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Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WC1R 4E J, ENGLAND 8112131 O g u n d epe , R ebecc a M o d u pe o l a A STUDY OF THE SELF-PERCEIVED PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS IN MICHIGAN Michigan State University University Microfilms International PH.D. 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 1980 PLEASE NOTE: In a ll cases th is material has been filmed 1n the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with th is document have been id en tified here with a check mark 1. Glossy photographs 2. Colored Illu s tra tio n s 3. Photographs with dark background 4. Illu stra tio n s are poor copy ____ 5. °r1nt shows through as there 1s te x t on both sides of page 6. In d istin c t, broken or small p rin t on several pages 7. Tightly bound copy with p rin t lo s t In spine 8. Computer printout pages with In d istin c t p rin t 9. Page(s) lacking when material received, and not available from school or author 10. 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Z E E B RD. , A N N A R B O R , Ml 4 8 1 0 6 13131 761 4 7 0 0 A STUDY OF THE SELF-PERCEIVED PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS IN MICHIGAN by Rebecca Modupeola Ogundipe A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Secondary Education and Curriculum (Unit of Agricultural and Natural Resources Education) 1980 ABSTRACT A STUDY OF THE SELF-PERCEIVED PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS IN MICHIGAN by Rebecca Modupeola Ogundipe The primary purposes of the study were: (a) to ascer­ tain the educational and occupational characteristics of the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan; (b) to determine the self-perceived professional education competencies needed by these teachers; and (c) to analyze the relationship between these needs and the characteris­ tics of the teachers. Design of the Study - A mail questionnaire was used to collect the data from the 211 vocational agricul­ ture teachers who were teaching in the area vocational centers and high schools in Michigan during the 1979-80 school year. Part I of the questionnaire consisted of 16 questions pertaining to the teachers' educational and occupational characteristics. Part II questioned them on their need to update or further improve in 95 selected professional education competencies. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data and chi-square Rebecca Modupeola Ogundipe statistics were used to test if there was any significant relationship between the characteristics of the teachers and the professional education competencies needed by these teachers. Major Findings 1. Seventy-eight percent of the teachers were employed in the high schools while 22 percent were employed in area vocational centers. 2. Seventy percent were 40 years of age or less. 3. Seventy-two percent had Agricultural Education as their major when graduated from college. 4. Eighty-two percent graduated from Michigan State University. 5. Sixty-two percent were’enrolled in vocational agricul­ ture and 60 percent were FFA members while in high school. 6. Ninety-seven percent possessed a minimum of a bachelor's degree. 7. The largest group of teachers (51 percent) had Voca­ tional Endorsement of Secondary Continuing Certificate. 8. Fifty-two percent had 10 years or more of practical work experience in areas of agriculture prior to teaching. 9. Sixty-two percent had more than 6 years of teaching ex­ perience in vocational agriculture. Rebecca Modupeola Ogundipe 10. Eighty-six percent indicated an interest in participat­ ing in inservice activities within the next two years. 11. Seventy-five percent had training in Competency Based Education (CBE). Fifteen competencies were rated as needed for updating by all the teachers. The chi-square test results showed that there were sig­ nificant relationships between seven characteristics of the teachers and certain competencies as follows. 1. The school where the teachers taught and four compe­ tencies: Assist students in developing self-discipline; Keep up-to-date professionally; Knowing youth labor rules and regu­ lations; and Knowing MIOSHA rules and regulations regarding vocational facilities. 2. Teachers of different age groups and two competencies: Knowing legal liability of teachers and Engage students in supervised occupational experiences that are related to their occupational objectives. 3. University from which they graduated and three compe­ tencies: Assist students in developing self-discipline; EvalU' ate your instructional effectiveness; and Develop long-range plans for vocational agriculture program. 4. Their educational levels and two competencies: mine needs and Deter­ interests of students and Direct student laboratory experiences. Rebecca Modupeola Ogundipe 5. Type of vocational teaching certificate they possessed and three competencies: Knowing legal liability of teachers; Engage students in supervised occupational experiences that are related to their occupational objectives; and Direct student laboratory experiences. 6. Their interest in participating in professional educa­ tion inservice activities in the next two years and one competency: 7. Keep up-to-date professionally. The training they received in CBE and two competencies: Keep up-to-date professionally and Direct student laboratory experiences. Recommendations - Recommendations included (a) giving inservice training to all the teachers in the fifteen compe­ tencies reported as needed by them; (b) using the following characteristics for grouping them for inservice training: the type of school where they were employed, major when graduated from college, educational level, type of vocational teaching certificates they possessed, and (c) using effective communication strategies to conduct the inservice training. Dedicated to my husband, Olabanj for his encouragement and assis­ tance throughout this study. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to extend her most sincere gratitude and appreciation to all the individuals who helped in the planning and completion of this study. Profound thanks must be extended to Dr. 0. Donald Meaders for his advice and suggestions which led to the choice of this research topic; to Dr. Harrison Gardner for his willingness to help and his contributions to the development and progress of this study. Appreciation i3 extended to the Michigan voca­ tional agriculture teachers for their cooperation and sup­ port. Sincere thanks to Mr. Richard Karelse and Mr. Charles Arensmeier of the Michigan Department of Education, to Mr. Jerry Centers, Mr. Ray Clark, Ms. RoseMary Kartes, Ms. Kristine Ranger and Ms. Dora Grambau of Michigan State University for their valuable suggestions in the review of the questionnaires for this study. The author extends most sincere thanks and appreciation to Dr. Eddie A. Moore, chairman of her guidance committee. The friendly advice, scholarly review and dedicated approach of Dr. Moore have made valuable contributions to the comple­ tion of this study. Appreciation and sincere thanks are extended to the other three members of the researcher's iii guidance committee; Dr. Frank Bobbit, Dr. Ben Bohnhorst and Dr. Felipe Korzenny, whose suggestions and advice have been very helpful and useful. The author is greatly indebted to the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria for providing her with a study fellowship to pursue a Master of Science degree in Plant Pathology at Michigan State University. Sincere thanks are also extended to the American Association of University Women for their generous financial contributions during the researcher's doctoral program. Finally, sincere thanks and grateful appreciation must be extended to my parents, my husband's parents, my husband Olabanji, my son Olayinka and my daughter Foluwake for their love, understanding, care and concern about my success in life. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAGE INTRODUCTION . . 1 Statement of P r o b l e m .......... * ................. 2 Need for the S t u d y ................ ............... 3 Purposes of the S t u d y ............................ 7 Objectives of the Study ............ , , 7 Basic Assumptions * ................. . . . . . 1 0 L i m i t a t i o n s ..................................... 11 Definition of Terms . . . , .................... 12 II. REVIEW OF L I T E R A T U R E ............................. 18 Professional Education Competencies Needed by Vocational Agriculture Teachers . . . 19 Professional Educational Competencies Needed by Beginning Teachers of Vocational A g r i c u l t u r e ............................... 35 Professional Education Competencies Needed by Beginning and Experienced Teachers of Vocational Agriculture ............... 39 Professional Education Competencies Needed by Vocational Teachers in Michigan, . . . 42 Diffusion of Educational Innovations .......... 49 Who Should Assess Teacher*s Needs? ............. 57 Research Hypotheses ........................... 59 III. DESIGN OF THE S T U D Y ............................. 67 Population . . . , ............................... 69 Development of I n s t r u m e n t .......................69 Testing the Instrument .................... 71 Method of Rating . . . . . . ................... 71 Administration of Questionnaires ............... 72 Data Analysis ......................... . . 7 3 IV. EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS. . . 77 Distribution of Teachers by School . .......... 77 Distribution of Teachers by A g e ................ 78 Major Field of Educational Preparation ........ 79 v CHAPTER V. PAGE Proportion of Teachers That Were Michigan State University Graduates ............ Enrollment in Vocational Agriculture in High S c h o o l .............................. FFA Membership in High S c h o o l .................. Educational Level ............................ Vocational Teaching Certificates .............. Subject Matter Area Taught .................... Practical Work Experience .................... Teaching Experience .......................... Interest in Professional Education Inservice Activities in the Next Two Years . . . . Training in Competency Based Education ........ 80 81 82 82 84 87 88 PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS . . . . 92 79 89 90 Competencies Most Needed by the Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers ........ 96 Competencies Least Needed by Michigan Voca­ tional Agriculture Teachers . . . . . . .100 Competency Areas Most Needed by the Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers ........ 105 Competencies Needed by Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Area Vocational Centers and High Schools in M i c h i g a n ............... 107 Competencies Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Different Age G r o u p s ................................. H I Competencies Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers With and Without Major in Agricultural Education . .. . .121 Competencies Needed by MSU and Non-MSU Graduates............................... 121 Competencies Needed by Teachers Who Enrolled and Who Were Not Enrolled in Vocational Agriculture in High S c h o o l 12 8 Competencies Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers Who Were FFA Members or Non-FFA Members in High School .. . .132 Competencies Needed by Teachers of Various Educational Levels .................... 136 Competencies Needed by Teachers With Different Vocational Teaching Certificates......... 136 Influence of Number of Years of Practical Work Experience in Areas of Agriculture Before Teaching on the Self-Perceived Competencies Needed by the Teachers . . .148 PAGE CHAPTER Influence of Number of Years of Teaching ' Experience in Vocational Agriculture on the Self-Perceived Competencies Needed by the Teac h e r s .......................... 153 Competencies Needed by Teachers With Interest and Without Interest in Inservice Train­ ing in the Next TwoY e a r s ............... IS3 Influence of Training in Competency Based Education (CBE) on the Self-Perceived Competencies Needed by the Teachers . . . 160 Results of the Statistical Tests for the Research Hypotheses .................... 160 Summary of the Statistical Tests for the Research Hypotheses .................... 210 VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . 217 Statement of the P r o b l e m ........................ 217 Need for the S t u d y .............................. 217 Purposes of the S t u d y .......................... 218 Objectives of the S t u d y ........................ 218 Research Hvpotheses .......................... 218 Design of the S t u d v ............................ 219 Major Find i n g s .................................. 220 Characteristics of the Michigan Voca­ tional Agriculture Teachers ........ 220 Professional Education Inservice Needs. . 222 Discussion...................................... 229 C o n c l u s i o n s .................................... 233 Recommendations................................ 235 Ways to Increase Participation in the Inservice Training Programs ........ 253 Effective Communication Strategies . . . 255 A General Recommendation ...................... 257 Recommendations for FurtherStudy ............. 257 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................. 259 APPENDICES A. B. C. D. E. Supplementary T a b l e s ......................... 265 Mailed Questionnaire ....................... 213 Letter to the Pilot-Test Committee.......... 318 Cover Letter to the R e s p o n d e n t s .............319 First Letter of Reminder to the Respondents.............................. 320 F. Second Letter of Reminder to the Respondents.............................. 321 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Page Cross tabulations of Frequencies of the Rating of Competency 45 (Assist Students in Developing Self-discipline) by Teachers of Different Types of School .............. Distribution of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers by the Types of School. . 76 78 Distribution of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers by A g e ............... 78 Distribution of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers by their Major at Gradu­ ation from College ....................... 79 Distribution of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers by the University from Which They Gradu a t e d ....................... 80 Number and Percent of Teachers That Enrol­ led in Vocational Agriculture in High S c h o o l ................................... 8* Number and Percent of Teachers That Were FFA Members in High S c h o o l .............. 81 Educational Background of Michigan Voca­ tional Agriculture Teachers ............ 82 Distribution of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers by Vocational Teaching Certificates H e l d ....................... 83 Mean Percentage Teaching Time Spent by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers in Various Subject Matter Areas ........ 83 Distribution of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers by Years of Practical Work Experience in Agriculture before T e a c h i n g ................................. 88 viii Page Table 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Distribution of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers by Years of Teaching Experience in Vocational Agriculture ... 89 Interest of Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers to Participate in Professional Education Inservice Activities in the Next Two Y e a r s .................. 90 Distribution of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers by Their Responses to Training Received in Competency Based Education ( C B E ) .......... 90 Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers and Where They Received Training in ........ Competency Based Education (CBE) 91 Competencies Most Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers .......... 97 Competencies Least Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers .......... 102 Competency Areas Most Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers .......... 106 19. Mean Scores of the Competencies Needed by Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Area Vocational Centers and High Schools in M i c h i g a n ................................. 108 20. Mean Scores of Competencies Most Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Different Age G r o u p s .....................112 21. Mean Scores of the Competencies Most Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers With or Without Major in Agricultural E d u c a t i o n ................................... 122 22. Mean Scores of Competencies Needed by MSU and Non-MSU Graduate Teachers of Michigan Vocational Agriculture ................... 23. 125 Mean Scores of Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers Who Were Enrolled and Who Were Not Enrolled in Vocational Agriculture in High S c h o o l ................ 129 ix Page Table 24. Mean Scores of the Competencies Most Needed By Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers Who Were FFA Members and Non-FFA Members in High School .................. .. • 133 25. Mean Scores of the Competencies Needed By Teachers of Various Educational Levels .. 137 26. Number of Competencies Needed By Teachers of Different Vocational Teaching Certificates............................... 141 27. Mean Scores of Competencies Most Needed By Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Different Vocational Teaching Certificates............................ 142 28. Mean Scores of the Competencies Needed By Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Different Years of Practical Work Experience in Areas of Agriculture Before T e a c h i n g .............................. 149 29. Mean Scores of the Competencies Needed By Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Different Years of Teaching Experience .. 154 30. Mean Scores of the Competencies Needed By Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers With Interest and Without Interest in Inservice Training in the Next Two Y e a r s .................................. 