The purpose of this study was to identify and describe factors that influence senior agricultural education students' choice to become a secondary agricultural education teacher. The study focused on the extent to which students' beliefs and attitude about teaching influenced their intent to select teaching secondary agricultural education as a…

Cultural diversity in secondary and postsecondary agricultural education programs lags behind recent demographic shifts in the general U.S. population. An examination of the literature provides inquiries into the need for teaching of multicultural awareness and reducing the achievement gap between students of various cultures. This research sought…

Monitoring the stress of teachers continues to be important--particularly stress levels of beginning agriculture teachers. The study sought to describe the relationship between beginning teachers' perceived ability to manage their time and their level of stress. The Time Management Practices Inventory and the Job Stress Survey were used to measure…

The purpose of this study was to explain and predict the factors that influence senior-level agricultural education students' choice to become a secondary agriculture teacher. The study focused on the extent to which beliefs and attitudes toward teaching influenced students' intent to select teaching secondary agricultural education as a career.…

Monitoring and evaluating programs and outcomes is common practice in educational arenas; less frequent in professional societies and organizations. A clear understanding of the climate of an organization is important, potentially providing leadership with an understanding of how to improve the functionality of an organization. The purpose of this…

The study sought to explore and compare the current level of job stress among secondary agriculture teachers in Missouri and North Carolina. The accessible populations consisted of secondary agriculture teachers (n = 252) in Missouri and (n = 118) in North Carolina. Data were collected using the Job Stress Survey (Spielberger & Vagg, 1999). From…

For the past two decades, the idea of integrating more science concepts into the secondary agriculture curriculum has gained support. The purpose of this study was to assess the confidence and competence of agriculture instructors to teach concepts related to science. The sample was derived from the population of agriculture instructors teaching…

Teachers distribute their time in many ways. The study sought to determine how agriculture teachers distribute their time among 11 selected teacher activities (i.e., preparation for instruction; classroom/laboratory teaching; laboratory preparation and/or maintenance; grading/scoring students' work; administrative duties-program management;…

One common thread throughout the research in agricultural education is that cooperating teachers have been identified as being important and influential to the student teachers' success. If the interaction between student teacher and cooperating teacher is important to the student teaching process, then the matching of a student teacher with a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of cognitive behavior exhibited by secondary agriculture teachers and compare the behavior to science teachers. Teachers within the two groups were found to have similar attitudes toward teaching at higher levels of cognition. Agriculture teachers spent 83% of their time on lower-order…

Student teaching is the culminating experience of most teacher preparation programs. Student teaching gives the prospective teacher the opportunity to join the worlds of theory and practice and to develop individual teaching talents. Long hours are regularly spent in several areas. This study sought to investigate how student teachers distribute…

New Mexico agriculture teacher education graduates currently teaching secondary agriculture (n=25) rated their at-graduation competencies as satisfactory. Their biggest improvement since graduation was in keeping students on task. Enthusiasm for all facets of the education program remained high. Work experience had the most influence on growth of…

Agricultural education majors at New Mexico State University (n=115) rated prior agricultural experiences as the most influential factor in their selection of a major. Department/college environment, professional role models, and job prospects were also influential. (SK)

Results of the Group Embedded Figures Test taken by 78 Navajo students in agricultural education showed that most were field independent. Their style varied by gender and degree of traditionalism. (SK)

Responses from 48 of 70 secondary teacher advisors of Future Farmers of America (FFA) in New Mexico showed that 50% had been exposed to the Program of Activities (POA) as FFA members; state mandates influenced their use of POA; and all involved students in planning and implementing activities, but only 67% involved students in evaluating them. (SK)