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Appendix A
Review of R&D
in Major
Priority Areas
The members and staff of the Committee on Vocational Education Re-
search and Development reviewed literature on nine major research top
~cs:
Career development and guidance
Students with special needs
Characteristics of students
Teacher education
Instructional techniques
Curriculum development
Labor market supply and demand information
Administration of vocational education
Evaluation of vocational education programs
Sources included 15 papers commissioned by the Committee (see Appen-
dix By on various aspects of vocational education R&D; the review and
synthesis monograph series published by the Ohio State University Cen-
ter for Vocational Education; and numerous reports recommended by
members of the Committee and others working in vocational education.
These resources did not provide a complete review of vocational edu-
cation R&D over the last ten years. The Ohio State monograph series,
which is intended to review and synthesize the literature in several cate-
gories within vocational education, is necessarily selective in the findings
reported and the topics reviewed. Further, the less recent monographs of
83
OCR for page 84
84
Appendix A
the series, written between 1966 and 1970, do not contain current in-
formation. Unfortunately for this Committee as well as for the progress
of vocational education R&D, the monograph series was largely discon-
tinued after 1972 when funding was withdrawn.
As noted in Chapter 4, the Committee was unable to review projects
funded only under the 1963 Act and the 1968 Amendments because
many project reports do not exist and because it was impossible in many
cases to identify a project's funding source. Therefore, this review covers
R&D projects pertinent to vocational education, whether or not they were
funded under the vocational education R&D legislation.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND GUIDANCE
One line of research in career development dates back to Super's longitu-
dinal Career Pattern Study of the late 1950s, which became the founda-
tion for the self-concept approach to career decision making (Herr 1975~.
Super's self-concept theory suggests that people choose careers in which
they can implement their self-concepts. Students' self-concepts are hy-
pothesized to be similar to their descriptions of people in the occupations
they feel they will eventually enter.
Hypotheses derived from Super's theory have been tested by numer-
ous educational and other researchers. For example, Ziegler gathered
data from 428 male college students on self-descriptions, preferred occu-
pations, and probable occupations (Mitchell et al. 1975~. Study results
indicate that students saw themselves as being more like people in ca-
reers they wanted to enter than like people in jobs they disliked, a finding
that supports Super's self-concept theory. However, the precise events
and experiences that create various self-concepts have not been specified.
Like Super, many theorists have been concerned with occupational
selection as an expression of personality. For example, Holland's model
of vocational choice behavior includes a six-category typology of person-
ality and predicts that individuals will choose occupations in categories
consistent with their personality types (Mitchell et al. 1975~. Empirical
studies exploring this theory have yielded inconclusive results, partly due
to the difficulty of assigning students to personality types. What causes
people to prefer occupations in one or more of these six categories re-
mains to be discovered.
Krumboltz (1975) has advanced a social learning theory approach
specifying factors that influence educational or occupational preferences.
Mitchell's review confirms several propositions of the theory, showing
that educational or occupational preferences are related to (1) positive
reinforcement (such as successful performance in a course), (2) reinforce
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Appendix A
85
ment by a valued person (such as a parent or a favorite teacher) who
advocates entry into a course or occupation, or (3) exposure to "positive
words and images associated with the course, occupation, or field of
work" (Mitchell 1975, p. 42~. Other studies confirm that an individual is
more likely to enroll in a course or seek employment in an occupation if
he or she has recently expressed a preference for that course or occupa-
tion, if opportunities exist for participation or employment, or if he or
she has learned skills that match the occupational requirement (Mitchell
et al. 1975~.
Still other studies, reviewed by Homer, Buterbaugh, and Carefoot
(Mitchell et al. 1975), show that occupational choice is influenced by the
occupation of the father, attitudes of parents toward education, and the
education of parents. They note that on-thejob experience influences
decision making; rural students are more concerned with learning a
specific vocation than are urban students; and farming as an occupation
is more often transmitted from father to son than are other occupations.
Many theories of occupational decision making have one common impli-
cation for vocational guidance: guidance should not merely react to a
problem or concern an immediate choice, but should teach decision-
making skills appropriate to vocational choices. However, evidence that
teaching such skills results in better decisions does not exist. Although a
large body of empirical data exists on certain aspects of vocational deci-
sion making, knowledge is sketchy and the studies cannot be compared
easily with one another (Mitchell et al. 1975~.
With the growth of career development theory, the elements and ob-
jectives of vocational guidance have received more attention. For exam-
ple, Martin developed a conceptual model for the design of guidance
materials for non-college-bound and culturally disadvantaged young
people (Tennyson 1968~. Krumboltz and his colleagues evaluated the
success of specific guidance techniques in effecting desired changes in
vocational behavior. They found that "verbal reinforcement of informa-
tion seeking responses during the (counseling) interview resulted in
greater exploration of relevant occupational and educational informa-
tion outside of the counseling situation" (p. 360~.
Other research has attempted to identify elective guidance techniques,
such as counseling skills required to accomplish specific goals. Counsel-
ing skills identified by researchers at Michigan State and Stanford Uni-
versities are related to contact, postural position, reflection of feeling,
and summarization of feeling (Herr 1975~. The trend toward creating
behavioral objectives for those receiving vocational guidance has accel-
erated since the career education movement began in 1971. Researchers
at the Center for Vocational Education in Ohio created a ten-phase mod
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86 Appendix A
el for vocational guidance programming that includes the translation of
goals into student behavioral objectives (Herr 1975~.
