The Seal Cove District Vocational School pilot project in pre-vocational education: an evaluation of the first year of operation

Reccord, Ross (1973) The Seal Cove District Vocational School pilot project in pre-vocational education: an evaluation of the first year of operation. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf)) - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (27MB) [English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. (Original Version)

Abstract

In September ,1972 ,the first phase of a pilot project in pre-vocational education was implemented at the Seal Cove District Vocational School. This pilot project was to be implemented over a three-year period, beginning with grade nine students in September ,1972. In September ,1973 ,grades nine and ten would attend and in September ,1974 ,the pilot project would include grades nine, ten, and eleven. If the pilot project was a success it would possibly be implemented in other areas of the province. -- The overall objective of this project was to evaluate the first year's operation of the Seal Cove District Vocational School Pilot Project as it affected students and staff from the Conception Bay Centre and Conception Bay South School Boards. -- The sample consisted of all the grade nine and senior special education students from Conception Bay Centre and Conception Bay South School Boards. All teachers who taught grade nine subjects in the schools operated by these boards, and all the teachers who were teaching the pre-vocational courses at the trades school during the school year 1973-73 were included. In addition to this the two school board superintendents and the principals from the high schools and trades school were surveyed. The sample also included one guidance counselor, a vice-principal, and a board supervisor. All data was collected during the last two weeks in May, 1973. - Five instruments were used to collect data for the project. A two part questionnaire was administered to the students to obtain their views on the pilot project and to evaluate each of the pre-vocational courses they were doing. The grade nine teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire in order to determine how they viewed the pilot project and to state any problems it was causing them. A questionnaire was also administered to the pre-vocational teachers in order to determine what they taught in their courses and how they felt about the pre-vocational program. In addition to this the pre-vocational teachers completed an individual student evaluation on each of his students. Finally, the administrators were asked to complete a questionnaire stating what they felt were the positive aspects and difficulties of the pilot project as well as recommending changes. -- In addition to the five instruments the school records were examined to obtain information on dropouts and school grades. Also, the teachers who taught the grade nine students the previous year in grade eight were asked to predict who they thought might drop out of school in grade nine. -- A computer programme was used to do a descriptive analysis of the data. It involved the tabulation of frequency of responses on the various questionnaire items. Means, ranges, and standard deviations were calculated where appropriate. Crosstabulations of certain variables were used to answer questions specific to each objective of the project. -- In general it was concluded that the pilot project had made some potential dropouts more interested in school and had helped students decide on their future careers by providing them with a knowledge of what was involved in some trades. -- The project also identified some areas of difficulty, both in the program as a whole and with some of the pre-vocational courses. Further evaluation was recommended to define these problem areas more specifically. The most serious problem facing the teachers and administrators was that of communications within the pilot project. -- The data suggested that students were not receiving adequate information about careers and jobs associated with the pre-vocational courses even though this was one of the primary objectives of the pilot project. -- The results of this evaluation suggest that all of the pilot project objectives were being partially achieved, but that further evaluation is needed to determine what remedial action should be taken to ensure full attainment of all objectives. -- Further evaluation of course content, conduct, and whether the courses were meeting the needs of all groups of students were also suggested. Finally, recommendations were made to the Division of Vocational Education on some procedures to follow when implementing similar programs in other areas of the province.

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