Agricultural education, like many other disciplines, is experiencing a shortage of school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers. We examined the perceptions of Pennsylvania SBAE teachers regarding extended contracts as they have been identified as a possible tool to improve recruitment and retention. The purpose of the study was to sample…

Global society has major scientific challenges to solve over the coming decades including climate change and food insecurity. Considering school-based agricultural education can play an important role in developing scientifically literate and civically engaged citizens to help address these challenges, this study sought to describe and compare…

Modern societal functions for meeting basic needs contribute to the lack of understanding many Americans have about agriculture's connection to human health and environmental quality. Consequently, this limited understanding has produced a need to measure agricultural literacy to develop programming or enhance existing agricultural educational…

This study characterized perceptions of agricultural leadership programs in colleges of agriculture, food, life, human, or environmental sciences at 1,862 land-grant institutions. Objectives included describing the need for programs, studying evolution within the discipline, discussing faculty recommendations for future development, and examining…

Desimone's core features of professional development (PD) guides the PD for teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine the PD practice of School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers in the enthusiastic and growing career stage. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with five teachers from five different states. The…

Developing leaders is vital to the future of our nation. As institutions of higher education address the need for leadership through courses and experiences, there is a need to recognize and acknowledge the potential impact of high school activity participation on leadership development. This descriptive-correlational study surveyed first-time…

The purpose of this multi-state study was to identify agricultural education teachers' perceived level of importance regarding selected instructional supervisory practices used in the nonformal components of agricultural education. The theoretical frame supporting this study was the theory of andragogy. Data were reported on the perceived…

The purpose of this study was to identify beliefs held by agricultural education teachers regarding the supervision of instruction by the principal. This study was based on the work of Ferguson and Bargh (2004) regarding how social perception can automatically influence behavior. Data were reported on ten general beliefs regarding instructional…

Academic program rankings are highly anticipated by many university administrators, faculty, and alumni. This study analyzed the perceptions of agricultural education departmental contact persons to identify esteemed post-secondary agricultural education programs and the distinguishing characteristics of each program. The ten most distinguished…

Responses from 118 of 314 secondary agriculture teachers indicated that three-fourths teach adults; about two-thirds identified with the progressive education philosophy, 21% with behaviorism; nearly half had no formal training in teaching adults. Effect size results suggest they may not have clearly defined adult education philosophies. (Contains…

Secondary agriculture teachers (n=153) rated their current and desired levels of competence in working with students with disabilities. Lowest ratings went to preparation of individual education plans and vocational education plans, legal knowledge, knowledge of appropriate teaching methods, and ability to help students view assets and limitations…

In focus group interviews, 14 Pennsylvania Crop Management Association technicians identified their primary role as information providers and consultants, felt the need for better communication skills and training as nonformal adult educators, considered human resources the most valuable information sources, and believed farmers participated only…

The learning style mean scores of 539 Pennsylvania 4-H members were below the national norm on 4 of 5 cognitive subscales. It was recommended that nonformal education such as 4-H stress such cognitive skills as ability to think, solve problems, and process information. (SK)

Comparison of 224 Pennsylvania secondary agricultural education students with a national sample showed that (1) the Pennsylvania students' cognitive skills were less developed; (2) their preferred responses to information were auditory and emotive; (3) small group and hands-on were preferred environments; and (4) they were less likely to prefer…