Agricultural education has faced a national shortage of qualified teachers since 1965. Initiatives, such as NAAE's TeachAg Campaign, seek to alleviate this shortage through recruitment of new agriculture teachers. However, turnover in the teaching profession remains a problem, with attrition rates approaching 60% reported in some research studies.…

The Social Support Questionnaire for Children (SSQC) is a 50-item scale that assesses children's social support from parents, relatives, nonrelative adults, siblings, and peers. The SSQC demonstrates good psychometric properties (e.g., internal consistency, factorial validity). Furthermore, the SSQC appears to be an ethnically sensitive measure of…

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…

Data gathered from 325 middle school students in four U.S. states indicate that both male (p < 0.0005, RSQ = 0.33) and female (p < 0.0005, RSQ = 0.36) career aspirations for "being a scientist" are predictable based on knowledge of dispositions toward mathematics, science and engineering, plus self-reported creative tendencies. For…

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe factors that are related to agricultural educator career retention and to explore the relationships between work engagement, work-life balance, occupational commitment, and personal and career factors as related to the decision to remain in the teaching profession. The target population for…

Professional counselors who provided services to those affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita completed the K6+ (screen for severe mental illness), the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Results indicated that participants who survived the hurricanes had higher levels of posttraumatic growth than…

This study examined the efficacy of general education development (GED®) acquisition and GED® completers' perceptions of college readiness and social capital using a quantitative methodology. Also, the study used a descriptive, cross-sectional research design framed by the social capital theoretical perspective. The conceptual framework developed…

Schools and school districts are faced with a shortage or pending shortage of school principals and individuals desiring to be a school principal. Building leadership capacity, especially for the role of school principal, must become a priority for school and district leaders (Fleener et al., 2009; Louisiana Department of Education, 2011; Rhodes…

In today's economic environment, it is crucial to create a strong, consistent brand image within a graduate business program. This study examines the perceptions that students at Southeastern Louisiana University hold about its MBA program and the MBA programs of its main competitors. A focus group was conducted to identify competitors and factors…

One of the most crucial roles of the school leader is to develop and maintain the professional level of the staff which he/she supervises. It is generally agreed upon that the desired school culture is one in which the focus is on the development of a community of learners. Consequently, intellectual growth can never happen for children unless it…

Results of a study designed to explore the construct validity of the Change Facilitator Style Questionnaire (CFSQ) as a measure of the aspect of a principal's leadership style that includes leader behavior and combinations of behavior influenced by such things as belief systems, and knowledge and attitudes about leadership. The sample consisted of…