The Preparation of Training Professionals.

A study examined the nature and extent of programs and course offerings available in the United States to prepare education and training professionals and analyzed the offerings in terms of a 1983 study done by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). Colleges and accredited business schools from across the country were identified, their available catalogs and course descriptions were secured, and data collected from them were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analyses. No program offerings by American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AASCB)-accredited schools were found to lead to degrees in education and training. However, a number of courses having content consistent with the preparation of education and training specialists were found. These courses were offered by a variety of academic departments, with no consistency evident from institution to institution. Three models of the coordination of available training were identified: education and training was either supplied (1) totally within the personnel unit; (2) within the organization and separate from the personnel unit, but with strong linkages to it; or (3) by a separate unit outside the organization under contractual arrangement with personnel. Many of the 31 competencies identified as necessary for training and development specialists in the aforementioned ASTD study were being addressed in many of the courses identified during the present study. (MN)