Source: IAA FOUNDATION submitted to
ILLINOIS AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM AGRICULTURAL ACADEMY: INTEGRATING AGRI SCIENCE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
EXTENDED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1021672
Grant No.
2020-67037-31053
Project No.
ILLW-2019-04926
Proposal No.
2019-04926
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
A7501
Project Start Date
May 1, 2020
Project End Date
Feb 28, 2025
Grant Year
2020
Project Director
Moore, S.
Recipient Organization
IAA FOUNDATION
1701 TOWANDA AVENUE
BLOOMINGTON,IL 617012057
Performing Department
IL Ag in the Classroom
Non Technical Summary
Over the pastfifty years the number of children raised on the farm has decreased dramatically. As decades have passed, children have become two, three or more generations removed from the farm. Agriculture, while necessary to one's daily life, is no longer a topic of relevance.Meanwhile, food and agricultural systems are under the constraints of a growing population, pressures on natural resources, and complex demands of ensuring nutritional security and food safety in a global economy.Addressing these challenges requires education. Most educators are not trained or equipped to teach the facts and importance of agriculture. Nor are they exposed to the vast career opportunities related to agriculture and the STEM related education which could support future career readiness in agriculture related fields.Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (IAITC) brings a proven and effective delivery model that gets objective and scientifically based agriculture content into the hands of teachers in every county throughout the state of Illinois. IAITC maintains that teachers who are educated on topics related to agriculture that are relevant to students and meet state learning standards are more likely to implement such curricular resources. IAITC also maintains that children who are better educated on production agriculture, specialty crops and other links to agriculture in their daily lives will make more informed and healthier food and lifestyle choices, make better decisions as they grow older in regards to specialty farm and food policy, and understand the importance and diversity of agriculture and the vast array of careers available related to the agricultural industry.Teacher training through Summer Agricultural Academies provide the key introduction of Agri science materials and allow educators to further develop creative ideas, answer questions and stimulate conversation related to agriculture education, science and technology, and how to engage students in further learning on these concepts. Training teachers is one effective method IAITC utilizes to ensure the student population in Illinois gains agricultural literacy.Through this grant, IAITC will execute a total of 100 multi-day teacher training events that will increase knowledge for 2,000 educators. In turn, these educators will engage in student education, along with IAITC staff and volunteers, who in total will reach 2.8 million students in the state of Illinois.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
90360993020100%
Goals / Objectives
Educators experience agriculture and the agribusiness industry firsthand through Summer Agricultural Academies. Agricultural Literacy training, curriculum development and enhancement provides K-8 teachers with the tools necessary to enhance student learning in the areas of food and agricultural sciences. Topics introduced include technologies in consumer marketing, agriculture production, product processing food sciences, biotechnology, horticultural sciences, communications and marketing.Twenty-five multiple day training sessions and field trips are conducted annually, and attended by approximately 500 educators in total, who will leave with increased knowledge and confidence to teach subjects in food and agricultural sciences as well as STEM integration. Through career exploration, educators will gain a clearer understanding of the new and advancing job opportunities available in food and agriculture sciences.The Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (IAITC) program brings a proven and effective delivery model that gets objective and scientifically based agriculture content into the hands of teachers in every county throughout the state of Illinois. IAITC will continue to use this effective model to introduce lessons and enhance learning related to food, agri science and STEM agriculture careers, helping increase agricultural literacy and career readiness.Project Objectives include:Empower educators to teach students how to make the connection between food, science and agricultureHelp educators encourage students to engage in critical thinking about where their food comes from, distinguish between fact and fictionProvide educators the tools and training necessary to educate students on topics related to food and agri scienceProvide educators the tools and experience necessary to educate students on the variety of careers available in STEM and agriculture related fields
Project Methods
Twenty-five multiple day training sessions and field trips, known as Agricultural Academies, are conducted annually, and attended by approximately 500 educators, who will leave with increased knowledge and confidence to teach subjects in food and agricultural sciences as well as STEM integration. Through career exploration, educators will gain a clearer understanding of job opportunities available in food and agriculture sciences. Topics introduced include technologies in consumer marketing, agriculture production, product processing food sciences, biotechnology, horticultural sciences, communications and marketing.The training course consists of workshops, in-depth questions and answer sessions, traveling workshops of various agri-businesses in local host counties and communities, and hands on experiences using Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom materials.Implemented methods teach students, teachers and citizens how to weigh various sides of an issue through critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills on agricultural topics.Agricultural Academies are identified as one of two classifications: Level 1 and Level 2. 