157 31. Mean Scores of the Competencies Needed By Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers Who Had Received Training and Those Who Had Not Received Training in Competency Based Education........................ 161 32. Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies By Teachers of Different Schools ........ 164 33. Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies By Teachers of Different Age Groups . . ..167 34. Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies By Teachers of Different Majors at Gradu­ ation from C o l l e g e .................... 171 x Page Table 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers Who Were MSU and Non-MSU Graduates ................................. 175 Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers Enrolled and Teachers Not Enrolled in Vocational Agriculture in High School ............................... 178 Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers Who Were and Teachers Who Were Not FFA Members in High School .......... 182 Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers of Different Educational Levels ................................... 185 Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers of Different Vocational Teaching Certificate in Agriculture . . . . 189 Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers of Various Years of Practical Work Experience Before Teaching in the Areas of Agriculture ..................... 193 Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers of Various Years of Teaching Experience in Vocational Agriculture . . . 196 Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers Who Had Interest and Teachers Who Had No Interest in Inservice Training in the Next Two Years ..................... 200 Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers Who Had Received Training and Teachers Who Had Not Received Training in Competency Based Education ............ 204 xi Table 44. Page Chi-square Summaries of Frequencies of Rating the Fifteen Most Needed Competencies by Teachers' Indication of Where They ............ 207 Received Their CBE Training APPENDIX TABLES 45. Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers' Rating of Their Need to Update or Further Improve in the Professional Education Competencies According to Categories . . . 265 46. Professional Education Competencies Needed by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers Ranked from Most Needed to Least Needed . . 274 47. Frequencies of Response by Michigan Voca­ tional Agriculture Teachers on the Rating Scale for Their Need to Update or Further Improve for Each of the Competencies . . . . 48. Percentages of Response by Michigan Voca­ tional Agriculture Teachers on the Rating Scale for Their Need to Update or Further Improve in Each of the Competencies . . . . 281 293 49. Mean Scores of the Competencies Under FFA by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Area Centers and HighS c h o o l s ........... 306 50. Mean Scores of the Competencies Under FFA by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Different Age Groups. . . . . ......... 307 51. Mean Scores of the Competencies Under FFA by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers Who Had Major in Agricultural Education and Those Who Had Major in Non-Agricultural Education................................. 308 52. Mean Scores of Competencies Under FFA by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers Who Were MSU Graduates and Non-MSU G r e a d u a t e s ............................... 309 xii Table Page 53. Mean Scores of Competencies Under FFA by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers Who Were Enrolled and Those Who Were Not Enrolled in Vocational Agriculture in High S c h o o l ................ 310 54. Mean Scores of Competencies Under FFA by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers Who Were FFA Members and Non-FFA Members in High S c h o o l ............................ 311 55. Mean Scores of Competencies Under FFA by Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers• of Different Certification .............. xiii 312 ABBREVIATIONS CBE Competency Based Education FFA Future Farmers of America MIOSHA Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act ANRE Agricultural and Natural Resource Education AVA Annual Vocational Authorization TVA Temporary Vocational Authorization in Agriculture FVA Full Vocational Authorization in Agriculture SSP Vocational Endorsement of Secondary Provisional Certificate in Agriculture SSC Vocational Endorsement of Secondary Continuing Certificate in Agriculture xiv in Agriculture CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Professional development is an exceedingly complex phenomenon that can be approached from many different view points (Rubin, 1978). It is perceived in different ways by college professors, school administrators, teacher association representatives, teachers, etc. These differ­ ences in perception and interpretations of the concepts of professional development result in a variety of unrelated professional development activities in local school districts and in state educational agencies across the nation (Michigan Department of Education, 1978). The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) defined professional develop­ ment as a planned and organized effort to provide teachers and other educational workers with knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate improved student learning and performance (MDE, 1978). If teachers are to increase their knowledge and acquire new teaching techniques essential for effective teaching> inservice education opportunities must be provided. The primary responsibility for inservice education developmental programs should be that of employers with support from teacher education institutions and the State Department of Education. 1 2 This study was undertaken with a view that if vocation­ al agriculture teachers are expected to benefit from inservice education programs, one of the best motivational techniques to assure attentiveness and participation is to provide programs in the area that the teachers them­ selves indicate as their professional areas of need. Statement of Problem The concerns of society regarding schools have caused many educators and administrators to reexamine the methods and delivery systems by which teachers are prepared for teaching in public schools. During the 1978-79 academic year, the Agribusiness and Natural Resources Education (ANRE) faculty at Michigan State University reassessed certain components of the program. At that time the problems of new and returning vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan were identified as one of the highest priority concerns of the faculty. Among other problems encountered was a limited amount of up-to-date information oh the inservice education needs of all the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan. This created a problem for teacher educators in their efforts to plan effective inservice education programs. 3 Need for the Study 1. Since the passage of the Smith-Hughes act in 1917, the responsibilities and duties of teachers of vocational agriculture have increased tremendously (Morris,1956). This along with changes in the society and school curri­ cula necessitated a need for periodic reappraisal of professional education competencies needed by these tea­ chers. The competencies judged important by the tea­ ching personnel themselves and teacher educators who work with them also needed to be identified. 2. The student enrollment in secondary vocational agri­ culture programs in Michigan showed a consistently large figure for the past four academic years; 14,424 students for 1975-76; 14,916 for 1976-77; 14,406 for 1977-78; and 14,414 for 1978-79 (MDE, 1979). Enroll­ ment figures of this magnitude justified the need to continue preparing competent vocational agriculture teachers for Michigan vocational agriculture programs. 3. There was an inadequate supply of professionally trained vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan. Because of this limited supply, non-college degree per­ sonnel from business and industry (annual authorized certificate holders) and four-year college technical agriculture majors (temporary vocational authoriza­ tion certificate holders) were employed by local educational agencies (Moore, 1979). The employment of these types of personnel directly from non-teach­ ing occupations assured only part of the qualifi­ cations desired of a competent teacher. According to Schmitt (1971), these individuals usually possess high competence in technical subject matter, but lack professional teacher education training. Schools which offer vocational agriculture programs like other programs in schools should be vitally concerned with the quality and teaching effectiveness of their staff. In order to assure some degree of teaching effectiveness, many teacher educators and supervisors were of the opinion that vocational agriculture teachers like other teachers should be provided professional education opportunities through teacher education inservice activities. There was a need for providing more information to teacher educators and supervisors in agricultural education for planning and conducting more relevant inservice teacher education programs for all the vo­ cational agriculture teachers in Michigan. It should be realized that effective inservice education for agricultural teachers is a complex process involving many people and agencies. ever, is the teacher. The central figure, how­ Therefore, the teacher's needs must be accurately assessed and all available resources 5 must be mobilized to meet these needs. By mobilizing the available resources, it is possible to provide appropiate support services for sophisticated pro­ grams in agriculture and maintain a cadre of teachers to meet the challenges of the future. There were other reasons why the inservice edu­ cation needs for vocational agriculture teachers seemed to have been essential. According to Cooper (1977), in the past, teacher education institutions were geared to provide the best pre-service education possible for teaching agricultural production. How­ ever, many pre-service programs were designed to pre­ pare prospective teachers for specializing in one of the major options such as agricultural production, agricultural supplies, agricultural mechanics,agri­ cultural products, ornamental horticulture, agricul­ tural resources, and forestry. The addition of new options in existing programs required teachers to up­ date or expand their knowledge and skills but it was not an easy task for any single person to obtain the kind of expertise required to be a proficient teach­ er in all these areas. It was also difficult in a time of short teacher supply to place teachers in programs matching their credentials. In view of these cir­ cumstances it was essential to plan and conduct inservice activities which reflected the teacher's 6 expressed needs so as to close the gap between a teach­ er's preparational deficiencies and the local program needs after a teacher was hired. 5. The researcher was also of the opinion that a study which ascertained the professional abilities needed by vocational agriculture teachers would be of great value. A study of this nature would make a significant contri­ bution to teacher education in agriculture. Ellis and Wootton (1970) expressed that teachers need a constant check on themselves to see how well they are doing. They also pointed out that teaching needs to be evalu­ ated for its effectiveness. Wentling and Lawson (1975) felt that teaching personnel evaluation regardless of the method utilized should provide information which will illuminate an individual's strengths and exemplary characteristics as well as his/her weaknesses. When weaknesses are uncovered, the educator or trainer can begin to identify ways and means of remedying these deficiencies. 6. Finally, a need existed for any study which purported to shed some light on improving the effectiveness of teachers of vocational agriculture. Miller (1972) reported that the professional improvement and develop­ ment of instructional personnel is regarded by many edu­ cators as the primary goal of any staff evaluation pro­ cedure. Drawbaugh (1972) also reported that an effective teacher of vocational agriculture who keeps himself updated professionally and technically is the foun­ dation of a sound local program. Purposes of the Study The primary purposes of the study were, (a) to ascertain the self-perceived professional education competencies need­ ed by vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan, and (b) to analyze relationships between these needs and various characteristics of the teachers. It was this researcher's opinion that this information would be helpful to teacher educators in planning and implementing effective inservice education programs for vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan. Objectives of the Study The study was designed to seek answers to the follow­ ing questions: 1. What are the educational and occupational back­ grounds of the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan? 2. What are the self-perceived professional educa­ tion competencies needed by vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan? Additionally, the objectives to follow were formulated: 1. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agriculture teachers and the types of schools where they taught. 8 2. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and their age groups. 3. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and their major at the time of graduation from college. 4. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and the universities from which they graduated. 5. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and enrollment in vocational agri­ culture in high school. 6. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and FFA membership in high school. 7. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and their educational levels. 8. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the following five groups of vocational agriculture teachers in Michigant a. Annual vocational authorization in agriculture; b. Temporary vocational authorization in agri­ culture i c. Full vocational authorization in agriculture; d. State secondary provisional certificate with vocational endorsement in agriculture; and e. State secondary continuing certificate with vocational endorsement in agriculture. 9. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and the years of practical work experience before teaching in the areas of agri­ culture. 10. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational 10 agriculture teachers and their years of teaching vocational agriculture. 11. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and their interest in participat­ ing in professional education inservice activities in the next two years. 12. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and the training received in Compe­ tency Based Education (CBE). 13. To determine if there was any relationship between the self-perceived professional education compe­ tencies needed by the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers and where they received their CBE training. Basic Assumptions The following assumptions were accepted by the re­ searcher in selecting the list of professional education competencies and the vocational agriculture teachers in the study: 11 1. The lists of professional education competencies developed, field tested and revised by Cotrell, et. al. (1972), Moore (1974) and Ferns (1978) , were valid lists of important competencies for vocational secondary and post-secondary teachers. 2. The Guidelines and Standards for quality vocational programs in Agriculture and Agribusiness Education given in the Administrative Guide for Vocational Education in Michigan are valid program guidelines and standards for program quality. 3. The selected educators who reviewed the question­ naires for this study were qualified to identify the professional education competencies needed by the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan. 4. All the teachers included in the study were engaged in conducting vocational agriculture programs in Michigan. 5. All the teachers included in the study understood their professional role as teachers of vocational agriculture and answered honestly. Limitations The researcher recognized that this study had the fol­ lowing limitations: 12 1. Only professional education competencies were in­ vestigated. The study excluded other competencies such as technical knowledge and skills which are among the essential qualifications that vocational agriculture teachers should possess. 2. The respondents could possibly have varying inter­ pretations of the professional education compe­ tencies needed by successful teachers of vocation­ al agriculture in secondary vocational agriculture programs. Definition of Terms The following are the conceptualizations of the selected terms used throughout the study: 1. Professional Education Competencies - Tasks associ­ ated with the teaching profession which are perform­ ed by vocational agriculture teachers and require some degree of proficiency in the following areas: (1) program planning, development and evaluation; (2) instructional planning; cution- techniques; individualizing; (3) instructional exe­ (4) instructional execution- (5) instructional evaluation; (6) instructional management; ment; (7) guidance and place­ (8) school community relations; (9) Future 13 Fanners of America (FFA); (10) professional role and development; (11) supervised occupational experience; and (12) contemporary topics. 2. Annual Vocational Authorization in Agriculture If a candidate does not meet the standards out­ lined for temporary vocational authorization, the Department of Education is responsible for deter­ mining the adequacy of candidates combined edu­ cational, occupational and teaching experience for receiving permission to teach for one year. This annual vocational authorization is planned primarily for persons who are teaching only vocationally ap­ proved agricultural courses and is renewable annual­ ly upon the recommendation of the employing local school district. 