Audiometric threshold testing of 872 vocational agriculture students carried out over a three-year period indicates an increased prevalence of hearing loss among students actively involved in farm work. Use of hearing protection may reduce the risk of hearing loss, although few students report using such devices. (Author/BJV)

Focus groups conducted with urban and rural middle school students showed that they had typical stereotypes about agriculture and farmers and found farm careers unattractive. Results suggested that agriculture be tied to youth interests and addressed before middle school. The project also elicited information about using focus groups with youth.…

A federally sponsored project called ACCESS is described, which is designed to help rural high school students in 27 counties of northwest Missouri obtain skills needed to attend college or trade school and then return to work in their communities. (MLW)

Describing dominant patterns of social mobility and analyzing factors determining educational and occupational attainment in farm and nonfarm sectors, this article investigates whether farm background is a handicap to status attainment in nonfarm sectors and examines the determinants of occupational status of farmers' sons in the nonfarm sector.…

This study described the nature of the students enrolled in vocational agriculture in Clark County, Ohio. The study determined the relationship between the family farm situation of the students and their occupational goals, reasons for their decisions to enroll, after-graduation plans, and whether they are male or female. (CT)