An analysis of the role of the vocational director in the state of Missouri

The study was designed to identify the competencies needed by local vocational directors responsible for administering both secondary and postsecondary vocational programs in the state of Missouri. More specifically, the study was designed to determine (1) the perceived degree of importance of competencies and (2) the relative amount of training which was perceived as being needed by local vocational directors.

Data were obtained by comparing and analyzing the responses of three reference groups (1) superintendents, (2) local vocational directors and (3) full-time vocational teachers, and essentially represented a replication of a national study conducted by Norton (1977).

The objectives of the study were;

1. To determine the competencies which were perceived as most important by local vocational directors.

2. To determine the competencies which were perceived by local vocational directors as requiring the most training.

3. To determine if the perceptions of school superintendents (superordinates) and/or full-time vocational teachers (subordinates) differed significantly from those of vocational directors with regard to either perceived importance of competencies or perceived amount of training needed.

4. To determine if the competencies perceived as most important by the Missouri vocational directors were similar to those perceived as most important by the respondents included in the national study conducted by Norton (1977).

Competencies ranked in the top quartile among the 191 competencies contained on the data gathering instrument were deemed most important as well as those requiring the greatest amount of training. Personnel Management was perceived to be the most important category of competencies by Missouri's vocational directors. Staff Development was perceived to be the lowest category. The findings also indicated a high degree of agreement among superintendents, vocational directors and full-time vocational teachers with respect to both the perception of the importance of competencies and the perception of the relative amount of training a vocational director needs for adequate job performance. Additionally, a high level of rank-order parity was found between the perceptions of subjects from the present study and those from the earlier national study conducted by Norton (1977), with respect to the most important competencies of a vocational director. Finally, based on the major findings from this study, several recommendations were made.