3. Temporary Vocational Authorization in Agriculture A temporary vocational authorization certificate is issued to an applicant upon the report of a desig­ nated vocational teacher education institution that such an applicant presents evidence that he has met the following requirements: (a) Possesses a baccalaureate degree. (b) Has a major or minor in the field of special­ ization in which vocational authorization is 14 being requested or equivalent graduate credits to substitute for the required major or minor, (c) Has a minimum of 2 years of experience in the area concerned or has completed a planned program of directed supervised occupational experience approved by the state board. The occupational experience is characterized by its relevancy and recency. Temporary vocation­ al authorization is valid for teaching specific courses and is valid for 6 years. 4. Full Vocational Authorization in Agriculture - A full vocational authorization is issued to the teacher (a) who has met the following requirements: Has taught successfully for 3 years according to the validity of his/her temporary vocational authorization as determined by the state board upon recommendation of the sponsoring institu­ tion and the local school district. (b) Holds a Master^ degree or has completed 15 term credits including at least: Agricultural Education 9 credits Vocational Education 3 credits Technical Agriculture 3 credits It is valid for continued teaching in specific courses. 15 5. State Secondary Provisional Certificate with Vocacational Endorsement in Agriculture - A state secondary provisional certificate with vocational endorsement is issued to a teacher who presents evidence of completing: (a) A program in vocational teacher education at an institution approved by the state board for the preparation of vocational teachers in the occupation area of the endorsement. (b) A major or minor in an approved program in the occupational area of the endorsement. (c) Two years of work experience in occupational area of the endorsement or completion of a planned equivalent program of directed super­ vised occupational experience approved by the Department of Education. The occupational ex­ perience is characterized by its relevancy and recency. This certificate is valid for 6 years. 6. State Secondary Continuing Certificate with Voca­ tional Endorsement in Agriculture - A state continu ing certificate with a vocational endorsement is issued to a teacher who has completed the following requirements after the issuance of the state provi­ sional and vocational endorsement: 16 (a) Taught successful for 3 years according to the validity of his provisional certificate and vocational endorsement and as determined by the state board upon recommendation of the sponsor­ ing institution and the local school district. (b) Holds a Master's degree or has completed 27 term credits including at least: 7. Agriculture Education 9 credits Vocational Education 3 credits Technical Agriculture 3 credits Inservice Training in Agricultural Education - Pro­ grams, courses, workshops, seminars, offered by col­ leges, universities, local school districts, and state departments designed to increase the proficiency of currently employed secondary vocational agri­ culture teachers. 8. Competency Based Education (CBE) - An approach to teaching and learning which specifies the compe­ tencies to be demonstrated by the student and makes explicit the criteria to be applied in assessing the students' competencies. Competency based instruc­ tion requires that students master prescribed skills, knowledge and/or attitudes to some predetermined level. 17 9. Area Vocational Education Centers - In Michigan an area vocational center is a centrally located facility designed and equipped to provide vocational education programs for two or more schools. 10. Future Farmers of America (FFA) - FFA is the national organization of, by and for students of vocational agriculture/agribusiness in public secondary schools, under the provisions of the National Voca­ tional Education Acts. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Many teacher educators recognize that the proficiency of teachers is very essential to achieving a quality educational program. Secondary vocational schools as well as other institutions of learning should therefore be very concerned with the quality and effectiveness of their teaching staff. Several studies have focused on the professional education competency needs of vocational teachers in general (Erpelding, 1972; Cotrell, et al. 1971). Some studies have also sought to determine the professional education competencies required by beginning vocational agriculture teachers within specific states (Morris, 1956; McGhee, 1967; Garner, 1974; Moore, 1974; Hylton and Lee, 1979; Witmer and Mortensen, 1979). The findings from these studies, however, cannot be generalized to every state. This is due to the fact that vocational education in agriculture/agribusiness in the United States has some aspects in common, but at the same time possesses uniqueness among regions of the country and among states within regions. 19 It is therefore very 19 essential that needs assessment be conducted with speci­ ficity to the professional education competencies needed by vocational agriculture teachers in each state. Professional Education Competencies Needed By Vocational Agriculture Teachers Barr (1950) summarized some studies on the causes of failure among teachers. He listed the deficiences in any of the following areas as the most common causes of failure among teachers: Control over the technique of teaching Ability to maintain order and discipline Mastery of subject matter Intelligence Effort Initiative Adaptability Common sense Physical ability Standards of teaching Ability to carry on Singleness of purpose Sympathetic understanding of pupils Social background Knowledge of what people can do Personality Moral standards 20 Although all of these characteristics may not be considered as professional education competencies, most of them are of importance in effective teaching. Barr further stated that teachers should possess the competency to direct the learning process, counsel students, maintain desirable professional and community relationships. Montgomery (1952) determined the felt needs of teachers of vocational agriculture in Alabama for assistance in meeting problems in the professional phase of their work. He also ascertained the services these teachers expected from the Department of Agricultural Education in the Alabama Polytechnic Institute for their personal improvement in meeting these needs. Two hundred and fifty-two teachers of vocational agriculture were included in the study. A statistical analysis was also made of the inservice activities of the teachers from records in the State Department of Education supplemented with a survey. items. The problem checklist consisted of 368 problem The data concerning services or improvement desired by the teachers were obtained from a questionnaire. The rank of the 10 areas of professional problems on the basis of the average number of problem items in the areas checked by as many as 20 percent of the teachers were: 21 1. Teaching all - day boys 2. Advertising an FFA chapter 3. Providing adequate physical facilities 4. Maintaining favorable community relationships 5. favorable professional relationships Maintaining 6. Teaching young and adult farmers 7. Discovering needs and setting goals 8. Placing and following up students 9. Evaluating the program 10. Keeping records and making reports The ten most effective inservice education procedures as ranked by the ratings made by the teachers used in the study were: 1. Graduate work 2. Subject matter services 3. Supervisory services 4. Conferences 5. Non-credit short courses 6. Literature (other than subject matter services) 7. Newsletters 8. Technical services 9. Local programs of inservice education 10. Assistance in evaluation Recommendations included (1) organization of an advisory committee composed of supervisors, teachers 22 and teacher trainers who would assist in planning, promoting and evaluation of inservice education; (2) making provisions for exchanging ideas through transfer of more resident credit between graduate schools, exchange of staff members and greater use of visiting professors; and (3) expansion of the present study to include technical as well as professional needs. Santos (1961) determined the inservice training needs and participation in inservice training programs by teachers of agricultural schools of the Phillippines. He made use of a questionnaire containing 27 items of need to collect the data from teachers of 25 agricultural schools and administrators of 32 agricultural schools. The rating was done on a five point scale. Santos found that administrators and teachers agreed on the teachers' needs for inservice training; but the administrators and teachers disagreed on the priority of these needs. The needs expressed by the teachers when grouped into areas according to priority were as follows: 1. Research and experiments 2. Subject matter content 3. Methods 4. Co-curricular activities 5. General Education 6. Administration and Planning 23 The administrators, however, expressed the needs for: 1. Administration 2. Supervision 3. Curriculum 4. Guidance 5. Public relations Noor (1965) determined the inservice education needs of secondary teachers in East Pakistan as perceived by administrators, teachers and consultants directly or indirectly connected with the inservice education of the teachers. He collected data from 222 secondary school teachers, 45 administrators and 13 consultants. He used 3 different instruments plus personal tape recording for in-depth interviews. Instrument A consisted of six open-ended questions and was administered to the secondary school teachers only. Instrument B requested multiple choice responses and was administered to all the subjects in the sample, while Instrument C which was a survey questionnaire with checklists was administered by mail to the administrators only. The major findings from this study included the administrators rating their need and the need of the teachers for inservice education higher than the teachers in most of the 226 need items. The differences between the administrators and teachers 24 on the relative "degree of need" of different items were statistically insignificant in most cases. The differences in perception between the administrators and the teachers were also not significant enough to cause practical problems. The teachers expressed great need in the areas of library facilities and curriculum. The administrators expressed great need in the areas of curriculum and personality. The preferred inservice education activities were (a) organized educational trips, (b) intervisitation of schools, (c) workshops and (d) faculty meetings directed to professional improvment. Byrd (1966) conducted a study concerned with teacher competencies. He reported that the teacher has distinctive roles in assuring continuity in the process of occupational training and competency in all phases of vocational and technical education. He considered the basic compe­ tencies needed as technical and personal. The personal competencies included role commitment, personal involve­ ment, recognition and transmission of respect for the dignity of work. McGhee (1967) identified the professional and technical needs of vocational agriculture teachers as. they related to vocational agriculture programs in West Virginia. The questionnaire was rated by vocational agriculture 25 teachers, state staff in teacher education and supervision, and principals in schools having vocational agriculture departments. The principals and the teachers of vocational agriculture rated the selected professional and technical skills according to the importance of the skills and the vocational agriculture teachers' competency for performing them. The state staff indicated the percent of vocational agriculture teachers who needed improvement in selected professional skills* The professional areas rated above average in importance to the program of vocational agriculture were: (a) Instructional activities, (b) Supervised work experience, (d) Organization and planning, America, (c) Instructional material, (e) Future Farmers of (f) Off-farm agricultural occupations, Relationship to school, (i) Public relations. (g) (h) Young and adult fanner programs, The greatest needs of the vocational agriculture teachers for assistance in their professional development were in these areas: (a) Off-farm agricultural occupation using advisory committee, farmer work, (b) Young and adult (c) Making proper use of bulletin boards, (d) Occupational experience programs and (e) Public relations. McGhee recommended the provision of both off campus and on-campus inservice education to meet the needs of teachers. This included on-the-job super­ vision, conferences, seminars, short courses, workshops. 26 and regular program courses and workshops equivalent to graduate school standards. Cotrell and other researchers (1971) conducted several studies at the National Center for Research in Vocational Education, Ohio State University. One of the studies identified the professional education competencies needed by vocational and technical education teachers. The first phase of this project was initiated to develop, demonstrate and test curriculum for the preparation and inservice education of vocational and technical education teachers. During this phase, 237 competencies were identified by a task force representing seven voca­ tional services (Agriculture, Business and Office, Distri­ butive, Health occupations, Home economics, Technical, Trade and industrial education). Occupational analysis using introspection and interview techniques was utilized to identify the competencies. In order to verify the existing competencies and establish new competencies, the original competencies were screened by task forces of master teachers, teacher coordinators and others across the nation. The conclusion of the study was that most pedagogical competencies for teachers were common to all vocational services. It was also concluded that meaningful and specific objectives could not be developed without consideration for a particular insti­ tutional setting. 27 In the second phase of the project, Cotrell, et. al. (1972) identified the competencies of teacher-coordinators in off-farm agriculture, distributive, wageearning home economics, office occupations, special needs and trade and industrial education. The competencies important to teacher-coordinators were selected by a 300-member national task force committee of outstanding teacher-coordinators. This task force represented eleven states having great experience with the types of cooperative programs in the study. From the data of Phase I and II of the project, 384 competencies were finally identi­ fied. These competencies were classified into the follow- 10 categories: 1. Program planning, development and evaluation 2. Instruction-planning 3. Instruction-execution 4. Instruction-evaluation 5. Management 6. Guidance 7. School-community relations 8. Student vocational organization 9. Professional role and development 10. Coordination The primary contributions of this project were: 23 1. Identification of an original, comprehensive listing of teacher and teacher-coordinator competencies. 2. Development of individualized, performancebased instructional modules. 3. Usefulness of the performance objective listing to several other Competency-Based Teacher Edu­ cation (CBTE) projects in vocational education. Terry (1972) reported that vocational teacher educators from eight Illinois universities, while gathered at a conference, produced a set of approximately 225 vocational teacher competencies clustered into the following eight groups: (a) Philosophy, (2) Organization and administration, (3) Educational programs and long-range planning, Finanacial resources, equipment, (5) Staffing, (4) (6) Physical facilties- (7) Student personnel services - placement and follow up, (8) Community relations and learning resources. This list was validated in a second vocational teacher educator conference in 1972. At this conference, 99 percent of the competencies were rated as "essential". In order to determine self-ratings of professional education competency needs of vocational agriculture teachers in Ohio, Moore and Bender (1975) surveyed 555 secondary vocational agriculture teachers in Ohio during the 1973-74 school year. The population was stratified into three groups: 1. Four year college agricultural education majors; 29 2. Four year college technical agriculture majors; and 3. Non-college graduates recruited from business and industry Mail questionnaires were used to collect data from the college agricultural education majors and technical agriculture majors while personal interviews were used for the non-college graduate teachers. The questions covered educational/occupational backgrounds of the teachers, their perceptions of the importance of 256 professional education competencies and their perceptions of their proficiency in these competencies. From this study it was found that the number of competencies most needed by the three groups of teachers varied considerably. The inservice education needs for the 256 competency items were 23 items for professionally trained teachers, 99 items for technical agriculture majors and 255 for non-college graduates. The researchers recommended that Ohio teacher educators and supervisors in agricultural education should continue to evaluate the competency needs of the three groups of teachers in up-dating pre­ service and inservice teacher preparation programs. Bonner and Brown (1977) conducted a study concerning the important role of the FFA advisor. The purpose of their study was to identify the competencies needed by FFA advisors (vocational agriculture instructors) in Mississippi. A list of 108 competency statements 30 classified into seven categories was mailed to seventyeight FFA advisors. These FFA advisors were stratified according to the following independent variables: Age, (2) Race, (3) Tenure as an FFA advisor, (1) (4) Educa­ tional level, (5) Number of years of FFA membership in high school, (6) Number of members enrolled in the FFA program, (7) Percentage of vocational agriculture students enrolled in the FFA, (8) Type of area where the FFA program was located, (9) Type of school where the FFA program was located, and (10) The perceived importance of the FFA to the vocational agriculture program. Each of the FFA advisors was asked to rate each competency statement according to the degree needed to operate an FFA program successfully. A four point degree of importance scale was used with 1 representing not needed, 2 representing needed some, 3 representing needed much and 4 representing essential. The following are the findings from their study: 1. Sixty-six (61 percent) competency statements out of the selected one hundred and eight compe­ tency statements used for the survey were rated as being needed to a high degree by the FFA advisors. These competencies were rated with mean scores of 3.00 or higher. Forty-two (39 percent) competencies were rated according to a level of being needed to some degree by the FFA advisors. The competencies needed by these FFA advisors were from seven categories namely: Professional category, Communication/Public Relation category, Program planning, Program evaluation, Guidance and Management. The variables of age, race, number of members enrolled in the FFA program and the type of school where FFA program was located had a neglig­ ible effect on the perceived importance of the competencies. However, the other variables listed below were found to have some influence on the perceived importance of the competencies. a. Respondents with very high tenure levels were found to have rated the competencies higher than respondents with other tenure levels. b. Respondents with higher educational levels gave competencies higher ratings than did respondents of lower educational levels. c. Respondents who were FFA members for four years or more in high school rated competencies higher than respondents of other levels of high school FFA membership. 