MARKETING AND MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS PERCEPTIONS OF OHIO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PLANNING DISTRICT (VEPD) SUPERINTENDENTS

The data reported in this article were part of a study to describe Ohio vocational education planning district (VEPD) superintendents' perceptions of their role in the marketing function in their planning districts and their perceptions of VEPD marketing effectiveness for secondary vocational education. Results showed that the majority of VEPD superintendents had positive perceptions of their roles in the VEPD marketing function; however, they were undecided as to their perceptions of how effective their marketing efforts are in regard to customer philosophy, strategic marketing planning, and operational efficiency. A clear understanding of how to develop an educational institution with a strong marketing orientation needs to be addressed through technical assistance, inservice training, and high quality strategic marketing planning materials to promote and improve effectiveness of the marketing initiative. EJournals Digital Library and University Libraries Search Addison Off Campus Sign in Ask a librarian MARKETING AND MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS PERCEPTIONS OF OHIO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PLANNING DISTRICT (VEPD) SUPERINTENDENTS Educational institutions face marketing problems. Many encounter changing student needs and societal expectations, increasing competition for scarce resources, in addition to legislators and community groups asking tough questions about the educational institutions' mission, opportunities, and strategies. One result is that educators are often forced to examine marketing to determine how they might keep institutions viable and relevant (Kotler and Fox, 1985). Research conducted with 300 education administrators of colleges showed that 61 percent viewed marketing as a combination of selling, advertising and public relations, 28 percent stated it was only one of these three activities, and only a few knew that marketing had something to do with needs assessment, marketing research, product development, pricing, and distribution (Murphy and McGarrity, 1978). Studies conducted in the late seventies and early eighties by Phi Delta Kappa, the National Institute of Education, the Nation's Schools Report, and the New York State Department of Education (Kindred et al, 1990) showed that superintendents recognize the value of public relations and communications skills. However, Kotler and Fox (1985) stated that "some administrators believe that marketing is for profit-making businesses, and that education institutions should be [above] marketing. They feel that educational values and techniques are direct opposites of the values and techniques of business and the two worlds cannot and should not be brought together" (p. 14). Kotler and Fox (1985) stated that "an institution is not likely to develop a strong marketing orientation until its [superintendent] believes in it, understands it, wants it, and wins the support of other high-level administrators for building this function" (p. 30). These are hard times for secondary vocational education. Leaders of the new school reform movement do not give it high priority. They assume that it is separate from general education, has little educational value, and should be replaced by a predominantly academic curriculum. At best, vocational courses are expected to provide students who are not college-bound with minimal training for low status jobs at entry level (Silberman, 1986). One reason vocational education has such low status is that it is not a requirement for admission to universities. Although sixty percent of high school graduates enter the work force directly after graduation and need the skills that vocational education can provide (O'Connor and Trussell, 1987), vocational education is seen as having no place in career paths of young urban professionals. "In their pursuit of fame and fortune, the best and brightest high school students have little time for elective vocational courses" (Silberman, 1986, p. 6). Future lawyers and financiers do not take courses with "shop" components. Robert Reich (1983) has written about the dysfunctional economic consequences of the "best and brightest" students avoiding economically productive jobs in favor of more comfortable and prestigious "paper entrepreneurial" positions in law and finance. Janet Spence (1985), in her presidential address to the American Psychological Association, expressed concern that in our country "getting ahead" is so important that nothing else matters; it transcends all other values, including health, family, community, integrity, and quality of work. Shields (1989) stated the opinion that feminism has "catapulted young girls right past vocational education" (p. 3). High school girls, instead of opting for drafting, which formerly was seen as "male" dominated, are shooting for careers in engineering, architecture, computer programming and similar fields. So they go for that third year of math, or physics, but nothing that smacks of vocational education. In recent years, industries such as health care, finance and law have been aggressively marketing their services. This departure from tradition is a response to sweeping changes in technology, demographics, and new customer demands. Vocational education, like