Validating and applying the effective teaching instrument for school-based agricultural education teachers
Abstract
Change is constant in agriculture and education. Therefore, school-based agricultural education (SBAE) and its teachers must remain current to change with the times. Producing competent, qualified, effective, SBAE teachers to meet a growing nationwide demand is a daunting task (Foster, Lawver, & Smith, 2018). Teaching effectiveness is an elusive concept (Stronge, Ward, & Grant, 2011) within SBAE considering the uniqueness of the program. Eck, Robinson, Ramsey, and Cole (2019) developed a 58-item instrument through a nationwide Delphi study, including characteristics experts deemed vital to an effective SBAE teacher. The purpose of this study was to validate the effective teaching instrument and identify SBAE teacher effectiveness nationwide. To accomplish this purpose, the study was undergirded in the human capital theory and supported by the development of a conceptual framework considering the potential factors impacting the effectiveness of SBAE teachers. A census approach was the target for data collection in this non-experimental, descriptive survey research study. The population of interest was SBAE teachers nationwide (N = 12,690) (Smith, Lawver, & Foster, 2018). Instruments were received from 3339 individuals in 45 states, resulting in a 28.2% response rate. This study determined the primary components of a SBAE teacher through a principal component analysis, resulting in 26 items measuring six components. The six components include intracurricular engagement, personal dispositions, appreciation for diversity and inclusion, pedagogical preparedness, work-life balance, and professionalism. The instrument was further validated and resulted in Cronbach's alpha level of 0.87 for the complete instrument. The study included results of SBAE teachers (44.1% male, 51.2% female) ranging from 21 to 72 years of age. These teachers represented 45 states and taught in programs ranging from a single teaching program consisting of eight students to a multi-teacher program consisting of 1502 students. Although there were no statistically significant interactions present through the factorial ANOVA, there were statistically significant main effects present for SBAE teachers' intent to retire, current state of employment, classroom/laboratory personal competency, FFA personal competency, and SAE personal competency, based on composite sum effectiveness scores. The findings of this study resulted in six overarching conclusions along with recommendations for practice and research.
Collections
- OSU Dissertations [11222]