Research on the needs of school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers has been conducted since 1983, driven by historic attrition within the profession, yet we do not have the depth of understanding necessary to provide actionable change to SBAE teachers to empower and support them in their practice. The Conceptual Model of Support for School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers was used to frame this study's purpose of establishing an instrument that takes a more human lens to support SBAE teachers. The instrument resulted in five components including personal needs, intracurricular program needs, relationship needs within the school and community, classroom/instructional needs, and school-based support needs with a total of 46 items validated through the principal component analysis with .60 reliability for all 46 items was indicated with a Cronbach’s alpha of .951. Recommendations include evaluating the humanistic needs of in-service SBAE teachers. Additionally, preservice teacher preparation programs should use the instrument to evaluate SBAE teacher aspirants during their student teaching internship. Future research should consider the current needs of SBAE teachers using the validated instrument to determine opportunities to increase the level of effectiveness and individual wellness of SBAE teachers.

Instructional methods are the cornerstone of all teaching and learning strategies. This study explored instructional method use by early, middle, and later career agricultural education teachers. One-hundred nine teachers responded to an online questionnaire. These teachers were evenly split in terms of gender and more than three to one were traditionally certified versus alternatively certified. Cooperative learning, demonstration, and lecture were reported as the most frequently used instructional methods across the career stages. Demonstration, discussion, and lecture were the instructional methods in which teachers reported having the most training. Teachers in this study were most confident in using demonstration and least confident in using role play. Demonstration and role play both held the top and bottom spots when teachers were asked about effectiveness related to their instructional methods. Several moderate to strong relationships exist between perceived confidence in using instructional methods and the effectiveness of the given instructional method. Framing instructional method use as a line of inquiry is important within the agricultural education discipline as we continue to see an increase in alternative certification teachers entering the profession and as a lens to study changes in agricultural education teachers throughout their careers.

Attrition is a documented cause for ongoing SBAE teacher shortages and is often linked with the number of challenges faced by teachers and their ability to overcome them. Teacher experiences with challenges and barriers has the potential to impact occupational self-efficacy, or their perceived ability to do their job. Lower occupational self-efficacy has been tied to higher levels of attrition. The purpose of this study was to assess how challenges faced by SBAE teachers across the United States influence their perceived ability to do their job. A descriptive national survey was employed to accomplish the purpose of this study. Challenges most negatively impacting SBAE teachers’ perceived ability to do their job included miscellaneous activities beyond teaching, FFA, and SAE as well as personal activities outside of school. We also found female SBAE teachers perceived challenges to more negatively influence their ability to do their job than their male colleagues. Recommendations for practice included providing additional training in managing miscellaneous activities in SBAE programs and determining root causes of SBAE teacher challenges so they may be eliminated when possible. Further research should be conducted in developing a SBAE teacher occupational self-efficacy instrument and in finding ways to remedy the differences in perceived influence of challenges faced by male and female SBAE teachers on their ability to do their job.

Volunteers have always been essential to the success of 4-H youth development programs. However, the number of available volunteers has declined. Although this decline is not new, it is imperative to recruit and retain adult volunteers for youth programming. Researchers sought to describe characteristics of current Texas volunteers and identify motivational functions according to the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI). This descriptive study utilized enrolled volunteers in the Texas 4-H program, with responses from 1,225 individuals. Most volunteers were white, college educated, females, and had no prior affiliation with the program. Volunteers were mainly motivated by the values and understanding function. It was recommended information from volunteer demographics and identified motivations be used by extension volunteer administrators to more effectively recruit and retain volunteers for 4-H youth development programing.

A decline in response rates was found for agricultural education research studies using survey research methods. The use of incentives and various response modes can affect survey response rates and were the focus of this experiment. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of survey response mode and incentives on response rates when surveying SBAE teachers. Findings revealed a significant increase in response rates for groups receiving an incentive. No significant differences were found between groups using different survey response modes. When examining summated scale scores for each construct in the questionnaire, participants answering on paper scored more positively in four of the six constructs compared to web responses. Recommendations for practice included using mixed response modes when financially feasible and oversampling to achieve the desired sample size to represent a population. Further research on the effects of communication mode on response rates is needed. An examination of why differences in scale scores occur with different response modes is recommended.

