Determining Expressed Inservice Needs of Wisconsin Secondary and Post-Secondary Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education Teachers in Home Economics Related Areas. Final Report.

Overview & Synopsis

A study was conducted to determine the felt needs of Wisconsin home economics teachers for inservice education as a basis for designing educational programs to meet these needs. The population consisted of 1,278 home economics public school teachers and 1,430 vocational, technical, and adult education (VTAE) teachers of home economics related areas. The respondents were asked for information regarding attitudes about inservice education, types of inservice education opportunities, possible time periods for inservice education programs, and categories of topics for inservice education programs (curriculum content, teacher activities, and professional concerns). Thirty-one conclusions were drawn from the responses of 1,104 public school home economics teachers and 787 VTAE teachers. Some of these conclusions follow: (1) Inservice programs developed for home economics teachers should be planned primarily for home and family living programs; (2) due to the small number of teachers of occupational programs, inservice programs need to be planned to facilitate attendance by specialized teachers in an accessible geographical location; and (3) inservice education programs need to be planned in order to stimulate interest and communicate concerns and plans of action related to occupational programs. (Forty-seven data tables are included. The survey form is appended.) (EM)