An Assessment of the Needs of Middle School Agricultural Education Instructors in Georgia

Abstract

Abstract

You Seize What Pops Up: A Qualitative Investigation of The Core Features of School-Based Agricultural Education Professional Development

“…The literature regarding specific teachers' needs for PD is thorough (Andresen, Seevers, Dormody, & VanLeeuwen, 2007;Barrick, Ladewig, & Hedges, 1983;Birkenholz & Harbstreit, 1986;Christensen, Warnick, Spielmaker, Tarpley, & Straquadine, 2009;Duncan, Ricketts, Peake, & Uessler, 2006;Edwards & Briers, 1999;Garton & Chung, 1996;Golden, Parr, & Peake, 2014;Harris, 2008;Haynes & Stripling, 2014;Joerger, 2002;Johnson & Shumacher 1989;Koundinya, & Martin, 2010;Layfield & Dobbins, 2002;McCraken, Newcomb, & Moore, 1975;Myers, Dyer, & Washburn, 2005;Newman & Johnson, 1994;Roberts & Dyer, 2004;Robinson & Edwards, 2012;Rocca & Washburn, 2006;Sorenson, Lambert, & McKim, 2014;Sorensen, Tarpley, & Warnick, 2010). Further investigations have explored how teachers interact with specific types of PD practices (e. g. Shoulders & Myers, 2014;Ulmer, Valez, Lambert, Thompson, Burris, & Witt, 2013).…”

“…PD has also been historically guided by needs assessments where teachers indicate their need and interest in learning different subjects. Several researchers (Dunkin, Ricketts, Peake, & Uesseler, 2006;Golden, Parr, & Peake, 2014;Layfield & Dobbins 2002;Roberts & Dyer, 2004) have conducted teacher needs assessments to guide PD. Further, several researchers in agricultural education (Roberts & Dyer, 2004;Robinson & Edwards, 2012;Rocca & Washburn, 2006) reported alternatively certified and traditionally certified teachers have different needs, thus their PD should be structured differently.…”

Perceptions of middle, high school and community college agricultural teachers in Iowa regarding agricultural awareness concepts and activities in the middle school curriculum: Grades 7-9

“…Twenty-eight percent of the agricultural educators in the United States are middle school teachers (Kantrovich, 2010). They are different from other groups of educators because their students possess important unique characteristics that affect their teaching and learning methods (Golden, Parr & Peake, 2014). Trainings, workshops and professional development programs have been recommended and organized for agricultural teachers in the middle and high schools.…”

“…Thus, vocational courses were treated as a separate subject matter in most public schools' curricula and this further enhanced acquisition of agricultural knowledge among high school students. The Smith-Hughes act promoted the development and dissemination of agricultural knowledge to interested students in formal settings (Golden, Parr & Peake, 2014).…”

“…Rayfield and Croom (2010) identified the middle school as the fundamental stage for students who are interested in agriculture. Even though middle school agriculture has been in existence for a few decades, Golden, Parr & Peake (2014) reported it remains a new component of school-based agricultural education. Conversely, Hillison (1994) asserted the rapid growth of middle school agricultural education is higher than other areas of agricultural education.…”