Self-Identified Professional Development Needs of Virginia Career and Technical Education Teachers Gary Taylor Lupton Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Curriculum and Instruction William T. Price Thomas O. Williams Joseph S. Mukuni Bonnie S. Billingsley January 28, 2021 Blacksburg, Virginia Key words: Career and Technical Education, Professional Development, CTE Teacher Self-Identified Professional Development Needs of Virginia Career and Technical Education Teachers Gary Taylor Lupton ABSTRACT Improving teacher quality is an effective strategy for improving student outcomes. For professional development to be effective at changing student practice and improving student outcomes the professional development topic needs to be relevant to the work of the teacher. This study surveys Virginia CTE teachers to identify their self-identified, most needed professional development topics. Virginia CTE teachers were asked to rate 136 separate teaching competencies based on each competency’s importance to the teacher’s practice and the teacher’s ability to implement the competency. A quantitative research design was used to conduct this study. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was utilized to calculate a Mean Weighted Discrepancy Score (MWDS) for each competency. Competencies were with the largest MWDS were identified as those most needed for teacher professional development. Respondent data was disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, intention to remain in the teaching profession, CTE content area, years of experience, school division, and pre-service training in order to identify differences in professional development topic rankings for on each demographic area. Mann-Whitney U testing and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance test by ranks were used. The results of this study can be used by school divisions, schools, and professional development providers to benefit the work of CTE teachers and CTE programs. Self-Identified Professional Development Needs of Virginia Career and Technical Education Teachers Gary Taylor Lupton GENREAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT Improving teacher quality is an effective strategy for improving student outcomes. For professional development to be effective at changing student practice and improving student outcomes the professional development topic needs to be relevant to the work of the teacher. This study surveys Virginia CTE teachers to identify their self-identified, most needed professional development topics. Virginia CTE teachers were asked to rate 136 separate teaching competencies based on each competency’s importance to the teacher’s practice and the teacher’s ability to implement the competency. A quantitative research design was used to conduct this study. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was utilized to identify the competencies most needed as professional development topics for Virginia CTE teachers. Respondent data was disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, intention to remain in the teaching profession, CTE content area, years of experience, school division, and pre-service training in order to identify differences in professional development topics for each demographic group. The results of this study can be used by school divisions, schools, and professional development providers to benefit the work of CTE teachers and CTE programs. Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my family. First to my wife Sarah who has sacrificed her time and energy to support my efforts as a seemingly non-stop graduate student. I owe her more than I can ever repay. I appreciate her more than she will ever know. To my daughters, Elisabeth and Noel, who I have consistently thought about as I’ve worked towards the goal of earning a doctorate. I hope my work on this topic improves your secondary and postsecondary educational experiences. I look forward to more nights and weekends doing things with each of you. To my parents Gary, Sr. and Debi who have been both supportive and proud during this process. Finally, to my friends and colleagues who have thoughtfully supported my efforts to complete this degree. My thanks are a small token in comparison to the impact all of you have had on me. iv Acknowledgements Without the wisdom and experience of my committee chair, Dr. Bill Price, this final study and dissertation would not be anywhere near the level of quality that it is. Our discussions and email communications where invaluable for this process. My thanks to Dr. Tom Williams who always gave meaningful feedback and perspective as I navigated the completion of a quantitative study. Dr. Joseph Mukuni’s perspective on the role CTE (or TVET) plays around the world created a new perspective in my mind that