Measurement devices have been developed to gauge success in attain-
ing the specific behavioral goals of career development. For example,
Crites developed the Career Maturity Inventory, composed of an atti-
tude scale and a competence test intended to measure work orientation,
independence in decision making, self-appraisal, and occupational in-
formation (Herr 1975~.
Several computer-based guidance systems have been developed, such
as the Pennsylvania State University Computer-Assisted Career Explora-
tion System. These systems attempt to provide accurate and complete
occupational information for rational decision making by students. In-
formation is provided in multimedia forms, such as slides and computer
printouts. Some systems even provide students with training in decision
making (Herr 1975~.
Many of these programmatic approaches to vocational guidance focus
on preparing students to deal with the process of career decision making
rather than with the actual career choice (Herr 19754. Vocational educa-
tion needs more knowledge of how and why people choose and change
careers.
STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
In accordance with the legislative intent that R&D be directed toward the
problems of the disadvantaged and the handicapped, researchers have
investigated the characteristics and problems of groups with special
needs, and programs have been developed to serve those groups. Also,
recent legal and social pressures have prompted R&D to study women in
vocational education.
Women
An Ohio State research synthesis monograph on women in the world of
work describes studies that have assessed the training needs of women,
patterns of expected growth in job openings for women, and influences
on the vocational choices of women. One study identified the attitudes of
women toward careers and marriage by analyzing data on a career histo-
ry sheet and a set of attitudinal scales for a sample of 1,237 girls and
women. Attitudes affecting life-style included: "~1) a woman's impres-
sion of male's reaction to the use of her intelligence; (2) struggle over the
possible position of dominance of men at work and the place of women
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Appendix A
87
at home; and (3) conflict between family and work demands upon the
time of wife and mother" (Kievit 1972, p. 63~.
Although there are some studies on women in vocational education,
Roby (1975) notes that there has been relatively little vocational educa-
tion R&D funding devoted to the needs of women, particularly since more
than half the students in vocational education programs are women. For
example, in fiscal 1974 only one out of 93 federally funded and adminis-
tered Part C projects pertained directly to women. In the same year, no
projects specifically on women were funded under Part I or Part D.
Furthermore, in 1975 only three of the 50 state departments of education
were sponsoring research on the needs of girls and women.
The Disadvantaged
R&D concerned with problems of the disadvantaged became a USOE
priority in fiscal 1971, although legislation first emphasized the problems
of the disadvantaged in 1963. Many studies concern the assessment of
needs, identification of special problems, or development of programs to
meet special needs. The Ohio State monograph synthesizing research on
the urban disadvantaged acknowledges that research has lacked exten-
siveness and quality. Topics needing more attention include public
school vocational education programs, national surveys, teacher prepa-
ration, student follow-up studies, and structured evaluation (Lockette
and Davenport 1971~. In addition, "among the studies related to voca-
tional education which exist, there is considerable duplication of data"
(p. 34).
However, some significant findings on the disadvantaged have
emerged. For example, it has been shown that the involvement of the
community in vocational education programs for the disadvantaged in-
creases the completion and placement rates of both in-school and out-of-
school trainees (Lockette and Davenport 19711. Also, research on out-of-
school vocational education programs for the urban disadvantaged has
shown them to be more successful than in-school programs in placing
graduates in jobs.
Some research has been done to determine the vocational education
needs and characteristics of young people in rural areas and to compare
these with the needs and characteristics of urban youths. For example,
Boykin's findings support the generalization that the educational and
occupational aspirations of urban youths are higher than those of young
people in rural areas (Griessman and Densley 1969~. It has also been
shown that most rural students ultimately look for urban jobs. This sug
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88
Appendix A
gests that local occupational surveys cannot accurately determine what
occupations should be taught in each school.
Adults
Research related to adult students has been directed towards identifying
elective techniques for teaching adults. For example, one study reports
that programmed learning was more successful than the lecture-discus-
sion method in terms of total knowledge gained in adult vocational agri-
culture departments in five Northeastern states (Adams 1972, p. 38~.
Ethnic Minorities
Phyllis Hamilton's report (1975) on vocational education R&D on the
needs of ethnic minorities states that little research has been aimed to-
ward minority student needs, in part because administrators of vocation-
al education R&D apparently hope that special needs could be met
through general research on vocational education. From fiscal 1964 to
fiscal 1969, about eight percent of Section 4(c) funding was devoted to
ethnic minority needs, and about five percent each year of Part C fund-
ing was concerned with the problems of minority students.
A few studies focusing on the needs of ethnic minorities have received
much attention. For example, a study by Wilford Wilms shows that nei-
ther public nor vocational education has been successful in helping mi-
nority students overcome barriers of class and income (Hamilton 1975~.
However, whether or not vocational education can reasonably be expect-
ed to overcome these barriers has received little attention. Hamilton
draws several conclusions on the basis of her review of R&D conducted
under the 1963 and 1968 legislation (pp. 40~9~:
1. The small amount of vocational education research that has been
conducted for ethnic minority student needs has been underutilized in
program development.
2. The negative image of vocational education held by minority
groups has been reinforced by its use of labels such as "disadvantaged."
3. Much of vocational education research has been based on stereo-
types of the "culturally disadvantaged." Few have tried to identify posi-
tive attributes.
