A study of selected factors among agricultural education programs in the United States

The objective of the study was to identify the similarities and differences among agricultural education programs in the United States according to the following parameters: number of agricultural education majors, number and placements of graduates, curriculum in agricultural education, graduate programs in agricultural education, number of staff members, major duties of staff members, services performed for teachers of vocational agriculture, funding of the programs, and the use of an advisory council.

Comparisons were made concerning each parameter among the agricultural education programs according to regions, land-grant affiliation, and administrative units.

Seventy-six agricultural education programs were used in the study or approximately 89 percent of the total number of programs. The data were obtained from a 27-item questionnaire developed by the writer and sent to the chairman of each agricultural education program. The computer services of the University of Tennessee were used to statistically test the data and determine if significant differences existed among the factors being compared. The nominal data were statistically tested by the use of chi-square, and the interval data were statistically tested by the use of an analysis of variance.

The agricultural educational programs in the Central Region were found to be "above average" with many of the parameters studied when comparing programs among other regions. In the Central Region, a greater percentage of the programs offer the master's and doctoral programs than in the other regions. On the average, the staffs of the Central Region spent more time in research, teaching, and preparation of curriculum materials than the staffs in the other regions. More agricultural education programs in the Western Region provided curriculum materials and field services to vocational agriculture teachers than in any other region, and more programs located in the Southern Region provided non-credit workshops to vocational agriculture teachers than any other region. The programs in the Eastern Region provided the least services to vocational agriculture teachers.

In the comparison of the parameter among the agricultural education programs according to land-grant affiliation, it was found that programs located in land-grant institutions had a better financial base than programs located in non-land-grant institutions. A larger percentage of agricultural education programs located in land-grant institutions received funds from the university and/or state department of education, and/or federal government for research and curriculum materials than programs located in non-land-grant institutions. Programs located in land-grant institutions averaged nearly one staff member more than programs in non-land-grant institutions.

In the comparison of the agricultural education programs according to administrative units, it was found that the programs were quite similar. However, programs administered by colleges of agriculture tend to have more agricultural education majors than programs administered by colleges of education. Also, the staff of the programs administered by colleges of agriculture spent more time in teaching than those administered by colleges of education.