Competency‐ Based Inservice Instruction for Home Economics Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this quasi‐experimental study was to investigate the effectiveness of two compe tency‐based inservice workshops for home economics teachers in Maryland. Teachers enrolled in a family relations workshop served as the control group. Forty‐six teachers and 839 of their students participated in the study. The competency‐based inservice workshops were effective in increasing knowledge, making atti tudes more positive, and increasing time spent individualizing instruction. The 3‐week workshop was more effective than the 1‐week workshop, and teachers who spent more time individualizing instruction were perceived by their students as more concerned. Teachers in the experimental and control groups showed similar mean levels of commitment, and commitment did not change significantly over the time of the study.