THE PROBLEMS, BENEFITS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF SECONDARY SUBSTITUTE TEACHING AS PERCEIVED BY ADMINISTRATORS, REGULAR CLASSROOM TEACHERS, SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.

This descriptive study was undertaken for the purpose of identifying the problems, benefits, and recommendations for improving secondary substitute teaching as perceived by administrators, regular teachers, substitute teachers, and students. Participants in the study included the total populations of administrators, regular teachers, substitute teachers, and students of the four secondary schools in a southwestern school district. The objectives of the study were to identify the perceptions of these groups regarding their views of the problems and benefits associated with substitute teaching and their recommendations for the improvement of substitute teaching in their school district. A two-questionnaire modified Delphi Technique was developed and used to gather the data. The Delphi I questionnaire was open-ended and asked the participants to list five problem areas; five benefits; and five recommendations for improving substitute teaching. Items for the Delphi II questionnaire were developed from the responses gathered on the first questionnaire. The population surveyed consisted of 15 administrators, 293 regular teachers, 93 substitute teachers, and 6,401 students. The participants were asked to respond on a five point Likert-type scale as to the degree of agreement or disagreement with the 27 items identified as problems; the 23 items identified as benefits; and the 25 items identified as recommendations for improvement. The data from the Delphi II questionnaire was analyzed and the means, standard deviations, and modes were determined. An analysis of variance was computed to determine differences among groups. This study is unique in that it is the first study to determine that there are perceived benefits associated with substitute teaching. It is also unique in that it surveys all four groups that are directly involved in the substitute process. The findings of this study validate the previous research in terms of the identified problems and the recommendations suggested. The fact that all groups agreed that there were numerous benefits associated with substitute teaching gives rise to the suggestion that maybe substitute teaching is more than just a babysitting service. It is recommended that, to improve substitute teaching, all four groups must realize that they are both responsible for the existing problems, and the potential solutions as well