4. Specific skill training has been a major emphasis of vocational edu-
cation research for ethnic minorities although remedial basic academic
training was a minor emphasis.
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Appendix A
89
5. Part D exemplary projects and fiscal 1974 projects show increased
emphasis on more relevant career guidance for minority students.
6. A negative self-concept was seen as the biggest block to motivation
for ethnic minorities; use of peer counselors was found to raise self-im-
age.
7. Staff attitudes, expectations, and behaviors are critical variables in
providing elective vocational training for minority students.
8. No research on recruitment was conducted, but use of classroom
pare-professionals was a major theme of training activities.
9. Little research on ethnic minorities has concentrated on improving
external linkages with business and industry.
10. There is an emerging bicultural emphasis
research activity on ethnic minority needs.
CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS
in vocational education
Several research efforts describe the personal and social characteristics of
vocational education students. Although a 1970 USOE study (Lecht 1972)
rat that vocational students resemble the general student population,
most studies indicate that vocational students have lower socioeconomic
status and less academic ability than other students. The USOE report,
although fairly recent and involving 29,000 secondary school students,
contains data inconsistencies noted by Lecht, and its conclusions are
therefore questionable.
Other national studies Project TALENT and Somer's 1966 national
survey of 1,500 students indicate that the heads of families of vocation-
al students have had less education than family heads of high school
students in the academic curriculum (Lecht 1972~. Project TALENT data
also indicate that vocational students have less academic ability than
other students, as measured by tests of verbal knowledge, verbal reason-
ing, mathematical aptitude, general knowledge, and similar indices. In
addition, vocational students differ on the average from the general stu-
dent population in their socioeconomic background as measured by oc-
cupation, income, or education of family heads (Evans and Galloway
1973~. The degree to which these differences are due to student choice or
to assignment by the school (tracking) has not been determined (Bowen
1975).
A 1969 USOE survey and a University of Wisconsin national survey in
1966 collected data on the racial composition of vocational education
programs. The USOE survey found that 20 percent of secondary school
vocational students were from minority groups, while the earlier Wiscon-
sin study indicated that eight percent were from minority groups; this
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9o
Appendix A
suggests that vocational education may have served more minority stu-
dents in 1969 than in 1966 (Lecht 1972~. Official reports indicate that the
proportion of "disadvantaged" students in vocational education pro-
grams has increased since 1966, but the data are not conclusive, and the
extent to which "disadvantaged" students are from minority groups is
not clear. Changes in definition and classification and lack of informa-
tion on students' backgrounds collected by local school districts have
limited the collection of national Acts On r~rio1 And ,`th^' ~h^~+A~~:~
of students.
A, ^ ~ All ~l~1 Ally ULll~1 ~11~r~leIlSllCS
In addition to national surveys, state research projects have attempted
to obtain information on the age, sex, socioeconomic background, and
academic ability of vocational education students. Lecht (19741 cites
examples of findings from such projects:
~^ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A W1 L~O
"More women of moderate ability enter occupational curricula
whereas occupational men tend to be concentrated at lower ability lev-
els," according to a review of several studies (p. 1 18~.
2. A survey of 50 junior colleges shows that "vocational-technical col-
lege students do not differ greatly in self-reported high school grades
from junior college students in general, but females tend to be superior to
males"(p.119).
3. A sample of students enrolled in Washington State high schools,
who plan to attend post-secondary business or vocational schools, re-
ported lower grades, less interest in school work, and more dissatisfac-
tion with school than a sample planning to attend college (p. 131~.
4. In the same sample, it was found that students' educational aspira-
tions were influenced by their parents' educational attainments (p. 131~.
5. A survey of freshmen at a community college in Michigan shows
that those enrolled in an academic curriculum evaluated their career
potentials higher than did students enrolled in an occupational curricu-
lum (pp. 140-141~.
TEACHER EDUCATION
The goal of teacher education, as described by Evans and Terry (1971),
is to devise ways in which teachers can be prepared to teach accurately,
effectively, and broadly so that their students will have maximum oppor-
tunities to control their own future environments. Research in teacher
education has not had a high priority in the vocational education R&D
program funded under the 1963 and 1968 legislation. Consequently, as
observed by Hamilton (1973), many researchers have concluded that
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Appendix A
/91
little is known about achieving teacher effectiveness or about the rela-
tionship between teacher behavior and student growth. There have been
some more recent developments in teacher education, but it cannot be
demonstrated that they have been incorporated into existing vocational
teacher education. Kievit (1975) reports that teacher education programs
are most often determined by tradition or personal experience. She states
that "the extent to which R&D has had an impact on teacher behavior
through pre-service and in-service education is still largely speculative"
(p. 32~.
Another reviewer of research in teacher education, Douglas Sjogren
(1971a), notes that evaluations of teacher education programs are rare.
Many are either accreditation reviews by regional agencies or by the
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. Others are
one-time-only evaluations of specific projects that have little or no im-
pact on future projects and have little utility for making decisions about
programs while they are operating; this type of evaluation is appropriate
only when limited resources preclude more extensive study, according to
Sjogren. Sjogren states that there have been no rigorous, objective, em-
pirical, process-oriented evaluations. However, Schill and Allen (1974)
did a follow-up study of 692 full-time teachers who had completed their
education during the preceding five-year period; the study indicates that
teachers in the teacher education program in California had learned to
perform most of the tasks encountered in instruction.