This chapter focuses on programmatic research in agriculture teacher education programs. Included in this chapter are the definition of research, why agriculture teacher education programs should conduct research, approaches to programmatic research, and practical applications for using research in teacher educations programs. The authors break down various methodologies for conducting programmatic research and offer many practical examples of how these can be easily implemented into any agriculture teacher education program. This chapter walks the reader through developing researchable questions, using the scientific method, choosing appropriate research design and methodology, and simple steps to disseminate and communicate research findings. The chapter also touches on the relationship between research and evaluation and how evaluation is used to assess programmatic effectiveness.

The relationship between principals and school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers is crucial for SBAE program success. According to educational leadership theory, principal perceptions of a program can lead to support and student achievement. There is a gap in the literature concerning principal perceptions of specific FFA and SAE activities within the last 30 years. Findings from this survey design study showed both principals and SBAE teachers perceived FFA and SAE activities were important, and no significant difference was found between principals and SBAE teachers on the perceived importance of FFA or SAE activities. It was recommended SBAE teachers continue to educate administrators about FFA and SAE activities and maintain an effective line of communication to maintain the current positive perceptions held about SBAE program components. Additional research should be conducted to determine how principal perceptions of SBAE programs lead to support as well as determine what SBAE teachers view as adequate administrative program support.

The relationship between school administrators and agricultural education teachers has historically been considered to be important. Past studies have indicated mixed results when comparing principal and teacher perceptions of the importance of agricultural education teaching activities. Agreement between both parties and support from the principal is important to overall student achievement according to educational leadership theory. With the gap in time since previous research on the topic, a comparison of principal and teacher perceptions of teaching activities in agricultural education was conducted. Findings included significant differences in principal and teacher opinions of the importance of lesson planning, filing local reports and keeping records, conducting parent/teacher conferences, and teaching agribusiness courses. Recommendations included continued communication on topics of disagreement and inclusion of administrators in agricultural program activities that highlight student achievement.

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of high school counselors across the state of Texas toward agricultural education. This study was descriptive in nature. High school counselors had an overall positive attitude toward agricultural education. They did not believe agricultural education courses were intended for lower-performing students. High school counselors agreed their local agricultural education program was valuable for college bound and non-college bound students. An overwhelming majority (85%) of high school counselors reported that student interest was their top priority when advising students to enroll in an agricultural education course. They had low to very low awareness of many opportunities available for agricultural education students. It is recommended that agricultural education teachers continue to develop strong, positive relationships with school counselors to provide education and awareness of the agricultural education program opportunities.

To provide a benchmark of survey methods used in agricultural education research, a content analysis of Journal of Agricultural Education (JAE) research articles was conducted to determine populations studied, survey contact and response mode use, the use of incentives, and response and participation rates reported. Findings revealed survey research is still the most commonly used research methodology for articles published in the JAE. School-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers are the population most frequently surveyed with contact and response modes shifting from mailed paper surveys to online surveys. Incentives were rarely used in the sampled articles. Response and participation rates have declined 20 – 30% from 1979 to 2019, increasing the possibility for nonresponse error. Recommendations for practice include providing more specific information in manuscripts related to tailoring survey methods for a particular population and reporting participation and response rates more accurately. Further research was recommended for determining which survey modes are most successful for populations commonly studied in agricultural education research, conducting a cost analysis of using incentives, and exploring new technologies to reach populations via research.

The receptor—estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERR?)—regulates mitochondrial metabolism, and was also found in unusually low levels in patients with chronic kidney disease, pointing to its importance in healthy kidney function. Grant Barish, MD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine, and Amanda Allred and Yasuhiro Omura, research technologists in the Barish laboratory, were co-authors of the study.

