• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

NCLB, Standards, and the Future of Agricultural Education

Posted on: Sunday, 28 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Depending on what document or website you are looking at, you may find a few different descriptions of a vision or mission of Agricultural Education and/or educators. The Council through the National Strategic Plan described the following vision for Agricultural Education, "...envision a world where all people value and understand the role of agriculture, food, fiber and natural resource systems..." (http:// www.teamaged.org/aged.htm). The mission identified from that same source is "...prepares students for successful careers and a life time of informed choices in global agriculture, food, fiber and natural resource systems."

The mission of the National Association of Agricultural Educators is "Professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy and service" (http:/ / www.naae.org/leadershipindex.htm ). Yet another is the mission of the American Association for Agricultural Education. That organization "is dedicated to studying, applying, and promoting the teaching and learning processes in agriculture" (http:// aaaeonline.org/).

As I think about the aims of and future of Agricultural Education, I often think it is not only about missions and visions we have for the profession as a whole but certainly about issues that will be facing Agricultural Education in the future and how we deal with those issues in light of the missions and visions. The future of Agricultural Education is one that we as a profession have continually addressed.

Where do we fit in the education spectrum? We have played a vital role in student lives as seen by the many success stories from former students who were in Agricultural Education and involved in FFA. But what will our lasting legacy be if we are deemed unimportant to student learning based on a lack of contribution to scores on a standardized test? The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has placed us in the situation of having to address that very question.

Highly qualified teachers, adequate yearly progress with all students achieving at grade level, achieving challenging standards in reading, math and science...it all sounds fantastic. Student achievement as we have never seen before. In theory, many positive things can come from such a piece of legislation. But what about the practice? And how does this impact the future or vision of Agricultural Education? Let's see how well I can make the connection.

As I see it, we have typically done a nice job of highlighting how agriculture education incorporates a variety of academic skills. Most recently, Edwards, Leising, and Parr (2002) illustrated the role of Agricultural Education on student achievement in science. The impetus for this work was the National Agricultural Education Research Workgroup that formed for the very purpose to identify the role of Agriculture Education in core academic areas of reading, math and science.

The authors identified an impressive list of research studies substantiating the practices used in teaching Agricultural Education are in line with best practices related to student achievement in science. We must show the impact from this on student achievement in the academic core areas. No Child Left Behind has increased the stakes for schools to show that adequate yearly progress is occurring.

Several studies, which were done by Agricultural Educators, cited by Edwards et al. (2002) address ways in which agriculture education is a beneficial vehicle to teach science. If it can be done in science, why can it not be done in other core academic areas?

It is interesting that although a plethora of research has shown active, student-centered teaching with multiple assessments, the act indicates the measure of student learning should be based on single standardized tests. It seems that the logic of the act may be out of step with research on student learning.

One thing is certain. Agricultural Education is not seen as a necessity with this legislation. Core academic areas identified by NCLB are science, math and reading/ literacy. As most states address the need for highly qualified teachers, they are focusing only on the core academic areas of "English, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography" (http:// www.learningfirst.org/1fa-web/ rp?pa=doc&docId=25).

From this, one might say that agricultural education is not important to student learning. I beg to differ. We have done well to show how we incorporate a variety of academic skills into our curriculum. We use teaching methods that are experiential in nature. As Agricultural Educators, we must take the contributions of Agricultural Education to the next level. We must show the impact we are making toward student achievement in science, math and literacy. Will this be work? You bet.

The author notes that in addressing the need for highly qualified teachers, most states focus on the core academic areas of English, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography. The author encourages the profession to show the impact agricultural education is making toward student achievement in science, math and literacy. (Photo courtesy of Iowa State University, College of Agriculture)

The reality of our present and future is accountability. Regardless of the missions, visions, or goals we set, we ultimately must show progress and impact toward those ends. We must show that we are contributing to student learning and student success on a variety of levels. And if we are not contributing to those things, we should question what we are doing and why because others may very well do that very thing.

References

American Association for Agricultural Educators, http:// aaaeonline.org/

Edwards, M.C., Eeising, J.G., & Parr, B.A. (2002). Improving student achievement in science: An important role for secondary agricultural education in the 21st century. Retrieved September 22, 2003, from http:// www.teamaged.org/ actionagenda.htm

Learning First Alliance. No Child Left Behind Act: Key Provisions and Timelines. http:// www.learningfirst.org/1fa-web/ rp?pa=doc&docId=25

National Association for Agricultural Education, http:// www.naae.org/leadershipindex.htm

The National Council for Agricultural Education, http:// www.teamaged.org/aged.htm

Anissa D. Wilhelm is an Assistant Professor in the College of Human Development and Education at North Dakota State University.

Copyright National Council for Agricultural Education Nov/Dec 2003

More News in this Category