The purpose of the study was to collect and compile data relating to the eight types of vocational programs that are offered by public secondary schools throughout the State ofIndiana.The eight available programs were:1.(ACE)Agri-Business Education.2.(COE)Business and Office Education.3.(DE)Distributive Education.4.(HOE)Health Occupations Education.5.(HERO)Home Economics Related Occupations.6.(ICT)Industrial Education.7.(ICE)Inter-Disciplinary Cooperative Education.8.(RVC)Regional Vocational Centers.The major areas of emphasis for the study were the scope of the programs offered, program implementation, selection and control of students and staff assignments and responsibilities.The questionnaire was mailed to a randomly selected sample population of one hundred Indiana public secondary school principals. Seventy-four per cent of the secondary principals polled returned the questionnaire, with six principals indicating that no vocational programs were in operation at the time of the study.Based upon the findings of the study the following conclusions were reached:1. Business and Office Education (COE) and Regional Vocational Centers (RVC) and Agri-Business Education (ACE) were the most common types of vocational education offered by the public secondary schools in Indiana.2. Boys enrolled in vocational programs were most interested in Regional Vocational Centers (RVC) and AgriBusiness Education (ACE). The area of least interest to boys was Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO). Girls enrolled in vocational programs were most interested in Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) and Business and Office Education (COE). The area of least interest to girls was Agri-Business Education (ACE).3. A large majority of the schools with vocational programs require some type of age or grade level requirement for admittance into the vocational program.4. A large majority of the schools with vocational programs do not require minimum grade or academic standards for admittance into the vocational program.5. All schools with vocational programs permit any interested student to participate in extra-curricular activities providing the student meets the minimum membership standards established by the organization or the state.6. A large majority of the schools with vocational programs consider vocational students for employment within the school corporation.7. Approximately three-fifths of the participating schools have related instruction classes which operate in conjunction with on-the-job work opportunities. Most of the related instruction classes were held at the mid-point of the school day, either late morning or early afternoon.8. Approximately one-half of the school corporations employ a full-time vocational coordinator. The remaining fifty per cent were considered as part-time coordinators and on the average taught two additional classes. Part-time coordinators were in most cases given time during the afternoon hours to work with the vocational program.9. A large majority of the schools with vocational programs used standard grades as a basis for evaluating student performance. Approximately 50 per cent of the schools used schools standards only in assessing grades while the remaining 50 per cent used a combination of school-employer standards in assigning grades.10. Approximately 75 per cent of the schools with vocational programs operated under the direction of an advisory committee consisting of local and area people associated with businesses, schools and government. The average number of members on advisory committees was six and the most common type of member was school personnel. Of those vocational programs operating under the direction of an advisory committee 98 per cent indicated that the use of advisory group was effective while the remaining 2 per cent believed that it did not improve the quality of the vocational program.11. Seventy-one per cent of the schools with a vocational program conducted a follow-up study of the vocational students. Approximately 53 per cent of the vocational students remained in the occupation for which they were trained, while 22 per cent pursued some type of additional post-secondary training.12. The most frequent comment by administrators and coordinators associated with the vocational program was that most vocational education students do not have enough time to become involved in the extra-curricular activities that are sponsored by schools.As a result of the conclusions presented in the preceding section, the following recommendations are proposed:1. Guidance counselors, curriculum specialists and school administrators should become more aware of the scope and quality of vocational education programs. Curriculum offerings should be such that students can prepare themselves for entering an occupation or some type of post-secondary training.2. Public school administrators should investigate the feasibility of coordinating the curricular offerings with the program of the nearest Regional Vocational Center. Those schools sending students to a Regional Vocational Center should evaluate the needs of the students and consider the possibility of sending additional students for some type of meaningful vocational training.3. Students in public secondary schools should be more aware of the major areas of vocational education and the many related occupations that provide maximum benefits in today's modern and complex society.4. Students enrolled in public secondary schools should become involved in assessing curriculum and occupational alternatives at an earlier age.5. The use of minimum grade standards as a requirement for admittance into vocational programs should be given careful scrutiny by school administrators and vocational coordinators. The student with poor academic credentials may be the one who could be best served by the vocational program.6. Coordinators should conduct a pre-school poll of vocational students to obtain an indication of extra-curricular interests and manipulate class and work schedules to increase the amount of extra-curricular participation time.7. School administrators could do much to display their confidence and support in vocational programs by hiring vocational students for work experience within the school corporation itself. Many area employers would feel more confident hiring vocational students if they knew that the schools had enough confidence in the vocational program to utilize qualified students themselves.8. School corporations could improve the quality of vocational programs by offering daily courses in related instruction. Such courses would aid students in obtaining instructional knowledge which could improve the students performance in relation to job skills and work experience. By offering related instruction classes at the mid-point of the school day, students involved in both morning and afternoon work experiences could receive the benefits of the program.9. Many schools could improve the quality and organization of the vocational programs offered by utilizing the services of a full-time vocational coordinator. Most part-time coordinators are handicapped due to the responsibilities that are associated with the teaching of additional classes.10. The mandatory use of advisory committees to regulate vocational programs would serve to improve the scope and quality of vocational education. State guidelines as to committee membership, committee make-up and committee responsibility would create a standardized base upon which vocational programs could adequately function.11. State guidelines to mandate the utilization of a follow-up study would do much to show the effectiveness of current vocational programs. The use of such a study would enable coordinators to assess the accomplishments of their program in relation to other schools in the state. It would also do much to aid coordinators in the establishment of practical and worthwhile work stations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/182124 |
| Date | January 1975 |
| Creators | Worl, Barry W. |
| Contributors | Snyder, Jack F. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | v, 61 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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