The Application of the Supervisory Options for Instructional Leaders Framework within the Fields of Agricultural, Science, Math, and English Education

The purpose of this study was to determine specific types of supervisory methods used in diverse academic subjects to fulfill personal and professional growth in student teachers and interns. The study sought to compare agriculture, science, math and English teacher educator characteristics and the extent to which the three levels of the Supervisory Options for Instructional Leaders (SOIL) Framework—structured, moderately structured, and relatively unstructured—were used. Surveys were collected from 196 student teacher and intern supervisors throughout the United States. The study revealed that demographic associations appeared to have no bearing on the type of supervisory methods used with the exception that rank of the supervisor had a low correlation with the SOIL Framework in supervisors of agricultural education student teachers and interns. Supervisors of student teachers and interns who taught English, science, and agricultural education were most likely to always use moderately structured levels of supervision. Supervisors of math instruction reported using moderately structured levels of supervision often as opposed to always. The relatively unstructured level of supervision was virtually never utilized by supervisors of any subject areas. Recommendations for further study were provided in this thesis.

The SPSS version 12.0 for Windows was used to analyze data. Descriptive statistics included frequencies, percentages, means, modes, standard deviations, range, percents and frequencies. Analysis of data utilized Chi Squares, T-Tests, correlation coefficients, analysis of variance, and coefficients of stability. Statistical significance of relationships was established by the a priori .05 probability level.