A Census of Baccalaureate Agriculture Teacher Education Program Requirements

The purpose of this study was to examine the nation’s baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs of study to synthesize current coursework requirements. Sixty-five baccalaureate programs of study were analyzed. The mean number of semester credit hours was 125.2, and the mean number of credit hours in the areas of professional knowledge, technical knowledge, and general knowledge were 37.8, 42.0, and 36.6, respectively. Great variability was found within these descriptive measures when observing the standard deviation, minimum and maximum values, and configuration of courses within each category. We recommend the profession engage in intense and deliberate conversations on how to best design programs of study at the national level. These conversations would provide the opportunity for the collective wisdom of the profession garnered through investigation of the literature and sharing of knowledge gained through personal experiences, which can be used to inform the decision making process at individual institutions.


Introduction
The primary aim of teacher education programs in agriculture is to train professionals to be successful agriculture teachers (Wardlow & Osborne, 2010).While the primary aim has been clear, the way to accomplish the task has been a source of debate.As early as 1912, Balcomb called for better training of agriculture teachers by reforming normal schools to better equip professionals entering the teaching profession.The passage of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917 caused a drastic increase in the number of high school agriculture programs, and thus created a demand for teachers.This demand was met by converting teachers from other subjects, recruiting college of agriculture graduates, or hiring individuals from farms (Hillison, 1987).These teachers often lacked pedagogical training or the knowledge of agriculture to be successful (Hillison, 1987).The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 made provisions for improving the training of agriculture teachers and creating a curricular balance.According to True (1929), ". . .teachers of agriculture should, therefore, have a broad training in the principles and methods of education and their applications to agriculture teaching, and in science, economics, and sociology, as well as in the science and practice of agriculture" (p.378).
In 1988, the Committee on Agricultural Education in Secondary Schools, established by the National Research Council, proposed a dramatic change to agricultural education.The committee believed school-based agricultural education (SBAE) should be more than vocational agriculture and needed to evolve to meet the diverse needs of the food and fiber industries and society.To meet these needs, the committee recommended the curriculum, SOEs (supervised occupational experiences or supervised agricultural experiences [SAE] today), and the FFA (The National FFA Organization) should not predominately be focused on production agriculture but rather ". . .prepare students more effectively for the study of agriculture in postsecondary schools and colleges and for current and future career opportunities in agricultural sciences, agribusinesses, marketing, management, and food production and processing" (National Research Council, 1988, p. 4).Specific to agriculture teacher education, the committee expressed programs should be revised and expanded to produce teachers with the knowledge and skills to provide meaningful learning experiences in and about agriculture.
According to the National Research Council (2009), ". . .academic institutions offering undergraduate education in agriculture should engage in strategic planning to determine how they can best recruit, retain, and prepare the agriculture graduate of today and tomorrow" (p.5).Additionally, a variety of stakeholders should be involved in discussing how to prepare agriculture graduates and pilot-testing and continual assessment should be done to refine and improve academic offerings (National Research Council, 2009).In regards to agriculture teacher education, the literature on the competency needs by beginning SBAE teachers is well documented (e.g., Anderson, Barrick, & Hughes, 1992;Birkenholz & Harbstreit, 1987;Edwards & Briers, 1999;Joerger, 2002;Garton & Chung, 1996;Layfield & Dobbins, 2002;Myers & Dyer, 2004;Raven, Cano, Garton, & Shelhamer, 1993;Stripling & Roberts, 2012;Stair, Warner, & Moore, 2012;Stripling & Barrick, 2013), but few studies have looked at baccalaureate-level coursework requirements needed to prepare preservice SBAE teachers in those competencies.To that end, Myers and Dyer (2004) called for an investigation into the most effective coursework configuration for teachers.Similarly, Findlay (1992) stated the means in which agriculture teachers are being trained needs to be assessed.
In 1917, the requirements for teacher educators were 49 semester hours in technical agriculture, 40 in science, and 18 in psychology and education, with other courses in cultural subjects and electives to meet the total of 144 (True, 1929).In general education, Conant (1964) called for a review of training for all teachers which focused on obtaining competence in the various areas of teacher training.While admitting the competencies taught in the program were the most important aspect to consider, Conant provided recommendations for coursework configurations for specific teacher training programs.For biology teachers for example, Conant recommended 60 hours of general education, 3 hours of educational psychology, 3 hours of philosophy or history or sociology of education, 9 hours of additional science, 36 hours of biology courses, and 9 hours of practice teaching and special methods.In SBAE teacher preparation, Cruickshank (1985) divided coursework into either general education or professional education.Cruickshank et al. (1996) divided professional coursework into technical agriculture courses and professional knowledge, which created three main areas of coursework.Swortzel (1995) described the training for preservice teachers at The Ohio State University, which consisted of 46 semester hours of general education courses, 50 hours in technical agriculture and 37 hours in professional knowledge.In a survey of teacher education preparation programs, Swortzel (1999) found the 4-year programs on the semester system averaged 55.7 hours of courses in general studies, 42.8 hours in technical agriculture, and 35.8 hours in professional studies.According to Connors and Mundt (2001), 82% of agricultural education programs are 4-year programs, 7 exist as 5-year programs, and one can either be a 4 or 5-year program.Furthermore, Connors and Mundt indicated 90% of the programs are on the semester system.
Finding a common curriculum amongst teacher preparation programs may prove to be difficult.McLean and Camp (2000) found that a set of common courses amongst agriculture teacher preparation programs does not exist.While there are some similarities between programs, agricultural education programs are designed and implemented on a local level with the needs of the students and community in that area in mind (Phipps, Osborne, Dyer, & Ball, 2008).Despite the diversity of the programs, in particular the courses required, McLean and Camp recommended professional courses include teaching methods, program planning, and foundations of agricultural education.A gap in the current literature exists in the number and type of technical knowledge, professional knowledge, and general knowledge courses offered and required of preservice teachers as well as the effectiveness of the current combination of courses required.Additionally, some agriculture teacher education programs have required courses combining technical knowledge with professional knowledge, and there is a lack of empirical data concerning the effectiveness of these courses.Swortzel (1995) identified several components to consider when evaluating a teacher education program.According to Swortzel, the roles of an agriculture teacher education program are (a) to define the role of teachers, (b) design curriculum to prepare teachers for these roles, (c) determine appropriate instructional techniques to deliver curriculum, (d) provide appropriate facilities for learning, (e) select, recruit, and retain students, (f) select faculty members to train and prepare teachers, and (g) evaluate programs to determine their effectiveness.The focus of this inquiry was on Swortzel's (1995) second role of teacher preparation programs, which is to design curriculum to prepare teachers.Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs of study to synthesize current curricular requirements.We believe an understanding of the current configurations of coursework is important and necessary before the most effective configuration can be considered.Once this understanding of the current status is complete, an investigation of the effectiveness of these models can take place.

