Criteria for evaluating consumer and homemaking programs as perceived by directors of secondary vocational programs, state supervisors of Home Economics, and selected teacher educators

One purpose of the study was to identify, validate, and verify evaluative criteria for consumer and homemaking programs at the secondary level. A second purpose was to examine the congruence among selected teacher educators, state directors of secondary vocational programs, and state supervisors of home economics in regard to the criteria validated by a panel of experts. A third purpose was to determine if the three groups differed in their perceptions of the validated criteria.

The study was conducted in collaboration with Sherrel Buero, graduate student in Vocational-Technical Education at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The modified Delphi technique was used to validate the criteria by a national panel of experts comprised of 10 members. One hundred eighty-one criterion statements and their subparts were elicited from the literature and organized into the following 13 CategOrieS: PROGRAM ORGANIZATION AND PLANNING, CURRICULUM, ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION, FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT, FINANCIAL RESOURCES, INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF, INSTRUCTIONAL PROCESS, MANAGEMENT AND HOUSEKEEPING, STUDENTS, FUTURE HOMEMAKERS OF AMERICA, ADVISORY COMMITTEES, PUBLIC RELATIONS, and EVALUATION. Panel memberS rated each statement as "Essential," "Desirable But Not Essential," or "Unimportant" for evaluating consumer and homemaking programs. Statements rated "Essential" by 80 percent of the panel at the conclusion of the third Delphi probe were included on a survey i v

instrument used in the second phase of the study.

The 50 state directors of secondary vocational programs, 59 home economics teacher educators in land-grant institutions, and 50 state supervisors of home economics comprised the three reference groups for the second phase of the study. Respondents were asked to indicate their perceptions of the importance of the criterion statements on the following scale: (6) strongly agree, (5) moderately agree, (4) mildly agree, (3) mildly disagree, (2) moderately disagree, and (1) strongly disagree.

Major findings of the study were:

1. From an initial listing of 18l criterion statements and their subparts, the panel rated 147 statements and subparts "Essential" for evaluating consumer and homemaking programs.

2. The mean scores of the state directors of secondary vocational programs, selected teacher educators, and state supervisors of home economics indicated a high level of agreement with the panel of experts regarding the importance of the criteria for evaluating consumer and homemaking programs.

3. The one-way analysis of variance revealed that the three reference groups significantly differed in their perceptions of the importance of three criterion statements.

Conclusions of the study were:

1. National experts in home economics education agree as to what constitutes criteria for evaluating consumer and homemaking programs at the secondary level.

vi 2. The evaluation of consumer and homemaking programs is a complex process which includes a multitude of components.

3. Significant differences in the knowledge base of the groups as to what constitutes a quality consumer and homemaking program are very minute.

4. The high level of agreement among the reference groups indicates that the three groups could work together to implement the criteria in evaluating consumer and homemaking programs.