Source: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION submitted to
NATIONAL AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
EXTENDED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0230373
Grant No.
2012-38858-19937
Project No.
UTAN-0023
Proposal No.
2012-03762
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
FF-L
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2012
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2015
Grant Year
2012
Project Director
Spielmaker, D.
Recipient Organization
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION
(N/A)
LOGAN,UT 84322
Performing Department
Cooperative Extension
Non Technical Summary
The purpose of this project is to increase agricultural literacy nationwide among teachers and their students. Funds from this grant will support national initiatives that will strengthen all state AITC programs by providing resources and training that are both appropriate for formal education (K-12 teaches and students) and informal education (i.e. 4-H). These program outcomes will be measured through various evaluations methods at the implementation level.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
90360993020100%
Goals / Objectives
This grant will provide support to strengthen and expand agricultural literacy programs in K-12 classrooms nationwide through efforts that include, but are not limited to: strengthening state programs through capacity building and professional development; USDA recognition; programs, outreach; web-based learning resources, research and evaluation projects; curriculum development.
Project Methods
This grant addresses the national priority of developing competent human capital for employment in the food and agricultural sciences, NIFA, through its Division of Youth and 4-H, Institute of Youth, Family and Community, will administer this Agriculture in the Classroom grant--and all components therein--to promote Excellence in Pre K-12 Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences. All programs in this grant will be joint initiatives between the USDA-AITC program, the National AITC Organization (NAITC) and its' member organizations or affiliates (i.e. state AITC organizations and land-grant universities). All components of this grant shall be conducted in collaboration with the USDA-AITC National Program Leader (NPL). Some of the elements and deliverables in this RFA will be conducted by the Utah State Project Director. Some of the elements and deliverables will be conducted by sub-grantees selected through a competitive RFA process conducted by the Project Director. For the elements to be conducted by Utah State, the application needs to include a full description that addresses grantee responsibilities. For those elements to be awarded to sub-grantees, the application just needs to clearly indicate that they will be selected later through a competitive RFA process. Using the outline of elements and deliverables in this RFA to develop responses in the application will expedite the review of materials by NIFA program and budget staff.

Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Target Audience State Agriculture in the Classroom leaders Agricultural literacy stakeholders K-12 teachers in formal education Youth in formal education settings Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Professional Development was accomplished through the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conferences and regional meetings discussed under the accomplishments. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results/finding/outcomes have been disseminated through the AITC list serves, the annual National Agriculture in the Classroom Annual Meeting, and on the agclassroom.org website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? I will follow up the National Center for Agricultural Literacy for the submission of a progress report.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This project received a no-cost extension for a new completion date of August 30, 2015. This will allow the PD to complete projects initiated as RFAs and subawards. All of the projects major programming goals have been met, however, a few of the project subaward final reports have not been completed. As soon as these subaward reports are submitted a final report for this project will be submitted. Since September of 2013 the following has been accomplished: 2014 Agriculture in the Classroom Conference The 2014 Agriculture in the Classroom National Conference was held on June 23-27, 2014 at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The event was hosted by the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation and the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization. This was a culmination of two years of planning through a partnership between the USDA-NIFA, National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization (NAITCO), AITC Eastern Region, and the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation. Attendance Overview: Over 540 attendees with representation from 46 states, the District of Columbia and four Canadian provinces 292 of the 540 attendees (54%) identified themselves as Teachers or Educators demonstrating the continued growth of educators at this conference 42 official state contacts participated in the conference (an increase of 3 over previous year) 22 major level sponsors and 33 additional contributors (increase of 27 over previous year) 23 exhibitors as part of the trade show and 27 State AITC Programs that showcased materials Program Highlights (see full agenda below): 80 high level workshops that included hands-on activities to help attendees better understand agriculture (gain literacy) and more effectively imbed the ‘context’ of agriculture into core K-12 subjects such as science, social studies, language arts and career exploration 18 interactive learning labs (a concept similar to roundtables or poster sessions) 9 traveling workshops to 18 agriculture based sites - Each tour showcased various aspects of Pennsylvania agriculture led by tour guides that focused on helping attendees gain personal and professional knowledge and included lesson plans and agriculturally accurate children’s literature correlating with the workshop stops National Teaching Awards Program presented in partnership with USDA/NIFA Received Welcoming Comments from Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture, George Greig Unique viewing of the major agriculture documentary FARMLAND including question and answer session with producer- Sponsored in part by the US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. Keynote address Wednesday evening from noted nutritionist, Dr. Jim Painter 14 teachers received graduate credit from Lindenwood University Official NAITCO organization state contact annual meeting occurred on Monday The pre-tour attendees got to visit the propagation house at Longwood Gardens and learn how they start their plants, from seeds and/or seedlings The post-tour attendees learned about the diversity of Gettysburg's agricultural economy at the time of the Civil War Overall 61% gave the conference a positive “conference experience” evaluation rating of “excellent” (the highest rating on the scale) and 30% rated the conference as “good.” Meaning that overall 91% of the participants had a positive experience. After the conference 86% “strongly agreed” that they had better understanding of the importance of agriculture compared with a 66% rating prior to the conference. A more detailed conference report may be obtained from the PD. 2014 Regional Meetings The funds for this grant paid partially for the 2014 Regional Meetings. The following report is also part of the FY 2013-16 progress report as funding comes from both grants. The regional meetings involved 30 states. A formal evaluation of each regional meeting revealed that participants “strongly agreed” that the meetings supported program development. The detailed results of these evaluations will be used to shape and develop future meetings. The average score for the professional development sessions were (1-5 Likert scale 1= strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree): Western Region 4.5; Central Region 4.6; Eastern Region 4.8; Southern Region 4.8. Each region developed their program based on an RFA I (PD) developed to meet the needs of the region. I presented at all of the regional meetings on the following topics: STEM, the National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix, developing curriculum, conducting professional development teacher workshops, and technology use and program evaluation. It was decided that the 2015 regional meetings would use the same RFA and format as 2014, but that in 2016 a combined meeting for all state contacts would be beneficial. Fall 2013 DC-Fly-in The Fall 2013 DC-Fly-in was productive and resulted in finalizing the National Center for Agricultural Literacy program of work. Over a period of four days (total) program priorities were revisited, and national reports were presented by the following: USDA-NIFA Extension, FFA, CYFERNet, American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization, Farm to School Program, Know your Farmer know Your Food, the USDA-NIFA AITC Project Director, and the USDA-NIFA-NPL and USDA-NIFA Director. Minutes of the meeting were kept and made available to all after the meeting. The NPL, Nancy Valentine retired in January and this resulted in a postponement of the spring 2014 DC Fly-in meeting. The meeting was pushed forward to Fall of 2014. The National Center for Agricultural Literacy An RFA was submitted and approved as a subaward by this contract to initiate a National Center for Agricultural Literacy and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Only a small amount of funding from this grant ($10,300) was put toward this effort with additional funds coming from the FY 2013-16 contract. This funding support a graduate student and is the last priority area that needs reporting to complete this contract and complete a final report. Other projects that are part of this contract have been discussed in previous progress reports. The final report will provide a review of all these initiatives.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/14

