Content Area Reading Strategies and Textbook Use in Agricultural Education

Abstract

Increasingly, agriscience teachers are called upon to demonstrate their contributions to student achievement in math, science, and reading. This national survey of 216 agriscience teachers investigated the current attitudes and practices related to reading in agriscience. Agriscience teachers generally appreciated reading for personal development and learning, but were in less agreement about allocation of time for reading. Further, teachers agreed that reading was important in agriscience, but were in less agreement about their role in teaching content area reading strategies (CARS). Reading is a fundamental part of instruction in agriscience, with nearly 20% of class time being devoted to reading. Teachers exhibited limited knowledge of, confidence in, and frequency of CARS use. Teachers understood how to select textbooks and how to assess student comprehension. Indications suggested that teachers helped students summarize, determine important ideas, generate questions, and define unfamiliar words. However, they did not regularly help students think aloud, make predictions, use multiple strategies, activate background knowledge, preview texts, or create graphic organizers. In essence, teachers need assistance in helping students with the first two micro-periods of reading and professional development to boost knowledge, confidence, and frequency of use of content area reading strategies (CARS).

Agriculture teachers' perception and practice for teaching students with disabilities

“…All six teachers reported to have students with disabilities in class, thus it was concluded that agriculture teachers did not meet the needs of all their students since Direct Instruction and Strategy Instruction were shown to be effective for students with disabilities (Gregory, McLaughlin, Weber, & Stookey, 2005;Walker, Shippen, Alberto, Houchins, & Cihak, 2005). This conclusion coincides with findings from other studies that agriculture teachers have limited incorporation of reading in the classroom (Park & Osborne, 2006a. As with teachers' limited espoused use of Other Characteristics of Instructional Practice, a lack of preparation and comfort is implied through observations of the teachers' instructional practice.…”

“…Agriculture teachers' perceptions have been studied pertaining to their use of Strategy Instruction to support reading for the general student population (Park & Osborne, 2006a. While teachers described some use of Strategy Instruction, they expressed a need for development and support in order to consistently increase their implementation of Strategy Instruction in the classroom.…”

Reading Strategy Instruction in Secondary Agricultural Science Courses: An Initial Perspective

“…In order for students to succeed in making decisions within the complex, information-based world, it is vitally important that they possess the ability to create knowledge from text, analyze arguments, propose solutions, and make decisions about real-world issues (Alvermann, 2006;National Governors Association [NGA], 2005). Yet, again, agricultural science teachers do not explicitly instruct students with reading strategies (Park & Osborne, 2006).…”

“…However, students seldom expend the time and effort to implement strategies and do so only when directed by teachers (Cuevas, 2003). Teachers in agricultural science education seldom direct students to implement CARS (Park & Osborne, 2006 CARS must be explicit, multiple, and accountable for motivation. Reading strategy instruction provides significant gains, even for higher reading level students.…”

“…High school graduates must possess skills necessary for understanding, creating, and applying meaning from text (Snow, 2002); therefore, reading must occur in not just the core academic areas, but in secondary agricultural sciences and career and technical education areas as well. Yet, agricultural science teachers and other career and technical education teachers implement few content area reading strategies in their courses (O'Brien & Stewart, 1990;Park & Osborne, 2006). Further, little research of an experimental nature has been conducted regarding the development of reading skills in secondary agricultural sciences or other career and technical education areas.…”