
3.08
3.36
.43
.49
.81
Total
42
4
17
13
8
2.63
.90
A
B
C
18
13
11
14
8
4
3
3
4
1
2
2
0
0
1
1.28
1.54
2.00
.57
.78
1.00
Total
42
26
10
5
1
1.52
.78
A
B
C
18
13
12
0
0
0
2
0
0
9
2
3
7
11
9
3.28
3.85
3.75
.67
.38
.45
Total
43
0
2
14
27
3.60
.58
A
B
C
18
13
12
0
0
0
9
1
0
8
6
7
1
6
5
2.56
3.38
3.42
.62
.65
.51
Total
43
0
10
21
12
3.11
.73
A
B
C
17
13
12
0
0
0
5
0
0
9
4
5
3
9
7
2.88
3.69
3.58
.70
.48
.51
Total
42
0
5
18
19
3.30
.66
164
165
Table B-2.
Task
8
Continued.
Type o f
County
N
-----------R^ESnses
N
VS
S
O
Mean
Std.
Dev.
A
B
C
18
13
12
0
0
0
2
0
0
7
2
2
9
n
10
3.39
3.85
3.83
.70
.38
.39
Total
43
0
2
11
30
3.66
.56
A
B
C
18
13
11
1
0
0
7
4
1
8
5
8
2
4
2
2.61
3.00
3.09
.78
.82
.54
Total
42
1
12
21
8
2.85
.73
A
B
C
18
13
12
0
0
0
5
2
2
11
6
7
2
5
3
2.83
3.23
3.08
.62
.73
.67
Total
43
0
9
24
10
3.02
.68
A
B
C
18
13
12
3
1
1
10
3
3
5
4
2
0
5
6
2.11
3.00
3.08
.68
1.00
1.08
Total
43
5
16
11
11
2.66
1.01
A
B
C
18
13
12
2
0
0
10
2
2
6
5
6
0
6
4
2.22
3.31
3.17
.65
.75
.72
Total
43
2
14
17
10
2.85
.83
A
B
C
18
13
11
5
4
0
10
4
6
1
5
4
2
0
1
2.00
2.08
2.55
.91
.86
.69
Total
42
9
20
10
3
2.15
.87
14
A
B
C
Total
18
13
12
43
3
0
1
4
8
6
2
16
5
4
4
13
2
3
5
10
2.33
2.77
3.08
2.77
.91
.83
1.00
.96
15
A
B
C
18
13
12
2
0
0
5
0
0
4
1
2
7
12
10
2.89
3.92
3.83
1.08
.28
.39
Total
43
2
5
7
29
3.51
.86
9
10
11
12
13
166
Table B-2.
Task
16
17
18
19
20
21
Continued.
Type o f
County
N
-----------Reseonses
N
VS
S
O
Mean
std
Dev.
A
B
C
18
13
12
1
0
0
1
0
0
6
0
0
10
13
12
3.39
4.00
4.00
.85
0.00
0.00
Total
43
1
1
6
35
3.77
.60
A
B
C
18
13
12
1
0
0
6
0
0
9
1
1
2
12
11
2.67
3.92
3.92
.77
.28
.29
Total
43
1
6
11
25
3.43
.80
A
B
C
18
13
12
0
0
0
1
1
0
4
2
3
13
10
9
3.67
3.69
3.75
.59
.63
.45
Total
43
0
2
9
32
3.72
.54
A
B
C
18
12
12
0
0
0
2
0
0
9
5
6
7
7
6
3.28
3.58
3.50
.67
.51
.52
Total
42
0
2
20
20
3.43
.58
A
B
C
18
13
12
0
0
0
4
0
0
8
0
1
6
13
11
3.11
4.00
3.92
.76
0.00
.29
Total
43
0
4
9
30
3.64
.64
A
B
C
18
12
12
0
0
0
5
0
0
4
0
0
9
12
12
3.22
4.00
4.00
.88
0.00
0.00
Total
42
0
5
4
33
3.70
.66