Conceptual Framework
The mission of agriculture teacher education programs is "teaching others to teach in agriculture" (Crawford, 1987, p. 5).While the settings in which others teach in agriculture have become more diverse, the original focus of training secondary teachers is still an important part of the mission of departments of agricultural education (Barrick, 1993).With this in mind, Barrick and Garton (2010) developed a model conceptualizing the teacher preparation curriculum (Figure 1), which identifies the variety of knowledge areas they believe should be developed or used to educate preservice agricultural education teachers.In addition, Barrack and Garton's model conceptualizes the components and progression of the most frequently occurring curriculum in the nation's agriculture teacher preparation programs.
At the base of the model is general education, which includes courses in content areas such as mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, and art and humanities (Barrick & Garton, 2010;Swortzel, 1995).Cruickshank (1985) highlighted the need for teachers to have a foundation of general education before being certified to teach, which results in making the teacher a well-rounded educator.One level above the base of the model is degree requirements such as meeting GPA minimums and college-wide employability skills required by colleges of agriculture or education (Barrick & Garton, 2010).The middle portion of the model includes coursework in a content specialty area (agriculture broadly defined in the context of this study), professional and pedagogical knowledge, and integrated studies.Swortzel (1995) identified the following content specialty areas SBAE teachers need to demonstrate competency in as: (a) production agriculture, (b) applied sciences as they relate to agriculture, (c) plant and soil science, (d) animal science, (e) agribusiness management, (f) agricultural mechanics, (g) natural resources, (h) forestry, and (i) marketing.Furthermore, according to Cruickshank (1985), "prospective teachers should be well prepared in the subject field they will teach and in related subjects, and they should know how to teach their subject" (pp.106-107).Darling-Hammond and Bransford ( 2005) more explicitly defined the professional and pedagogical knowledge needed by teachers as the following: • Knowledge of learners and how they learn and develop within social context; • Conceptions of curriculum content and goals: an understanding of the subject matter and skills to be taught in light of the social purpose of education; and • An understanding of teaching in light of the content and learners to be taught, as informed by assessment and supported by classroom environments.(p.11) Figure 1.Barrick and Garton's (2010) model conceptualizing the teacher preparation curriculum.
According to Croom (2008), SBAE professional and pedagogical knowledge courses provide students with teaching methods and strategies for implementing instruction into the classroom and managing a complete agricultural education program, which includes incorporating SAE and FFA.Integrative studies are courses involving both agricultural content and instruction on how to deliver content to students (Barrick & Garton, 2010).Cruickshank et al. (1996) highlighted the promise for integrative studies by stating "perhaps future teachers will have to synthesize and integrate content knowledge obtained from one group of academic faculty with pedagogical knowledge from teacher educators" (p.12).At the top of the model is the capstone experience or teaching practicum, which is commonly referred to as the student teaching experience or internship (Barrick & Garton, 2010).

Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this study was to examine the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs of study to synthesize current curricular requirements.The course requirements were analyzed using Darling-Hammond and Bransford's (2005) description of the types of knowledge needed by teachers which was conceptualized by Barrick and Garton (2010).
The following objectives guided this study: 1. Describe the professional knowledge (professional and pedagogical) coursework required by the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs.2. Describe the technical knowledge (content specialty area) coursework required by the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs.3. Describe the general knowledge (general education) coursework required by the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs.

Research Design
The research design for this descriptive study was a one-shot case study (Campbell & Stanley, 1963), which was conceptualized as a slice in time (Oliver & Hinkle, 1982).The target population for this study was all postsecondary institutions preparing SBAE teachers at the baccalaureate level.The supply and demand study by Kantrovich (2010) was used to help establish the sampling frame.Kantrovich described 72 programs that certify SBAE teachers and 17 non-respondents with a total of 89 programs.Institutions that incorporated SBAE teacher programs were added to the study based on the recent position announcements through the American Association for Agricultural Education listserve.Three institutions that opened a SBAE teacher preparation program since the supply and demand study, were added.One program was described as a state system in the Kantrovich study and was analyzed as two separate programs, because they were found to have unique degree plans.In a separate state, two programs in a state system were merged into one program because they offered identical degree plans.In total, there were 92 programs in the population frame for this study.Data were collected from 82 programs creating a response rate of 89.1%.Two of the non-respondent programs were also a non-respondent in the Kantrovich study.A total of eight programs responded to the study and indicated they do not currently have a SBAE teacher preparation program, yielding usable date from 74 total programs.Additionally, nine programs were removed because they only provided teacher certification at the post-baccalaureate level.Data from 65 programs were analyzed.

Data Collection Procedures
Programs of study were gathered from the university websites.The courses required for graduation outlined in the programs of study where then categorized by the researchers.The list was sent via email to an agricultural educator at each institution for verification of their program of study.The agricultural educator was purposefully selected by the researchers as an individual who is active in delivering instruction in the teacher education program.The detailed list was either approved by the individual, edited to reflect recent change in their program, or a change was made in classification of individual courses based on the content taught in the course.Follow-up emails and phone calls were made to programs who did not respond to the initial contact.Programs that did not provide verification or edits of their program of study were considered non-respondents and were not included in the data analysis.

Data Analysis
In the programs of study, required courses included individual courses needed to graduate, credit hours in a certain area or discipline, and total number of credit hours.Courses were categorized into professional knowledge, technical knowledge, general knowledge, integrative studies, electives, and other (see Table 1).Subcategories in professional knowledge were derived from the description of professional knowledge areas by Darling-Hammond and Bransford (2005) and Barrick and Garton's (2010)  An agriculture leadership and communications subcategory was added to technical knowledge to account for leadership and communications coursework required by numerous programs.We discovered the need for this technical knowledge subcategory during data analysis.Subcategories for general knowledge were derived from Swortzel (1995).Barrick and Garton (2010) described courses in integrative studies, which was added as a separate section.Any course that met a requirement for more than one area (e. g.Floral Design as a Visual Arts Requirement and Plant Science) Professional and General Knowledge z Note: z does not count toward total and is represented in either the technical or professional knowledge hours above and not general education.
Operational definitions for each of the constructs are provided in Table 2. Electives and other courses were added as coding categories for courses that were not appropriate for the knowledge areas or subcategories utilized during data analysis.After courses and requirements were categorized, a detailed list of courses was compiled for each program.Then the researchers compared the courses required to the total number of hours required for graduation.If the number did not match, the contact person at the university was asked to explain the discrepancy.Degree plans providing a range of hours for a particular area were extrapolated to the lowest number to represent the minimum number of hours required for that area.
The data were entered into Microsoft Excel, and means, standard deviations, modes, medians, and minimum and maximum values were calculated using formulas within the Microsoft Excel program.Coursework designed to provide teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to teach students from various backgrounds including pedagogical knowledge, which describes the knowledge teachers must possess in order that teachers are able to teach students in ways they can understand and learn the material (Barrick & Garton, 2010).

