The recruitment and retention of agriculture teachers has been a persistent problem for several decades, requiring unique approaches to solving this issue. This study sought to garner a unique prospective of why and how one enters the profession by understanding why second generation agriculture teachers (SGATs) chose to enter the profession after…

This grounded theory study explored the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of experienced agriculture teachers in the plant sciences. The central phenomenon that emerged during data collection and analysis was the influence of beliefs on shaping participants' PCK. This finding guided subsequent collection and analysis that resulted in the…

Previous research has indicated professional training and support, personal literacy preferences, and professional literacy attitudes have an influence on classroom literacy practices. Limited literacy related research has been conducted in agricultural education. This study sought to examine the influence of professional training and support,…

This grounded theory study explored the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of experienced agriculture teachers in the plant sciences. The most emergent phenomenon to surface from the data was the influence of beliefs on participants' PCK. This central phenomenon became the cornerstone for the model of what was shaping experienced agriculture…

The purpose of this grounded theory qualitative study was to explore how beginning agriculture teachers break down content knowledge for student understanding. The overarching theme that emerged during data collection and analysis was beginning teachers' self-perceived content knowledge deficiency in various subjects within agriculture. This…

This study explored the experiences of preservice agriculture teachers in content knowledge preparation for pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development. The researchers employed a phenomenological approach in which six preservice teachers were interviewed the semester prior to student teaching. The researchers found there was general…

This study explored first and second year agriculture teachers' job satisfaction and teacher selfefficacy through their perceived levels of school culture support. Prior research indicated one possible contributor to poor teacher retention is a lack of belonging teachers feel to their schools. Data were collected from beginning teachers in three…

This study explored experiences of beginning agriculture teachers' approaches to teaching content. The research question guiding the study was: how does agriculture teachers' knowledge of content and students influence their process of breaking down content knowledge for teaching? The researchers employed a grounded theory approach in which five…

Educational leaders have widely implemented mentoring and induction programs to support beginning teachers as they enter the profession. A variety of contextual factors within the mentoring dyad and program may impact the mentoring relationship and subsequent support received by the beginning teacher. The purpose of this study was to describe the…

The purpose of this study was to describe the agriculture knowledge bases for teaching of agriculture teachers and to see if a relationship existed between years of teaching experience, sources of knowledge, and development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), using quantitative methods. A model of PCK from mathematics was utilized as a…

The attrition rate for novice teachers can range between 20%-50% in the first five years. This problem has concerned researchers in school-based agricultural education because of the shortage of agriculture teachers and high demands of the job. Researchers narrowed down the reasons why teachers leave the profession including the role of…

Strong literacy skills are needed to be successful in the 21st century. All teachers are charged with developing students' literacy skills and abilities. To help better prepare preservice teachers for this task, students at the University of Missouri are required to take a Reading in the Content Area (RICA) course. This intrinsic case study…

Organizational culture shapes how members of a group act. The culture has the power to exclude potential new members who do not fit into the culture of the organization. Research on urban school-based agriculture programs has indicated that urban agriculture students face barriers to their participation in the National FFA Organization (FFA).…

Urban FFA members face unique challenges if they want to become active members in the National FFA Organization. FFA leaders have realized that the FFA organization does not represent the evolving demographics of America and have made efforts to cater to urban and diverse high school audiences with some success. This study seeks to explore this…

Urban youth engaged in after-school organizations have more positive attributes compared to their unengaged contemporaries. The FFA is one particular intra-curricular organization with after-school components; yet, urban students do not participate in FFA at the same levels as rural students. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore…