The effects of agriculture in the classroom training on the agricultural literacy and classroom practices of Kansas facilitators

This study examines the effectiveness of Kansas Foundation for Agriculture In the Classroom (KFAC) training program for facilitators in the state of Kansas. Since the time humans have been on earth, there has been the need for food, shelter and clothing, all of which depend on resources directly or indirectly derived from agriculture. While it seems natural that these needs would be known and understood, the National Research Council (1988) reports that "the majority of American children enter school knowing little about agriculture and leave after high school graduation only slightly better informed.".;The results of this study showed that facilitators who received KFAC training scored significantly higher on a test of agriculture knowledge and reported significantly higher levels of related classroom practices. While this study was a post-test only design, it does suggest that KFAC training has short term as well as long term effect on classroom facilitators in Kansas.;The Kansas Foundation for Agriculture In the Classroom has attempted to facilitate summer training programs on agriculture and the integration of agriculture concepts into school curricula for K-12 classroom facilitators. However, these programs have not been evaluated on their impact upon the agriculture knowledge and/or related classroom practices of the participating classroom facilitators. Consequently, this study collected data from 150 randomly selected classroom facilitators in Kansas from three different populations: facilitators who had never received KFAC training, facilitators who had received training during 1992 or 1993, and facilitators who had received training during 1991 or before.