40% of the trainings are conducted at Level 1, and 60% of the trainings are conducted at Level 2.Level 1 academies can be planned from one to four days in length and participants are eligible for professional development clock hours. As approved providers, IAITC can issue credit for clock hours completed in increments of at least one-quarter hour for any given type of activity developed and presented by persons with education and experience in the applicable content areas; and where there is an apparent correlation between the proposed content of the professional development activities, the relevant standards; and one or more of the required criteria.Level 2 academies can be planned as four day or six day trainings. Four day academies are eligible for 2 hours of graduate credit from the University of St Francis. Six day academies are eligible for 3 hours of graduate credit from University of St Francis, Joliet IL. The Level 2 academies are part of the REAL (Regional Educational Academy for Leadership) program in the St Francis College of Education. Professional development opportunities offered by REAL at the University of St. Francis include programs and course work that are rigorous, challenging, and embedded with research-based instructional strategies.Five Units of Work are covered in both levels of the program.Agriculture involves:Research: done by both commercial agribusiness, universities and governmentInputs: seeds, fertilizers, pesticidesOutputs: production agriculture, plants and animalsMarketing: how a farmer gets information on products, and how end consumer learns about his productsProcessing: how the farmers' products become the end consumer productsCourse sessions involve traveling workshops and presentations by experts in their respective field, as well as materials relevant to the topic. Participants will reflect individually and in small groups on their experiences and how they fit into their curricula. They will develop a project integrating the materials into lesson plans or units specific to their academic discipline. All projects must be pre-approved with the instructor.Level 2 Academies follow the following outline for Sessions:Session 1: Introduction, Overview of course, Pre-Assessment, Classroom sessions relating to specific topic, Overview and samples of materials available. Introduce reflective journal and classroom assignment on incorporating agriculture into existing curriculum and introduce project of lesson plan. Tour of Agri science industry, focus on Human Resources skills needed for contemporary industry.Session 2: Expanded hands-on activities, tours of Agri science related industries focused on environmental impact of Agri science. Review reflective journal, classroom assignment and project.Session 3: Continued hands-on activities and curricular resource review, tour of Agri science related industry focused on future technologies and the impact of Agri science. Review reflective journal, classroom assignment and project.Session 4 and 5: Continued hands-on activities and curricular resource review, tour of Agri science related industry focused on future technologies and the impact of Agri science. Review reflective journal, classroom assignment and project.Session 6: Presentations from commodity organizations, Post-Assessment, Reflective journal collected, written assignment collected and discussed, final questions relating to project.Level 1 Academies create a modified syllabus which includes a selection of the six outlined sessions above.The classrooms sessions, traveling workshops, and resulting lesson plans focus on a wide variety of materials from selected agribusiness sources from throughout the United States, as well as various on-line curriculum materials. For example, USDA Living Science Career cards are utilized to explore careers in food, agriculture and natural resources. Reference materials include, but are not limited to, the materials listed in the attached bibliography.Planning logistics and training implementation is the responsibility of the Agricultural Literacy Coordinator. Agricultural Literacy Coordinators are employed locally throughout the state of Illinois and have reporting responsibility to the IAITC program, its goals, objectives and funding. Currently 79 Agricultural Literacy Coalitions support an Agricultural Literacy Coordinator through a paid or volunteer position. Each coordinator is responsible for following set training and curriculum guidelines in order to receive stipends for each participant. State IAITC staff provide leadership and mentoring for Ag Literacy Coordinators, ensuring successful execution of Agricultural Academies.Implementation and delivery to students takes place through classroom lessons delivered by 79 Ag Literacy coordinators, volunteers and the 40,000 teachers who utilize IAITC materials in the classroom.The National Center for Agricultural Literacy provides evaluation resources that will be reviewed, adapted and utilized to enhance the ability to create a true evaluation metric for teacher knowledge gained.IAITC deploys evaluation methods for each Agricultural Academy conducted that include a "Pre" and "Post" methodology. Educators are asked to answer a set of questions prior to the training which rate their knowledge of agricultural related topics, their understanding of the topic's relation to STEM, and their willingness to teach such subjects in their classroom. Then, at the end of the training, the educators are asked those same questions again. From this information IAITC can measure an increase or decrease related to the expected outcomes.In addition, the curriculum materials developed in Level 2 trainings are evaluated on a points system, and each educator is given analysis and feedback on their materials. It is also cross referenced to ensure materials meet current learning standards.

