Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
One of the greatest challenges facing secondary education today, including school-based agricultural education (SBAE; agricultural education programs in grades 6-12), is a shortage of highly qualified teachers entering and remaining in the profession. In Texas, only 677 of the 1,002 teacher preparation program completers (67.6%) from 2015 to 2020 began teaching in SBAE programs. Current nationwide data indicates that more than 25% of license-eligible agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) teacher preparation program graduates do not plan to enter the teaching profession in SBAE programs, and even fewer than 75% are expected to actually enter the profession. Our long-term goal is to increase the number of license-eligible program completers who enter the profession as AFNR teachers in SBAE programs. To accomplish this goal, the Agricultural Sciences Summer Experience in Teaching (ASSET) program will, over the course of five years, provide 50 pre-service AFNR teachers in Texas with an immersive, hands-on field experience through an 8-week summer internship that will expose them to the roles and responsibilities of AFNR teachers during the summer, equip them with essential workforce skills and tools needed for a successful career, and increase the likelihood they will enter the profession upon graduation. Impact of the ASSET program includes development of a robust training program specifically targeting pre-service AFNR teachers, a population that has not been extensively included in targeted interventions, to reduce the shortage of ANFR teachers, thereby helping to close the skills gap in the food and agricultural sciences.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
0%
Developmental
100%
Goals / Objectives
The goal of thisREEU project is toestablish the Agricultural Sciences Summer Experience in Teaching (ASSET) program to equip pre-service AFNR teachers with both the practical and leadership skills and tools to persist and provide high-quality AFNR programs to middle and high school students. Over the course of the 5-year program, we will provide 50 interns (pre-service AFNR teachers) in Texas withan 8-week summer internship that will expose them to the roles and responsibilities of AFNR teachers during the summer, equip them with essential workforce skills and tools needed for a successful career, and increase the likelihood they will enter the profession upon graduation. We have the following specific objectives: (1) Create and deliver an immersive, hands-on, summer field experience thatengages 10 undergraduate pre-service AFNR teachers in summer teaching experiences, both formal and non-formal, in school-based agricultural education (SBAE) programs each year; (2) Identify highly competent and highly motivated in-service AFNRteachers who are on an extended contract to serve as mentors; and (3) Create a collaborative environment where mentors (in-service AFNR teachers) and interns (pre-service AFNR teachers) work together to develop skillsets needed to enter the teaching profession and thrive as AFNR teachers.
Project Methods
The Agricultural Sciences Summer Experience in Teaching (ASSET) program will provide pre-service AFNR teachers with hands-on experiences, mentorship, and career guidance related to the roles and responsibilities of AFNR teachers during the summer (outside the 180-day school year). Once selected, interns will be matched with a mentor AFNR teacher. In addition to pre-internship training sessions, including leadership and professional development, interns and mentors will meet virtually or in person at least twice before the start of the 8-week internship. During the 8-week internship, interns will engage in, at a minimum, four planned pillar experiential learning activities, Throughout the internship, interns will (1) receive high-quality mentoring from an in-service AFNR teacher, (2) gain experience working with students and programs during the summer from a teacher's perspective, and (3) improve their leadership skills and teacher professional identity. A consolidation and closing activity will be conducted to allow interns to reflect on the arc of their internship journey and their own learningand provide feedback for continuous improvement.Success will be measured via achievement of student-centered learning outcomes based on the eight categories of assets outlined by the Search Institute (Griffin-Wiesner & Byers; 1999) and if participation in the ASSET program increases the number of license-eligible teacher preparation program completers who enter the teaching profession as an AFNR teacherin a school-based agricultural education program following graduation.