This study's primary purpose was to identify perceived levels of philosophical support of secondary academic teachers from a rural Tech Prep Consortium regarding the high school's role in workforce education. Teacher variables included academic discipline, years of teaching experience, and number of workforce related staff development activities attended. The sample consisted of 118 secondary academic teachers from five high schools in a rural Florida Tech Prep Consortium. Academic teachers' perceived level of support was determined using the survey instrument, "The High School's Role in Workforce Preparation." This questionnaire was composed of forty-four items incorporating a six-point Likert scale. A mixed-method design was utilized including a survey of teachers and structured interviews of principals. Teachers and principals support overall principles and practices of workforce education, but teachers have not engaged in many activities to integrate instruction with their vocational-technical counterparts.
The first question investigated level of support for workforce education among Language Arts, Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Social Science teachers. These five groups reported similar support; no significant differences existed in teachers' support based on teaching discipline. Results concerning question two indicated no significant relationship exists between level of support for workforce education and years of teaching experience. Results concerning question three indicated no significant relationship between teachers' level of support for workforce education and number of related staff development activities attended. Academic teachers demonstrated similar levels of support regardless of number of staff development activities attended during the past three academic years. Several respondents perceived workforce professional development activities as ineffective. Another concern was the low number of integration strategies reported by academic teachers.
A conclusion was drawn that academic teachers have been overlooked as major stakeholders in workforce education. Implications of the research include reducing the number of mandates placed on teachers and providing a common planning time and common office space to encourage academic and vocational teachers to work collectively.
Recommendations for practice include exploring ways to encourage supportive resources and targeted professional development activities for academic teachers to promote adoption of workforce education methodology. Recommendations for further research include comparing rural, suburban and urban Tech Prep Consortia.
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