The author is a product of school-based agricultural education. In a way, this distinguished lecture could also be called a tribute to his high school ag teacher, John Stimpert. Mr. Stimpert was a true professional and an excellent teacher. He changed and he changed the program with the changing school and community. The more the author became…

The professional identity secondary agriculture teachers display can affect their receptiveness and interest in different professional development events, yet is often overlooked when designing professional development because it is not included in the consensus of proven methods of professional development design and delivery (Desimone, 2009).…

This article presents a "Mystery Speech" made by the author for the annual American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE) meeting. In this speech, he starts by identifying those defining moments in his own life that have had such a profound effect upon him personally and professionally. Then he identifies some of the lessons he has learned…

Problems and challenges faced by beginning teachers have been well documented in the literature and have created the need for teacher induction programs in all disciplines, including agricultural education. This paper used literature from inside and outside the agricultural education discipline to identify and describe best practices in teacher…

Agriscience is facing pressure to document and contribute to student achievement in math, science, and reading. Agriscience teachers may be able to foster student reading and comprehension through utilization of research-based reading strategies to further develop literacy in and about agriculture. Building on Dunkin and Biddle's (1974) model of…

Interviews with six elementary/middle school teachers developing an agriculture curriculum in a charter school indicated that lack of training, organizational structure, time, materials, and facilities initially hampered development. A federal grant helped with process and time, but lack of curriculum development expertise and facilities,…

A National Council for Agricultural Education project addressing change in preservice teacher education used a web-based statistical program to organize stakeholder input into a concept map. Results of a cluster analysis of the concepts will be used to develop national standards for agricultural teacher education. (SK)

A strategy that integrates community service learning with community needs assessment keeps costs low and local involvement high. An example using agriculture students shows how it provides opportunities for experiential learning and leadership in community development. (SK)

Agriculture faculty at the University of Nebraska are evaluated based on a portfolio containing the following: student evaluations of teaching; annual/long-term teaching objectives; creative/scholarly activities; professional development; courses outlines, objectives, and evaluation policies; advising; class observations; and peer review. Faculty…