Another review of vocational teacher education (Swanson 1974) stress-
es the inadequacy of the data base for reviewing and improving the
preparation of teachers. First, there are few data on programs not spon-
sored by the states, such as on-thejob training in business and industry.
Second, data on students are usually only enrollment data; data on insti-
tution, program, occupational area, and duration of enrollment are not
usually collected. Therefore, it is hard to assess even current demand for
vocational teachers. Third, there are insufficient data on the current and
future supply of teachers. Fourth, not enough is known about vocational
teacher programs, for example, who conducts them, how the programs
compare with one another, and how good their graduating teachers are.
Despite limitations in knowledge available on teacher education, some
progress has been made by R&D in finding more effective ways to alter
teacher behavior. The identification of teacher competencies and re-
search on pre-service and in-service education have been major subjects
of exploration. An Ohio State research synthesis monograph by Peterson
(1973) reports several studies that determined the competencies required
of vocational teachers. For example, Peterson cites three studies in agri-
culture by Nattress, Kruskap, and Mitschele that examined competen
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92
Appendix A
cies needed by vocational agriculture teachers in crops and soil science,
farm management, and animal science.
Peterson (1973) also reports on an evaluation of competency-based
teacher education (CBTE) programs in Nebraska and Minnesota that
show evidence of improved beginning teacher performance and highly
improved student and teacher satisfaction. Using the CBTE approach,
teacher competencies are specified and prospective teachers are held ac-
countable for acquiring them. Hamilton (1973, p. 5) states that CBTE iS
"primarily an outgrowth of the accountability movement in education,"
which is viewed as a radical innovation in education, but is not really
different from earlier efforts. Hamilton states that CBTE iS based upon an
inadequate research foundation (p. 21~. She cites a report by Heath and
Nielsen based on a review of 42 studies of CBTE concluding that an em-
pirical basis for CBTE simply does not exist (p. 20~. Hamilton cautions
that CBTE iS "being oversold by USOE and creating unrealistic expecta-
tions for widespread educational reform that could prematurely destroy
the movement's potential" (p. vii). However, advocates of CBTE believe
that teacher education will be emphasized in the future and that CBTE
programs will be developed on the basis of Mint knnw1PAn~ nP Its_
ing.
- r ~^- ~ ~ ~ ~, ~1 ~w w it, w1 anal 11
A considerable number of research projects have been conducted in
pre-service education, which is directed toward teaching novices the nec-
essa~y competencies for effective teaching. Moss (1971) reviewed re-
search designed to test some of the assumptions underlying pre-service
programs and found that the best predictor of teacher electiveness ap-
pears to be academic achievement in teacher education programs. Moss
cited several studies indicating that the number of years of teachers'
experience in the occupation being taught is not correlated with student
gains in verbal and manual skills (p. 459. Teachers' technical skills are
important to student learning, but years of occupational experience do
not necessarily ensure high levels of technical skills. Moss states that
acquisition of technical skills by teachers via work experience usually
takes longer than necessary; skills are too highly specialized to be maxi-
mally useful; and by the time workers become teachers, the probability
of pursuing further education has been reduced and their "worker value
orientation may be too rigid" (p. 47). Also, a study by Cappiello reported
by Moss indicates that student teaching has some benefits but that "it is
frequently too little and too late" (p. 59~.
Research funds for pre-service and in-service teacher education have
supported numerous workshops, conferences, and institutes as means of
disseminating information to teachers (Kievit 1975). Relatively few stud-
ies have assessed the influence of workshops and institutes on teacher
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Appendix A
93
behavior, but there are some. Miller studied a ten-week summer appren-
ticeship program for prospective teachers and found that it changed atti-
tudes that improved teacher preparation (Peterson 1973~. Techniques for
micro-teaching, which deals with the division of instructional material
into small or micro units, have been developed and evaluated for pre-
service teacher education. Peterson cites one study by Bell that found
micro-teaching superior to traditional forms of teacher preparation.
In-service teacher education is directed toward continuing the im-
provement and development of experienced teachers. Research on in-
service teacher education has compared the merits of various education-
al feedback techniques for improving teacher skill performance (Peterson
1973~. Peterson reports that the use of video-taping techniques in supply-
ing both pre-service and in-service teachers with feedback relating to
their teaching performance has attracted much attention. Hoerner et al.
conclude that the use of video-feedback was a beneficial technique in
pre-service trade and industrial education workshops (Peterson 19739.
Kelley et al. (1971), in a study of the feasibility of remote supervision of
~ . . . . . . ,~ . .. . . . . . .
home economics student teachers, touno that teachers and supervising
teachers expressed greater satisfaction with face-to-face and video-phone
techniques as opposed to audio-phone techniques. Harrington and Doty
(1971) found that video-feedback of micro-teaching techniques was
effective and feasible for improving selected teaching skills of technical
teachers.
It appears that R&D in vocational teacher education has had little actu-
al influence to date upon improving teacher effectiveness, although some
gains have been reported. Few, if any, national priorities or state plans
have included research and development in vocational teacher educa-
t~on.
INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES
Although a recent, comprehensive summary or synthesis of research on
instructional methods in vocational education is not available, several
instructional techniques are reported in the Ohio State review and syn-
thesis monographs on vocational education content, industrial arts, com-
munity colleges, adult education, education of the rural disadvantaged,
and individualized instruction.
Many instructional methods described in the reviews attempt to give
vocational instruction or guidance with substantially reduced interaction
between student and teacher or counselor. Such methods include pro-
grammed instruction (usually printed material), television, computer-as-
sisted guidance, teaching machines, multimedia packages, and a variety
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Appendix A
101
vocational and other curriculum elements. Attempts to provide more
comprehensive, integrated programs have not usually included the exten-
sive analysis and development that seems required for a new curriculum.
Three projects illustrate such attempts to produce comprehensive inte-
grated curricula. Project ABLE American Institutes for Research and
Quincy Public Schools 1964) attempted to develop a full secondary
school curriculum to accommodate all students who were not preparing
to enter a four-year college program. The project strove to prepare stu-
dents for vocational competence, responsible citizenship, and self-fulfill-
ment (Morrison and Lecznar 1966~. Numerous difficulties were encoun-
tered (Morrison 1968) and the resulting curriculum was neither as com-
plete nor as well integrated as was intended.
The second project, called Educational System for the 70's or ES '70
(Bushnell 1967, Bushnell and Rubel 1968, E. F. Shelley & Co. 1968), was
a larger and more ambitious undertaking by an organization of 17 school
systems across the country in cooperation with the U.S. Office of Educa-
tion. The goal was to develop a secondary school curriculum from which
graduates could choose to enter a four-year college, a junior or commu-
nity college, advanced vocational programs, or gainful employment. Ob-
jectives for the curriculum, stated as performance skills to be acquired by
students, were to be assembled from a variety of sources, including voca-
tional and academic education, and consolidated to define the major
structure of the trial curriculum. This large, expensive project was dis-
continued (during an administrative reorganization of USOE) before work
on a substantial portion of its objectives could be initiated.
Finally, the career education model programs (Goldhammer and Tay-
lor 1972) were attempts to use various settings (home, school, communi-
ty, work place, special residence) to integrate and give wider meaning to
the elements of an educational program. Different integration strategies
were used: infusing career awareness, career exploration, or career prep-
aration into existing curricula; and using a life situation (such as a work
task) as the vehicle for learning related skills (such as calculation). The
models varied in their structure and methods, but each attempted to
develop adaptable systems for the integrated learning of important skills.
None of these models was permitted to develop as originally planned,
and all terminated short of their original objectives (after an administra-
tive reorganization in HEW). Even though some of the products and re-
sults have been disseminated, no integrated career education curricula
are ready to be installed in schools.
None of these massive programs has successfully constructed an inte-
grated curriculum that has been adopted by others. The failure may be
due to the financial costs of such development, to the size and complexi
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102
Appendix A
ty of the task, to the time required for development, or to practitioners'
suspicions of centrally developed curricula. However, curriculum inte-
gration is still viewed as a desirable goal. Medium-sized curricula that
have been tested on students and revised, and for which teachers have
been trained, have been adopted widely.
Curriculum Evaluation'
A ~_1:~ 4_ ~ _ _ _ /. ~,~ .
~u~g ~o Carson Am, designing curricula involves the setting of
training objectives. Pilot tests and evaluations to determine whether ob-
jectives are being met have been incorporated into several large-scale
curriculum projects. Householder (1972) describes the American Indus-
try Project, which developed an instructional program to help students
understand basic concepts of industry and which was extensively field
tested, evaluated, and revised. Evaluation studies found that students
enrolled in this program had more positive attitudes towards its courses
than towards others, acquired knowledge of job opportunities in indus-
try, and showed greater interest in seeking industrial employment than
they had shown prior to exposure to the program.
The Industrial Arts Curriculum Project, also described by Household-
er (1972), included components of field testing and in-service teacher
education as well as curriculum development. Two courses were devel-
oped by the project the World of Construction and World of Manufac-
turing. Developed materials were field tested throughout the country
over a four-year period, evaluated, and revised. Subsequently, the project
"attained a new milestone" (p. 20) by making commercially available an
instructional system for industrial arts.
Householder also cited an evaluation of a project that provided indus-
trial education experiences at the secondary, community college, and
university level and emphasized the interrelationships between industry
and other social institutions. The evaluation showed that students en-
rolled in courses in the project improved their attitudes toward school
and had better attendance after participation.
Despite the positive results of the evaluative research noted in industri-
al arts education, Householder notes that "the body of knowledge upon
which industrial arts courses is based has not yet been fully defined,
categorized, and communicated" (p. 43~. Similar conclusions have been
drawn by reviewers of research studies in health occupations, technical
education, agricultural education, and home economics education (Hol-
loway and Kerr 1969, Phillips and Briggs 1969, Carpenter and Rogers
1970, and Nelson 1970~. Nevertheless, in the Committee's hearings and
in interviews, respondents mentioned curriculum projects more consist
OCR for page 103
Appendix A
103
entry than any other type of vocational education R&D as having had
impact on practitioners.
LABOR MARKET SUPPLY AND DEMAND INFORMATION
Projected labor market supply and demand information in specific occu-
pations, particularly at the state and regional levels, can be quite useful
in determining the types and amounts of vocational and technical educa-
tion required for the future. Kelley et al. (1975) identified more than 300
projection studies over the period 1965-73 that have been based on local,
state, and national data. The two general types of demand forecasting
techniques are employer surveys and analytic projections, such as trend
extrapolation. Kelley et al. state that in the studies they reviewed, 51.4
percent used employer surveys and 48.6 percent used analytic projec-
tions (p. 128~. The major problem associated with both methods is that
they cannot foresee all the elements that would cause trends to change,
create demands in new occupations, or cause old occupations to become
obsolete.