other service industries, must respond to such change. Archilles et al. (1989) in their research on schools which have high public confidence, noted that marketing is the most pervasive mode of building high-confidence schools. They also noted that current school and community relations practices emphasize the passive, school-oriented communications mode, or primarily cognitive approaches and rely less on marketing. O'Connor and Trussell (1987) submitted that vocational education has much to gain from capitalizing on the benefits of comprehensive marketing approaches. Regardless of the specific institution the basic marketing approach is the same. It requires an internal marketing effort, a marketing plan, and a fully committed administration. Broadhead (1991) in his article "Image 2000. A vision for vocational education" indicated that vocational educators must tell the world about what we are doing -and be prepared to spend some money to do it. He recommended that schools lacking resources to accomplish this goal should solicit resources from business and industry. They should "create a vision, build a plan, take it to them and show them how it's in their best interests to fund it. Our product is our lifeblood" (p. 25). Improving the image of vocational education may well be the most important issue before us today. Those who hold a positive image of vocational education support it. Those for whom the image is tarnished by myth or blurred by lack of knowledge may well oppose it. If your profession does not step forward to project a clear and up-to-date image of vocational education, who will (Tuttle, 1987, p. 11)? Tuttle supported the argument by stating "We must take our image-building seriously. We must have strategic plans at every level to improve the image of vocational education.... But the key to an effective comprehensive plan is what happens at the local and state level. When vocational education has a positive image locally, local boards and administrators respond with equipment, buildings and general support" (p. 11). In response to Ohio Senate Bill 140, Section 3313.901 the State Board of Education produced a ten-year strategic plan for vocational education entitled Ohio's Future at Work. The Action Plan for Accelerating the Modernization of Vocational Education. Development of the action plan began with the convening of the Modernization Forum (an advisory body, comprised of 43 individuals representing business, industry, labor, and education) in February and March of 1990. The Modernization Forum came to consensus on ten priorities for vocational education in the next decade. The number one ranked priority was improving the image and public understanding of vocational education. Thus of the 11 imperatives found in the action plan, Imperative 10 found its place. Imperative 10 provided the genesis for emphasis on successful marketing/public relations efforts in Ohio VEPDs. No research of this nature had been done with Ohio superintendents or more specifically superintendents responsible for vocational education delivery. Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study was to describe Ohio vocational education planning district (VEPD) superintendents' perceptions of their roles in the marketing function and their perceptions of effectiveness of the marketing function in their VEPD. The study was guided by the following research objectives: 1. Describe subjects on the following attribute variables. age, gender, length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, VEPD secondary vocational enrollment, number of feeder schools in the VEPD, and type of vocational delivery system (e. g., joint vocational school district, major city district, compact/contractual district, single district). 2. Describe subjects' perceptions toward their role in the marketing function of their VEPD. 3. Describe subjects' perceived effectiveness of marketing efforts in their VEPD. 4. Describe relationships between subjects' perceptions toward their role in the marketing function of their VEPD and the following attribute variables. age, gender, length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, VEPD secondary vocational enrollment, number of feeder schools in the VEPD, and type of vocational delivery system. 5. Describe relationships between subjects' perceptions of effectiveness of marketing efforts in their VEPD and the following attribute variables. age, gender, length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, VEPD secondary enrollment, number of feeder schools in the VEPD, and type of vocational delivery system. Definition of Terms The criterion variables of interest included the population's perception of their (1) role in the marketing function and (2) perception of marketing effectiveness. S. H. Fine (1981) stated that "perception is the ability with which an individual grasps a concept; it is a process of organizing a picture in one's mind about some situation; at the same time a learning process that depends upon the experience and cognitive style the individual brings to the situation (p.150)." Role in the marketing function, for this study, was operationally defined as VEPD superintendents' perceptions of their roles in the marketing function as measured by their responses to 10 items on a five-point Likert-type scale. The following subconstructs were used in instrumentation development for the construct marketing effectiveness.