Progress 05/01/22 to 04/30/23

Outputs
Target Audience:K-12 educators in the state of Illinois are invited to participate in Summer Agricultural Academies. Specific recruitment efforts are led by 82 Agricultural Literacy Coordinators who have established connections with educators in their region of the state. While emphasis is placed on the 4th grade level, educators at all levels are encouraged to participate as most curricular resources can be adjusted to expand learning participation at lower and higher grade levels. Changes/Problems:Participation trended in a positive direction in 2022, after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic created a high rate of variables from IAITC's typical and consistent track record of educator participation in events such as Summer Agricultural Academies. The number of academies and number of participants are closer to pre-pandemic expectations. Teacher fatigue continues to challenge participation in outside professional development. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) altered its rules to extend deadlines, allowing teachers anextra year to complete professional development hours. However, it has not been extended further so it is anticipated that more educators will be seeking PD opportunities like those offered through SAA's. In 2021 all SAA's were conducted at Level 1, however in 2022 two SAA's were successfully executed at Level 2. To qualify for a Level 2 SAA 45 hours of instruction must be completed with no more than 8 hours earned in a day (as part of our agreement with University of St. Francis, our Graduate Credit provider) which requires participation over a six-day period. While IAITC will still encourage SAA's at Level 2, in order to maintain interest and participation, it is anticipated that the majority of SAA's will continue to be conducted at Level 1 (1-3 days, no graduate credit). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The purpose of Summer Agricultural Academies (SAA's) is to provide training and professional development for educators. Educators rated the experience as highly valuable and noted that this is a unique program they have not found offered through other professional development providers. This year two SAA's were conducted at Level 2, where educators have the opportunity to earn graduate credit. These SAA's were each six days in length, and nine educators total participated in the additional steps to earn graduate credit through IAITC's partner, the University of St. Francis. Nine educators completed cumulative lessons which each included a minimum of two learning standards. Lessons developed follow CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers) InTASC (Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC)) guidelines and specifically 5,6,7,8 of InTASC (Content Knowledge-Application of Content, Instructional Practice-Assessment, Planning for Instruction, Instructional Strategies). Educators then reflected upon their lesson in a 1,000 word essay which explores their experiential learning opportunity. They then presented their work and findings to their peers. In addition each lesson plan was graded by the SAA host (1/3 points) and a University of St. Francis Evaluator (2/3 points). Evaluators remarked how much the educators enjoy and learn from the experiential learning opportunities presented through SAA's. The University of St. Francis invited IAITC staff to present nationally to 37 teachers, furthering awareness of resources available as part of this partnership. During the program year, Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom provided a total of 1,323 hours of professional development through county ag literacy programs. 2,009 teachers participated in professional development workshops and 860 pre-service teachers received training through 47 presentations on incorporating agriculture into the classroom. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results are shared with the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom Program Council which includes representatives of various commodity groups, education, and agriculture partners. Overall program impact results are shared through the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education (FCAE) Annual Report and through the IAA Foundation Annual Report. Nine cumulative lessons created by educators who attended SAA's for graduate credit shared their body of work with the University of St. Francis evaluators, and presented their lessons and observations to peer participants. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Summer Agricultural Academies (SAA's) are planned for 2023. STEM will continue to be the primary driver behind lessons. What will make 2023 content unique is that the subject of soil will be incorporated as the overarching theme, delivering lessons related to nutrients, soil layers, conservation and sustainability. Continuing changes to professional development qualifiers will also be taken into consideration. COVID related moratoriums on professional development hours are no longer in place, so it is anticipated that more educators will be seeking professional development hours. However, the trend is likely to continue to teachers prefer 1-3 day SAA's versus 4-6 day SAA's.