Two techniques of labor market supply analysis-multitrack and sin-
gle-track research-have been discussed by Young et al. (1972~. Multi-
track research attempts to evaluate alternative training methods or devel-
op data systems for evaluation. For example, Foster studied sources of
trained personnel in the construction industry and found that vocational
education is not supplying a "significant" number of skilled workers
relative to other types of training (Young et al. 1972~. He also reports
that on-thejob training was judged by workers to be better than class-
room training in helping people acquire skills. Similarly, Horowitz and
Hermstadt analyzed workers in the tool- and die-making trade and
found that many accomplished craftsmen were high-school dropouts
(Young et al. 1972, p. 38~. However, they also found that vocational high
school combined with apprenticeship seemed to be highly effective in
training workers.
Single-track research analyzes a particular type of vocational training,
such as apprenticeship, on-thejob training, or military service training.
Young et al. (1972) report that a national survey shows that construction,
machinist, and tool- and die-skilled workers believe apprenticeship is a
helpful way to learn their trades. Several studies indicate that on-thejob
training is highly valued by both industry and employees (Young et alp.
Studies of labor mobility also help to determine future labor supply.
These studies report fairly consistently that a high proportion of second-
ary school graduates find and keep jobs in or near the community in
which they have attended school. For example, Eninger reports that ap
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104
Appendix A
proximately 80 percent of a national sample of 1953, 1958, and 1962
trade and industrial graduates had not moved to another city for em-
ployment purposes (Young et al. 1972~. Labor market forecasts are most
frequently done at state and local levels. Kelley et al. (1975) found that
12.1 percent of the studies are national in scope, 46.3 percent are state
forecasts, and 41.6 percent are local. They also report that national fore-
casts across all occupations are recent, limited, concerned more with
demand than supply, and dominated by the projections program of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most other national forecasts reported are
related to specific occupations.
Kelley et al. conclude their review of labor market forecasting by stat-
ing that there are serious limitations in the studies they reviewed. In
addition, Kaufman and Brown note that it is almost impossible to pre-
dict future supply or demand because of the many external influences on
the labor market; many projections have proven to be inaccurate (Price
and Hopkins 1970~.
The Ohio State monograph ~-~s ~-ev~ew~ng o`;cupa~ona~ research re-
ports labor market research in nearly every area of vocational training.
In agricultural education, for example, Heady and others have made
estimates of labor requirements in farming occupations to 1980 (Carpen-
ter and Rodgers 1970~. Studies of farming opportunities, which are pri-
marily local in scope, are appropriate because farmers tend to live within
25 miles of the schools they attended. General conclusions drawn from
these studies are that aggregate farm employment, perhaps much of it of
a marginal type on less productive land, has been declining, as has mar-
ginal employment in other sectors of the economy. On the other hand,
the work force in nonfarm agricultural occupations is increasing. Many
studies conclude that there is also an inadequate supply of off-farm agri-
cultural workers (Carpenter and Rodgers 19709.
Price and Hopkins (1970) report that studies indicate that the occupa-
tional opportunities for business education graduates will continue to
grow. Like the research on farming opportunities, local research is most
useful to vocational educators since business graduates tend to work
close to the schools from which they graduated.
Ohio State reviewers also report many local studies in home econom-
ics, health, trade and industrial, sales, and technical occupations. In gen-
eral, growth is expected in sales occupations, public services, human
services, such as social work, and environmental occupations, such as
sanitation.
Studies of labor market demand for vocational education personnel
are of special concern to vocational education. In 1971, Somers reported
uncertainties in projections and disagreements about the likelihood of a
. . . ..
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105
shortage of vocational education teachers in 1975. In the past, forecasters
failed to estimate correctly the flexibility and adaptability of the sources
supplying instructional personnel. Although reasonably accurate local
projections have been made, Somers is critical of the few national projec-
tions of teacher supply and demand. He blames the lack of data and
inaccurate projection techniques for the fact that various national studies
have produced varying estimates of the size of predicted teacher short-
ages.
Both the quantity and quality of labor market supply data in vocation-
al education have improved in the last few years. Many people are trying
to improve demand information, which is much more difficult to predict
accurately than supply information. Several states have developed and
instituted management information systems containing labor market
supply and demand data for use in planning vocational education pro-
grams.
ADMINISTRATION OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
Studies of the administration of vocational education have been re-
viewed by Ralph C. Wenrich (1970) for the Ohio Center for Vocational
Education. In federal, state, and local administration, topics of interest
include policy making, administrative structures, and program and facili-
ty planning, financing, and staffing. Studies of federal policy making
have identified changes in past policies and recommended improvements
based on the judgments of the researchers. The role of state departments
of education in vocational education policy has also been studied. For
example, Swanson studied state-level vocational education administra-
tion and found that "the primary emphasis was . . . on compliance
(checking and regulating) and the secondary consideration was change
and leadership" (Wenrich 1970~. Other studies in state policy making,
such as Frigiola's study in New Jersey, have provided the basis for rec-
ommendations for improving a state's vocational education services and
programs Enrich 1970~.