MARKETING AND MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS PERCEPTIONS OF OHIO VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PLANNING DISTRICT (VEPD) SUPERINTENDENTS
Educational institutions face marketing problems. Many encounter changing student needs and societal expectations, increasing competition for scarce resources, in addition to legislators and community groups asking tough questions about the educational institutions' mission, opportunities, and strategies. One result is that educators are often forced to examine marketing to determine how they might keep institutions viable and relevant (Kotler and Fox, 1985). Research conducted with 300 education administrators of colleges showed that 61 percent viewed marketing as a combination of selling, advertising and public relations, 28 percent stated it was only one of these three activities, and only a few knew that marketing had something to do with needs assessment, marketing research, product development, pricing, and distribution (Murphy and McGarrity, 1978).
Studies conducted in the late seventies and early eighties by Phi Delta Kappa, the National Institute of Education, the Nation's Schools Report, and the New York State Department of Education (Kindred et al, 1990) showed that superintendents recognize the value of public relations and communications skills. However, Kotler and Fox (1985) stated that "some administrators believe that marketing is for profit-making businesses, and that education institutions should be [above] marketing. They feel that educational values and techniques are direct opposites of the values and techniques of business and the two worlds cannot and should not be brought together" (p. 14). Kotler and Fox (1985) stated that "an institution is not likely to develop a strong marketing orientation until its [superintendent] believes in it, understands it, wants it, and wins the support of other high-level administrators for building this function" (p. 30).
These are hard times for secondary vocational education. Leaders of the new school reform movement do not give it high priority. They assume that it is separate from general education, has little educational value, and should be replaced by a predominantly academic curriculum. At best, vocational courses are expected to provide students who are not college-bound with minimal training for low status jobs at entry level (Silberman, 1986).
One reason vocational education has such low status is that it is not a requirement for admission to universities. Although sixty percent of high school graduates enter the work force directly after graduation and need the skills that vocational education can provide (O'Connor and Trussell, 1987), vocational education is seen as having no place in career paths of young urban professionals. "In their pursuit of fame and fortune, the best and brightest high school students have little time for elective vocational courses" (Silberman, 1986, p. 6). Future lawyers and financiers do not take courses with "shop" components. Robert Reich (1983) has written about the dysfunctional economic consequences of the "best and brightest" students avoiding economically productive jobs in favor of more comfortable and prestigious "paper entrepreneurial" positions in law and finance. Janet Spence (1985), in her presidential address to the American Psychological Association, expressed concern that in our country "getting ahead" is so important that nothing else matters; it transcends all other values, including health, family, community, integrity, and quality of work. Shields (1989) stated the opinion that feminism has "catapulted young girls right past vocational education" (p. 3). High school girls, instead of opting for drafting, which formerly was seen as "male" dominated, are shooting for careers in engineering, architecture, computer programming and similar fields. So they go for that third year of math, or physics, but nothing that smacks of vocational education.
In recent years, industries such as health care, finance and law have been aggressively marketing their services. This departure from tradition is a response to sweeping changes in technology, demographics, and new customer demands. Vocational education, like other service industries, must respond to such change. Archilles et al. (1989) in their research on schools which have high public confidence, noted that marketing is the most pervasive mode of building high-confidence schools. They also noted that current school and community relations practices emphasize the passive, school-oriented communications mode, or primarily cognitive approaches and rely less on marketing.
O' Connor and Trussell (1987) submitted that vocational education has much to gain from capitalizing on the benefits of comprehensive marketing approaches. Regardless of the specific institution the basic marketing approach is the same. It requires an internal marketing effort, a marketing plan, and a fully committed administration. Broadhead (1991) in his article "Image 2000. A vision for vocational education" indicated that vocational educators must tell the world about what we are doing --and be prepared to spend some money to do it. He recommended that schools lacking resources to accomplish this goal should solicit resources from business and industry. They should "create a vision, build a plan, take it to them and show them how it's in their best interests to fund it. Our product is our lifeblood" (p. 25).
Improving the image of vocational education may well be the most important issue before us today. Those who hold a positive image of vocational education support it. Those for whom the image is tarnished by myth or blurred by lack of knowledge may well oppose it. If your profession does not step forward to project a clear and up-to-date image of vocational education, who will (Tuttle, 1987, p. 11)?
Tuttle supported the argument by stating "We must take our image-building seriously. We must have strategic plans at every level to improve the image of vocational education.... But the key to an effective comprehensive plan is what happens at the local and state level. When vocational education has a positive image locally, local boards and administrators respond with equipment, buildings and general support" (p. 11).
In response to Ohio Senate Bill 140, Section 3313.901 the State Board of Education produced a ten-year strategic plan for vocational education entitled Ohio's Future at Work. The Action Plan for Accelerating the Modernization of Vocational Education. Development of the action plan began with the convening of the Modernization Forum (an advisory body, comprised of 43 individuals representing business, industry, labor, and education) in February and March of 1990. The Modernization Forum came to consensus on ten priorities for vocational education in the next decade. The number one ranked priority was improving the image and public understanding of vocational education. Thus of the 11 imperatives found in the action plan, Imperative 10 found its place.
Imperative 10 provided the genesis for emphasis on successful marketing/public relations efforts in Ohio VEPDs. No research of this nature had been done with Ohio superintendents or more specifically superintendents responsible for vocational education delivery.

Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to describe Ohio vocational education planning district (VEPD) superintendents' perceptions of their roles in the marketing function and their perceptions of effectiveness of the marketing function in their VEPD.
The study was guided by the following research objectives: 1. Describe subjects on the following attribute variables. age, gender, length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, VEPD secondary vocational enrollment, number of feeder schools in the VEPD, and type of vocational delivery system (e. g., joint vocational school district, major city district, compact/contractual district, single district). 2. Describe subjects' perceptions toward their role in the marketing function of their VEPD. 3. Describe subjects' perceived effectiveness of marketing efforts in their VEPD. 4. Describe relationships between subjects' perceptions toward their role in the marketing function of their VEPD and the following attribute variables. age, gender, length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, VEPD secondary vocational enrollment, number of feeder schools in the VEPD, and type of vocational delivery system. 5. Describe relationships between subjects' perceptions of effectiveness of marketing efforts in their VEPD and the following attribute variables. age, gender, length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, VEPD secondary enrollment, number of feeder schools in the VEPD, and type of vocational delivery system.

Definition of Terms
The criterion variables of interest included the population's perception of their (1) role in the marketing function and (2) perception of marketing effectiveness. S. H. Fine (1981) stated that "perception is the ability with which an individual grasps a concept; it is a process of organizing a picture in one's mind about some situation; at the same time a learning process that depends upon the experience and cognitive style the individual brings to the situation (p.150)." Role in the marketing function, for this study, was operationally defined as VEPD superintendents' perceptions of their roles in the marketing function as measured by their responses to 10 items on a five-point Likert-type scale.
The following subconstructs were used in instrumentation development for the construct marketing effectiveness.

Customer Philosophy
Does the administration acknowledge the primacy of the marketplace and of customer needs and wants in shaping the VEPD's plans and operations (Kotler, 1982, p.23)?

Integrated Marketing Organization
The degree to which an institution's structure supports and encourages effective marketing; the extent to which the institution facilitates performance of marketing functions throughout the organization, and marketing functions' impact on organizational decisions and activities (Berry, Conant, and Parasuraman, 1991).

Strategic Marketing Planning
Planning process which relies on developing a clear institutional mission, supporting goals and objectives, and a sound strategy. The strategy includes selection of a target market, the choice of a competitive position, and the development of an effective marketing mix (product, place, price, promotion, people) to reach and serve the chosen market (Kotler and Fox, 1985).

Operational Efficiency
Are marketing activities selected and handled in a cost-effective manner (Kotler, 1982, p. 23).

Design
Descriptive survey research was used to accomplish the research objectives. The choice of instrumentation was the questionnaire. The instrument was self-administered and mailed, allowing for a larger number of subjects in more diverse locations than the interview process would have allowed.

Subject Selection
The target population in this study was superintendents of VEPDs in Ohio. Vocational Education Planning Districts in Ohio are defined by Ohio Revised Code statute 3301-61-01 as "a school district, or group of districts, organized to provide state mandated vocational education programs and services." This administrative structure provides the highest level administrative authority for secondary vocational education. This study involved a census of VEPD superintendents. A 97.9 percent response rate was achieved. Breakdown of that response rate by delivery method was as follows. single district = 100 percent, JVSD = 100 percent, major city = 87.5 percent, compact = 94.1 percent. The data sample for this study included 96.7 percent (94) of the population under study.

Instrumentation
The mail questionnaire included two instruments. Instrument one, a five-point Likert type scale with 10 items, was designed to measure perceptions of VEPD superintendents of their roles in the VEPD marketing function. Instrument two, a five-point Likert type scale with 46 items, was designed to measure VEPD superintendents' perceptions of VEPD marketing effectiveness. Marketing effectiveness was broken into four sub-constructs. customer philosophy, integrated marketing organization, strategic marketing planning, and operational efficiency. Content and construct validity of the questionnaire were assessed by a seven-member panel of experts with expertise in research and statistics, marketing, and vocational administration. Field testing was completed with a group of ten Ohio assistant/associate superintendents with vocational education responsibilities who were not included in the census of the population. Pilot testing was done to assess reliability and internal consistency of the two instruments. Ten Ohio assistant/associate superintendents with vocational education responsibilities, not included in the census to be studied or in the field test, were asked to complete the instrument. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to estimate the reliability of the scales. The resulting coefficients were as follows: role in the marketing function was .87, customer philosophy was .82, integrated marketing organization was .88, strategic marketing planning was .89, and operational efficiency was .93.
The mail questionnaire consisted of instrument one --role in marketing, and instrument two--marketing effectiveness. Demographic questions were placed at the end of the questionnaire and sought data regarding age, gender, length of tenure in present superintendency, and length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent. Data for the remaining attribute variables --VEPD secondary enrollment, number of feeder schools in the VEPD, and type of vocational delivery system--were obtained from the Ohio Department of Education, Division of Vocational and Career Education, Vocational Management Information System unit.

