THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO IDENTIFY CERTAIN PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SUPERVISING TEACHERS WHICH INFLUENCED THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR ROLE AND TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS KINDS AND AMOUNTS OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SUPERVISING TEACHERS. A SCALE DEVELOPED WITH THE AID OF A JURY OF OUTSTANDING AGRICULTURAL TEACHER EDUCATORS EVALUATED THE PERFORMANCE OF SUPERVISING TEACHERS WHO SERVED IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC AND SOUTHERN REGIONS DURING THE 1962-63 ACADEMIC YEAR. THE MOST EFFECTIVE ONE-THIRD AND THE LEAST EFFECTIVE ONE-THIRD OF THE SUPERVISING TEACHERS WERE USED AS TWO STUDY GROUPS IN THE INVESTIGATION. THE DATA FROM 195 MAILED QUESTIONNAIRES WERE ANALYZED USING THE T-TEST AND THE CHI-SQUARE TEST. NO DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS OF SUPERVISING TEACHERS REGARDING PREVIOUS OCCUPATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN EDUCATION, NUMBER OF YEARS OF VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE TEACHING EXPERIENCE, NUMBER OF YEARS THE TEACHER HAD TAUGHT AT HIS PRESENT LOCATION, KIND AND AMOUNT OF UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING, AND PARTICIPATION IN SUPERVISING TEACHER WORKSHOPS AND PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES, AND THE AMOUNT OF SPECIAL COLLEGE TRAINING IN STUDENT TEACHING SUPERVISION. THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY CORROBORATED THE CONCLUSIONS OF EARLIER RESEARCH WHICH INDICATED THAT SUPERVISING TEACHER PERFORMANCE WAS INFLUENCED BY PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AS A SUPERVISING TEACHER, ACADEMIC DEGREE HELD, READING OF PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE, AND PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL AND LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. THIS ED.D. THESIS, WHICH WAS SUBMITTED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY, IS AVAILABLE AS 65-5843 FOR $2.75 ON MICROFILM AND FOR $9.25 AS XEROXED COPY FROM UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS, INC., 300 NORTH ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48106. (WB)