32 d. The increasing perceived importance of the FFA to the vocational agriculture program was found to be accompanied by higher rating of the competencies. Teachers who had more teaching experience and more education, who were members of the FFA for four or more years, and who perceived FFA as being highly important to the vocational agriculture program tended to rate the competencies as more important than did other teachers. Hylton and Lee (1979) determined and compared the self-perceived teaching effectiveness of vocational agriculture/agribusiness teachers in the southern region of the United States. for data collection. Mailed questionnaires were used The instrument was designed to obtain biographical and professional information on the respondents. The study also assessed the self- perceived teaching effectiveness of the respondents on 39 commonly performed competencies of vocational agriculture/agribusiness teachers. They divided the competencies into the following categories: program planning, classroom and laboratory instruction, FFA, supervised occupational experience programs, adult education, public relations, advisory committees and professionalism. 33 The following were the conclusions from this study with specificity to vocational/agribusiness teachers in the southern region of the United States: a. Teachers of vocational agriculture/agribusiness who had received the education specialist degree perceived themselves higher on many of the compe­ tencies of teaching effectiveness as compared to those with baccalaureate and master's degrees. b. Vocational agriculture/agribusiness teachers who received their baccalaureate degree from land-grant colleges or universities created under the 1890 Morril Act or nonland-grant colleges or universities perceived themselves higher on many of the competencies of teacher effectiveness as compared to those who received their baccalaureate degree from a land-grant college or university created under the 1862 Morril Act. c. Teachers of vocational agriculture/agribusiness who were enrolled in vocational agriculture/agri­ business in high school perceived themselves higher on competencies of teacher effectiveness than those who had not been enrolled. d. Past membership in the FFA in high school had helped vocational agriculture/agribusiness teachers in the southern region of the United States, 34 especially in the competency area of FFA where they perceived themselves higher on many of the competencies as compared to those who had not been members. e. The number of years of practical work experience in areas of agriculture/agribusiness before teaching had little effect on the self-perceived teaching effectiveness of vocational agriculture/ agribusiness teachers. f. Black teachers of vocational agriculture/agri­ business perceived themselves higher on many of the competencies performed by vocational agriculture/agribusiness teachers as compared to white teachers of vocational agriculture/ agribusiness. g. Black teachers of vocational agriculture/agri­ business received their baccalaureate degrees primarily from colleges and universities created under the 1890 Morril Act or nonland-grant colleges or universities. White teachers primarily received their baccalaureate degrees from colleges or universities created under the 1862 Morril Act or nonland-grant colleges or universities. 35 Professional Education Competencies Needed by Beginning Teachers of Vocational Agriculture' Huston (1953) brought together some findings based on the opinions of teachers on the professional problems they encountered during the first year of teaching experi­ ence in vocational agriculture in the public secondary schools in Arkansas. The data for the study were collected through personal interviews with each of the 86 teachers of vocational agriculture who were teaching in the public secondary schools of Arkansas during 1951-52 school year. He reported that the teachers expressed varying degrees of difficulty in performing selected professional activities. These activities were classified into 12 major areas during their first year of teaching experience in vocational agriculture. The five areas indicated by the teachers as causing most difficulty during their first year of teaching are arranged in order of rank as follows: 1. Program of instruction for out of school groups 2. Program planning 3. Supervised farming 4. Instruction in farm mechanics 5. Program of classroom instruction for all day classes 36 Morris (1956) analyzed the teaching competencies of prospective teachers of vocational agriculture in 16 states in U.S.A. He developed a list of 154 competencies in questionnaire form from the literature on teacher education. A committee of professional educators reviewed the list of competencies. The questionnaire was sent to 397 selected Negro teachers of vocational agriculture in the 16 states. These teachers used a rating scale ranging from 0 to 5 to rate the degree of importance and the degree of importance and the degree of development of each competency. He found that the teachers rated the competencies in the area of "public relations" higher in importance and development than those competencies in the areas of "Planning and Organizing" and "Teaching". The investigator made the following conclusions from his findings: 1. The professional competencies he listed in his questionnaire had a direct relationship to effective teaching in vocational agriculture. 2. All the competencies were very important and needed high degree of preservice development. 3. The best way of obtaining the level of preservice development for each competency was through the ratings made by the less experienced teachers. 37 4. Competencies in the area of "public relations" needed a higher degree of preservice develop­ ment than those in the other areas. Conyers (1958) studied beginning teachers of vocation­ al agriculture to ascertain the importance of different required activities of their jobs. He also determined the extent of difficulty that these teachers experienced in performing their jobs. He developed a list of the activities which teachers of vocational agriculture were expected to perform. Thirty-four teachers rated each of the activities using a rating scale of 0 to 5. The rating was based on the degree of importance of the dif­ ferent activitites and the extent of difficulty encountered in performing the different activities. He found that ratings of 4.00 and above, indicating great importance, were quite common in the teachers' evaluation of the im­ portance of the required activities of their jobs. Also in the rating of the extent of difficulty of activities of the teachers' job, he found that the teachers experienced limited difficulty in performing their required activities. This was attested by the fact that no area studied received an average difficulty rating as great as 3.00. Where average difficulties as large as 2.00 were reported, 38 he concluded that the preservice program for training teachers had failed to emphasize these particular areas of the program of vocational agriculture. Witmer and Mortensen (1979) conducted a study on the professional education competencies needed by begin­ ning teachers of agriculture/agribusiness education in Pennsylvania. The study included 112 competencies in the areas of management, guidance, school community relations and professional role and development. The competency needs were determined based on perception of cooperating teachers, inexperienced teachers, intern teachers, state staff and teacher educators. From the study, they drew the following conclusions: 1. The competency level necessary for a beginning teacher of agriculture/agribusiness education was perceived similarly by the three groups of teachers, the state staff and the teacher educators. 2. The three groups of teachers, the state staff and the teacher educators perceived that at least average competence was necessary for 107 of the 112 competencies included in the survey. 3. The teacher educators placed more emphasis on the importance of professional education compe­ tencies than the state staff and the three groups of teachers. 39 Professional Education Competencies Needed by Beginning and Experienced-Teachers of Vocational Agriculture Deboer (1954) determined the differences in the problems of a beginning vocational agriculture teacher in South Dakota going into an established department and a beginning teacher starting a new department. He also compared the problems of the new teachers and teachers with previous experience. Questionnaires were sent to teachers who started new departments, teachers who went into established departemnts, teachers who had completed three months of teaching and teachers who had completed 1, 2 and 3 years of teaching. He found that there was no signifi­ cant difference between the problems of the new teachers and those with previous experience. Also, emphasis was found to be needed in the following areas arranged in order of importance: I. II. Supervised farming a. Maintaining satisfactory records b. Initiating and developing the supervised farming program Farm mechanics a. Securing adequate shop space b. Determining content and scope of the farm mechanics program c. Developing a home farm shop 40 III. Future Fanners of America (FFA) a. IV. Financing chapter activities Classroom teaching a. Planning time for individual instruction Bryant (1963) determined the priorities which begin­ ning teachers of vocational agriculture in North Carolina gave and perceived should be given to 10 teacher professional roles. He also compared the priorities of these beginning teachers with those of experienced teachers. Data were obtained by means of a "role priority questionnaire" from 41 experienced and 40 beginning teachers of vocational agriculture in North Carolina. made as follows: Four comparisons were (1) the priority beginning teachers gave with the priority they perceived should be given; (2) the priority beginning teachers gave with the priority i experienced teachers gave; (3) the priority beginning teachers perceived should be given with the priority experienced teachers expected of beginning teachers; and (4) the priority beginning teachers gave with the priority experienced teachers expected them to give the 10 teacher roles. point scales. Responses were given on two 5 One scale was for priority given by each teacher group and the second scale was for the priority each teacher group believed beginning teachers should give the selected teacher roles. the data. Chi-square was used to analyze 41 Comparison of the priorities beginning teachers gave with the priorities they perceived should be given revealed that: (1) No conflict existed in the teacher roles of Utilizer of educational data. Contributor to profession and Contributor to society. Significantly higher priority was perceived desirable for the teacher roles of: Provider of organized, systematic instruction for high school students; Provider of organized, systematic instruction for young and adult farmer groups; Provider of individualized instruction; Developer of student leadership and Contributor to self-development. Signifi­ cantly lower priority was perceived desirable for the teacher roles of Counselor and Initiator of change. Comparison of the priority beginning teachers gave with the priority experienced teachers expected of beginning teachers revealed that: (1) Each teacher group perceived similarly the role of "Utilizer of educational data," (2) Beginning teachers gave higher priority to "initiator of change" while the expectation of experienced teachers was higher for the following teacher roles: 1. Contributor to profession 2. Contributor to society 3. Provider of organized, systematic instruction for high school students 4. Provider of organized, systematic instruction for young and adult farmer groups 42 5. Provider of individualized instruction 6. Developer of student leadership 7. Contributor of self development 8. Counselor Professional Education Competencies Needed by Vocational Teachers in Michigan Drake (1962) determined the professional roles expected of vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan as perceived by school superintendents, teachers of vocational agriculture, teacher educators and state supervisors in agricultural education. He identified consensus on specific activities. He also identified the relationships between perceptions of role expectations and selected background variables of superintendents and teachers of vocational agriculture. A list of 102 role definitional activities of the teachers of agriculture was prepared in the form of a perceptionexpectation questionnaire. These role definitional activities on the questionnaire were classified into eight role areas. The respondents expressed their perceived expectations along a five point scale. Drake found that both the teachers and superintendents perceived "Directing the Program of Young Farmer Education" and "Improving the Environment of Farm People11 as having low relative importance. The role areas of (a) participat­ ing in the professional work of the school, (b) guiding 43 and counseling, and (c) working as a member of the teaching profession were perceived by both teachers and superin­ tendents as having relative importance. Schmitt (1971) studied the problems encountered as a result of the recruitment of vocational and technical instructors directly from business, industry, health and public service occupations to serve as part time instructors in selected Michigan Community colleges. The major problem identified was that the recruited instructors possessed high competence in technical subject matter but lacked professional teacher preparation or teaching experience. He gathered data by means of indivi­ dual interviews with 21 part time instructors and 20 of their immediate supervisors. Additional data concerning the instructors were gathered from 473 students by means of a structured student rating form. The findings related to the supervisor's perception of part time instructors' problems were: 1. Methods and procedures in selecting and organizing course material; 2. Methods and procedures in grading and evaluating students; 3. Skill in developing test material; and 4. Selecting, designing and using teaching aid and related materials. 