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A total of 40 Summer Agricultural Academies (SAA's) were planned for Summer 2022. Seven SAA's were ultimately cancelled due to low registrant participation. Thirty three SAA's were successfully executed with a total of 384 participating educators. SAA's ranged from 1 day to 6 days of professional development workshops, with a total of 82 professional development training days executed. Participating educators identified that they teach grade 1-4 (39%), 5-6 (18%), 9-12 (8%), 7-8 (9%), Pre-K to Kindergarten (23%), special education, administrator, library science (3%). The SAA model, which includes time for course instruction and experiential learning through activities, farm and industry tours, and guest speakers with careers in STEM and agriculture, allows educators to fully experience how agriculture can enhance their curriculum, which is further evidenced by the 151% increase in educators (post SAA) who strongly agree that agriculture enhances curriculum. (shift from agree to strongly agree) The overarching theme for 2022 SAA's was to emphasize the role of STEM in agriculture, and how educators can incorporate new or enhanced STEM content related to agriculture as part of their curriculum. Unique to this year's SAA's was the use and distribution of STEM Cards. Thiscard-set contains 17 cards each representing a different agriculture subject matter including Apple, Beef, Corn, Dairy, Horse, IllinoisHistory, Pizza, Pollinator, Pork, Poultry, Pumpkin, Farmers Market, Soil, Soybean, Urban, Water, and Wheat. Each card includes inquiry-based activities while each subject also links directly back to additional curricular resources including career exploration. This variety of resources and extension ideas allow educators to make adjustments to each lesson to best fit their student age group. Printed in full color, high gloss and a corner binder ring make these STEM Cards a great ongoing quick-reference resource for educators. Examples of unique activities educators participated in include an engineering analysis though creation of pumpkin catapults, and experimentation with non-Newtonian fluids using corn starch. In addition to classroom instruction, educators were able to make real life connections to agriculture, careers, and relation to STEM through farm visits and agricultural industry tours specific to their region of the state. Each Project Objective was met and is reflected through the following data collected: Empower educators to teach students how to make the connection between food, science, and agriculture Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 53% increase in the sentiment that it is very important to teach children about agriculture (shift from somewhat important to very). Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 29% increase in teacher opinion that students will benefit from learning more about agriculture (shift from somewhat to greatly). Help educators encourage students to engage in critical thinking about where their food comes from, distinguish between fact and fiction Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 423% increase in anticipated student interest level in STEM when using agricultural topics (shift from some interest to great interest). Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 507% increase in agreement (strongly agree) that agriculture can be used to teach STEM topics. Provide educators the tools and training necessary to educate students on topics related to food and Agri science Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 200% increase in likelihood that teachers will incorporate ag daily, and a 141% increase in likelihood that teachers will incorporate ag weekly. Pre and post participant surveys reflected an 113% increase in comfort level of teachers incorporating agriculture into classroom lessons (shift from somewhat to very). Provide educators the tools and experience necessary to educate students on the variety of careers available in STEM and agriculture related fields Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 131% increase in intent to teach students about careers in agriculture. Pre and post participant surveys reflected an 857% increase in teacher perception that 50-75% of their students would purpose a career in agriculture or STEM. A complete listing of executed Summer Agricultural Academies include: Revealing Science through Agriculture, Williamson and Saline Counties Sprouting Success in the Classroom, Bond County STEM on the Farm, Monroe County Explore. Discover. Grow, Madison County Pollinators, Pests, and