Search

A study was conducted to survey all of the adult basic education (ABE) teachers in the state of Washington, giving special attention to the part-time teachers' demographic characteristics and inservice training needs. The study also sought to compare the teachers' statements of need with those of administrative supervisors of the state's local ABE programs and of state-level officials in the field of ABE. Population for the study was a list of 161 teachers identified as teaching in ABE programs, 33 persons identified as local coordinators, and 9 persons identified as state-level ABE officials. These persons were mailed three forms of a needs assessment questionnaire, depending on the group to which they belonged, with a return rate of 95 percent. Demographic characteristics of the teachers found by the survey were that the teachers were about 68 percent female, about 82 percent part time, about 60 percent under 40 years of age, and almost certain to have a college degree. Most of the part-time teachers were homemakers, moonlighters with a full-time teaching job, or persons teaching part time while hoping for a full-time teaching job. All three groups surveyed expressed a need for inservice training, with the coordinators and state officials seeing more needs than the teachers. The teachers rated three items among their highest needs: practical ways of motivating ABE students, knowledge about other school and community resources for referral, and methods for raising students' self-concepts. Recommendations were made for more inservice training activities and for incentives for part-time teachers to attend more training sessions. (KC)