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Target Audience State Agriculture in the Classroom leaders Agricultural literacy stakeholders K-12 teachers in formal education Youth in formal education settings Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Through the supported conferences and regional meetings, AITC professionals have been able to engage in numerous professional development activities. All sessions were evaluated and with no exception, all received positive evaluations. The 2013 National Conference evaluations can be found on this page, http://agclassroom.org/conference2013/index.htm and the Regional Reports can be found by clicking on the following links and using NAITC as a password: Western Region https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/CP/Report.php?RP=RP_d56nyhFpza4m9XT Central Region: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/CP/Report.php?RP=RP_3Csenyo2x3bZu0l Eastern Region: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/CP/Report.ph?RP=RP_3Qzm5ugu5iEaGTb Southern Region: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/CP/Report.php?RP=RP_3Qzm5ugu5iEaGTb How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Yes, through the AITC list serve and at the 2014 Natioanl Conference. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? National AITC Conferences The project director worked with National AITC leadership to execute the 2013 and 2014 National Conference RFA and subawards. Specifically a RFA for both conferences were developed along with guidelines concerning roles, responsibilities, and revenue flows related to the conference. The PD also publicized the conference through the National website and social networking sites. The evaluations from the 2013 conference, just completed two weeks ago, will be analyzed and reported back to the PD. The results will be shared in a later REEport. The photos and proceedings can be found on this website http://agclassroom.org/conference2013/index.htm. By all accounts the conference supported increased economic opportunities and quality of life in rural America; improved innovative teaching practices to impact student learning; increased knowledge and competencies in agricultural sciences; increased the number and diversity of academic programs participating in Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC); fostered partnerships and collaborations to strengthen agricultural literacy programs; and increase knowledge, skills and abilities of state AITC contacts, program staff and volunteers to plan, deliver, and evaluate high quality agricultural literacy programs Regional AITC Conferences and Other Professional Development Opportunities The 2012 and 2013 regional meetings and two DC-Fly-in with NAITC and USDA-AITC leadership were conducted as part of this contract. The regional meetings involved 32 states. No formal evaluation was conducted, however and evaluation for the regional meetings will occur in 2014. The DC-Fly-ins were a huge success. Over a period of four days (total) program priorities were established, a logic model was completed, a vision and a mission statement was developed along with a definition for agricultural literacy. This progress has shaped funding and the future direction of AITC. Agriculture Classroom Enhancement (ACE) Grants The ACE grants were designed to: advance student learning through the development of improved innovative teaching materials and resources for use by teachers in the AITC network; support teaching innovation which addresses local, state and national learning standards; encourage innovation in the classroom; share lessons learned from grant awards with other educators to improve teaching and learning; and, build capacity for innovation among State AITC Programs. Six states received funding, each of their projects can be viewed on this page http://agclassroom.org/naitc/grant_ace12.htm. National Teaching Awards Program The USDA National Teaching Awards Program recognizes and honors a select group of K-12 teachers who excel at teaching agricultural literacy. The award application was posted on the NAITC web page. For 2013 a sponsor was found to fund the USDA National Teaching Awards Program. Four teachers and one teacher team received this recognition at the 2013 National Conference. The budget dollars for this budget item was reallocated into the Curriculum Matrix (Map) project. The 2013 award recipients can be viewed on this page http://agclassroom.org/teacher/award.htm. Website The PD managed the continued maintenance, management and upgrades to the AITC National Website, www.agclassroom.org. This website includes the National Resource Directory (NRD) used by educators nationwide to discover useful educational resources and agricultural literacy curriculum. The site provided a "one-stop" web-based resource for teachers, students, and families for up-to-date information on agriculture programs, careers, conferences, state-level activities, lesson plans, and other educational information; fostered improved, innovative teaching practices that increase student learning; increased the number and diversity of academic programs participating in AITC; support professional development activities; and facilitated the dissemination of teaching improvement activities and educational resources throughout the food and agricultural sciences academic system. Social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) were integrated and activity on these sites increased by 75% in 2013. From October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 there were 57,654 visits (46,302 unique visitors), this is a decrease of 30% from the previous period, suggesting that more promotion of the site needs to be conducted and/or more useful information needs to be provided on the site. It is hoped that the new National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Map that will be launched in 2014 will increase traffic to the site. Web 2.0 technologies such as, file sharing and