ERIC Number: EJ1435895
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1042-0541
EISSN: EISSN-2162-5212
Stability in a Transitional Time: Factors Contributing to Agricultural Educator's Decision to Remain in the Profession
William Norris; Kirk Swortzel; O.P. McCubbins
Journal of Agricultural Education, v65 n2 p35-53 2024
Agricultural education's most pressing issue is a lack of qualified classroom teachers. In 2020-2021, 30 states reported the loss of over 70 agricultural education positions, with many schools closing these positions due to inadequate staffing. Furthermore, in 2021-2022, there were 1,680 agricultural education vacancies nationwide and only 789 graduates of license-eligible agricultural education teacher preparation programs. The teacher attrition rate is cited as one of the main contributors to the shortage of agricultural educators. While many studies have examined why teachers leave the profession, the purpose of this study was to ascertain the impacts of various personal, employment, and instructional factors on the decision of agricultural educators to remain in the profession. It was determined that participating agricultural educators valued all individual personal, employment, and instructional factors as Somewhat Impactful or Moderately Impactful in their decision to remain in the profession. Furthermore, the results from the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) suggested that Florida agricultural educators regarded the impact of personal factors and employment factors statistically more in their decision to remain in the profession than agricultural educators in Georgia. A Principal Component Analysis was used to assess correlations between each personal, employment, and instructional factor and reduce the data to the most influential components. This analysis reduced the data from the original twenty-two factors to seven principal components: 1.) Teacher Support 2.) Working with Students 3.) Resource Management 4.) Retirement 5.) Location of Employment 6.) Personal/Family Expectations 7.) Professional Development.
Descriptors: Agriculture Teachers, Teacher Persistence, Influences, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Student Relationship, Teacher Administrator Relationship, Educational Resources, Retirement, Geographic Location, Work Environment, Faculty Development, Work Life Expectancy, Secondary Education
American Association for Agricultural Education. P.O. Box 7607, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, Raleigh, NC 27695. Web site: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida; Georgia; Alabama
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A