Teacher recruitment and retention in the United States has been deemed an issue across all disciplines and grade-levels. School-based agricultural education (SBAE) is no exception to this issue, where for decades a national shortage of qualified agriculture teachers has persisted. According to the 2021 Illinois Agricultural Education Annual…

This longitudinal qualitative phenomenological case study seeks to understand beginning agriculture teachers' experiences and how their attitudes toward teaching evolve over time. The research included visits to the teachers' facilities, monthly interviews, reflection exercises, and focus groups. Initial coding included magnitude and in vivo…

Students in large cities across the United States can better understand agriculture through their involvement in School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE). Since the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917, Agricultural Education has been a pathway that encourages students to continue schooling and connect with future careers. We conducted a…

The importance of honey bees to global agriculture is largely undisputed (Calderone, 2012; Southwick & Southwick, 1992). Simultaneously, commercial beekeeping operations face tremendous industry stressors that have led to increased management requirements and elevated colony losses in Florida and around the United States. in recent decades…

Beginning and small-scale growers face significant challenges to maintain their economic sustainability, including maintaining a sufficient level of income. Despite this growing problem, there is little information currently available on what kind of education and/or skills beginning farmers need in order to make their operations profitable. The…

Technology use in agriculture or "AgTech" (Agricultural Technology), is rapidly changing conventional farming practices and decision-making processes. To ensure the industry can successfully harness the power of AgTech, digital skill development of workers is crucial. This can be achieved by adequate education of the future workforce,…

Although FFA affiliation has been piloted and in practice for several years, there is limited formal research on the program and strategies for best practice. We used a descriptive case study design to examine and describe the experiences of nine teachers in three states who had expertise related to FFA affiliation. We conducted semi-structured…

Complex career decisions, such as teacher mobility, are often reduced to stigmatizing labels that do little to account for the state of teaching as a profession or credit those engaging in migratory decisions as making healthy career choices. Through our study, we focused on understanding workforce mobility, teaching as an unstaged profession, and…

The "FFA for All" campaign from the National FFA Organization represents an important step for diversity, equity, and inclusivity in the youth organization. The challenge of making the FFA more inclusive for diverse students presents question for investigation. What elements within the FFA represented barriers to people of color from…

This study examined factors that shape how nursery growers perceive automated nursery technologies and evaluate how these perceptions relate to growers' adoption. We applied Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovations to understand growers' perceptions of automated technologies to inform Extension programming serving niche audiences in the nursery and…

This study sought to provide insight into whether Georgia Extension meets the needs of its clients farming in rural areas, specifically row-crop farmers in rural Southeast Georgia. This qualitative study utilized a semi-structured interview of four purposively selected Southeast Georgia row-crop farmers. Three themes and seven sub-themes emerged…

Single-sex classrooms have been a topic of interest in the educational community since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The academic achievement gap between boys and girls in high school is a complex and multifaceted issue that has garnered significant attention in educational research. Proponents of single-sex classrooms argue that it…

Small farms and small farmers are a growing sector of the agricultural economy nationwide. Notably, small farms are influenced by similar antagonists to the success of their business as large, concentrated operations, but they experience it differently. The purpose of this study was to describe small farms and farmers in North Dakota to assist…

There are fewer forestry/natural resources pathway classes being taught in Georgia high schools in relation to other commonly associated agriculture curricula (Georgia Agriculture Education, 2019). The purpose of this study was to investigate school-based agriculture education (SBAE) teachers' perceptions of forestry/natural resources curriculum…

As the global economy continues to advance, cultural competence has become a buzzword in education, professional development, and research. Despite this, little research has been devoted to understanding cultural competence in agriculture. Thus, a need emerged to describe the cultural competence of young agricultural leaders in Louisiana. Through…