North Carolina trade and industrial education teacher quality: An analysis of differences between non -degreed and degreed teachers in low and high poverty schools

MILLER, STEVEN LEROY. North Carolina Trade and Industrial Education Teacher Quality: An Analysis of Differences Between Non-degreed and Degreed Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools. (Under the direction of Dr. Kenneth H. Brinson, Jnr.) Student achievement and teacher licensure are closely connected (Ascher & Fruchter, 2001). Using quantitative methods, the connections have been researched extensively within general education (Gallagher, 2002). In contrast, quantitative research of Trade and Industrial Education licensure, student achievement, and school socioeconomic status has not been extensive. Trade and Industrial Education teachers have expertise in automotives, construction, cosmetology, machining, and others. Trade and Industrial Education permits both nondegreed teachers and degreed teachers to be fully licensed. Non-degreed Trade and Industrial Education teachers are hired to fulfill a teaching role based on their mastery of trade or industrial processes in lieu of a college degree or teaching credentials. This dissertation used a 2 x 2 Factorial ANOVA to analyze student achievement differences between 649 non-degreed and 499 degreed Trade and Industrial Education teachers. Teacher Degree Status and School SES were the independent variables. Degree Status was defined as non-degreed or degreed participants. School SES was measured through school Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) percentages. School SES was included because the literature suggests that high poverty schools under perform more affluent schools (Darling-Hammond, 2004). The dependent variable for the ANOVA was student achievement, derived from the mean transformed post-assessment scores of students in each course per high school. Construction Technologies I, Construction Technology I (Carpentry), and Drafting I revealed main effect significance of School SES. There was an interaction effect between School SES and Degree Status in Construction Technologies I. Only Construction Technologies II revealed significance of the main effect of Degree Status. The non-degreed teachers outperformed their degreed counterparts. The findings indicate that School SES was a consistent and significant factor of student achievement – more so than Degree Status. The major implication from this dissertation is that North Carolina Trade and Industrial Education licensure policy issues may be addressed through policy revision, but a complete overhaul of Trade and Industrial Education licensure should be approached with caution. North Carolina Trade and Industrial Education Teacher Quality: An Analysis of Differences Between Non-degreed and Degreed Teachers in Low and High Poverty Schools. by Steven Leroy Miller A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Raleigh, North Carolina 2008 APPROVED BY: _______________________________ ______________________________ Dr. Kenneth H. Brinson, Jnr. Dr. Lance Fusarelli Committee Chair ________________________________ ______________________________ Dr. Timothy Hatcher Dr. Tamara Young