There have been few studies of the federal administration of the voca-
tional education R&D program. Some state-level studies have attempted
to describe the structure and function of area vocational schools or other
state vocational programs, but few have analyzed the role of research
coordinating units or state departments of education with respect to R&D
or vocational education programs.
Studies of program planning at the state and local levels are usually
preceded by studies of labor market demands. Researchers often attempt
to match existing programs with projected labor market needs. For ex
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106
. , .. . .~ .
Appendix A
ample, Hendr~x designed a data collection instrument to determine the
labor market needs of the community, the goals of the people, space and
equipment ava~iab~ty, and special instructional needs (Wenrich 1970).
Recent understaffing at vocational schools has been a problem, and
some researchers have attempted to identify new sources of teachers. In
Michigan, Messerschmidt studied recruitment and hiring practices and
determined that the "primary source of part-time instructors was local
business and industry, and attempts to use retired industrial and military
personnel were not successful" (Wenrich 1970, p. 35~. Wenrich notes that
a high proportion of the projects on administration are surveys involving
the use of mail questionnaires. Attempts to generate inflation about
administration are improving, but generally lack sophistication. He
states (p. 56~:
We need controlled experiments, some of which would, of necessity, extend over
a period of years and would involve data based upon observation rather than
mere opinion.
Many researchers, developers, administrators, and practitioners cite
the development of management information systems (MISS) as one of
the most significant accomplishments of the past ten years of vocational
education R&D. John Evans defined educational MISS as systems that
"convert data into information of use to managers at different levels,
places and times in the decision making process" (Hale 1971, p. 69~. MISS
have been developed by several state, regional, and even national organi-
zations. For example, the "System for State Evaluation of Vocational
Education" (Hale 1971) developed by the Center for Vocational Educa-
tion contains data on pupil characteristics, program characteristics, and
employment rates. Management reports produced by the MIS can show
information such as the ethnic distribution of students by programs.
Status reports on students can also be produced, enabling researchers to
periodically follow-up students who graduate from or drop out of voca-
tional education programs.
Generating state-level data about vocational education students and
programs is a major task of the RCUS. Some RCUS have developed MISS
with federal R&D funds. For example, the Tennessee RCU developed an
MIS containing follow-up data and an occuational information system
containing descriptions of jobs and vocational or career programs for all
grade levels. The Tennessee MIS, developed for reporting purposes, is
used to respond to requests for data analyses. This information, along
with the RCU'S supply and demand projections, is used in program plan-
ning. Researchers have developed state-level vocational guidance sys
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Appendix A
107
tems, containing data on job openings obtained through employer sur-
veys, and designed to match young people with jobs.
Regional management information systems are often more efficient
than state-level systems since costs and benefits can be shared by many
school districts. Hale (1971) describes the Midwestern States Education-
al Information Project, which developed a system for collecting data on
facilities, financing, instructional programs, personnel, and students that
are comparable among local school districts and among cooperating
states.
In addition to MISS, other techniques have been developed to facilitate
management; for example, trend analysis is used to forecast student en-
rollment data. However, adequate data bases and relatively static condi-
tions are necessary for trend analysis to be accurate. Hale (1971) states
that often expert opinion is more valuable in planning vocational educa-
tion programs than trend analysis because experts have experience that
enables them to deal with a number of factors that are not formally used
in trend analysis.
EVALUATION OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
The literature describing the evaluation of vocational education pro-
grams is discouraging; it yields little useful information for vocational
educators. The research designs have used analytic procedures requiring
simple quantitative input and have failed to encompass many important
educational issues. Evaluations have used research methods that are in-
compatible with the complexity of the learning, teaching, and adminis-
trative situations.
Brief reviews of what are considered to be some of the best evaluations
of vocational education in the last ten years are presented in this section.
The specific criterion variables studied are vocational graduates' knowl-
edge about occupations, their job readiness, job satisfaction, and earn-
~ngs.
Occupational Information
The amount of occupational information possessed by people entering
the labor force may be an important determinant of future success.
Decker Associates (1967) found that, compared with students in academ-
ic or general curricula, vocational graduates know slightly less about
occupations and are more likely to name skilled trades as the best jobs
known to them. Other students cite professional, technical, and manage-
rial jobs as best. However, since Decker failed to control for socioeco
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108
Appendix A
nomic factors, the observed differences may be due to the differing back-
grounds of the students rather than to the curricula in which they were
enrolled. Using data on male high school graduates who did not attend
college, Grasso (1972) found no evidence to indicate that students from
vocational, general, and academic curricula differ in their knowledge
about occupations. Since Grasso controlled for variables such as apti-
tude, family background, grades, and work experience, his conclusions
are probably more valid than Decker's.
Although career education emphasizes knowledge about occupations,
some vocational educators doubt that it is a valid measure of program
success, since it may not be directly related to the quality or aporonriate-
ness of curricula.
Job Readiness of Vocational Graduates
~A ~A
Some researchers expect that a vocational graduate will be ready for the
responsibilities of a particular job without further training, so that a
program can be considered successful if its graduates infrequently desire
immediate further training.
Grasso (1972) found that approximately 85 percent of all high school
graduates who have not attended college express a desire for additional
training. Among whites but not blacks, nonvocational graduates are
more likely than vocational graduates to feel a lack of education or train-
ing. It is not surprising that academic students most prefer to attend
college. However, for both blacks and whites, there is almost no differ-
ence in the desired type of additional training between the general and
the vocational graduates. Thus, one might question the view that voca-
tional education graduates regard themselves as better prepared for em-
ployment.
