Inservice Education Needs of Teachers of Pilot Agriscience Courses in Mississippi

Tyler (197 1) defined a need as a difference between a present condition and an acceptable norm. This definition serves as the basis for the discrepancy model of assessing learner needs. One discrepancy model, developed by Borich (1980), is commonly used in educational settings and is appropriate for assessing inservice education needs of teachers (Barrick et al., 1983). In this study, the researchers used the Borich model to assess the inservice education needs of teachers of pilot agriscience courses in Mississippi. Background information about the pilot courses and a discussion of the appropriateness of the Borich model for assessing inservice education needs are provided below.