Protein: Insects in Agriculture, DeKalb County Jasper County Summer Ag Institute Clark County Summer Ag Institute Bureau, Lee and Whiteside Summer Ag Institute Beef Up Your Classroom Instruction, Champaign and Vermillion Counties The ABC's of Agriculture through De-Witt and Piatt Counties From Bison & Bluestem to Corn & Cattle, Livingston County Ag in a Day, Quad Cities and Peoria Cumberland County Summer Ag Institute Clay/Richland Summer Ag Tours Workshop Crawford County Summer Ag Institute McLean County Summer Ag Institute Trailing Ag in the Classroom, Franklin, Hamilton and Jefferson Counties Hancock County Summer Ag Academy Macoupin County Summer Ag Institute Fulton/McDonough Summer Ag Tour Southeastern Illinois Summer Ag Institute, Wabash, Edwards, Wayne, and White Counties Agriculture...Thinking Outside of the Barn, Pope, Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Pulaski and Alexander Counties Marion County Summer Ag Institute Effingham County Summer Ag Institute Planting Seeds of Knowledge, Cass and Morgan Counties Connecting Curriculum to Urban & Rural Agriculture, Cook County Summer Ag Tours, Clinton County From Farm to Table, Boone, Winnebago, Ogle, and Stephenson Counties Peoria County Summer Ag Institute Tri County Summer Agriculture Institute, Grundy, Kendall, Will Counties Southern Illinois Summer Ag Institute, Jackson County Shelby County Ag Day Macon County Teacher Training Day

Publications


    Progress 05/01/21 to 04/30/22

    Outputs
    Target Audience:K-12 educators in the state of Illinois are invited to participate in Summer Agricultural Academies. Specific recruitment efforts are led by 82 Agricultural Literacy Coordinators who have established connections with educators in their region of the state. While emphasis is placed on the 4th grade level, educators at all levels are encouraged to participate as most curricular resources can be adjusted to expand learning participation at lower and higher grade levels. Changes/Problems:Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to create disruptions from IAITC's typical and consistent track record of educator participation in events such as Summer Agricultural Academies. While it is an accomplishment that in-person professional development was successfully executed, both the number of academies and number of participants are not meeting pre-pandemic expectations. Teacher fatigue continues to challenge participation in outside professional development. Additionally, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) altered its rules to extend deadlines, allowing teachers and extra year to complete professional development hours. In 2021 all SAA's were conducted at Level 1. To qualify for a Level 2 SAA 45 hours of instruction must be completed with no more than 8 hours earned in a day (as part of our agreement with University of St. Francis, our Graduate Credit provider) This requires meeting over 6 days and would require participants to return after a weekend away. Given the uncertainty of COVID related restrictions, it was determined best not to potentially expose participants in this greater capacity. The program and its coordinators will be flexible and responsive to the changing environment with ISBE/COVID including anticipating shortened sessions to still allow teachers to qualify for credits. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The purpose of Summer Agricultural Academies is to provide training and professional development for educators. Educators rated the experience as highly valuable and noted that this is a unique program they have not found offered through other professional development providers. Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom provided a total of 709 hours of professional development throughcounty ag literacy programs. 450 teachers participated in professional development workshops (Summer Agriculutral Academies and Virtual Trainings) and 552 pre-service teachers received training through 39 presentations on incorporating agriculture into the classroom. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results are shared with the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom Program Council which includes representatives of various commodity groups, education, and agriculture partners. Overall program impact results are shared through the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education (FCAE) Annual Report and through the IAA Foundation Annual Report. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Summer Agricultural Academies are planned for 2022. STEM themed lessons and materials were so well received that even further emphasis will be placed in future trainings. Additional participant feedback will help guide future decisions regarding SAA content and layout. Continuing changes to professional development qualifiers will also be taken into consideration. Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, state requirements, and general teacher fatigue are all considerations and a need to be flexible and responsive will continue moving forward as all attempts are made to re-build and strengthen interest and participation in teacher training.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? A total of 30 Summer Agricultural Academies (SAA's) were planned for Summer 2021. Ten SAA's were ultimately cancelled due to low registrant participation. Twenty SAA's were successfully executed with a total of 282 participating educators. SAA's ranged from 1 day to 4 days of professional development workshops, with a total of 58 professional development training days executed. A Virtual option was also offered in place of in-person experience. A total of 20 participants engaged in virtual activities. Participating educators identified that they teach grade 1-4 (48%), 5-6 (13%), 9-12 (12%), 6-8 (9%), Kindergarten (8%), 1-6 (3%), special education (3%), Pre-K (2%), and vocational (2%) Overarching themes for 2021 SAA's were to link STEM to careers in Agri-Science. Each activity provided in the take-home lesson booklet included a STEM component as well as links to additional curricular resources to use in the classroom. Other timely and relevant topics of interest included breaking down components of the Supply Chain to help students understand the importance and role of each element and how they impact one another. In addition to classroom instruction, educators were able to make real life connections to agriculture, careers, and relation to STEM through farm visits and agricultural industry tours. Each Project Objective was met and is reflected through the following data collected: Empower educators to teach students how to make the connection between food, science, and agriculture Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 24% increase in the sentiment that it is very important to teach children about agriculture (shift from somewhat important to very) Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 19% increase in teacher opinion that students will benefit from learning more about agriculture (shift from somewhat to greatly) Help educators encourage students to engage in critical thinking about where their food comes from, distinguish between fact and fiction Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 173% increase in anticipated student interest level in STEM when using agricultural topics Provide educators the tools and training necessary to educate students on topics related to food and agri science Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 200% increase in likelihood that teachers will incorporate ag daily, and a 119% increase in likelihood that teachers will incorporate ag weekly. Pre and post participant surveys reflected an 83% increase in comfort level of teachers incorporating agriculture into classroom lessons (shift from somewhat to very) Provide educators the tools and experience necessary to educate students on the variety of careers available in STEM and agriculture related fields Pre and post participant surveys reflected a 114% increase in agreement that agriculture can be used to teach STEM topics A complete listing of executed Summer Agricultural Academies, host and location are provided here: Northern Illinois SAI, Winnebago-Boone Farm Bureau, Rockford IL; Teaching About WATER - Water, Agriculture, Technology, & Environmental Resources, DeKalb County Farm Bureau, Sycamore IL; Clay/Richland/Lawrence Summer Ag Tours, Louisville IL; Cass-Morgan SAI, AITC Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau, Jacksonville IL; Summer Ag Tours 2021, Marion County Farm Bureau, Salem IL; Southeastern IL SAI - Edwards, Wayne, White, Wabash Counties, Southeastern Illinois Summer Ag Institute, Albion IL; Agriculture A to Z, Champaign County Ag in the Classroom, Champaign IL; Summer Ag Tours, Clinton Co Ag in the Classroom, Breese IL; Illuminating the world through Agriculture, Hamilton -Jefferson County Farm Bureau, Ag in the Classroom, Mt Vernon IL; Franklin County Summer Ag Institute, Franklin County Ag in the Classroom, Benton IL; Clark County Farm Bureau SAI, Clark County Farm Bureau, Martinsville IL; Macoupin SAI, Macoupin County Agricultural Literacy Program, Carlinville IL; STEM on the Farm, Monroe County Ag in the Classroom, Waterloo IL; Cumberland County Farm Bureau Summer Ag Institute, Cumberland County Farm Bureau Ag Literacy Coalition, Toledo IL; Jasper County Ag in the Classroom, Jasper County Farm Bureau, Newton IL; Summer Ag Institute, McHenry County Farm Bureau, Woodstock IL; Hancock County Summer Ag Academy, University of Illinois Extension/Farm Bureau, Carthage IL; Ag Academy, Madison Co CAREE Ag Academy, Edwardsville IL; Effingham County Summer Ag Institute, Effingham County Ag in the Classroom, Effingham IL; Agriculture From STEM to the CORE, McLean County Ag in the Classroom, Bloomington IL

    Publications


      Progress 05/01/20 to 04/30/21

