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No description available.

The shortage of secondary agricultural education teachers within the United States is nothing new. Several studies have investigated the supply and demand of secondary agricultural education teachers to fill teaching vacancies. However, learning how to prevent secondary agricultural education teacher attrition is another problem. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect education level attainment and method of teacher certification of secondary agricultural education teachers in Region IV (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio) of the National Association of Agricultural Educators had on who may be at risk for leaving the teaching profession. Risk analysis was based on the constructs 1) Alternative Career Opportunities, 2) Expectations versus Realities, 3) People Frustrations, and 4) Passion for the Profession. A descriptive and ex post facto, causal comparative design was utilized for this study. The population for this study consisted of 2,125 secondary agricultural education teachers in Region IV of the National Association of Agricultural Educators. Participants (n = 425) were randomly selected based upon a 20% sample size from each of the states within NAAE Region IV. Potential participants were emailed invitations to participate as well as an active link to the survey through Qualtrics® program. A final sample size (n = 137) was used once missing and incomplete data were removed leaving a 33.3% response rate. Data analysis revealed that secondary agricultural education teachers in the sample were primarily male (61%), most often held a Bachelor’s plus degree (28%) as the highest level of education obtained, were traditionally certified (87.6%) and taught an average of 11.7 years. Seventyive percent of respondents were married. The results indicated the Expectations versus Realities construct as having the highest attrition risk means followed by Alternative Career Opportunities, People Frustrations, and Passion for the Profession. There were no differences found for the overall attrition risk and four constructs when comparing traditionally and alternatively certified secondary agricultural education teachers. Additionally, no differences were found in overall attrition risk scores and the four construct scores among educational levels for secondary agricultural education teachers in Region IV.

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No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions middle school students had about agriculture and gardening as part of the GrOW (Gardening and Overall Wellness) Program. This included multiple constructs, including students’ gardening efficacy, perceptions of those who had already completed the GrOW Program, perceptions of those who had not completed the GrOW Program, and students’ future interests in gardening. The population for this study was sixth-grade students at the Partnership Middle School in Starkville, Mississippi. A quantitative instrument was used to assess the perceptions of the students (n = 222). Overall, students had positive perceptions about the GrOW Program. They believed it would help them in being able to assist their families in raising a garden. Students understood that watering and weeding were important in keeping a garden healthy, and they liked being outdoors. Several recommendations for future research were revealed through this study. Surveying other middle schools that also have gardening programs with similar and different demographics would provide a complete evaluation of gardening perceptions. For future studies on this program, having sixth-grade students complete the survey at the beginning and end of the school year would provide a more detailed view of what the students perceptions of the GrOW Program were for that school year. Finally, since students’ views tend to change over time, a longitudinal study to better explain student perceptions of agriculture and gardening. The GrOW program has potential in serving as a model and providing resources for other schools wanting to develop a curriculum-based gardening program.

The general objective of this study was that of giving food, health, and nutrition education via educational lessons based on a diagnostic of teachers' and children's knowledge at the Cuambo school. The study is descriptive and transverse and lasted from October 2000 through June 2001. The study included 100% of the attending children and teachers of the Cumabo community school, being 42 in number. Variables were: topics on eating, nutrition, and health that complete the plan of basic studies, along with training of students and teachers. Since the project was eminently educational, it implied carrying out the respective educational lessons with adaptations for each community. There were 10 educational lessons done for each community, which consisted of topic, audience, message, objective, techniques, materials, preliminary preparation, initial evaluation, classroom development, review, reinforcement, final evaluation, and analysis. The support educational materials used were the Healthy Schools pamphlets, which were made into the principal source of education.

M.S.

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between agribusiness self-efficacy and business related collegiate courses. One hundred eleven (N = 111) Mississippi and Tennessee secondary agricultural education teachers completed a researcher developed survey that measured agribusiness self-efficacy using 88 competencies from Mississippi and Tennessee secondary agribusiness courses. Participants rated their confidence to teach each competency using a 5 point scale with 1 as no confidence and 5 as very confident. The survey also assessed the types and number of collegiate-level business related courses completed by the participants as well as other demographic factors. Multiple linear regression, ANOVA, and Spearman's rho tests were used to assess relationships between the measured agribusiness self-efficacy and the various demographic factors. The mean agribusiness self-efficacy was 3.18 (SD = 0.788) indicating that teachers are only somewhat confident to teach agribusiness. Factor analysis divided the 88 competencies into nine themes. The overall competency and nine factor competency means were used as dependent variables. Marketing and introductory agribusiness courses loaded on most of the regression models. The number of collegiate business related courses is significantly related to participants agribusiness self-efficacy. Participants with a high GPA were found to have a significantly lower agribusiness self-efficacy as compare to lesser GPA groups. Teaching agribusiness courses increases agribusiness self-efficacy. Utilizing agribusiness textbooks and guest speakers also increases agribusiness self-efficacy. Owning a business was included in most of the agribusiness self-efficacy models. Nine of the ten regression models solely included state department of education facilitated agribusiness professional development. Years of experience was only significantly related to one of the ten dependent variables. No significant relationship was discovered between agribusiness self-efficacy and teacher age. No significant differences in agribusiness self-efficacy was discovered for education level, college major, certification type. It is recommended that universities include a marketing course along with an introductory to agribusiness course to prepare pre-service agricultural education teachers. It is also recommended that secondary agricultural education teachers maintain a professional library with agribusiness textbooks and to utilize guest speakers as needed to optimize agribusiness self-efficacy.