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…

Mentoring and induction programs are popular within the public school system in the United States. Additionally, content-based mentoring programs exist, such as those within agricultural education. A number of studies yielded results that showed a relationship between mentoring/induction participation and teacher retention. The importance of the…

The academic skills of today's teenagers are diminishing, and are a cause for concern. One of the academic areas in need of improvement is science. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to determine the effect that a science-enhanced, curriculum would have on students' achievement in science. The population for this study consisted of…

For more than 20 years, the 50 agricultural mechanics laboratory management competencies identified by Johnson and Schumacher in 1989 have served as the basis for numerous needs assessments of secondary agriculture teachers. This study reevaluated Johnson and Schumacher's instrument, as modified by Saucier, Schumacher, Funkenbusch, Terry, and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of North Carolina high school agricultural educators toward including students with special needs when implementing Supervised Agricultural Experience and participating in FFA activities. The population was all high school agricultural educators in North Carolina with 12 month employment (N…

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…

The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the reasons students, identifying as non-White, made the decision to pursue a career in agricultural education. This phenomenological study allowed the researchers to obtain the overall phenomenon of the thought processes that encompass decisions of students of color when selecting an…

Understanding job satisfaction, stress, and burnout within agricultural education has the potential to impact the profession's future. Studying these factors through the theoretical lens of social comparison takes a cultural approach by investigating how agriculture teachers interact with and compare themselves to others. The purpose of this study…

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 descriptive-correlational study was to examine the level of self-efficacy of Oklahoma secondary agricultural education teachers regarding their use of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) in classroom teaching. The study also sought to determine if relationships existed between teachers' IWB self-efficacy scores, outcome…

The goal for this research synthesis was to introduce the concept of resilience to agricultural education and determine if further research is warranted on resilience and positive psychology as they relate to the agricultural educator. The current environment of public schools coupled with the ever-burgeoning responsibilities placed upon the…

The agricultural education profession has established that agriculture can be taught as an integrated science and teachers are receptive to highlighting the science in agriculture. However, there is a lack of consensus and possibly even confusion on the understanding of the term "inquiry" in agricultural education. This study used focus groups to…

As teachers are held more and more accountable for the achievement of their students, agriscience teachers must focus on effectively integrating scientific core concepts into agriculture classes. Inquiry-based instruction is currently considered a best practice in increasing students' science content understanding, but is often avoided by teachers…

Research has shown that agricultural education graduates are hesitant to enter the profession and seemingly quick to leave, often citing long work hours as a main contributing factor. As the shortage of agricultural teachers continues, there is concern over the balance of career and family and its effect on the profession. The purpose of this…

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of ATS instructors in Egypt related to implementing experiential learning in the form of internships. In July 2007, 90 ATS instructors attended workshops focused on conducting internship experiences. Self-perceived competency of ATS instructors to implement internships was assessed…