VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO PERCEPTIONS OF SOE IMPORTANCE, ATTITUDES TOWARD SUPERVISION, AND QUALITY OF SUPERVISED OCCUPATIONAL EXPERIENCE PROGRAMS (TEXAS)

The purpose of the study was to describe selected characteristics of vocational agriculture teachers in Areas I and II of Texas and to determine their perceptions of supervised occupational experience importance and their attitudes toward supervision of SOE programs. In addition, the research focused on determining the relationship between quality of SOE programs and teacher characteristics, perceptions of importance, and attitudes toward supervising SOE programs.;Data were gathered by means of a mailed questionnaire. A follow-up post card reminder and letter resulted in a 90 percent response rate. The responses were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, measures of central tendency, point biserial correlations, and Pearson product moment correlations. No significant difference between the respondents and nonrespondents was observed; therefore, findings were generalizable to the entire population.;The results of the study indicated that: (1) teachers believed SOE to be an integral and important part of vocational agriculture; (2) overall attitudes were positive toward supervising SOE programs; (3) teachers in lower quality programs placed a low emphasis on making supervisory visits and requiring SOE programs of their students; (4) teachers with high quality SOE programs recognized the importance of supervised occupational experience and had positive attitudes toward supervision; (5) significant (p < .05) positive low relationships were found between perceptions of SOE importance and attendance at the state vocational agriculture teachers' conference, number of teachers and students in a department, and departments with large FFA memberships; (6) significant (p < .05) positive low relationships were found between positive attitudes toward supervision and attendance at the state vocational agriculture teachers' conference, teachers having taken vocational agriculture in high school, and the travel money available for making supervisory visits; (7) significant (p < .05) positive low relationships were found between quality of SOE programs and attendance at the state vocational agriculture teachers' conference, administrative support for teacher time during the day for supervisory activities, and teachers utilizing the Texas SOE point guide system.;The target population sampled was 249 Texas vocational agriculture teachers in Areas I and II. The 1982-1983 Area I and II Director of Vocational Agriculture Teachers served as the frame for this population. A simple random sample of 100 teachers was drawn from the target population (N = 249).