No abstract

Agricultural Education programs continue to become more diverse and dynamic. However, diversity does not necessarily ensure equity or inclusion. As such, many programs strive to increase inclusive programming and ensure all students fully actualize the three-circle model of school based agricultural education. In some programs, students from rural and non-rural backgrounds coexist in a single setting. As part of a larger parallel mixed methods multiple case study investigating the experiences of Latino students in Agricultural Education, the data from this substudy found certain inequalities between the rural and non-rural students in three of the four cases. Three sub-themes emerged from the data: 1) Students from non-rural backgrounds may not possess the same understanding of agriculture and agricultural education as their urban counterparts; 2) Lack of privileged information may present a barrier to access, enrollment, and involvement in secondary agricultural education programs; and, 3) Students from non-rural backgrounds tend to report fewer opportunities and more barriers to fully actualizing the three-circle model. Thick, rich descriptions are provided of the participants' perceptions of these inequalities. Furthermore, researchers offer a working definition of Rural Privilege along with suggestions for practice and further research.

The purpose of this study was to begin examining the impact of the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE). Under development since 2008, the curriculum is intended to integrate core academics and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) into agricultural education programs. This longitudinal descriptive correlational study (N = 173) sought to examine the perceptions of students enrolled in a CASE course specific to the constructs of critical thinking, task value, autonomy, and science lab self-efficacy. Results revealed no differences in construct means between points of assessment. Correlation of the constructs of interest with student characteristics revealed small correlations between gender, English Language Learner status, and activity in the FFA with task value, autonomy, and science lab self-efficacy. Conclusions and recommendations are discussed in light of both the findings and the exploratory nature of this study.

No abstract