44 The problems as perceived by a majority of the parttime instructors were: 1. Lack of materials such as course outlines, plans, and faculty handbook which should be furnished upon appointment; 2. Self-evaluation of one's effectiveness as a teacher; 3. Adopting instruction to individual differences; 4. Determining the various competencies required of graduates in one's subject area; 5. Keeping abreast of current ideas and trends in one's occupational area; and 6. Developing satisfactory tests and examinations. The need for a more comprehensive, coordinated plan of vocational-technical education personnel development for Michigan came into sharp focus in the late 1960's (Ferns, 1971). This need was generated by the concerns of teacher educators, school administrators and state office personnel on a necessity for joint action if an adequate supply of personnel was to be available to operate Michigan's expanding occupational system. In early 1969, the teacher education contact persons (a group consisting of one appointed representative from each of eight State-supported universities and colleges involved in vocational-technical teacher educa­ tion in conjunction with Michigan Department of Education, Vocational-Technical Education Service) established 45 guidelines for a comprehensive study of the professional development needs in the 1970's. Since then some research has been conducted on certain aspects of professional development needs of vocational and technical education personnel in Michigan. Perns (1971) conducted a study of Michigan's vocationaltechnical education personnel development needs for the period of 1971-1975. Phase X of the study focused on determining the personnel development needs, defining problems and recommending solutions. Phase II dealt with the preparation of an actual State plan for personnel development. In the report of the study, the outline of a unique Michigan plan for coordinating the development of an adequate supply of vocational-technical education personnel was presented. Many alternatives and recommend­ ations for dealing with numerous facets of personnel development were offered for the primary attention of teacher educators, state office personnel, school and college administrators, and leaders of professional organizations. The report from the study was intended to be beneficial to those who wanted to better understand the problems of vocational-technical personnel development in Michigan, and who desired to take action to improve the delivery systems through the subsequent development of an effective, viable, coordinated statewide plan. 46 Garner (1974) focused his study on the identification of professional competencies which majors in agriculture and natural resources education should have developed prior to student teaching. A checklist of competencies was prepared as a result of the interviews with four supervising teachers. Twenty-seven vocational agriculture teachers who had served as supervising teachers before were asked to rank the degrees of students' need for mastery of each competency on the checklist. The analysis of the 20 respondents indicated a great need for student teachers to develop several competencies prior to their field work. Nine of the highly rated competenices were: Instructional planning. Instructional materials and resources, conducting instruction, supervised occupational experience programs, working with FFA, evaluating instruc­ tions, counseling, maintaining community relations and maintaining a professional role. Ferns (1978) also reported another State-wide staff development pilot project which was of significance to the professional personnel of Michigan area vocational centers. The project also dealt with identification of staff development needs and the formulation of plans for meeting those needs. The focus was on updating and upgrading occupational competencies. The 850 teachers 47 included in the study were asked to identify knowledge and skills in their specific occupational field that they were interested in improving through training and experience'. The areas identified by the respondents served as a basis for organizing technical seminars, workshops and short courses for the teachers. As part of an experimental program conducted by Moore (1979), the professional and technical needs of new and returning Agriculture and Natural Resource Educa­ tion (ANRE) teachers in Michigan were identified. The population of this study included the 39 new and returning ANRE teachers who were teaching in high schools and area vocational centers in Michigan during the 1978-79 school year. Data were collected through mail question­ naires from the teachers. The survey instrument developed by Dr. George Perns at Michigan State University was adapted for data collection. The questionnaire consisted of five sections as follows: 1. respondent identification/characteristics, 2. immediate professional education related problems, 3. professional education competency needs, 4. contemporary topics (emerging topics of concern in vocational education) 5. immediate technical competency needs. 48 The instrument was reviewed by the Agribusiness and Natural Resource Education faculty at Michigan State University and agricultural education consultants from the Michigan Department of Education. Finally, the instrument was pilot tested, revised and administered to the teachers. The professional education competencies which were rated "medium" or higher relative to "need to update or further improve" were as follows: 1. Develop long-range plans for vocational agri­ culture programs 2. Assist students in developing self-discipline 3. Plan and direct industrial instructional program 4. Evaluate the effectiveness of instruction 5. Organize, manage and maintain vocational laboratory/ classroom facilities 6. Develop vocational education program goals and objectives 7. Evaluate the vocational program 8. Prepare teacher-made instructional materials 9. Direct students in instructing other students 10. Prepare and utilize instructional sheets 11. Conduct a student follow-up study 12. Develop self-contained instructional modules 13. Establish performance standards for students 14. Develop student performance objectives 15. Provide instruction for gifted students 49 16. Assess student attitudes 17. Purchase supplies and equipment (specifications and bids) 18. Provide information on educational and career opportunities 19. Assist students in applying for employment or further education 20. Establish and maintain a student vocational organization Diffusion of Educational Innovations An innovation can be defined as a change which represents something new to the people involved in the change process. In this study, the researcher made some recommendations on the inservice education training programs for the Michigan vocational agriculture teachers. These recom­ mendations were based on a combination of the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and theoretical knowledge. Some research done by other people as well as articles, journals and books written on diffusion of innovations provided useful theoretical framework. Such literature reviews provided information on the roles the teachers could play in implementing innovations and some of the strategies and tactics to use in implementing innovations. 50 Blanzy (1974) stressed that education has more to be concerned with than just budgets and material resources. Human beings are the most important elements of the educational system. They are the elements of the system that determine the goals, and unless they perceive the goals as desirable or worthy of action, any attempt at change is certain to be abortive. Unless their needs are commensurate with the goals to be met by the intended change, they will view the change as an imposition upon them and a condemnation of their individual values. Helsel (1972) emphasized the important role the classroom teacher could play in implementing an innovation. According to him, much of the impetus for change in education­ al organizations stems from external sources. The adminis­ trators are crucial in introducing innovations at the local level. The superintendent, by virtue of his hier- archial position, has the authority to adopt change or to maintain the status quo. At the building level, principals are ordinarily responsible for the logistical problems associated with the diffusion of innovations. Yet, administrators do rely on the classroom teacher to implement innovations. The classroom teacher is capable of exerting considerable control over the destiny 51 of an innovation. Teachers can enthusiastically accept change and work hard to promote its implementation, they can display apathetic indifference to a new idea and even sabotage an innovation if they are not convinced of its utility or they can refuse to use an innovation. Dennis Adams (1974) also stated: "New methods and innovations are bound to fail if the teachers' attitude is not taken into account. More changes have been attempted in education in the past decade than in past century. Unfortunately most efforts have not moved very far beyond the organizational stage. In spite of the best of in­ tentions new ideas have rarely had much lasting effect on how children learn. A number of recent studies indicate that the main reason actual changes in children1s learning have been so slow has to do with one factor— the classroom teacher." The literature on cognitive dissonance lends support to the notion that mandates from above are not sufficient to bring about change and also supports that self-direction is of crucial importance in attitude change. The impli­ cation is that change increases and is more permanent when the person feels that he has freely chosen to alter his point of view. Adams (1974) further reported that it had been found in an inservice workshop that confidence, trust, support and personal experiences play an important role in an individual teacher's ability to decide to assume a new attitude toward learning and to experiment with new ideas. He also found that a very important ingredient to successful teaching was the teacher's own frame of reference, that is— the manner in which 52 a teacher perceives himself is very important. In addition to inner supports that help individual teachers to carry through change it has been found that support from colleagues and administrators can facilitate a teacher's change process. The advantages of this type of support was observed by Adams when teachers and administrators from the same school enrolled in a workshop together and experienced the process co-operatively. Zaltman and Duncan (1977) also suggested that in order to have effective educational innovation, there should be top level support in the system for the proposed change or innovation otherwise resistance will be encountered. The system should also try to provide rewards, that is— incentives to participants for adopting the change or innovation. The incentive should be attractive to the participants as a way of reducing their resistance. Havelock (1973) was of the opinion that diffusion of an innovation begins with the acceptance of the idea by a few key members of a community. According to him, a chain of reactions seems to be generated once this "critical mass" of key individuals has formed, and there is a rapid upswing in the rate of acceptance until a large majority has been won over. Atherton (1970) in his article on Change agents for Agricultural Education stated that teacher educators 53 and supervisors are in a position of responsibility and opportunity when it comes to fostering change and to directing the reconstruction of modifications currently in process. As leaders on the state scene they have not only a privilege but a mandate to fulfill the role of change agents for agricultural education. He also stressed that agricultural educators should realize that bringing about modification requires the efforts of a number of persons and that one individual seldom has the intellect, insight- personality or energy to be all things for all people in all situations. Atherton further made the following suggestions for implementing new directions in agricultural education: 1. Involve those concerned in the basic planning for change because people are much more concerned with something they realize is meant for them. 2. Assist persons to identify their concerns and allow them to voice these concerns freely so that they may evolve procedures for resolving these matters. 3. Consider the group's mode of thinking, feeling and acting. Each group has some distinct mannerisms, codes and practices and one may find acceptance difficult if one fails to observe this. 54 4. Limit the changes to a few essential ones. Concen­ trate on the essential otherwise the group become so involved in the trivial that the major elements are overlooked. Havelock (1973) also made many suggestions on implement­ ing an innovation among which are: 1. The change agent should have the knowledge of the group for whom the innovation is planned. 2. The change agent should use his knowledge of the group to plan and carry out an effective strategy for gaining group acceptance. 3. The strategy should be adapted to the specific situational factors of time, place and circumstances. For example the kind of tactics that can be employed in teaching a course or conducting a weekend workshop may be inappropriate for a one-hour slot in a convention program. 4. The relevant facts about the innovation must be conveyed to the relevant audiences clearly and accurately since the key to success of the change effort lies in the effectiveness with which the new ideas are communicated. Blanzy (1974) in his article on a change system for education, emphasized that once an innovation has been introduced, it requires further attention in order 55 to be successful. old ways. The tendency is to go back to the Consequently, maintenance and feedback are necessary. Teachers have to be trained according to the technological requirements of the innovation as well as the psychological need of it. The teachers must not only develop the technical competencies to employ the innovation but must be allowed to provide feedback as to its use and effectiveness. Their comments and suggestions should be carefully considered in order that necessary modifications can be implemented. Blanzy further stated that teachers have some of the following characteristics which should be considered in preparing and installing innovations: 1. They are rational beings who can be convinced by data, but data alone are not sufficient. 2. Since change is being considered, it is reasonable to assume that the teachers are prone to change and will need and welcome workshops and inservice training. Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) described five different attributes of innovations and how an individual's perception of these characteristics are predictive of the rate of adoption. These five attributes of innovations are: (1) relative advantage, (2) compatibility, (4) triability and (5) observability. (3) complexity, 56 Relative advantage was described as the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes. An innovation perceived by the people to whom it is introduced as being of relative advantage will be adopted at a faster rate. Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as consistent with the existing values, past experiences and needs of the receivers of the in­ novation. The more an innovation is perceived as compat­ ible by its receivers, the faster the rate of its adoption. Complexibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use. The more the complexity of an innovation to its receivers the slower the rate of its adoption. Triability is the degree to which an innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis. If an innovation is easily triable the receivers are likely to adopt it at a fast rate. Observability is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others. The more the results of an innovation are easily observable, the faster the rate of its adoption by the receivers. The researcher supports Rogers * and Shoemakers view that it is important to be aware of all these factors in planning and implementing an innovation. Who Should Assess Teacher’s Needs? Most teachers express a desire to use self assessment for the following reasons: 1. They hypothesize that they are not likely to change their performance unless they see a dis­ crepancy between what they want to achieve and what they are actually achieving. 2. They feel that they know better than any one else about their particular teaching situation. McNeil and Popham (1973) pointed out a tendency for teachers to overrate themselves when using self assessment. They also stated that most teachers seem to criticize the superficial aspects of their teaching, personal mannerisms, appearance, etc. rather than the relevant aspects of their work. Some researchers, however, have found self-evaluation to be a reliable and effective method of determining competencies and needs (Price, 1960; Stanley, 1967; Crisp, 1968). Edelfelt (1978) also reported that many people claim inservice education should address a problem or deficiency perceived by teachers themselves in order to be meaningful to the teachers. Other researchers and those who attempted to project what a teacher should be, usually feel that they know more about the role of a teacher. Inservice teachers. 58 however, are not likely to be willing to have someone else analyze the teaching function, and then have the administration hold them responsible for these functions. It has been found that teachers are willing to listen to the advice of experts, but they tend to reserve the final decisions for themselves (Shearron, 1974). It is therefore important that teachers should be given a high degree of responsibility for determining their professional education competency needs. Summary This review of literature provided the researcher with the following information: a. There was a limited amount of up-to-date information on the inservice education needs of all the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan. b. The methods that can be used to conduct survey research to determine the professional education competencies needed by the vocational agriculture teachers. c. The list of competencies that several researchers in agricultural education reported as important in planning and implementing effective vocational agriculture programs. 59 d. Some factors to consider in the diffusion of innovations so as to provide effective inservice education training programs for the teachers. Research Hypotheses The following alternative hypotheses and the cor­ responding nullhypotheses were tested as derived from the review of literature: Hypothesis 1 : HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the Michigan vocational agriculture teachers and the types of school where they teach. High school teachers will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than area center teachers. Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and the types of school where they teach. Hypothesis 2 : HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their age groups. Younger teachers (40 years and under) will 60 perceive a higher need to update in each compe­ tency Ho: than older teachers {above 40 years). There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their age groups. Hypothesis 3 ; HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their major at the time of graduation from college. Teachers who did not major in Agricultural Education will perceive a higher need to update in each compe­ tency than teachers who had a major in Agri­ cultural education. Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their major at the time of graduation from college. Hypothesis 4: HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and the universities from which they graduated. Teachers who were non-MSU graduates will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers who were MSU graduates. 61 Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and the universities from which they graduated. Hypothesis 5 : HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and enrollment in voca­ tional agriculture in high school. Teachers who were not enrolled in vocational agriculture in high school will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers who were enrolled in vocational agriculture in high school. Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and enrollment in voca­ tional agriculture in high school. Hypothesis 6 : Hi: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and FFA membership in high school. Teachers who were non-FFA members in high school will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers who were FFA members in high school. Ho: There will be no relationship between the selfperceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and FFA membership in high school. Hypothesis 7 ; HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their educational levels. Teachers who were non-college graduates will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers who were college graduates. Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their educational levels. Hypothesis 8 : HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the following five groups of teachers in Michigan: a. Annual vocational authorization in agri­ culture (AVA) b. Temporary vocational authorization in agriculture (TVA) c. Full vocational authorization in agri­ culture (FVA) 63 d. State secondary provisional certificate with vocational endorsement in agricul­ ture (SSP) e. State secondary continuing certificate with vocational endorsement in agricul­ ture (SSC) Teachers who had no permanent vocational teach­ ing certificates (AVA, FVA, SSP) will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers who had permanent vocational teaching certificates (FVA, SSC). Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers of different vocational teaching certificates. Hypothesis 9: HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and the years of practical work experience before teaching in the areas of agriculture. Teachers with less number of years of practical work experience before teaching in the areas of agriculture (9 years or less) will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers with many years (10 years or more) of practical work experience before teaching in the areas of agriculture. 64 Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and the years of practical work experience before teaching in the areas of agriculture. Hypothesis 10: HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their years of teach­ ing vocational agriculture. Teachers with less than 6 years of teaching vocational agriculture will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers with 6 years or more of teaching vocational agriculture. Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their years of teach­ ing vocational agriculture. Hypothesis 11: HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their interest in participating in professional education inservice activities in the next two years. Teachers who had interest in participating in professional 65 education inscrvice activities in the next two years will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers who had no interest in participating in professional edu­ cation inservice activities in the next two years. Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and their interest in participating in professional education inservice activities in the next two years. Hypothesis 12: HI: There will be a relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and the training received in Competency Based Education (CBE). Teachers who had not received training in CBE will per­ ceive a higher need to update in each compe­ tency than teachers who had received training in CBE. Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and the training re­ ceived in CBE. Hypothesis 13: HI: There will be a relationship between the selfperceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and where they received their CBE training. Teachers who received their CBE training from the local education agencies and other sources will perceive a higher need to update in each competency than teachers who received their CBE training from the university. Ho: There will be no relationship between the self­ perceived professional education competencies needed by the teachers and where they received their CBE training. CHAPTER III DESIGN OF THE STUDY The primary purpose of this study was to analyze the professional education competency needs and related infor­ mation from vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan. A mail questionnaire was used to collect the data from the teachers. tionnaires. Cover letters accompanied the mail ques­ The cover letters explained the purpose of the study and requested for participation and cooperation of every teacher involved in the study (See Appendix D, page 319). The questionnaire was made up of two parts: Part I of the questionnaire was designed to determine the edu­ cational and occupational background information of voca­ tional agriculture teachers in Michigan. This included information on: (1) Name of the school where the teacher taught, (3) Major when graduated from college, (2) Age, (4) University graduated from, (5) Enrollment in vocational agriculture in high school, (6) Membership in the FFA, (7) Level of education completed, (8) Type of vocational teaching certificate currently held, (9) Percentage teaching time in agriculture production, agriculture supplies, agri­ cultural mechanics, agricultural products, ornamental horti­ culture, agricultural resources, forestry, non-agriculture 67 68 classes, (10) Years of practical work experience in areas of agriculture before teaching, vocational agriculture, (12) Interest in participating in professional education next two years, (11) Years of teaching inservice activities in the (13) Training received in Competency Based Education, and (14) From whom the training in Compe­ tency Based Education was received. Part II of the question­ naire was designed to identify the teachers' self-percep­ tions of their need to up-date or further improve in 95 selected professional education competencies. The compe­ tency items were divided into the following twelve compe­ tency areas. 1. Program Planning, Development and Evaluation 2. Instructional Planning 3. Instructional Execution-Techniques 4. Instructional Execution-Individualizing 5. Instructional Evaluation 6. Instructional Management 7. Guidance and Placement 8. School Community Relations 9. Future Farmers of America (FFA) 10. Professional Role and Development 11. Supervised Occupational Experience 12. Contemporary Topics The methods used by the researcher in accomplishing the objectives of the study are described in this chapter. It is organized as follows: population, development of the instruments, testing the instruments, administration of questionnaire and data analysis. 69 Population The population of this study included all the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan during the 1979-80 academic year. There were 211 vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan for the 1979-80 academic year as confirmed by Richard Karelse, Consultant, Michigan Department of Educa­ tion. Questionnaires were mailed to the 211 Michigan voca­ tional agriculture teachers. Ninety-five percent of the instruments were collected from the respondents and ninetyfour percent of the instruments were usable. Development of Instrument The instrument used in the study was designed to obtain descriptive data needed to fulfill the objectives of the study. Part I of the survey instrument was made up of 16 questions. These 16 questions were developed to obtain some information on the educational and occupational back­ ground of the Michigan vocational agriculture teachers. The development of these questions involved assistance from the researcher's doctoral program committee and the Agricul­ ture and Natural Resource Education faculty, Michigan State University who reviewed the questions for clear understand­ ing and appropriateness. Part II of the survey instrument was made up of a list of 95 competencies which several professionals in 70 Agricultural Education believe are important in planning and implementing effective vocational agriculture programs. The items on the list of competencies in the survey instru­ ment for this study were composed from related studies. Liberal use was made of the procedures and techniques of some researchers in these areas. Some of the items were selected from the list of 384 competencies in the study by Cotrell, et al. (1972). Some additional competencies were selected from the following sources: 1. Guidelines and Standards for Vocational Agricul­ ture/Agribusiness Education in Michigan (MDE, 1979). 2. Survey instrument developed by Dr. George Ferns at Michigan State University. Dr. Ferns developed the competencies in his survey instrument from 384 competencies of Cotrell, et al. (1972). He used the survey instrument to collect data from 130 teachers of four Career Education Planning Districts in Michigan in March 1978. These four Career PLanning Districts were Charlevoix-Emmet, Traverse Bay, Mason and Wexford-Missaukee. 3. Survey instrument developed by Dr. Eddie Moore at Ohio State University in 1974. This survey instrument was field tested and had been used 71 to collect data from 555 secondary vocational agriculture teachers In Ohio. Testing the Instrument The questionnaire as a data collecting instrument was evaluated by the four members of the researcher's doctoral program committee in February 1980. The list of profes­ sional education competencies on the survey instrument was further reviewed and adapted to agricultural education in Michigan by the Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Re­ source Education, Michigan State University. The instru­ ment was then field tested with six graduate students of Agricultural and Natural Resource Education, Michigan State University, plus two members of staff of the Michigan Department of Education. They were required to read through the instrument and make suggestions for clarification of any ambiguous items. The suggested changes were then made on the instrument before the questionnaires were administer­ ed to the teachers involved in the study. Method of Rating For Fart I of the survey instrument, all the teachers were requested to respond to each item by writing in the re­ quired information or checking the appropriate response(s) for each question. In Part II of the survey instrument, all the teachers were requested to rate each of the 95 competency items 72 according to the need to update or further improve in each of the items to enable them to conduct successful vocational agriculture programs. The following are the rating scales used in Part II of the survey instrument. SCALE 0 1 2 3 4 5 NEED TO UPDATE OR FURTHER IMPROVE represents represents represents represents represents represents Does Not Apply None Low Medium High Very High Administration of Questionnaires Questionnaires were mailed to all the 211 vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan on March 17, 1980. A cover letter and a self-addressed, stamped envelope was included in each mailing (See Appendix D, page3191 A second question­ naire with a reminder letter and a self-addressed, stamped envelope was mailed on April 2, 1980 to the 97 teachers who did not respond to the first questionnaire E, page 320). (See Appendix A third questionnaire with a cover letter and a self-addressed envelope was mailed on April 21, 1980 to the 47 teachers who did not respond to the two question­ naires- (See Appendix F, page 321). Finally, telephone calls were made on May 6, 1980 to the 25 teachers who failed to respond to the three questionnaires. The first response yielded 54%, the second 24%, the third 10% and the fourth 7%, producing an overall response of 95%. 73 Data Analysis The data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) at the Michigan State Uni­ versity Computer Center. Mean scores were calculated to determine the need to improve or update in the professional education competency items in Part II of the survey instru­ ments as perceived by the vocational agriculture teachers. The mean score ratings that fell within an inservice need indicator range of 3.0 to 5.0 for each competency were con­ sidered the inservice competency needs of the teachers (Note: 5.0 represented very high need to improve or update in each competency). Chi-square test was used in the data analysis to enable the researcher to determine the relationships between inde­ pendent variables and the dependent variables. The independ­ ent variables in this study were the educational and occupa­ tional background information of the teachers and the depend­ ent variables were the competency items listed in Part II of the survey instrument. The hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance. The following criteria were used in determining the degree of relationship of the characteristics of the teachers and their self-perceived professional education competency needs: From the summary of the chi-square test results of the frequencies of rating of any of the inservice competency needs of the teachers, any chisquare result that was below .05 level of signifi­ cance was used as the criterion for rejecting the null hypothesis for that teacher characteristic and the competency tested. For example, if the null hypothesis was tested for the type of school where the teachers taught and competency 45 — Assist students in developing self-discipline; and the chi-square result was below .05 level of significance, then the null hypothesis which stated that there was no significant relationship between the type of school where the teacher taught as related to competency 45 was rejected. then concluded that there was It was a significant rela­ tionship between the type of school where the teachers taught and competency 45 — Assist students in developing self-discipline. From the cross tabulations of the frequencies of the ratings of the inservice competency needs of the teachers, the percentage of the teachers with­ in each teacher characteristic that rated the compe­ tency 3.00 and above was calculated. For example, 120 high school teachers (77 percent) rated compe­ tency 45 — Assist students in developing self- 75 discipline; 3.00 and above while only 28 area center teachers (65 percent) rated that same competency, 3.00 and above. Information regarding this example is shown in Table 1. The comparison of the percentage of teachers from the different schools derived from these calculations was then used as a basis for concluding that teachers from one school type needed to update in that particular competency more than teachers from the other school type. Thus in this particular example it was con­ cluded that high school teachers expressed a high­ er need to update or further improve in competency 45 — Assist students in developing self-discipline, than the area center teachers. The same procedure was followed in determining the teacher group within each of the characteristics of the teachers that expressed a higher need to update or further improve in any competency that showed a significant rela­ tionship with that teacher characteristic in the chi-square test result. TABLE 1 CROSS TABULATIONS OF FREQUENCIES OF THE RATING OF COMPETENCY 45 (ASSIST STUDENTS IN DEVELOPING SELF-DISCIPLINE) BY TEACHERS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCHOOL SCHOOL NAME COUNT ROW PCT COL PCT TOT PCT DOES NOT APPLY ... AREA CENTER HIGH SCHOOL COLUMN TOTAL RAH CHI-SQUARE = 12.311 0 NONE 1 LOW HIGH MEDIUM 7 1 V. HIGH ROW TOTAL 5 4 2.0 5.0 8.0 4.0 15.0 9.0 43.0 4.7 11.6 18.6 9.3 34.9 20.9 21.6 50.0 31.3 25.8 6.8 26.3 28.1 1.0 2.5 4.0 2.0 7.5 4.5 2.0 11.0 23.0 55.0 42.0 23.0 156.0 1.3 7.1 14.7 35.3 26.9 14.7 78.4 50.0 68.8 74.2 93.2 73.7 71.9 1.0 5.5 11.6 27.6 21.1 11.6 4.0 16.0 31.0 59.0 57.0 32.0 199.0 2.0 8.0 15.6 29.6 28.6 16.1 100.0 5 DEGREES OF FREEDOM SIGNIFICANCE = .031 CHAPTER IV EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS In this chapter, the results of the analysis of the data obtained from the 16 questions in Part I of the survey instrument are discussed. The basic objective for this portion of the study was to ascertain the educa­ tional and occupational backgrounds of the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the responses for the various variables covered in Part I of the survey instrument. Distribution of Teachers by School One of the factors to consider in planning and conduct­ ing inservice education programs for vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan is the type of school where the teachers are employed. The two types of school involved in this study were the Area Vocational Centers and High Schools. The teachers were asked in the questionnaire to indicate the type of school in which they were employed. As indicated by the data in Table 2, out of the 199,re­ spondents, 43 teachers Area Vocational Centers. (22 percent) were employed in the A majority of the teachers (78 percent) were employed in the High Schools. 