photo sharing were added this past year. The National Resource Directory, with a searchable database of lessons currently under development, was maintained, but will be dismantled/integrated into a new Curriculum Matrix in early 2014. Research and Program Evaluation Projects State report data was collected for 2012 and the results were compiled in an Annual Report that can be found on this web page, http://agclassroom.org/state/summaries/index.htm. The survey gathered data and reported the results of AITC accomplishments (outputs) and outcomes (impacts). No RFAs to determine AITC program reach and effectiveness for research projects has been developed yet, but funding has been set aside for a small project. A description of potential research and evaluation projects is listed below. Curriculum Development and the Initiation of the National Center for Agricultural Literacy A project coordinator was hired for Year 2 of this grant in an effort to support the website and National Resource Directory additional curriculum resources. In order to accomplish the contract goals related to curriculum development, a subaward was provided to the University of Nebraska Lincoln to establish a National Center for Agricultural Literacy (NCAL). The Center's program of work includes three objectives 1) Develop or modify existing curricular resources focused on STEM in secondary grades related to agriculture to contribute 30 lesson plans to AITC, 2) Develop an evaluation framework and associated tools that can be used to assess the success of AITC curricula in meeting identified outcomes, 3) Build capacity of and foster leadership in state-level AITC programs by providing professional development to AITC contacts and strengthening collaboration between AITC and higher education institutions. The limited funding from this contract allowed the NCAL to get started and complete work and travel related to two of the objectives. Objectives Tasks and Technical Reporting (deliverables) Due February 1, 2015 Develop or modify existing curricular resources focused on STEM in secondary grades related to agriculture Identify content areas and Elicit feedback from AITC stakeholders. Reported on content developed or under development based on feedback. Reported on submission progress to the National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix Develop an evaluation framework and associated tools that can be used to assess the success of AITC curricula in meeting identified outcomes Begin to develop and make available evaluation framework and toolkit. Established a Program Evaluation Team Identified a framework (evaluation need areas) student and online evaluation tool for dissemination

    Publications

    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Spielmaker, D. (2012)'National Agriculture In The Classroom'. Retrieved from http://agclassroom.org/


    Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13

    Outputs
    Target Audience: The target audience for this project is State Agriculture in the Classroom Contacts, K-12 teachers, and other educators that work with K-12 education. Changes/Problems: A budget change was submitted and accepted in April 2013. These changes will enable us to successully complete this project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? See report above How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? via our website, agclassroom.org. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will work on completing the project goals, specifically the Teen Scene, Kids' Zone, and new National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Progress Report 12 AITC Contract National AITC Conferences The project director worked with National AITC leadership to execute the 2013 and 2014 National Conference RFA and subawards. Specifically a RFA for both conferences were developed along with guidelines concerning roles, responsibilities, and revenue flows related to the confrnece. The PD also publicized the conference through the National website and social networking sites. The evaluations from the 2013 conference, just completed two weeks ago, will be analyzed and reported back to the PD. The results will be shared in a later REEport. The photos and proceedings can be found on this website http://agclassroom.org/conference2013/index.htm. By all accounts the conference supported increased economic opportunities and quality of life in rural America; improved innovative teaching practices to impact student learning; increased knowledge and competencies in agricultural sciences; increased the number and diversity of academic programs participating in Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC); fostered partnerships and collaborations to strengthen agricultural literacy programs; and increase knowledge, skills and abilities of state AITC contacts, program staff and volunteers to plan, deliver, and evaluate high quality agricultural literacy programs Regional AITC Conferences and Other Professional Development Opportunities The 2012 and 2013 regional meetings and two DC-Fly-in with NAITC and USDA-AITC leadership were conducted as part of this contract. The regional meetings involved 32 states. No formal evaluation was conducted, however and evaluation for the regional meetings will occur in 2014. The DC-Fly-ins were a huge success. Over a period of four days (total) program priorities were established, a logic model was completed, a