Recent policy reports have demanded more effective education resources to support workforce needs and address deficiencies in STEM and agricultural literacy among U.S. citizens. This research assessed an educational program for secondary students contextualizing STEM education within poultry science. We designed seven 30-minute online modules to be integrated into existing agriculture and biology courses. Module content included basic hen management and welfare principles presented through text, videos, and interactive games. Participants were 499 students in 23 classrooms who used the modules in the Fall 2018 semester and served as a single treatment group in a mixed-methods study assessing program effectiveness. After the program, students completed an online questionnaire assessing motivation during the program. In addition, students completed ten 1-point content questions before and after the first six modules. Following the program, teachers responded to open-ended prompts. After excluding incomplete entries, data were analyzed from 169 student responses matched from pre- to post-questionnaire (34.1%) and 9 teacher respondents (56.2%). For each of the six content quizzes, significant increases in students’ knowledge were observed after completing the modules. Students reported low to moderate interest and enjoyment in the modules and moderate perceived autonomy. Qualitative responses from both students and teachers indicated that the program’s contextualization of STEM and interactive features enhanced student learning and interest.

Due to the lack of qualified agricultural education teachers needed to fill yearly vacancies on the secondary school level, educators at Texas Tech University conducted a longitudinal study concerning how student teachers spend their time during their student teaching experience in an attempt to identify if this time spent has an impact on the decision to enter the field. Findings showed student teachers were engaged for a total of 713.83 to 931.23 hours on average during their student teaching experience. Longitudinally, time spent in the classroom, in FFA activities, and in SAE observations varied at different points in the semester. A logistic regression revealed 18-28% of the variance in the decision to teach may be explained by the amount of time grading student work and with laboratory preparation and maintenance. Recommendations for practice include encouraging student teachers to participate in as many activities as possible. Further research should be conducted to identify more factors influencing the decision of student teachers to enter the field.

The purpose of this study was to determine early career agricultural teachers’ preparation and practice of various instructional methods in agricultural education. Training received in instructional methods and percentage of time spent using instructional methods were examined. Two-thirds of the participants of this study reported receiving training in all 10 of the identified instructional methods through their teacher certification program. Cooperative learning, demonstration, and lecture emerged as the most frequently used instructional methods while field trips, role play, and guest speakers were reported as the least used instructional methods. Participants only reported high confidence in using two instructional methods, demonstration and cooperative learning. Teachers identified only demonstration and cooperative learning as effective instructional methods for their classrooms. All other methods were reported as moderately effective. It was recommended that teacher preparation programs teach pre-service teachers how to select the appropriate instructional method for the environmental factors at hand.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine current agricultural mechanics project construction and its use as a supervised agricultural experience in Texas and was conducted using survey methods. The population was composed of agricultural education teachers who had students with an agricultural mechanics project at one or more of four selected agricultural mechanics project shows from the state. The sampling strategy was purposive in nature and all teachers were surveyed (N = 324). A response rate of 45.1% (n = 146) was achieved. Participants reported 2,626 agricultural mechanics projects were constructed for exhibition by students. Agricultural education teachers reported the majority of the projects used as a student’s SAE were classified under the entrepreneurship category. Results indicate teachers believe in-class hours should count toward a student’s SAE, agricultural mechanics projects should be used for SAEs, and record books were kept on about half of the projects. Recommendations include using more agricultural mechanics projects as SAEs and providing professional development for teachers in the area of SAE classification and using group projects for SAEs.

Changes in Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs) and a lack of SAE category knowledge have been identified as causes to declining SAE participation (Dyer & Osborne, 1995; Steel, 1997; Wilson & Moore, 2007). Recently, the National Council for Agricultural Education and the National FFA Organization have redefined SAE and created new categories for SAEs in an attempt to be more inclusive of agricultural projects and to increase participation. This descriptive study assessed (n=116) school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers’ knowledge in categorizing SAE scenarios into previous and new SAE categories. Teacher familiarity with old and new categories was determined as well as teacher practices and opinions on new categories. Results indicated teachers were more familiar with old SAE categories than new categories. SBAE teachers consistently scored lower on their ability to classify SAE scenarios with new SAE categories compared to old categories. Teachers thought new categories were more difficult to teach students and most teachers had not taught their students information on new categories. This led to the recommendation for streamlined communication between decision-making groups in the agricultural education community and SBAE teachers in the field. Various forms of professional development are needed for teachers in the area of SAE categorization.