The purpose of the study was to systematically analyze three existing Cooperative Extension Service 4-H staffing models for costs associated with each of ten selected measures of program effectiveness. The study was designed to provide empirical information for the Cooperative Extension Service with regard to cost/effectiveness expected from applied 4-H staffing models.An important consideration in development of the study was the potential usefulness and direct application by Extension professionals. The study provided a pioneering step toward analyzing impact of existing 4-H staffing models for delivery of informal educational programs to youth.Documentation produced by the study offered new base line data and information to enhanceefforts by Extension professionals in obtaining financial support through quantitative evidence of program quality to be expected from selected categories of resource input. The study demonstrated feasible methods for assessing cost/ effectiveness of alternative 4-H staffing models.The population was defined as all 4-H administrative units in each of the three selected North Central Extension Region states of Iowa, Indiana and Ohio, in which the existing 4-H staffing model: (1) was characteristic of a prototype model selected for the respective state; (2) had been in operation two or more years; and (3) contained a majority of Extension professionals employed two or more years. The total sample consisted of 60 4-H administrative units with 20 administrative units randomly selected from each of the three states. Observations of the three models were limited to 4-H program years 1974, 1975, and 1976.Data for each model were obtained from six sources: (1) federal and state Extension Management Information System; (2) Yearly 4-H Summaries; (3) Extension business office records; (4) 1970 U.S. Census Reports; (5) State 4-H Departmental records; and (6) Survey instruments administered to Extension professionals in 60 4-} administrative units and to 1800 4-H members. A minimum of 30 4-H members were randomly selected from each of the 60 administrative units.Results showed the three models were clearly different in cost/effectiveness utilizing the following ten selected measures of program effectiveness. 1. percentage of eligible population enrolled in 4-H;2. percentage of re-enrollment of 4-H members; 3. percentage of 4-H members completed; 4. percentage of 4-H projects completed; 5. mean tenure of 4-H membership; 6. mean tenure of volunteer: 4-.7 adult leaders;7. ratio of 4-H members enrolled to volunteer 4-H adult leaders;8. ratio of 4-H members enrolled to total enrollments in 4-H projects, events and activities reported;9. mean number of 4-H projects, events and activities in which one or more 4-H members participated;10. mean number of 4-H hours spent by members enrolled in 4-H in contact with Extension professionals, paraprofessionals and volunteer 4-H adult leaders.Analysis of the data pointed out an enormous need for refinements and further development of program effectiveness measures as well as improved 4--H accounting procedures to assess the status of 4-H programs. Size and magnitude of the 4-H program appeared to directly effect the cost/ effectiveness indexes selected for the study.Model III clearly demonstrated more cost/effectiveness than did Models I and II. However, Model III was operated with considerably lower population and 4-H enrollment than was either Model I or II. Increasing the use of paraprofessionals and volunteer 4-H adult leaders to service 4-H programs appeared to be a cost/effective approach in the use of Extension resources and personnel. Cost/effectiveness appeared to be a strong potential management tool for evaluation and accountability of 4-H programs.

The 4-H Interaction Evaluation Model was developed to illustrate relationships between the 4-H program, as a sub-system, and a larger society as a greater system. The model specifically focused upon cognitive, affective and psychomotor skill development of 4-H boys and girls. Research instruments were designed to assess 4-H member outcomes of the cognitive and affective domains for 4-H members at two levels within the clothing, beef and photography projects.A random sample of 4-H boys and girls enrolled during 1975 in six selected project divisions participated in the study. Selected 4-H members resided in 12 counties in each of three states, Indiana, Nebraska and Missouri. Research instruments were administered as a pre-measurement of existing skill levels to participating 4-H members during May and as a post-measurement of terminal skill levels during September, 1975.Two major hypotheses were developed. Hypothesis I was an inclusive hypothesis of all skills classified as cognitive skills and stated that no significant mean score increases between pre-measurement and post-measurement would occur. Hypothesis II was an inclusive hypothesis stating that no significant mean score differences on three attitudinal sub-scales would occur between the two administrations of the attitude sub-scales.The resulting data were analyzed to determine the proportion of 4-H members performing the specified skills adequately at the time of each administration of the research instrument and the significance of observed mean score differences for each skill assessed. A correlated t test for significance utilizing a one-tailed test was used to test all skills contained under Hypothesis I. A correlated t test for significance utilizing a two-tailed test was used to test attitudinal sub-scale changes under Hypothesis II. All skills contained as sub-hypotheses were rejected at the .05 level of confidence.The following conclusions were based upon the findings of the study:1. Attitude of 4-H members toward the 4-H project division generally change little during one project year.2. Criterion levels established for attitude sub-scales generally are within reach of the 4-H member.3. Terminal 4-H project mean attitude sub-scale scores are generally lower at advanced levels than first year levels indicating that advanced 4-H members hold a more positive attitude toward the project than first year members.4. Attitudinal changes are more likely to occur within the beef and photography projects than in the clothing project. No significant differences were observed in the three attitude sub-scales in the clothing project levels.5. Criterion levels established for cognitive objectives are either too high for all but ten of the cognitive objectives studied or the project experiences are inadequate to guarantee 4-H member achievement.6. Among the three beginning 4-H project divisions, increased levels of measured cognitive achievement occurred most frequently in the clothing project and least frequently in the photography project difference among the three projects is not observable for the advanced divisions. 7. Measured cognitive gains are more frequent for beginning project divisions in Indiana and Nebraska while for Missouri, the gains are more frequent for advanced project divisions.8. Generally, a larger number of 4-H members can reach specified criterion levels for objectives on the post-test than on the pretest.9. Except for the beef project in Indiana, the increase in percentage of 4-H members reaching criterion levels from pre-test to post-test is greater for beginning project divisions than advanced project divisions.10. A total of 43 of the 220 objectives developed for the study are inappropriate, evaluation items utilized are inadequate or the attendent project division programs need major revision because terminal cognitive mean scores were lower than entering cognitive mean scores.