vision and a mission statement was developed along with a definition for agricultural literacy. This progress has shaped funding and the future direction of AITC. Agriculture Classroom Enhancement (ACE) Grants The ACE grants were designed to: advance student learning through the development of improved innovative teaching materials and resources for use by teachers in the AITC network; support teaching innovation which addresses local, state and national learning standards; encourage innovation in the classroom; share lessons learned from grant awards with other educators to improve teaching and learning; and, build capacity for innovation among State AITC Programs. An RFA for the 2012 ACE grants was developed and nine applicants were reviewed. Six states received funding, each of their projects can be viewed on this page http://agclassroom.org/naitc/grant_ace12.htm. National Teaching Awards Program The USDA National Teaching Awards Program recognizes and honors a select group of K-12 teachers who excel at teaching agricultural literacy. The award application was posted on the NAITC web page. For 2013 a sponsor was found to fund the USDA National Teaching Awards Program. Four teachers and one teacher team received this recognition at the 2013 National Conference. The budget dollars for this budget item was reallocated into the Curriculum Matrix (Map) project. The 2013 award recipients can be viewed on this page http://agclassroom.org/teacher/award.htm. Tradeshow Exhibiting NAITC exhibited at three National Conferences in this budget year. The National Council for the Social Studies (2012), the American Farm Bureau (2013) and the National Science Teachers Association (2013). These outreach efforts elevated educator awareness of AITC Classroom programs and available resources to contextualize core content with agricultural literacy outcomes. The conference also promoted partnerships and collaborations to enhance agricultural literacy. Over 1000 educators stopped by the booth, and there were noticeable spikes in website traffic. The brochure and “beach ball” activity developed for these tradeshows gathered educators from multiple disciplines. The PD secured AITC staffing for the tradeshow exhibits; developed and disseminate national publications and curriculum resources as appropriate and provided logistical support for trade show exhibits (i.e. secure exhibit space, work with exhibit contractors, ship, store, and receive exhibit materials). Website The PD managed the continued maintenance, management and upgrades to the AITC National Website, www.agclassroom.org. This website includes the National Resource Directory (NRD) used by educators nationwide to discover useful educational resources and agricultural literacy curriculum. The site provided a “one-stop” web-based resource for teachers, students, and families for up-to-date information on agriculture programs, careers, conferences, state-level activities, lesson plans, and other educational information; fostered improved, innovative teaching practices that increase student learning; increased the number and diversity of academic programs participating in AITC; support professional development activities; and facilitated the dissemination of teaching improvement activities and educational resources throughout the food and agricultural sciences academic system. The Teen Scene and Kids’ Zone is still scheduled for overhaul in 2013. Social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) were integrated and activity on these sites increased by 75% in 2013. From October 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 there were 57,654 visits (46,302 unique visitors), this is a decrease of 30% from the previous period, suggesting that more promotion of the site needs to be conducted and/or more useful information needs to be provided on the site. It is hoped that the new National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Map that will be launched in 2014 will increase traffic to the site. Web 2.0 technologies such as, file sharing and photo sharing were added this past year. The National Resource Directory, with a searchable database of lessons currently under development, was maintained, but will be dismantled/integrated into a new Curriculum Matrix in early 2014. Research and Program Evaluation Projects State report data was collected for 2012 and the results were compiled in an Annual Report that can be found on this web page, http://agclassroom.org/state/summaries/index.htm. The survey gathered data and reported the results of AITC accomplishments (outputs) and outcomes (impacts). No RFAs to determine AITC program reach and effectiveness for research projects has been developed yet, but funding has been set aside for a small project. A description of potential research and evaluation projects is listed below. Curriculum Development A project coordinator was hired for Year 2 of this grant in an effort to support the website and National Resource Directory additional curriculum resources. The resources that will be developed in 2013-2014 will to supplement and support the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (NALOs, which will be updated/revised in the upcoming year) and web-based resources will be developed as part of the National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix project.

    Publications

    • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: agclassroom.org