District Superintendent Perceptions of Idaho Secondary CTE Teachers’ Professional Development Needs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe Idaho superintendents' perceptions of Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher's professional development needs. A descriptive instrument based on Borich's (1980) Needs Assessment Model was completed by 78 respondents (n = 78). Items related to teaching in a CTE program were assessed for importance, as well as competence of teachers towards the item. Mean Weighted Discrepancy Scores (MWDS) were used to prioritize perceived professional development needs. Teaching critical/creative thinking skills and proper safety attitudes were the items with the highest importance ratings. CTE teachers were perceived to be most competent at teaching safety attitudes and practices. Integrating reading and writing standards into CTE curricula were found to be the highest rated perceived in-service priorities as measured by the MWDS. The findings offer direction for preservice curriculum and in-service activities for CTE teachers. Input from district educational leaders and other stakeholders are a foundation for CTE in-service planning.

Professional Development Needs of Beginning Agricultural Education Teachers in Idaho

“…Pre-service teacher education programs should expand instruction related to funding sources for local programs, and additional professional development workshops should be available during CTE summer conference and as coursework which can be applied toward certification and advanced degrees (L. L. Moore & Swan, 2008). The results of this study were similar to results from other program areas in the state (Cannon, Kitchel, & Duncan, 2012;Cannon, Kitchel, Tenuto, et al, 2012;Kitchel et al, 2009), indicating the need for CTE teacher education and in-service training to be coordinated across program areas and offered in collaboration with colleges, universities and professional organizations to meet professional development needs of beginning teachers in agricultural education.…”

“…Several of the items across categories were related to organization of the instructor both in and out of the classroom as hygiene factors identified by the Herzberg Motivational Hygiene Theory (Herzberg et al, 1959) regarding work and organizational environment and supported previous research: volume of work (Mundt & Connors, 1999); time management (Mundt & Connors, 1999;Myers et al, 2005;Stair et al, 2012); communication (Myers et al, 2005); classroom management skills (Cannon, Kitchel, & Duncan, 2012;Cannon, Kitchel, Tenuto, et al, 2012;Garton & Chung, 1996;Joerger, 2002;Myers et al, 2005;Nesbitt & Mundt, 1993;Robinson & Edwards, 2012;Ruhland & Bremer, 2002;Stair et al, 2012); paperwork (Stair et al, 2012); budgets (Kitchel, Cannon, & Duncan, 2009); work/life balance (Myers et al, 2005); program planning and prioritization (Garton & Chung, 1996); state level forms and documents (Garton & Chung, 1996;Kitchel et al, 2009); and recruiting students (Stair et al, 2012). The areas of concern identified were also categorized based on the Herzberg's Motivational-Hygiene Theory (Herzberg et al, 1959) as either Motivational or Hygiene factors.…”

“…Consensus was also reached regarding teaching skills in agreement with previous research regarding the needs of beginning teachers: teaching strategies; working with IEP and at risk students (Cannon, Kitchel, & Duncan, 2012;Myers et al, 2005;Ruhland & Bremer, 2002); curriculum development (Cannon, Kitchel, Tenuto, et al, 2012;Joerger, 2002;Ruhland & Bremer, 2002); and common core integration (Cannon, Kitchel, & Duncan, 2012;Cannon, Kitchel, Tenuto, et al, 2012). Each of the teacher skills identified were job environment (hygiene) factors related to Herzberg's model (Herzberg et al, 1959) and could be addressed by either statewide induction programs, mentoring programs, and/or local school districts.…”

“…In the past, school administrators perceived the greatest professional development need of CTE teachers was motivating students to learn, followed by teaching students to think critically and creatively, and integration of reading and writing standards into the CTE curriculum (Cannon, Kitchel, Tenuto, & Joki, 2012). Due to their supervisory responsibilities, school administrators should be included in decisions regarding the enhancement of professional practice and development (Danielson, 2007).…”

Evaluating potential barriers to implementing augmented reality welding simulators into career and technical education (CTE) welding curriculum

“…Beyond preservice teaching opportunities, the use of professional development (PD) opportunities for our in-service teachers in all phases of their professional careers has been shown to be beneficial (Cannon et al 2013. Investigating the reasons and obstructions that keep in-service teachers from participating in professional development, concluded that the two most prevalent obstacles are time and financial resources.…”