Agricultural literacy assessment among educators in Missouri secondary schools that offer agricultural education programs

Purpose. The central purpose of this study was to assess secondary educators' knowledge of and attitudes toward agriculture.;Procedure. The sample consisted of 1200 agriculture teachers, language arts teachers, mathematics teachers, science teachers, social science teachers, and administrators. The Agricultural Awareness Survey was used to collect data for this study. A pilot test was conducted to clarify the items on the instrument. Null hypotheses HO;Findings. Data analysis revealed significant differences in the mean agricultural knowledge scores and the mean attitude scores among the educator groups. Five characteristics were found to be significant in explaining a portion of the variance in the mean knowledge of agriculture scores. The stepwise multiple regression procedure revealed eight characteristics that were significant in explaining a portion of the variance in the mean attitude toward agriculture scores.;Conclusions. The following conclusions were drawn from this study. (a) Secondary educators are knowledgeable about agriculture. (b) Secondary educators have a positive attitude toward agriculture. (c) Agriculture teachers have a greater knowledge and a more positive attitude toward agriculture than other secondary educators. (d) Secondary educators who are more knowledgeable or have a more positive attitude toward agriculture are more interested in using agricultural examples. (e) Language arts and mathematics teachers are less inclined to use agricultural examples. (f) Educators who have completed college agricultural courses are more knowledgeable about agriculture than other educators. (g) Educators that read magazines and newspapers for news have a more positive attitude toward agriculture. (h) Educators living on farms of less than 50 acres have less positive attitudes toward agriculture.