ERIC_NO: ED403459
TITLE:  Using Qualitative Research To Define Statewide Professional Personnel Development.
AUTHOR:  Wichowski, Chester P.; Walker, Thomas J.
LANGUAGE:  English
DESCRIPTORS:  Evaluation Methods; Inservice Teacher Education; Interviews; Needs Assessment; Postsecondary Education; Preservice Teacher Education; *Professional Development; Program Evaluation; *Qualitative Research; Research Methodology; Secondary Education; State Programs; Statewide Planning; *Vocational Education Teachers
IDENTIFIERS:  *Pennsylvania
ABSTRACT:  The Temple University Center for Professional Development in Career and Technical Education (PPD), one of three regional centers in Pennsylvania, used qualitative strategies for steering PPD programs. Center personnel found that collecting quantitative data was absolutely necessary to determine whether objectives were being met, but was not always sufficient for making informed judgments. The decision-making process benefitted from the integration of qualitative strategies into the formative and summative evaluations of PPD programs and activities. Three strategies were especially helpful in collecting information and applying it in a formative manner to illuminate work/initiatives in progress. The first strategy was a semi-structured interview technique selected to collect information on the effect a redesigned performance evaluation requirement, used for awarding provisional certification to vocational teachers, was having on intern teachers. The second strategy, a behavioral event interview method, was used to collect information on how a shift in the locus of management (from Temple University to local school district) of a teacher leadership program was affecting teachers and students in the eastern region. The third strategy used a combination of quantitative and qualitative procedures to report findings for the annual evaluation/needs assessment of the center's Professional Development Advisory Committee. (Appendixes contain 18 references and instruments.) (YLB)
GEOGRAPHIC_SOURCE:  U.S. ; Pennsylvania
CLEARINGHOUSE_NO:  CE073387
INSTITUTION_NAME:  Temple Univ. , Philadelphia , PA. Center for Professional Development in Career and Technical Education.
PUBLICATION_TYPE:  150; 143; 160
PUBLICATION_DATE:  1996
EDRS_PRICE:  EDRS Price - MF01/PC02 Plus Postage.
COMMENTS:  36p.; Paper presented at the American Vocational Association Convention (Cincinnati, OH, December 5-8, 1996).
PAGE:  36; 1
LEVEL:  1