CHAPTER!. INTRODUCTION Reason for the Study The public education system in this nation comes under close, continual scrutiny. From the conversations over the backyard fence to the comprehensive examinations of sdiools at the national level, educators face a gallimaufry of reports, both praising and criticizing the system. This gallimaufry, or collection of reports, covers a wide range of educational issues. One topic of conversation that often arises in discussions concerning school issues, but rarely surfaces at the research level, is evaluation of substitute teachers (Wallendorff, 1989). Traditionally, theorists devote very little attention to substitute teaching because of its relative "unimportance" in relation to the multitude of issues surrounding regular full-time classroom instructors (Steltenpohl, 1974). There is minimal research available on any of the aspects of day-today substitutes (Grieder, 1972). Before 1978, the scarcity of research on the topic of substitute teachers further increased the need for attention to this neglected educational population (Jentzen and Vockell, 1978). The research indicates a dearth of attention to the population, but considerable agreement is apparent among educators that something should be done about the problem (Pascale, King, & Mastrian, 1984). One research report in 1981, showed that during one school year, substitutes throughout the nation taught nine million teacher days (Dahlin, 1981). Projecting this figure to today, it surely represents a higher number, accenting the need for providing quality teaching experiences for students in the classroom without the regular classroom teacher. It is essential that those nine million teacher 2 days not be wasted. Attention to evaluation of substitute teachers can and should be made an integral part of the evaluation system of a district (Sime, 1989). Although evaluation of substitute teachers has been largely ignored, much attention has been paid to areas of proficiency for substitute teachers. Nine dimensions were identified as essential in orientation programs for substitute teachers: student information, community characteristics, building staff personnel, school philosophy, physical facilities, building procedures, curriculum and instruction, lesson plans, and classroom discipline (Pascale, King, & Mastrian, 1984). Other researchers have expanded this list by stressing that substitute teachers should be flexible, have teaching experience, subject area knowledge, and be able to manage classroom adversity (Warren, 1988). A study emphasizing the importance of increasing substitute teacher pools stressed the need for curriculum training, teaching strategies, classroom management, and a knowledge of policies and procedures (Hinkemeyer, 1988). All these dimensions deserve scrutiny. Other areas have also been explored. Non-education graduate students working as interns have served as substitute teachers after receiving training in classroom management, record keeping, and questioning strategies (Soares, 1988). It has been hypo...