Experimental results indicated that dolomite dissolution rates increased in all the acid solutions as the disk rotational speeds increased at 150, 200, and 250˚F. The dissolution of dolomite in 0.886 M GLDA was found to be surface-reaction limited at lower temperatures and mass-transfer limited at highest temperature. GLDA with the lowest reaction rates and relative diffusion coefficient demonstrated retardation before spending with deeper penetration capability for productivity and injectivity improvement. The purpose of this study was to analyze the Texas Quality Counts Verification Exam for junior and senior aged 4-H and FFA members. The Texas Quality Counts program was developed due to a need for teaching livestock ethics and care to the youth of Texas and it strives to teach youth how to produce a safe and wholesome livestock product for the consumer. An analysis of youth scores between 2011 and 2012 was done to determine how well youth were scoring on the Texas Quality Counts Verification Exam. Out of the 91,733 attempts, 18,204 were taken by juniors and 73,572 were taken by seniors. Junior level attempts show a fairly even spread among self-identified membership in 4-H and FFA, while senior level attempts saw a much greater spread in membership, with 73% of attempts taken by youth who identified themselves as a member in FFA. Overall, 78% of junior level youth were able to pass the exam on their first attempt, and showed a range of mean attempts between 1.13 and 1.47 based on age. Senior level youth, on the other hand, had only 47% pass on their first attempt and had a range of mean attempts between 2.21 and 2.54 based on age. The means of scores on the exam were calculated for juniors and seniors, with 0.85 and 0.71 respectively. To determine if there were any differences in scores between self-identified membership in 4-H, FFA, or both 4-H and FFA, a oneway ANOVA for junior and senior members was conducted. Both junior and senior age groups showed a significant difference between the three membership categories (p=0.001).

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MS)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Carl Igo. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-66).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-175). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 47 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-36).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin, 1963. / Typewritten. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-110).

Most research studies of American agricultural education begin with an overview of the events leading to the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. By doing so, researchers have neglected an important, foundational era of agricultural education. With the passage of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, states began establishing land-grant colleges to provide instruction in the scientific method of agriculture. However, the faculty found that students attending the colleges were ill prepared for collegiate level agricultural courses. At the same time, there was increased interest in agricultural education due in part to the establishment of the land-grant system and later the development of a national system of experiment stations. This interest, coupled with a strong national movement to improve secondary education, provided the incentive to for educational leaders to campaign for secondary agricultural education. Hence, the movement for Congressional district agricultural schools began. The state legislatures of Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia established a system of Congressional district agricultural schools. The states of Arkansas and Oklahoma set up similar systems. These schools only lasted a short time but had a great influence on the development of agricultural education, cooperative extension, and public education in general. The purpose of this dissertation is to document the establishment and accomplishments of Congressional district agricultural schools in the United States with an emphasis on Virginia. An overview of the agricultural schools in states other than Virginia is provided. The events leading to the development of such schools in Virginia are described as well as the statutory establishment. Finally, the researcher has described the 11 Virginia Congressional district agricultural schools and their accomplishments are documented. A careful review of related material was conducted. The major outcomes of this study are as follows. First, the study provides historical documentation of the Virginia Congressional district agricultural schools. Secondly the study explores the strong programming partnership that developed between extension and the Congressional district agricultural schools in Virginia. Lastly, the study highlights the importance of the Congressional district agricultural schools in the foundational development of the public school system, the cooperative extension program, and vocational education in Virginia. / Ph. D.

4-H Youth and Families with Promise (4-H YFP) is a one to one youth mentoring program that aims to help youth obtain skills that will help them to be successful. The purpose of this research was to determine if any positive outcomes were shown of youth participating in 4-H YFP. Positive outcomes were identified as peer social competence, greater ability to make positive choices, the development of effective communication skills, building connections, and contributing to the community. Results show that these outcomes positively increased among youth participants in the 4-H YFP program- but the changes were too small to be of any significance. Results also show that the longer youth are enrolled in the program, the greater their peer social competence, ability to make positive choices, and effectively communicate.