77 78 TABLE 2 DISTRIBUTION OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS BY THE TYPES OF SCHOOL TEACHERS School. Type___________________Number__________ Percent Area Vocational Centers High Schools TOTAL 43 21.6 156 78.4 199 100.0 Distribution of Teachers by Age As indicated by the data in Table 3, the largest age group was the 31-40 year old group. About 70 percent of the teachers were 40 years of age or less. TABLE 3 DISTRIBUTION OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS BY AGE Age Group Number of Teachers Less 25 years 26-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 Over 60 TOTAL Percent 29 37 74 32 24 3 14.6 18.6 37.2 16.1 12.1 1.5 199 100.0 79 Major Field of Educational Preparation The data in Table 4 illustrate that 143 teachers (72 percent) had Agricultural Education as their major, while 52 teachers (26 percent) were Non-Agricultural Education majors. TABLE 4 DISTRIBUTION OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS BY THEIR MAJOR AT GRADUATION FROM COLLEGE Teachers Number Major Agricultural Education Non-Agricultural Education No Response TOTAL Percent 143 71.9 52 26.1 4 2.0 199 100.0 Proportion of Teachers That Were Michigan State University Graduates The findings reported in Table 5 show* that the majority (82 percent) of the teachers graduated from Michigan State University while 17 percent of the teachers were non-Michigan State University graduates. 30 TABLE 5 DISTRIBUTION OP MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS BY THE UNIVERSITY FROM WHICH THEY GRADUATED Teachers Number University Michigan State University Graduates Non-Michigan State University Graduates No response TOTAL Percent 163 81.9 31 16.6 5 2.5 199 100.0 Enrollment in Vocational Agriculture in High School One hundred and twenty-four (62 percent) of the teachers indicated that they were enrolled in vocational agriculture in high school. Seventy-five (38 percent) of the teachers, however, were not enrolled in vocational agriculture in high school. (See Table 6) 81 TABLE 6 NUMBER AND PERCENT OF TEACHERS THAT ENROLLED IN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE IN HIGH SCHOOL Enrollment in Vocational Agriculture Enrolled Not Enrolled TOTAL Teachers Percent Number 124 62.3 75 37.7 199 100.0 FFA Membership in High School The data in Table 7 show that 119 (60 percent) of the teachers were FFA members in high school. Seventy eight teachers (39 percent) were non-FFA members in high school. TABLE 7 NUMBER AND PERCENT OF TEACHERS THAT WERE FFA MEMBERS IN HIGH SCHOOL _______ Teachers____ FFA Membership in High School FFA Member Non-FFA Member No response TOTAL Number Percent 119 59.8 78 39.2 2 1.0 199 100.0 82 Educational Level The results presented in Table 8 indicate that 50 per­ cent of the teachers possessed a Master's degree. Eighty- seven teachers (44 percent) possessed a Bachelor's degree. One hundred and ninety-two teachers (97 percent of the teachers) possessed the minimum of a Bachelor's degree. Seven teachers (4 percent) possessed less than a Bachelor's degree. TABLE 8 EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS Teachers Degree Completed Number 4 3 87 100 4 1 199 High School Junior/Community College Bachelor's Master's Specialist's Doctoral TOTAL Percent 2.0 1.5 43.7 50.3 2.0 0.5 100.0 Vocational Teaching Certificates A summary of the vocational teaching certificates possessed by the teachers is shown in Table 9. Vocation­ al Endorsement of Secondary Continuing Certificate was the most frequently reported vocational teaching certifi­ cate possessed by the teachers. One hundred and two teachers (51 percent) reported that they possessed 83 this certificate. This is the highest vocational teach­ ing certificate awarded to the vocational agriculture teachers. This suggests that a majority of the teachers have reasonable length of teaching experience. Nineteen teachers (10 percent) possessed Annual Vocational Authorization, fourteen teachers (7 percent) possessed Temporary Vocational Authorization, fifteen teachers (8 percent) possessed Full Vocational Authoriza­ tion while the remaining forty-nine teachers (25 percent) possessed Vocational Endorsement of Secondary Provisional Certificate. TABLE 9 DISTRIBUTION OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS BY VOCATIONAL TEACHING CERTIFICATES HELD Vocational Teaching Certificate in Agriculture Held Teachers______ Number Percent Annual Vocational Authorization 19 9.5 Temporary Vocational Authorization 14 7.1 Full Vocational Authorization 15 7.5 Vocational Endorsement of Secondary Provisional Certificate 49 24.6 Vocational Endorsement of Secondary Continuing Certificate 102 51.3 TOTAL 199 100.0 84 Subject Matter Area Taught The data in Table 10 show the distribution of subject matter areas taught by the Michigan vocational agriculture teachers employed in the Area Vocational Centers and those employed in the High Schools and the percentage of their teaching time spent in any of those subject matter areas. The most frequent subject matter areas taught by teachers in both types of school were as follows in order listed: 1 . Agricultural production 2. Ornamental horticulture 3. Non-agricultural classes 4. Agricultural mechanics 5. Agricultural resources 6. Forestry 7. Agricultural supplies 8. Agricultural products However, when the percent teaching time was analyzed separately for each of the school type, the subject matter areas most frequently taught were as follows in order listed: A. Area Vocational Centers 1. Ornamental horticulture 2. Agricultural mechanics TABLE 10 MEAN PERCENTAGE TEACHING TIME SPENT BY MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS IN VARIOUS SUBJECT MATTER AREAS Subject Matter Areas3 Type of School Number of Teachers Involved Mean Percentage Teaching Time Agricultural Production Area Vocational Centers High Schools Both Schools 11 138 149 72.27 62.80 63.50 Ornamental Horticulture Area Vocational Centers High Schools Both Schools 24 49 73 95.50 33.96 54.19 Non-Agricultural Classes Area Vocational Centers High Schools Both Schools 5 70 75 37.40 33.21 33.49 Agricultural Mechanics Area Vocational Centers High Schools Both Schools 16 54 70 52.44 26.11 32.13 Agricultural Resources Area Vocational Centers High Schools Both Schools 3 29 32 37.00 26.55 27.53 TABLE 10 (Cont'd.) Subject fatter Areas Type of School Number of Teachers Involved Forestry Area Vocational Centers High Schools Both Schools 5 18 23 7.00 20.72 17.74 Agricultural Supplies Area Vocational Centers High Schools Both Schools 4 5 9 7.50 9.40 8.56 Agricultural Products Area Vocational Centers High Schools Both Schools 2 5 7 5.50 11.00 9.43 teachers indicated teaching one or more subject matter areas. Mean Percentage Teaching Time 87 B. 3. Agricultural production 4. Non-agricultural classes 5. Agricultural resources 6. Forestry 7. Agricultural supplies 8. Agricultural products High Schools 1. Agricultural production 2. Non-agricultural classes 3. Ornamental horticulture 4. Agricultural mechanics 5. Agricultural resources 6. Forestry 7. Agricultural products 8. Agricultural supplies Practical Work Experience A summary of the practical work experience obtained by the teachers before teaching is shown in Table 11. A majority of the teachers•(52 percent) had ten years or more of practical work expereince before teaching. Fifty-eight teachers (29 percent) had four to nine years of practical work experience. Thirty-seven teachers (19 percent) had less than three years of practical work experience. 88 TABLE 11 DISTRIBUTION OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS BY YEARS OF PRACTICAL WORK EXPERIENCE IN AGRICULTURE BEFORE TEACHING Teachers Years of Practical Work Experience Number Less 1 year 1-3 years 4-9 years 10 years or more No response TOTAL Percent 2 35 58 103 1 1.0 17.6 29.1 51.8 0.5 199 100.0 Teaching Experience The data in Table 12 show the number of years of teaching experience in vocational agriculture by the teachers. One hundred and twenty-four (62 percent) of the teachers had more than 6 years experience in teaching vocational agriculture while seventy-five teachers (38 percent) had 6 years or less of teaching experience in teaching vocational agriculture. The mean number of years of teaching experience in voca­ tional agriculture for all the teacher was 11 years. 89 TABLE 12 DISTRIBUTION OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS BY YEARS OF TEACHING EXPERIENCE IN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE. Teachers Years of Experience Number 6 years or less Above 6 years TOTAL Percent 75 37.7 124 62.3 199 100.0 Mean 11 years Interest in Professional Education in the Next Two Years The data in Table 13 show Inservice Activities the interests of the teachers to participate in professional education inservice activities in the next two years. A majority of the teachers expressed interest for participation in such professional education inservice activities. One hundred and seventy-one teachers (86 percent) in­ dicated interest in inservice while twenty-three (12 percent) indicated no interest. 90 TABLE 13 INTEREST OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN PROFESSIONAL EDU­ CATION INSERVICE ACTIVITIES IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS Teachers Responses Number Interest in Inservice No Interest in Inservice No Response TOTAL Percent 171 85.9 23 11.6 5 2.5 199 100.0 Training in Competency Based Education As indicated in Table 14, 149 teachers (75 percent) had training in Competency Based Education (CBE) while 48 teachers (24 percent) had no training in CBE. TABLE 14 DISTRIBUTION OF MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS BY THEIR RESPONSES TO TRAINING RECEIVED IN COMPETENCY BASED EDUCATION (CBE) Teachers Training in CBE Number Training in CBE No Training in CBE No Response TOTAL Percent 149 74.9 48 24.1 2 1.0 199 100.0 91 Additional information on where the teachers received training in CBE are provided in Table 15. TABLE 15 MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS AND WHERE THEY RECEIVED TRAINING IN COMPETENCY BASED EDUCATION (CBE) Teachers Location of CBE Training Number Percent University 73 36.7 Local Education Agency 57 28.6 Other Locations 17 8.6 No Responses 52 26.1 199 100.0 TOTAL Universities and local education agencies were the main organizations the teachers. that provided the CBE training for Universities offered CBE training to 37 percent of the teachers while the Local Education Agencies offered the CBE training to 29 percent of the teachers. Less than 9 percent of the teachers received CBE training from other sources. Twenty six percent of the teachers did not respond to the question on the sources of CBE training. CHAPTER V PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS One of the major objectives of this study was to determine the self-perceived professional competencies needed by the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan. To achieve this objective, mean score ratings were cal­ culated to determine the need to up-date or further improve on any of the 95 professional education compe­ tency items in Part II of the survey instrument as per­ ceived by the vocational agriculture teachers. The following rating scale was used: Scale Need to Up-date or further improve 0 represents does not apply 1 represents none 2 represents low 3 represents medium 4 represents high 5 represents very high An inservice need indicator of 3.00 and above was chosen by the researcher to determine the professional education competencies needed by the vocational agri­ culture teachers. Therefore, any competency with a mean 92 93 score that fell between 3.00 and 5.00 was considered by the researcher as being needed by the teachers and could be considered for planning programs for inservice training by teacher educators. Chi-square statistics were used to determine if there were relationships between the educational and occupational background of the teachers obtained from Part X of the survey instrument and the competency needs of the teachers obtained from Part II of the survey instrument. Each hypothesis involved was tested at .05 level of probability. The responses of the vocational agriculture teachers on the professional education competencies are presented in this chapter in the following order: 1. Identification of the top ranked 15 professional education competencies needed by the vocational agriculture teachers to up-date or further improve. 2. Identification of the least ranked 15 professional education competencies needed by the vocational agriculture teachers to up-date or further improve. 3. Identification of the competency areas that are most needed and that are least needed by the vocational agriculture teachers. 94 4. The competencies needed by vocational agriculture teachers of Area Vocational Centers and High Schools in Michigan. 5. The competencies needed by Michigan vocational agriculture teachers of different age groups. 6. The competencies needed by Michigan vocational agriculture teachers whose major was Agricultural Education and those whose major was not Agricultural Education when they graduated from college. 7. The competencies needed by Michigan State University (MSU) and non-Michigan State University graduate teachers. 8. The competencies needed by Michigan vocational agriculture teachers enrolled and those who were not enrolled in vocational agriculture in high school. 9. The competencies needed by Michigan vocational agriculture teachers who were FFA members or non-FFA members in high school. 10. The competencies needed by Michigan vocational agriculture teachers of various educational levels. 11. The competencies needed by Michigan vocational agriculture teachers of the five different types of vocational teaching certificates in agriculture. 95 12. Influence of the number of years of practical work experience in areas of agriculture before teaching on the self-perceived competency needs of Michigan vocational agriculture teachers. 13. Influence of the number of years of teaching experience in vocational agriculture on the self-perceived competency needs of Michigan vocational agriculture teachers. 14. The competencies needed by Michigan vocational agriculture teachers who had interest and those who had no interest in participating in profes­ sional education inservice activities in the next two years. 15. Influence of training in Competency Based Educa­ tion (CBE) on the self-perceived competency needs of Michigan vocational agriculture teachers. 16. The results of the Chi-square tests for the thirteen null hypotheses described in Chapter II. The mean scores of the self-perception of all the vocational agriculture teachers on their need to up­ date or further improve in each of the 95 competencies as arranged in Part II of the survey instrument and these competencies ranked in the order of the mean scores are provided in the Appendix, Tables 45 and 46 respectively. 96 The Tables of the frequencies and percentages of responses under each rating scale of Part II of the survey instrument for each of the 95 competencies are provided in Appendix Tables 47 and 48 respectively. The Tables of the mean scores of the competency area FFA as rated by the teachers of various character­ istics: the school where they teach, age, major when they graduated from college, university from where they graduated, enrollment in vocational agriculture in high school, FFA membership in high school and the type of teaching certification are shown in the Appendix, Tables 49 to 55 respectively. Competencies Most Needed by the Michigan Vocational Agriculture. Teachers The number of professional education competencies with a mean score of three or higher (medium to very high need to update or further improve) were fifteen. These 15 top ranked competencies together with their mean scores and the competency areas involved are shown in Table 16. The highest rated competency, that is: "Knowing legal liability of teachers" had a mean score of 3.3. The other 14 top rated competencies in order of need included the following: Assist students in developing self-discipline Keep up-to-date professionally 97 TABLE 16 COMPETENCIES MOST NEEDED BY MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS AREA3 COMPETENCIES L E J L F L K B C H K A A D Knowing legal liability of teachers Assist students in develop­ ing self-discipline Keep up-to-date profes­ sionally Knowing youth labor rules and regulations Evaluate your instruction­ al effectiveness Knowing MIOSHA rules and regulations regarding vocational facilities Maintain adequate records to determine student progress Determine needs and interests of students Direct students in applying problem, solving-techniques Obtain feedback about your vocational agricultural programs Engage students in super­ vised occupational experi­ ences that are related to their occupational object­ ives Evaluate your vocational agriculture program Develop long-range plans for vocational agriculture programs Plan and direct individual­ ized instructional program RANK MEANb (N— 199) STANDARD DEVIATION 1 3.306 1.170 2 3.242 1.218 3 3.240 1.268 4 3.149 1.186 5 3.141 1.205 6 3.130 1.190 7 3.108 1.211 8 3.102 1.035 9 3.082 1.134 10 3.071 1.167 11 3.071 1.300 12 3.060 1.188 13 3.056 1.209 14 3.051 1.216 98 TABLE 16 (Cont'd.) AREA3 C COMPETENCIES RANK MEANb (N=199) Direct student laboratory experience 15 3.046 STANDARD DEVIATION 1.208 Indicates competency area: A. Program Planning, Develop­ ment and Evaluation; B. Instructional Planning; C. Instruc­ tional Execution-Techniques; D. Instructional ExecutionIndividualizing; E. Instructional Management; F. Instruction­ al Evaluation; H. School Community Relations; J. Professional Role and Development; K. Supervised Occupational Experience; L. Contemporary Topics. v 3.0 and above indicates medium to very high need to up­ date or further improve, less than 3 indicates low to no need to up-date or further improve. i 99 Knowing youth labor rules and regulations Evaluate your instructional effectiveness Knowing MIOSHA rules and regulations regarding .vocational facilities Maintain adequate records to determine student progress Determine needs and interests of students Direct students in applying problem-solving techniques Obtain feedback about your vocational agriculture programs Engage students in supervised occupational experi­ ences that are related to their occupational objec­ tives Evaluate your vocational agriculture program Develop long-range plans for vocational agriculture program Plan and direct individualized instructional program Direct student laboratory