The purpose of this descriptive-correlational study was to assess the level of teacher self-efficacy of first-year, secondary agricultural education teachers in Oklahoma at the beginning and end of their entry-year in the profession and describe their early career retention. This study found that these first-year teachers increased their level of…

In American public schools, the bulk of financial decisions have been left up to local boards of education, local school superintendents, and individual school principals. Traditionally, principals have been considered the utmost leader in their schools. Agricultural education has been linked to student achievement in a variety of ways. The…

As our economy calls for improved employment skills, educational institutions must provide quality teaching to prepare students for success. Researchers purport that an important factor in determining student learning is the teacher, and that one of the most prominent factors in student achievement is teacher quality. The search for the…

The purpose of the study was to compare two teaching methodologies for an integrated agricultural biotechnology course at the postsecondary level. The two teaching methods tested were the explanation of the scientific basis for content (comparison treatment) versus the application of content to a real-world agricultural context (experimental…

School systems in Africa are short of skills that link well with rural communities, yet arguments to vocationalize curricula remain mixed and school agriculture lacks the supervised practical component. This study, conducted in eight primary (elementary) schools in Uganda, sought to compare the learning achievement of pupils taught using…

As the trend to integrate science and agriculture education has reemerged, so has the research related to the integration of science into secondary agricultural education. The American Association of Agricultural Education responded to this trend by creating a special interest group called "Strengthening Academic Learning through Agricultural…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of self-esteem and selected demographic characteristics on academic achievement among students at the freshman level in the College of Agriculture at Louisiana State University. The sample of the study was all students at Louisiana State University enrolled in the Introduction to…

Testing to build research-based evidence to support teaching methodologies that promote student learning has become increasingly important in a standards-based educational system in the United States. One challenge is the lack of studies that support specific methodologies so teachers and administers can make professional development and…

This study explored the perceptions of principals at high schools with agricultural education programs in regard to Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). There is evidence that suggests that high school principals' attitudes may both directly and indirectly affect factors that influence school climate and student achievement. In this study,…

Many authors have posited that agricultural education curriculum in middle schools may enhance student performance in science. To determine the effect that agricultural education curriculum has upon Georgia middle schools' student performance in science, this descriptive study compared science knowledge among middle school students in Georgia who…

Instructional planning is a curricular topic in teacher preparation programs, but limited research in agricultural education has been conducted in this area. The purpose of this study was to examine aspects of the instructional planning process that are taught to agricultural education preservice teachers. Survey research and content analysis of…

The purpose of this research was to determine whether using an audience response system improves student achievement. Audience response systems are computer-based tools for use in classrooms for the purpose of providing feedback to students on questions asked during instruction. This study used a quasi-experimental design to determine if students…

The purpose of this collective case study was to understand the nature of planning and the influences on planning among intern and novice teachers in Illinois. Sixteen intern teachers and 15 novice teachers participated in reflections, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. In regard to the nature of planning, both intern and novice…

Students in web-based courses (n=74) completed the Group Embedded Figures Test and an online questionnaire on learning strategies and patterns. They used strategies to determine important ideas from lectures and memorize key concepts. They used online features more for checking grades than communicating with the class. Learning strategies…

A study of two classes of agriculture freshmen (1997: n=245, 1998: 195) showed that the best predictor of performance for the 1997 cohort was high school grade point average (GPA) and ACT score; for the 1998 cohort, GPA alone. High school GPA was the only successful predictor of freshman GPA. Traditional admission criteria had limited predictive…