The primary purpose of this investigation was to study the relationships between vocational industrial automotive mechanics teacher behavior on the index of variety/variability and the achievement of students in their classes. Relationships between student opportunity to learn criterion material, teacher personal characteristics, student achievement, arid teacher behavior were also examined.

This was a state-wide study conducted in West Virginia during the 1978-79 school year. The population was limited to automotive mechanics teachers. Thirty-five teachers were invited to participate in the study while thirty-one teachers accepted the invitation and completed all research activities.

Five instruments were employed to collect the data for this study. Two of the instruments were achievement measures. They were the "Ohio Trade and Industrial Education Achievement Test" (OTAT) and the "Short Occupational Knowledge Test" (SOKT). Teacher behavior was measured by the "Vocational Teacher Observation of Process System" (VTOPS) instrument. Teacher ratings were used to measure Student Opportunity to Learn (SOL) the material on the SOKT. Teacher personal characteristics were obtained by using the ''Teacher Personal Characteristics Profile" (TPCP).

The research utilized pre-tests, post-tests, and class residual mean gain scores to represent achievement. Pre-tests were administered prior to the beginning of teacher observations. Teachers were observed four times on two separate visits prior to giving the post-tests. Teacher personal characteristics were obtained at the conclusion of the second visit by interviewing the teachers. SOL was determined at the conclusion of the post-test session for the SOKT. VTOPS provided two measures of teacher behavior on variety. They were the VQ (variety quantity) score and the VR (variety range) score.

The data were analyzed through Pearson product moment correlations. The correlations provided results for the examination of the seven resea:rch questions.

Analysis of data for the first two research questions revealed significant correlations between student achievement and the VQ and VR scores. VTOPS VQ and VR scores are measures of variety/variability in teacher behavior.

The third research question data analysis indicated no association between SOL and achievement on the SOKT. Research question four correlations indicated no significant association between achievement and teacher personal characteristics.

Analysis of data for the fifth research question revealed significant relationships between two teacher personal characteristics and SOL. Age correlated positively with SOL while years of school completed was associated negatively.

The sixth research question correlations indicated that there was no relationship between the VQ score and the personal characteristics of teachers. Data analysis for the seventh research question revealed correlations between the VR score and three teacher personal characteristics. The personal characteristics were: years of school completed, years teaching experience, and total college credits earned.