influenced the literature I read while planning this study. Dr. Bonnie Billingsley taught me more about writing a literature review in ten minutes than I was able to learn myself while pouring over existing research for more hours than I’m willing to calculate. Each of my committee members taught me something that found its way into this dissertation. My sincerest thanks for my classmates in our CTE seminar course. It was a great pleasure to learn alongside each of you as we pushed each other to continually take one more step towards completing this process. To Morgan, Mike, Diane, Jihyun, Diane, Tom, Gerald, and Jerald – thanks to each of you for the time and wisdom you provided over the past three years. Lastly, my deepest appreciation for the 102 Virginia CTE teachers who took the time to complete the study used for this survey. Their diverse perspectives on working as a CTE teacher in Virginia made the work of analyzing the data engaging, interesting, and informative. I am truly grateful for that and sincerely hope the results from this study will be used to improve professional development offerings of CTE across the state. v Table of Contents Abstract ii General Audience Abstract iii Dedication iv Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vi List of Tables xiv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Background to the Study 2 Statement of the Problem 4 Purpose of the Study 5 Significance 5 Research Questions 6 Theoretical Framework 7 Methodology 8 Limitations 8 Delimitations 9 Definition of Terms 9 Summary 10 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 11 Background and Context 11 History and Evolution of Career and Technical Education 13 Early Apprenticeship through the Industrial Revolution 13 vi Early Vocational Schools and Philosophies 15 The Emergence of Vocational Education 17 The Russian System and American Sloyd 17 Manual Training Movement 18 Academics and Vocational Training 19 CTE in the Early- through Mid-Twentieth Century 20 The Modern Era of CTE 22 Legislation Impacting CTE 24 Vocational Legislation History Prior to the Modern Era of CTE 25 Early-Twentieth Century Legislation 25 Mid-Twentieth Century Legislation 26 A Brief History of Perkins 28 Other Legislation Impacting CTE 30 State Control of Education Laws 31 The Federal Government and Education Law 32 Federal Laws and the Workforce 32 Providing for Education Facilities and Equipment 33 Expanding Opportunities in Public Schools 34 National Education Reports 37 A Nation at Risk 38 Outcome-Based Education Reform and CTE 40 No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Act 41 Contemporary Context for CTE 43 vii The Role of CTE in the United States Schools 47 Modern CTE Programs 48 Middle Skills Jobs 50 Teacher Recruitment and Retention 52 Teacher Supply and Demand 53 Teacher Preparation Programs 54 Teacher Recruitment 55 Teacher Retention and Attrition 56 Retention and Attrition Factors 57 Minority Teacher Retention 61 Hiring and Retaining CTE Teachers 62 CTE Teacher Licensure Pathways 63 Alternative Teacher Licensure in CTE 63 Matching Licensure to Necessary CTE Teacher Knowledge and Skills 64 Alternative Licensure Requirements for CTE Teachers 65 Teacher Quality and Student Outcomes 66 Impact on Teacher Retention Rates 67 Preparing Alternatively Licensed Teachers 68 Supporting New CTE Teachers 69 Impact of Teacher Professional Development 70 Teacher Professional Development Research 71 Planning Teacher Professional Development 73 Administrative Support for Professional Development 73 viii Providing Professional Development Opportunities 74 Professional Development That Improves Practice 75 CTE Teacher Professional Development Competencies 76 Professional Development for the Pre-Service and Early-Career CTE Teachers 77 Professional Development Needs of Alternatively Licensed Teachers 78 Selecting Professional Development Topics 80 Identifying Professional Development Needs 81 CTE Teacher Competencies 85 Theoretical Framework 92 Dewey and Constructivist Learning Theory 93 Origins of Constructivism 94 Dewey’s Constructivism 95 Dewey’s Influence in Education Research 96 The Teacher’s Role in Learning 97 Adult Learning Theory 98 Knowles Andragogy 98 McClusky’s Theory of Margin 99 Illers’ Three Dimensions of Learning 99 Jarvis’ Learning Process 100 Bandura’s Social Learning Theory 100 Adult Learning Theory and Teacher Professional Development 100 Borich Needs Assessment Model 101 Basis for the Borich Needs Assessment Model 102 ix Prior Uses of the Borich Needs Assessment Model 103 Summary 105 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 107 Statement of the Problem 107 Purpose of the Study 107 Research Questions 108 Research Design 109 Population Sample 110 Instrumentation 111 Validity 111 Reliability 112 Pilot Test 112 Data Collection 113 Data