To meet the needs of the State of Tennessee and the people involved in the administration of local vocational programs, an inservice training program for local vocational administrators was developed. The basic approach to the project centered on the extern concept. Major components of the program included a summer conference, regional and statewide group meetings, individual instruction and assistance, and evaluation. Inservice participants were 15 potential directors or present directors of vocational programs who had been in the position for less than three years. Members (15) of the control group were selected from the statewide group of local directors of vocational education who had three or more years of experience in the position. Pre- and posttest instruments were used to measure changes in the 15 experimental group participants and 15 members of the control group. To assess the impact of the training program the Nonequivalent Control Group Design was used. The results indicated there were significant differences in gain scores in which the experimental group was higher. Nearly all of the participants' individual objectives which they identified in the summer workshop were completed during the program. The conclusions indicated that (1) competencies of participants were measurable and did improve for the experimental group, (2) it is possible for participants to identify their own competency needs and use them to formulate a professional development strategy to develop effective local administrators, and (3) the organized, planned extern program is a valuable activity for the new and emerging administrator. (Author/HD)