Grasso found little variation among whites from different high school
programs in the kind of training they seek (which included business col-
lege, company school, apprenticeship, military service, and others). How-
ever, the types of post-secondary training actually received by the differ-
ent graduates does vary; academic graduates report twice as much pro-
fessional or technical training as graduates of the other programs, where-
as commercial students report greater managerial training, and vocation-
al students more skilled manual training. It appears that blacks partici-
pate in additional training to a lesser extent than whites.
Kaufman and Lewis (1968) found that almost 90 percent of the voca-
tional graduates said their programs had made a "real effort" to prepare
them for employment. This figure appears less impressive when one con-
siders that almost 60 percent of the academic students said the same
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Appendix A
109
about their programs, which put less emphasis on preparing students for
immediate employment.
It must be noted that job readiness may have validity only as a short-
term goal. All too often specific training for a job immediately after
graduation becomes less valuable when jobs change or a student's or
worker's interests change.
Job Satisfaction
Kaufman et al. (1967) found no significant differences in job satisfaction
reported by graduates of vocational, academic, and general high school
programs in the Northeast. Eninger (1965, 1968) found that trade and
industry graduates have greater job satisfaction than do those from non-
vocational curricula. Job satisfaction tends to be greater among those
whose jobs relate to their training.
Garbin et al. (1970) found no difference between vocational and non-
vocational programs in the degree to which their graduates report being
hired at anticipated levels, achieving expected income, or"coping" with
jobs. Grasso found that both black and white academic graduates and
white commercial graduates hold more favorable career positions than
do others, and that vocational graduates do not differ from general cur-
riculum graduates. White academic and commercial graduates are found
to have higher overall job satisfaction than graduates of the general cur-
riculum, while the latter group is not significantly different from voca-
tional graduates. However, for blacks, job satisfaction, which is much
lower than for whites, does not vaIy significantly with their curricula.
E.
arnlngs
Much of the research on the elects of vocational education programs
compares the earnings of vocational education graduates with either gen-
eral or academic curricula graduates. Differences in starting pay and in
the progression of pay with increased experience are often investigated.
However, since many of the studies do not control for variables related
to both the choice of high school curricula and measures of labor market
success, their conclusions are suspect.
In a national study of the graduating classes of 1953, 1958, and 1962,
Eninger (1965, 1968) found different results at different points in time.
For example, he reported that the extent to which training is related to a
graduate's job seems to affect wage rates in some samples but not in
others. Eninger's conclusions are further confounded because he failed
to use available control variables.
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110
Appendix A
Persons et al. (1968) performed a cost-benefit study of a farm business
management program conducted by public schools in Minnesota to im-
prove both technical and entrepreneurial skills of farm operators. Criteri-
on variables, which were the farm operator's labor earnings, returns to
capital and family labor, and total farm sales, were adjusted for yearly
fluctuations in annual farm income. Persons et al. found that benefits to
both the individual participating farmers and the community outweighed
direct and indirect costs. The study resulted in considerable growth of
the farm business management program and in state legislation for pro-
gram support.
Two recent studies of vocational education graduates featured special
attempts to assess the effects of education on future earnings. Stromsdor-
fer (1972) analyzed the National Longitudinal Survey data for both 1966
and 1968. All male, out-of-school youths with widely varying amounts
of formal education-were treated as a single group. He chose to indi-
cate annual income by multiplying earnings of the survey week by 52,
thus reflecting differently from other researchers the influences of over-
time, job change, multiple jobs, and time not worked. Stromsdorfer
found no significant differences across curricula in the 1966 data, but in
1968 he found that former vocational students were earning about $400
more per year than academic graduates and approximately $275 per year
more than the general curriculum graduates.
Grasso (1972) investigated the effects of curricula on the hourly rate of
pay. For black males, he found no significant curricular differences; even
work experience and post-secondary school training did not help to ex-
plain differing wage rates among blacks. For white males, curricular di-
fferences were not found to be related to the starting wage rates, but
white male vocational graduates apparently benefited more from addi-
tional training than did graduates from other curricula.
Follow-Up Studies
At least two basic kinds of information to serve two different purposes
can be collected in student follow-up studies: students' opinions about
their programs can be used directly to alter the programs, and data on
the students' performance (employment information) can be used to
evaluate the success of the programs. Allen (1975) collected both types of
data in his three-year follow-up study of 364 California vocational grad-
uates. Allen overcame a common problem of follow-ups, locating the
students, by using addresses supplied by the Department of Motor Vehi-
cles, thereby maintaining contact with 97 percent of the study group. At
the end of the 1973-75 period, Allen found that 75 percent of the respon
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Appendix A
111
dents were working, and 72 percent had jobs related to their high school
vocational training. Seventy percent said the high school vocational
training was helpful in their present jobs, and 88 percent would recom-
mend vocational training to other students. Fifty percent had enrolled in
advanced training, and 49 percent had had additional training on the
job. When respondents were asked about what changes they would re-
commend in the program, 71 percent of the respondents recommended
more applied practice; 66 percent, more job-related information, and 67
percent, better help in job placement. Most seemed satisfied with their
teachers. Allen concludes (p. 25~: "There is no doubt that follow-up
studies can provide schools with data and information necessary for in-
structional modification and improvement."
Representative terms from entire chapter:
teacher education