Data Collection
A mail questionnaire was utilized. One week prior to mailing, a postal card was sent to those in the census to announce the forthcoming package. Three follow-up procedures were implemented after the initial questionnaire package was mailed. The entire data collection process was completed within a 41-day period. Questionnaires received after the 41-day period were not included in the data analysis. A t-test statistical procedure was run comparing early to late respondents with no statistical significance shown. The data sample constituted 96.6 percent of the census under study.

Data Analysis
All data were analyzed with the SPSS/PC+ statistical package for the social sciences. Appropriate statistics including frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, Pearson correlations, and point-biserial corrections were used to address the research objectives. All correlation coefficients were interpreted utilizing Davis' (1971) descriptors.

Objective 1. Superintendent Attributes
Demographic data collected on VEPD superintendents' attributes show superintendents ranged in age from 37 to 62 years. The mean age for the VEPD superintendents was 50.67 with a standard deviation of 5.12. Of the 94 superintendents included in this study, 93.6 percent (88) were male and 6.4 percent (6) were female. Length of tenure in present superintendency ranged from a low of .08 years (1 month) to a high of 18 years. The mean number of years of tenure was 6.61 with a standard deviation of 4.64. Length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent ranged from a low of .08 years (one month) to a high of 20 years. The mean number of years of tenure was 7.11 with a standard deviation of 5.17.

Objective 1. Vocational Education Planning District (VEPD) Characteristics
Demographic data on VEPD characteristics show that VEPD secondary enrollment ranged from a low 794 to a high of 27,162. The mean for secondary enrollment was 5,205.38 with a standard deviation of 4,412.24. The number of feeder schools in a given VEPD ranged from a low of 1 to a high of 35. The mean number of feeder schools in the VEPD was 6.43 with a standard deviation of 6.00. The majority (51 percent) of the VEPDs had 5 or fewer feeder schools. Statistics for vocational education delivery method show that 24.5 percent (23)  Note: 1= strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3 = undecided; 4 = agree; 5 = strongly agree.
Objective 3. Superintendents' Perception of VEPD Marketing Effectiveness Table 2 provides data for the four sub-constructs measuring VEPD marketing effectiveness. Perception scores for customer philosophy ranged from a low of 2.22 to a high of 4.33. Fortynine percent (46) of the superintendents provided perception scores within the range of 3.01 to 3.50. The mean for perception scores--customer philosophy was 3.09 with a standard deviation of .3. Superintendents' perception of marketing effectiveness--integrated marketing organization provided scores which ranged from a low of 2.91 to a high of 4.27. Approximately 63 percent (60) of the superintendents provided perception scores greater than 3.50. The mean for perception scores--integrated marketing organization was 3.60 with a standard deviation of .27.
Superintendents' perceptions of marketing effectiveness--strategic marketing planning provided scores which ranged from a low of 2.52 to a high of 3.43. Approximately 79 percent (74) of the superintendents provided scores within the range of 2.76-3.25. The mean for marketing effectiveness--strategic marketing planning was a 3.06 with a standard deviation of .18. Superintendents' perceptions of marketing effectiveness--operational efficiency provided scores which ranged from a low of 2.20 to a high of 4.20. Approximately 73 percent (69) of the superintendents provided perception scores between the range of 2.76 and 3.50. The mean for perception scores--operational efficiency was 3.22 with a standard deviation of .37. Note: 1= strongly disagree; 2= disagree; 3= undecided; 4= agree; 5= strongly agree.

