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Abstract

The primary purpose of this paper was to provide data and information about the occupational experience of alternatively certified vocational and technical education teachers and its relationship to teacher and student performance. The extant research literature provided the source for the paper.

The following are among the conclusions reached from the collective evidence in the literature. (1) Nearly all vocational and technical education teachers have acquired paid occupational experiences as a prerequisite to employment in vocational education, although some systems permit applied experiences in college classrooms and laboratories to substitute. (2) In some subject areas (primarily T&I and Health Occupations programs), years of occupational experience and/or satisfactory scores on occupational competency tests replace college degrees and courses in teacher preparation. (3) There is no reliable correlation between years of occupational experience or scores on occupational competency tests and such variables as teacher qualifications, satisfaction, or effectiveness. (4) Some occupational experience is helpful, especially for novice teachers. (5) Better educated teachers produce better educated workers for our nation's workplaces. As a corollary, better educated vocational education teachers and effective programs enrich the post-graduation earnings and workplace performance of graduates. (6) Beginning teacher induction programs in general are quite dismal and not responsive to the unique needs of alternatively certified vocational education teachers.

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