| Scope and method of study. The purpose of the study was to ascertain vocational education administrators' attitudes toward extended teacher education programs. The study sought to answer four research questions concerning vocational education administrators': perceptions of a need for extending teacher education beyond the traditional baccalaureate degree, perceptions of the value of general education components of teacher education programs, beliefs regarding the organization of extended teacher education programs, and beliefs concerning the adequacy of existing teacher education programs. Four hypotheses were formulated for the study to test for differences in vocational education administrators' attitudes by age, sex, employment status, qualification for vocational teacher certification, having held vocational teacher certification, administrative title, college degree classification, and residence community size. A questionnaire was utilized which was developed by Dr. Ray Edmund Sanders for the research project, "Vocational Teacher's Attitudes Toward Extended Teacher Education Programs," (May, 1988). The questionnaire consisted of two parts, a section used to gather personal and demographic data and a section which asked 49 questions related to the research questions and hypotheses. Two hundred and thirty-three questionnaires were mailed to randomly selected vocational education administrators from the American Vocational Association, Region Four, which included Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. One hundred and thirty-two questionnaires were completed and returned for a 57 percent return rate.;Findings and conclusions. Vocational education administrators were generally undecided as to the need for extended teacher education programs, the adequacy of existing programs, and how extended teacher education programs should be organized. Administrators were generally satisfied with general education components of teacher education programs. The vocational education administrators did specifically believe that the current baccalaureate degree programs adequately prepared the teachers to teach the vocational education programs, that extended teacher education programs should include more content in special education and the vocational area of specialization. These findings were compare with the Sanders' study and the results were similar. |