experience Each of the 15 top rated competencies had a mean score falling within a range of 3.3 to 3.0. Each of the following competency areas had at least one compe­ tency among the top rated 15 competencies. Program Planning, Development and Evaluation Instructional Planning Instructional Execution-Techniques Instructional Execution-Individualizing 100 Instructional Management Instructional Evaluation School Community Relations Professional Role and Development Supervised Occupational Experience Contemporary Topics The two competency areas that did not contribute to the top rated 15 competencies and which had all the competencies under them having a mean score of less than 3.00 were Future Farmers of America (FFA) and Guidance and Placement (Competency areas I & G respectively). The findings described previously suggest that any inservice training program planned for all the Michigan vocational agriculture teachers as a group should focus more attention on those top ranked 15 competencies identi­ fied. Competencies Least Needed By Michigan Vocational Agri­ culture Teachers In order to aid teacher educators in planning an inservice training program for Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers, the following 15 competencies that were rated lowest by the respondents and which should receive the least attention in such an ing program planning were: inservice train­ 101 Establish FFA chapter Develop a personal philosophy concerning FFA Employ the team teaching approach Supervise FFA activities Develop a lesson plan Gather student data using formal data collection technique Organize an occupational advisory committee Conducting group discussions, panel discussions and symposiums Guide participation in FFA award programs and contests Gather student data through personal contact Direct field trips Providing school-based job placement services Utilize paraprofessionals effectively Prepare student FFA members for leadership roles Assist students in developing and financing a yearly program of activities The least needed 15 competencies, their ranks, mean scores and the competency areas under which they fall are indicated in Table 17. Each of the least rated 15 competencies had a mean score falling between 1.2 and 2.4 which are far below the score of 3.00 which represented the inservice need indicator selected by the researcher. It is interesting to note that 100 percent of the competencies listed 102 TABLE 17 AREA® I I C I B G A C I G C L E I I COMPETENCIES LEAST NEEDED BY MICHIGAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS COMPETENCIES Establish FFA Chapter Develop a personal philosophy concerning FFA Employ the team teaching approach Supervise FFA activities Develop a lesson plan Gather student data using formal data collection technique Organize an occupational advisory committee Conducting group discussions, panel discussions and symposiums Guide participation in FFA award programs and contests Gather student data through personal contact Direct field trips Providing school-based job placement services Utilize paraprofessionals effectively Prepare student FFA members for leadership roles Assist students in developing and financing a yearly program of activities RANK (N=199) MEANb 1 2 1.209 1.939 3 1.980 4 5 6 2.036 2.157 2.235 7 2.255 8 2.274 9 2.294 10 2.321 11 12 2.362 2.390 13 2.404 14 2.414 15 2.419 103 TABLE 17 (Cont'd.) aIndicates competency area: A. Program Planning, Develop­ ment and Evaluation; B. Instructional Planning; C. Instruc­ tional Execution-Techniques; E. Instructional Management; G. Guidance and Placement; I. Future Farmers of America; L. Contemporary Topics. b3.0 and above indicates medium to very high need to up­ date or further improve, less than 3 indicates low to no need to up-date or further improve. 104 under FFA were among the 15 competencies rated as least needed by all the teachers. FFA is regarded to be important for maintaining a high quality vocational agriculture program by most vocational agriculture teachers (McGhee, 1967) and is listed to be important for leadership develop­ ment by the Michigan Department of Education in their guidelines and standards for quality vocational programs in agriculture/agribusiness education in Michigan. This may suggest either that the roles and responsibilities of the vocational agriculture teachers in Michigan are changing or that most of the Michigan vocational agri­ culture teachers have been adequately exposed to FFA education programs throughout their educational training. Fifty percent of all the competencies under the competency area: Guidance and Placement were among the 15 least needed competencies. The following competency areas, however, were not included among the 15 least needed competencies: Instructional Execution-Individualizing Instructional Evaluation School Community Relations Professional Role and Development Supervised Occupational Experience 105 Competency Areas Most Needed By The Michigan Vocational Agriculture Teachers The data In Table 18 show the overall mean of all the competencies under each competency area and the rank of each competency area. It could be noted that none of the competency area had an overall mean of 3.0 which was selected by the researcher as the inservice need indicator. Since the inservice training programs are usually planned for each competency rather than for any particular competency area, the inservice need indicator of 3.0 selected by the researcher would not be applicable to the overall means of the competency areas. The top ten ranked competency areas included: 1. Supervised Occupational Experience 2. Professional Role and Development 3. Contemporary Topics 4. Instructional Evaluation 5. School Community Relations 6. Instructional Execution-Individualizing 7. Instructional Management 8. Program Planning, Development and Evaluations 9* Instructional Planning 10. Instructional Execution - Techniques 106 TABLE 18 COMPETENCY AREAS MOST NEEDED BY MICHIGAN VOCA­ TIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS COMPETENCY AREAS RANK (N®199) OVERALL MEAN OF COMPETEN­ CIES Supervised Occupational Experience 1 2.946 Professional Role and Development 2 2.887 Contemporary Topics 3 2.837 Instructional Evaluation 4 2.831 School Community Relations 5 2.818 Instructional ExecutionIndividuali zing 6 2.754 Instructional Management 7 2.752 Program Planning, Development and Evaluation 8 2.690 Instructional Planning 9 2.654 Instructional ExecutionTechniques 10 2.602 Guidance and Placement 11 2.574 Future Farmers of America 12 2.052 107 The 15 most needed competencies by all the Michigan vocational agriculture teachers came from these ten competency areas. It is necessary to note here that the two competency areas: Guidance and Placement and Future Farmers of America (FFA) were still the least ranked or the least needed competency areas by the teachers. Competencies Needed by Vocational Agriculture Teachers of Area Vocational Centers and High Schools in Michigan The differences between the competencies needed by Michigan vocational agriculture teachers who were employed in the Area Vocational Centers and those employed in the High Schools during 1979-1980 academic year are presented in Table 19. The mean scores of their need to update or further improve in the 95 selected competencies were compared. It could be noted in Table 19 that teachers of Area Vocational Centers rated 13 competencies 3.0 and above while the High School teachers rated 21 compe­ tencies 3.0 and above. Nine out of the 13 competencies that were needed by the teachers of Area Vocational Centers were also needed by the High School teachers. The other four competencies which were reported as needed by the teachers of Area Vocational Centers were the competencies which only the Area Center teachers were required to perform as part of their professional function. These four competencies are as follows: 108 TABLE 19 Competency No. 8 10 11 16 22 23 33 39 45 51 52 54 59 MEAN SCORES OF THE COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY VOCATION AL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS OF AREA VOCATIONAL CENTERS AND HIGH SCHOOLS IN MICHIGAN Competencies Types of School Area Center High School (N-43) (N»156) Develop long-range plans for the vocational agri­ culture program Evaluate your vocational agriculture programs Determine needs and inter­ ests of students Prepare teacher-made instructional materials Direct student laboratory experience Direct student in applying problem-solving techniques Plan and direct individual­ ized instructional program Provide instruction for gifted students Assist students in develop­ ing self-discipline Test student psychomotor (skill) performance Assess student attitudes Evaluate your instructional effectiveness Develop a school community relations plan for your vocational agriculture program 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.0 3.2 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.1 3.1 109 TABLE 19 (Cont’d.) Competency No. 60 61 62 68 75 78 79 80 85 86 Competencies Types of School Area Center High School 3.3 3.1 3.2 3.1 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.0 3.1 3.3 3.3 152 TABLE 28 (Cont'd.) Coropetency No. 93 95 Competencies Knowing youth labor rules and regulations Knowing MIOSHA rules and regulations regarding vocational facilities TOTAL 3 Years or Less (N=37) 4-9 Years (N=58) 10 Years or more (N-104) 3.0 3.0 3.3 3.2 3.0 3.2 28 10 20 153 with the longest experience (10 years or more) perceived that they needed larger number of competencies than those with 4-9 years of practical work experience. Influence of Number of Years of Teaching Experience in Vocational Agriculture on the Self-Perceived Compe­ tencies Needed by the Teachers The data in Table 29 show the competencies needed by teachers with € years or less and 6 or more years of teaching experience in vocational agriculture. Teachers who had 6 years or less of teaching experience indicated that they needed 25 competencies while the teachers with 6 or more years of teaching experience indicated that they needed 15 competencies. It would be expected that the more teaching experience the teacher had, the better equipped he/she would be for the teaching profession. The self-perceived competencies needed by the teachers with different number of years of teaching experience involved in this study supported this statement. Competencies Needed by Teachers With Interest and Without Interest in Inservice Training m the Next Two Years The self-perceived competency needs of the teachers who had interest in inservice in the next two years and those who did not have interest are shown in Table 30. Teachers who expressed interest for inservice training needed 24 competencies while teachers without interest 154 TABLE 29 Competency No. 8 10 11 22 23 33 35 45 49 54 59 MEAN SCORES OF THE COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY MICHI­ GAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS OF DIFFERENT YEARS OF TEACHING EXPERIENCE Competencies Develop long-range plans for the vocational agri­ culture program Evaluate your vocational agriculture program Determine needs and interests of students Direct student laboratory experience Direct students in applying problem-solving techniques Plan and direct individualized instruction­ al program Develop self-contained instructional modules Assist students in developing self-discipline Establish performance standards for students Evaluate your instructional effectiveness Develop a school community relations plan for your vocational agriculture program Years of Teaching Experience 6 Years Above 6 or Less Years N~75 N=124 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.4 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.2 155 TABLE 29 (Cont'd.) Compe­ tency No. 60 61 62 68 75 78 79 80 81 Competencies Years of Teaching Experience 6 Years Above 6 or Less Years N=75 N=124 Give presentations to promote your vocational agriculture program Develop brochures to promote your vocational agriculture program Prepare displays to pro­ mote your vocational agriculture program Obtain feedback about your vocational agri­ culture program Keep up-to-date profes­ sionally Engage students in supervised occupational experi­ ences that are related to their occupational objec­ tives Engage students in supervised occupational experi­ ences that are appropriate in light of their ability Engage students in supervised occupational experi­ ences that are appropriate in light of their place of residence Select and evaluate training stations to assist students in obtaining de­ sired occupational compe­ tencies 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.0 .3.3 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.1 3.1 156 TABLE 29 (Cont'd.) Competency No. 83 84 85 86 93 95 Competencies Develop training plan which includes essen­ tial competencies and experiences that are to be acquired during the program Provide students with effective types of co­ ordination, supervision, and occupational guid­ ance in their occupa­ tional experience program Maintain adequate records to determine student progress Knowing legal liability of teachers Knowing youth labor rules and regulations Knowing MIOSHA rules and regulations regarding vocational facilities TOTAL Years of Teaching Experience 6 Years Above 6 or Less Years N=75 N=124 3.1 3.4 3.1 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.1 25 15 157 TABLE 30 Compe­ tency No. 1 8 10 11 22 23 33 43 45 49 54 MEAN SCORES OF THE COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY MICHI­ GAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS WITH INTEREST AND WITHOUT INTEREST IN INSERVICE TRAINING IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS Competencies Conduct a community sur­ vey to determine employ­ ment demands and student interests Develop long-range plans for the vocational agri­ culture program Evaluate your vocational agriculture program Determine needs and interests of students Direct student labor­ atory experience Direct students in apply­ ing problem-solving tech­ niques Plan and direct indivi­ dualized instructional program Maintain a filing system of teaching resources Assist students in devel­ oping self-discipline. Establish performance standards for students Evaluate your instruc­ tional effectiveness Interest In Inser­ vice Train­ ing (N-171) No Interest In Inser­ vice Train­ ing (N=23) 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.0 3.3 3.0 3.2 3.1 158 TABLE 3D (Cont'd.) Compe­ tency No. 59 60 62 68 75 78 79 80 Competencies Develop a school com­ munity relations plan for your vocational agriculture program Give presentation to promote your vocational agriculture program Prepare displays to pro­ mote your vocational agriculture program Obtain feedback about your vocational agri­ culture program Keep up-to-date profes­ sionally Engage students in super­ vised occupational experi­ ences that are related to their occupational objec­ tives Engage students in super­ vised occupational experiences that are appropriate in light of their ability Engage students in supervised occupational experi­ ences that are appropriate in light of their place of residence Interest In Inser­ vice Train­ ing (N=171) 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.4 3.2 3.1 3.1 No Interest In Inser­ vice Train­ ing (N=23) 159 TABLE 30 (Cont'd.) Compe­ tency No. 81 84 85 86 93 95 Interest In Inser­ vice Train­ ing (N-171) Competencies Select and evaluate training stations to assist students in ob­ taining desired occupa­ tional competencies Provide students with effective types of co­ ordination, supervision, and occupational guid­ ance in their occupa­ tional experience program Maintain adequate rec­ ords to determine student progress Knowing legal liabil­ ity of teachers Knowing youth labor rules and regulations Knowing MIOSHA rules and regulations regard­ ing vocational facil­ ities TOTAL No Interest In Inser­ vice Train­ ing (N-23) 3.0 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.2 3.2 24 3 160 heeded only three competencies. These findings showed an agreement between the teachers' self-perceived compe­ tency needs and their interest in inservice training during the next two years. Influence of Training in Competency Based Education (CBE) on the Self-Perceived Competencies Needed by the Teachers The data in Table 31 show the competencies needed by the teachers who had participated in Competency Based Education (CBE) training and those who had not participated in such training. From this table, it could be realized that there was not much difference in the competencies needed by both groups of teachers. Teachers who had participated in CBE training needed 16 competencies while teachers who had not participated in CBE training needed 18 competencies. This would suggest that CBE training had no influence on the professional competency needs of the teachers involved in this study. Results of the Statistical Tests for the Research Hypotheses In this section, the results of statistical tests of the research hypothesis are presented. The null hypotheses were tested using crosstabulations and the chi-sguare statistics on only the 15 competencies that had mean scores of 3.0 and above which was the inservice 161 TABLE 31' Compe­ tency No. 5 8 10 11 22 23 33 43 45 49 50 54 MEAN SCORES OF THE COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY MICHI­ GAN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHERS WHO HAD RE­ CEIVED TRAINING AND THOSE WHO HAD NOT RECEIVED TRAINING IN COMPETENCY BASED EDUCATION Competencies Develop vocational agri­ culture program goals and objectives Develop long-range plans for the vocational agri­ culture program Evaluate your vocational agriculture program Determine needs and inter­ ests of students Direct student laboratory experience Direct student in apply­ ing problem-solving tech­ niques Plan and direct indivi­ dualized instructional program Maintain a filing system of teaching resources Assist students in devel­ oping self-discipline Establish performance standards for students Test student cognitive (knowledge) performance Evaluate your instruc­ tional effectiveness Training in CBE