Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Diane Eddins-Bryant
Keywords
administrators, Broward County, direct assessment, discrepancy model, inservice training, instructional behavior, instructor competencies, needs assessment, Pearson correlation coefficient, professional development, survey research, teacher preparation, teacher training, technical centers, training needs
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the inservice training needs of the teachers at two of the technical centers in Broward County, Atlantic Technical Center, and Sheridan Technical Center. There were two research questions for the study. First, how have instructors rated their need for inservice training on specific competencies? Second, how important was the instructional behavior related to inservice training needs?
Six procedures were employed in this study. First, a literature review was conducted to determine the current condition of teacher preparation and the views on professional development to meet the changing needs of teachers. The next steps involved the preparation and administration of a survey to determine the inservice training needs of the teachers at the two centers. In the fourth step the data obtained from the survey were compiled. The final steps involved the analysis of the data and dissemination of the results to the administrators of the centers.
The results of the survey to show the inservice training needs were calculated using the direct assessment and the discrepancy model. Results from both methods were different. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient (r) calculated for the importance of the behavior to the need of the inservice training was moderate to low.
The conclusion is inservice training needs should be determined using a model that has been proven and is reliable. Also, more than one criterion should be used to determine the training needs. The two recommendations made are administrators conduct a needs assessment yearly and needs assessments used need to utilize more than one criterion. This ensures a reliable method of determining the training needs of the instructors.