Hierarchy of causes of curriculum lag in industrial-technical education as perceived by industrial-technical teachers, principals and superintendents in the state of Indiana

Abstract

The primary purpose of the study was to identify major causes and subsequent effects of curriculum lag in industrial-technical education. The subsidiary purpose of the study was to compare hierarchical rankings of major causes of curriculum lag in industrial-technical education as perceived by superintendents, secondary school principals, and industrial-technical education teachers in Indiana public school systems.Usable data collected by questionnaire from 406 out of 540 sample subjects were computed to generate respective rank hierarchies of selected twenty causes of curriculum lag in industrial-technical programs. Decisions about two Null Hypotheses were made at 0.05 level by use of multivariate, univariate, and chi-square analyses.Findings1. Superintendents, principals, and industrial-technical teachers were in agreement that three most severe causes of curriculum lag in Indiana secondary industrial-technical programs were inadequate funding, outdated laboratory equipment, and lack of in-service training for industrial-technical teachers.2. Ninety percent agreement occurred between the three respondent groups on ten most severe or ten least severe causes of curriculum lag in Indiana secondary industrial-technical programs.3. As perceived by teachers, inadequate funding and lack of in-service training opportunities affected school corporations with smaller enrollments than school corporations with larger figures.4. There were no significant differences between sizes of school corporations and causes of curriculum lag in industrial-technical programs as perceived by school administrators.5. Items involving structuring of courses, students' interest to study, and evaluation process were ranked as three least severe problem's in industrial-technical education. Sixty-seven percent agreement occurred between the respondent groups in ranking the last three severe problems.Conclusions1. Indiana public high schools are not funded for industrial-technical programs.2. Indiana industrial-technical education teachers are not offered opportunities to improve already acquired skills through in-service training programs.3. Industrial-technical programs are taught with outdated equipment in Indiana secondary schools.4. Lack of funds and in-service training for industrial-technical teachers affected smaller school corporations more than larger school corporations.Additional observations made during the study were presented.