Technical Knowledge
Coursework in the agricultural sciences and natural resource areas that are designed to expose students to the array of subject knowledge they will be expected to teach in their classes (Barrick & Garton, 2010).

General Knowledge
Coursework designed to "help students gain knowledge and develop skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation essential to understanding intellectual ideas and principles; develop competence in written and oral communication; apply basic mathematical concepts and processes; gain an understanding of the natural and social sciences; and develop an appreciation of the arts, humanities, and cultural values, customs, and social interactions" (Barrick & Garton, 2010, pp. 36 -37).

Integrative Studies
Clinical learning experiences that allow preservice teachers to combine professional knowledge with technical knowledge in an authentic learning experience (Barrick & Garton, 2010).

Results
A summary of total program of study credit hours in professional, technical, and general knowledge areas is presented in Table 3.The total mean number of program of study credit hours was 125.2 (SD = 5.3) with a minimum of 120 and a maximum of 144.The mode was 120 hours, and the median was 125 hours.The similarities in the mean, mode, and median produce a nearly perfect normal or symmetrical distribution of total program of study credit hours.Table 3.

Professional Knowledge Requirements
The first research objective was to describe the professional knowledge (professional and pedagogical) coursework required by the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs.In this regard, the mean number of credit hours required was 37.8 (SD = 6.8) with a minimum of 17 and a maximum of 57 credit hours.Of the mean number of professional knowledge credit hours required, 10.6 (SD = 2.6) hours were for the student teaching practicum, 1.6 (SD = 2.0) hours were for teaching practicum other than student teaching such as early field experience and observation hours, 6.0 (SD = 3.7) hours for courses related to knowledge of learners and their development in social contexts, 10.2 (SD = 4.1) hours for courses focused on the knowledge of teaching, and 9.4 (SD = 3.9) hours for courses related to knowledge of subject matter and curriculum goals.Furthermore, the credit hours required in each subcategory in professional knowledge varied between 17-57 credit hours (See Table 3).Table 3 also provides the mode and median for each of the subcategories in professional knowledge.

Technical Knowledge and Required Coursework
The second research objective was to describe the technical knowledge (content specialty area) coursework required by the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs.In this case, the mean technical knowledge credit hours required by the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs was 42.0 (SD = 9.9).Plant systems was the highest subcategory (M = 6.7,SD = 3.5) followed by animal systems (M = 6.1, SD = 3.8), power, structural and technical systems (M = 5.9, SD = 4.4), and agribusiness systems (M = 5.7, SD = 3.5).On average, programs of study required 8.3 (SD = 8.6) credit hours of agricultural or natural science electives.Biotechnology systems, environmental service systems, and food products and processing systems averaged less than one credit hour with credit hours required from zero to six.The mode and median for each of the subcategories in technical knowledge can be found in Table 3.

General Knowledge and Required Coursework
The third research objective was to describe the general knowledge (general education) coursework required by the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs.About this category of coursework described in this study, general knowledge, the mean credit hours required by the nation's baccalaureate agriculture teacher education programs was 36.6 (SD = 8.4).The mean number of credit hours required in the general knowledge subcategories was as follows: (a) arts and humanities (M = 13.5, SD = 4.4), (b) social science (M = 8.3, SD = 5.8), (c) natural sciencelife sciences (M = 5.0, SD = 2.7), (d) natural sciencephysical sciences (M = 4.8, SD = 2.5), (e) mathematics and statistics (M = 4.7, SD = 2.0), and (f) natural scienceearth and space (M = 0.1, SD = 0.7).The mode and median for each of the subcategories in general knowledge can be found in Table 3.
Of the professional, technical, and general knowledge credit hours mentioned above, an average of 3.8 (SD = 6.8) hours of coursework met both technical and general knowledge requirements as well as 1.2 (SD = 2.7) hours of coursework met both professional knowledge and general knowledge requirements (See Table 3).Also, the mean number of credit hours for electives, integrative studies, and other courses that did not fit in the knowledge areas or subcategories utilized was 5.9 (SD = 9.7), 0.8 (SD = 2.4), and 3.4 (SD = 3.5), respectively.

