The agricultural industry is demanding a skilled workforce. Leadership is often identified as a desired employability skill but understanding the relationship between leader and follower during the leadership process in agricultural contexts is limited. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand how employers contextualize the follower…

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) places a strong emphasis on the alignment of Career Technical Education (CTE) programs of study with state, regional and local economies. Specifically, the legislation requires Perkins-funded programs to prepare students for "high-skill, high-wage, or…

The use of emergency certification to fill teaching vacancies has increased in many school districts across the United States. Prior research suggests that teachers' underlying motivations for entering the profession are associated with student outcomes, but very little is known about the motivations of emergency certified teachers who enter the…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of the study was to determine types and frequency of local food products purchased by schools as part of FTS programs and to identify whether differences in purchasing exist relative to school size (number of lunches served). Methods: A valid and reliable questionnaire was developed from qualitative interviews with…

Teacher attrition is a concern among vital stakeholders in the education industry across the United States. This study addressed the problem: in 2019, Oklahoma's teacher attrition rate was 23.6% of 42,073 teachers. This qualitative exploratory case study explored the factors that lead to teacher attrition in Oklahoma. Hettler's six dimensions of…

Many adults--particularly those with just a high school education--struggle to get and keep jobs that pay enough to support their families and permit upward mobility. At the same time, some employers report difficulty finding people with the right skills to meet their needs. Programs that target in-demand industries or sectors and heavily involve…

Panel discussions as a pedagogical tool allow students to engage with topics of leadership and deliver conceptual understanding in leadership education. Although undergraduate leadership development students have reported a preference for the instructional method, the use of panel discussions as a teaching practice has not been prevalent among…

An understanding of foresters' perceptions of climate change is important for developing effective educational programs on adaptive forest management. We surveyed 1,398 foresters in the southern United States regarding their perceptions of climate change, observations and concerns about climatic and forest conditions, and knowledge of and interest…

One unique and critical element of Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways is that they offer learners exposure and access to authentic experiences inside and outside the classroom. For these opportunities to be guaranteed, industry must play a key role in the design, development and delivery of CTE pathways, including in rural communities. This…

Using web-based applications is an innovative approach for delivery of Extension resources. For example, myFields.info is a mobile-friendly application focused on directing stakeholders to information at the field level. Acceptance and diffusion of such applications depends on initial experiences resulting from traditional face-to-face…

Business leaders in Oklahoma cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students' lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation's most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. Students have made progress in math over the…