Secondary agricultural education has consistently faced a shortage of teachers for the past several decades. Because there are not enough newly qualified teachers certified annually to fill all the vacancies, attrition must be addressed. The purpose of this research was to develop and pilot test an attrition risk assessment instrument. Items were written and included in a preliminary instrument based on existing literature as well as a qualitative study we conducted previously. Principal components analysis resulted in a 25-question instrument, with 17 questions measuring attrition risk in four constructs including alternative career opportunities, expectations versus realities, passions, and people frustrations. Cronbach's alpha indicated overall instrument reliability was α = .76. Individual construct reliabilities ranged from α = .57 to α = .85. Recommendations include further development and refinement of constructs and questions. Additionally, longitudinal data should be collected in order to identify the threshold magnitude of each risk factor that results in actual exit of a teacher from the profession. Finally, implementation of the instrument could assist researchers and teacher educators in identifying the most prevalent risks contributing to teacher attrition in a population.

Currently, less than 3% of the U.S. population lives on a farm (Riedel, 2006). Technological advances and mechanization coupled with other societal factors, have led to the decline of an agriculturally literate population (Kovar & Ball, 2013). Blair (2009) identified one strategy for increasing agricultural literacy as implementing education that promotes agricultural activities via experience. This quantitative study was conducted at three private schools in Mississippi during the spring of 2015. The primary investigator (PI) taught six (6) lessons contextualized in agriculture to tenth grade students enrolled in advanced biology courses. The study consisted of a control group (no instruction), and two experimental groups; one received direct instruction only, and one was led through various experiences relevant to plant science and agricultural production with a high-tunnel greenhouse. Pre and post-tests assessed knowledge gain. Participants' knowledge scores increased significantly among experimental groups (p < .001). Multivariate analysis revealed post-test scores between experimental groups were significantly different (p = .016). Further analysis of the data displayed that 67% of the variance in scores was attributed to method of instruction and a strong correlation existed between post-test scores and treatment group (R = .820).

Non-profit and volunteer-based organizations are tasked with meeting the needs of their communities with limited resources. Today, more than ever, these organizations are stretched to their limits increasing the workload for paid staff. Training volunteers to lead the volunteer efforts is one way to spread the workload throughout the organization. Although there are guidelines for leadership development in for-profit organizations, there is limited literature pertaining to specific competencies and skills volunteer leaders in nonprofit and volunteer-based organizations should possess. This study, employing Delphi methodology, was conducted with volunteer directors in the community to identify leadership competencies for volunteer leaders. At the conclusion of three rounds of iteration, 42 competencies were identified. Introduction/Literature Review Nonprofit volunteers and for-profit employees differ in their reasoning and motivation for engaging in their respective jobs (Boezeman & Ellemers, 2014; Cnaan & Cascio, 1999; Pearce, 1993). For this reason, leadership styles directed at for-profit organizations are not appropriate for nonprofit organizations (Farmer & Fedor, 2001). Moreover, the traditional single leader model is becoming less effective as the demands of nonprofit organizations increase. Small (2007) suggests "Traditionally, leadership theories have focused on vertical leadership, in which a person who has been appointed to a position of authority exerts downward influence on subordinates. However, appointed leaders are not the only ones who can demonstrate leadership behavior. In team situations, team members can exert influence on each other and share the leadership process." (p. 5) The transition toward team work structures, particularly in capacity-limited nonprofit organizations, can present a challenge in providing the leadership necessary to achieve organizational success. Volunteer-based organizations must identify ways to provide the requisite leadership for their volunteers to accomplish personal and organizational goals. "Volunteer leadership remains a vast untapped resource for nonprofits not only to expand capacity for service and volunteering but also to provide a strategy for addressing

This study explores how different team configurations based on members’ experiential learning styles impacted group level variables including team learning behavior, stages of team development, potency, psychological safety, and satisfaction in an undergraduate class. Groups with homogeneous learning styles experienced higher levels of friendship and lower levels of conflict, which were associated with greater satisfaction and more rapid progress through the stages of group development. Most significantly, satisfaction was more strongly correlated to team learning behavior than psychological safety, suggesting that student groups in higher education settings may rely on other factors to progress through the stages of group development.

It is common for professionals in technical and science-related careers to interact with colleagues and the general public frequently in their daily work. However, most do not receive any education or practice developing interpersonal skills. Thus, these professionals may struggle to create positive interactions, especially while in leadership roles or interacting with stakeholders or clientele. We worked with the Wildlife Services National Training Academy to develop and deliver a half-day training on leadership competencies including emotional intelligence, power and influence, and conflict management. This application brief describes the training, including learning activities implemented, and reports evaluative feedback from participants and the workshop developers and facilitator. Recommendations for implementing similar leadership development programming for technical audiences is included. Issue Statement Many professionals in wildlife and natural resources careers likely do not enter their vocation with the expectation of interacting with people regularly. Yet more often than not, these individuals are the soughtafter experts in local communities, "advocating stakeholders' positions on local natural resource issues and promoting responsible resource management among the general public" (Gordon, Carter, & Bland, 2013, para. 1). Human relationships with wildlife are shaped by social and psychological influences (Decker, Riley, & Siemer, 2012), including "cultural and emotional experiences, economics, governance, and stakeholder engagement" (Nyhus, 2016, p. 153).