The development of continuing education programs for school administrators has traditionally relied on the formal survey and the utilization of small samples of practicing administrators to provide direction to program planners in designing inservice activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility, validity, and reliability of using the quasi-ethnographic field technique of the structured interview to determine the critical personal and professional competencies needed by a sample of 50 Northeast Florida public school administrators. The researchers trained 50 graduate students to conduct interviews with 50 practicing administrators and code the continuing educational needs. The data collected provided a true representation of the educational needs of those surveyed; reduced generic conceptual areas into smaller, more critical training topics; provided valid and reliable data; were consistent with the national concerns of educators; and provided a list of specific skill needs of individuals and subgroups within the sample population. The researchers concluded that the structured interview technique offers a feasible, more accurate needs assessment determination process than the formal survey, has the unique byproduct of motivating administrators to more readily participate in inservice activities, and is a practical alternative for small and medium size school systems. (Author)