Objective 4. Relationships Between Superintendents' Perceived Role in the Marketing Function and Attribute Variables
A census of the population under study was used for data collection. For analysis purposes the population was used as a slice in time sample with statistical significance reported. All correlation coefficients were interpreted using Davis' (1971) descriptors. The relationships between superintendents' perceptions of their roles in the marketing function with age and gender were low and positive. Statistical significance was found on both the coefficients calculated to describe tenure. Relationships between enrollment and number of feeder schools and perceptions of role were low and moderate, respectively. The relationships between perceptions of marketing effectiveness--customer philosophy were negative and negligible for length of tenure in present superintendency and length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, and enrollment. Low associations were found between perception of customer philosophy with age, gender, and number of feeder schools, with age showing a negative correlation. Statistical significance was shown for the relationship between gender and number of feeder schools with marketing effectiveness--customer philosophy.
A positive, negligible association was found between perceptions of marketing effectiveness-integrated marketing organization with gender and enrollment. The relationships between perceptions of integrated marketing organization with length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, and feeder schools were low. No association was found between perceptions of integrated marketing organization and age.
The relationships between perceptions of marketing effectiveness--strategic marketing planning with age, length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, and enrollment were negligible with enrollment being negative. No relationship was found between gender and number of feeder schools with perception of strategic marketing planning.
Relationships between perceptions of marketing effectiveness--operational efficiency with age, gender, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, and number of feeder schools were negative negligible. A negative low association was found between perceptions of marketing effectiveness--operational efficiency and enrollment. No relationship was found between perceptions of operational efficiency and length of tenure in present superintendency. Mean scores were calculated to illustrate the differences among superintendents' perceptions of VEPD marketing effectiveness by type of delivery system. For the perception of marketing effectiveness--integrated marketing organization sub-construct all types of delivery systems scored (3.54-3.57) within the agree range (3.5-4.5). All other sub-constructs scored between 3.00 and 3.33 which fall in the undecided (2.5-3.5) range (Table 5).

Conclusions
Based upon the findings of the study the following conclusions were drawn.
1. The typical respondent in this study was a VEPD superintendent between the ages of 45 and 56, male, with ten years or less tenure in his or her present superintendency as well as ten years or less tenure as a VEPD superintendent. 2. The typical VEPD in this study had less than 5,501 students enrolled in grades 9-12 with enrollment drawing from 5 or fewer feeder schools. 3. The most frequent type of delivery system was the joint vocational school district followed by single district delivery. 4. The majority of superintendents had positive to strongly positive perceptions toward their roles in the marketing function within their VEPDs. 5. The majority of superintendents were undecided regarding how effective their marketing efforts were in regard to acknowledging a customer philosophy in shaping plans and operations. 6. The majority of superintendents had positive to strongly positive perceptions towards their integrated marketing organizations. 7. The overwhelming majority of superintendents were undecided regarding strategic marketing planning effectiveness. 8. The majority of superintendents were undecided regarding marketing operational efficiency. 9. The more years of tenure in present superintendent position or as an Ohio VEPD superintendent the more positive the perceptions of roles in the marketing function. 10. VEPDs with larger numbers of feeder schools could result in more positive superintendents' perceptions of roles in the marketing function. 11. Superintendents of major city delivery systems remained undecided regarding roles in the marketing function. 12. Male superintendents had more positive perceptions of marketing effectiveness related to customer philosophy. 13. Age, length of tenure in present superintendency, length of tenure as an Ohio VEPD superintendent, and enrollment were not related to perception of marketing effectiveness on any sub-construct. 14. Only marketing effectiveness--customer philosophy was related to the attribute variable number of feeder schools. As the number of feeder schools increased, perceptions of marketing effectiveness-customer philosophy became less positive. 15. Delivery method provided no practical significance in understanding superintendents' perceptions of their marketing effectiveness.

Discussion
Studies conducted in the late seventies and early eighties by Phi Delta Kappa, the National Institute of Education, the Nation's Schools Report, and the New York State Department of Education (Kindred et al, 1990) showed that superintendents recognize the value of public relations and communications skills. Seventy-nine percent of the superintendents in the current study had positive or strongly positive perceptions of their roles in the marketing function. Kotler and Fox (1985) stated that "some administrators believe that marketing is for profit-making businesses, and that educational institutions should be [above] marketing. Some administrators feel that educational values and techniques are direct opposites of the values and techniques of business and that the two worlds cannot and should not be brought together" (p.14). They further stated that "an institution is not likely to develop a strong marketing orientation until its [superintendent] believes in it, understands it, wants it, and wins the support of other high level administrators for building this function" (p.30). Current findings suggest that the majority of VEPD superintendents have embraced the idea of marketing vocational education and have positive perceptions of their roles in the marketing function.