Conclusion, Implications, and Recommendations
This study sought to describe the programs of study for the nation's baccalaureate-level agriculture teacher education programs.This purpose was addressed by the collection and examination of programs of study from 65 institutions from across the country.The mean number of semester credit hours included in these programs was 125.2 credit hours.Further, we determined the mean number of credit hours in the areas of a teacher education program of professional knowledge, technical knowledge, and general knowledge were relatively equivalent at 37.8, 41.8, and 36.3, respectively, which was similar to Swortzel's (1999) findings.In this regard, it is important to note the measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode) indicate the total degree program credit hours, professional knowledge credit hours, technical knowledge credit hours, and general knowledge credit hours all have a near normal or symmetrical distribution.If only investigating these descriptive measures, one may conclude there is great similarity amongst the programs of study at all the agriculture teacher education degree-granting institutions, however, deeper investigation into the data shows heterogenic programmatic offerings.
While the measures of central tendency were homogeneous, a normal distribution does not indicate consensus of programs in Variability was found when observing the standard deviation and minimum and maximum values of each category of total credit hours (SD = 5.3; 120-144); professional knowledge (SD = 6.8; 17-57); technical knowledge (SD = 9.9; 9-61), and general knowledge (SD = 8.4; 3-54).Therefore, one can conclude the profession of agriculture teacher education has not yet come to full agreement, at least in practice, as to the appropriate configuration of a teacher preparation degree program.These measures of variability would indicate there are some programs that could be considered outliers regarding the programs of study they require for their program graduates.Additionally, the configuration of courses within each of the major categories of the degree program vary greatly across all programs.This difference is most evident in the required courses within the technical knowledge category with many programs specifically outlining certain competency areas (i.e., animal systems, plant systems, etc.), and others providing few or no guidelines for courses to be completed within this category.Biotechnology systems, environmental service systems, and food processing systems were the three lowest means for courses in the AFNR areas.Interestingly, Stripling, Thoron, and Estepp (2014) found 78.6% and 42.9% of preservice teachers in Florida felt unprepared in biotechnology and food science technical knowledge, respectively.In addition, 50% of the preservice teachers reported being unprepared to teach biotechnology and food science.Further investigation is needed to determine if coursework in these areas should be increased to meet the needs of the nation's preservice teachers and SBAE programs.
Integrative studies were identified by Barrick and Garton (2010) and outlined in the conceptual model of this study.The mean of 0.8 credit hours in this area indicates that these courses are not as pervasive as other areas.Further research is needed to investigate the success of the integrative courses being offered, to determine the barriers for offering integrative courses, and to ultimately determine the effectiveness of including integrative courses as part of a teacher education curriculum.
We acknowledge many of the decisions regarding the configuration of the program of study for agriculture teacher education at each institution are heavily impacted by state teacher certification requirements and university-wide requirements.However, the question is raised, Is there a program of study configuration that is more effective at producing quality agriculture teacher education graduates than others?The findings of this manuscript contribute little to the answer to that question.However, these findings do establish a baseline for programs to use when making changes to degree programs.This study also provides a detailed baseline for future inquiries.We encourage future inquiry to investigate the ideal makeup of coursework for teacher preparation programs.We also recommend the results of this study be used by the profession to engage in intense and deliberate conversations on to best design programs of study at the national level.These conversations would provide the opportunity for the collective wisdom of the profession garnered through investigation of the literature and sharing of knowledge gained through personal experiences, which can be used to inform the decision making process at individual institutions.Now that the current status has been described, we echo the call of Findlay (1992) and Myers and Dyer (2004) to assess the training of agriculture teachers by determining the most effective configuration of courses.The next logical step in this line of inquiry is to conduct investigations to empirically determine the ideal blend of programmatic courses in an agriculture teacher education program.Specific studies should be conducted to determine the most appropriate competencies to include in each area.Future studies should be conducted to examine the most appropriate blend of professional knowledge courses, including the timing and sequencing of field experiences, the structure and source of courses related to the knowledge of learners and development in their social context, and the ideal sequence of courses that inform the knowledge of teaching and the knowledge of subject matter and curriculum goals.Future studies should also investigate the effect of completing a specialization in technical knowledge courses and/or a diverse offering of technical courses.Furthermore, future studies should investigate the role of general knowledge courses as they relate to imbedding concepts related to STEM, history, and social science in the agriculture curriculum.Lastly, other agricultural disciplines should undertake comparable lines of inquiry to test new ideas and refine/improve academic offerings (National Research Council, 2009).

Brian E. Myers is professor and chair of the department of Agricultural Education and
Communication at the University of Florida in Gainesville.The author can be contacted at bmyers@ufl.edu.
description of teaching practicum.Subcategories for technical knowledge were the eight Agriculture Food and Natural Resource (AFNR) program areas (National Council for Agricultural Education, 2009).

Table 1 .
Example Courses in Each Area of the Programs of Study

Table 2 .
Operational Definitions of Key Constructs Ranges are skewed because one program listed general knowledge hours as 45 elective hours; y does not count toward total and is represented in either the technical or professional knowledge hours above and not general education.