A Comparative Analysis of College Readiness Assessment Results of Illinois High School Agriculture Students

Abstract

Agricultural education is defined by a best practice three-component model of instruction that

Are Agriculture Students More Career Ready? A Comparative Analysis of Illinois Juniors

“…The findings in this study provide a clear indication that agriculture students are meeting or exceeding the standards in the area of career readiness as measured by the ACT WorkKeys assessment series. This information, coupled with the findings of a previous study which proved core academic validity or college readiness levels of agriculture programs (Mouser et al, 2017) bring forth a compelling argument to include agricultural education in academic programming in American schools. If the goal of public education is to provide a college and career ready workforce, then agricultural education should be an essential component of the experience based on these findings.…”

“…In a time when schools continually must find ways to do more with less, agricultural education provides quantifiable results in the areas of college and career readiness (Mouser, et al, 2017). The impact of this study to provide clear indicators of success to administrators and school board members is significant.…”

“…This study is part of a larger body of work that examined college and career readiness (Mouser et al, 2017). This study focused on career readiness and utilized a causal-comparative design to identify the relationship between test scores and participating in the traditional three-part agricultural education program.…”

“…This study examines the ACT WorkKeys assessment scores of students from agriculture programs and their peers. A comparison of college readiness assessment scores, through the use of the general ACT college readiness examination, was conducted in a related study by Mouser, Sheng, Thoron, Baker, and Bacon (2017).…”