      Outputs
      Target Audience:K-12 educators in the state of Illinois. Emphasis is placed at the 4th grade level. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic related shut downs provided the primary reason for changes and adaptation to Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom's (IAITC)traditional in-person training program.While programming was able to pivot quickly to offering virtual sessions similar in nature to original intent, the overal breadth and scope of training was limited due to the constraints placed by state mandates.IAITC is prepared to address these challenges and continue to adapt to the needs of education, as this has always been an important element of the programming model. During this reporting period, traditional in-person Summer Agricultural Academies were not held due to COVID-19 restrictions.Educators were still encouraged to attend virtual professional development sessions, however, these sessions were not executed with the same methodology and outcomes of the Summer Agricultural Academy model.Consequentially, the actions taken in this reporting period also do not align with the original funding model. It is our intention to extend the original timeline to include an additional year of trainings once in person training opportunities are again safe and available to educators. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The greatest opportunity this project provided during this reporting year was to learn from the abruptchange to remote learning. Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom staff were able to provide digital resources for use in classrooms, and engage with teachers to discover what adapted learning resources best help them meet their educational goals while operating in remote classroom environments. These lessons will be incorporated into future trainings to continue to adapt with educational models. Teachers who took part in the modified virtual summer trainings rated the experience as highly valuable. Many have signed up to particiate in continuing in-person and virtual trainings for 2021. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results are shared with the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom Program Council which includes representatives of various commodity groups, education and agriculture partners.Overall program impact results are shared through the Illinois State Board of Education Facilitating Coordination in Agricultural Education (FCAE) Annual Report and through the IAA Foundation Annual Report. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The planning model forin-person Summer Agricultural Academieswill be executed in 2021 following all CDC guidelines and pending any further restrictions from the state of Illinois. Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom also continues to prepare for hybridand remote learning opportunities for teachers and studentsand plans to incorporate remote and hybrid learning techniques and tools such as Kahoot, Mentimeter and Padlet. This allows teachers to continue experiential learning through agriculture and STEM whether used in a live or virtual classroom, and allows students to continue to find value and connections to agriculture through engaging lessons.

      Impacts
      What was accomplished under these goals? As a consequence of continued shutdowns in the state of Illinois related to COVID-19, the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom (IAITC) Summer Agricultural Academy program moved to a virtual format. Eight hours of virtual training were successfuly conducted during the months of June and July of 2020.One hour training sessions on Tuesday mornings focused on topics related to Illinois commodities(corn, soybeans, beef, pork, dairy, specialty crops) and their integration intoSTEM lessons.In the same week, a second one hour session included a virtual field trip to a related destination (dairy farm, apple orchard, grain elevator,etc..) where career exploration wasfurther emphasized. Each session averaged 48 participants and 272 participants in totalparticipated through the virtual series.Sixteenteachers completed 100% of the sessions. After each session, teachers were prepared to showcase topics of agriculture through STEM lessons, as well as confidently lead career exploration in fields related to agricultue and STEM. While these modified sessions did not produce curricular resources as a tangible outcome, participant objectives were still met including: 1) Educators are empowered to teach students how to make connections between food, science and agriculture and 2) can engage students in critical thinking about where there food comes from. 3) Educators have the tools, training and experience necessary to educate students on topics related to food and agriscience and 4) to lead students through career discovery in STEM and agriculture related fields.

      Publications