Investigating the impacts of a preservice agriculture teacher recruitment program using Kirkpatrick’s program evaluation model

Abstract

Although post-secondary school agricultural education degree programs strive to meet the need of supplying agriculture teachers, the gap between teacher demand and supply continues to exist. The Teach Ag Campaign is a joint effort of the agricultural education profession to recruit and retain agricultural educators and encourage students to pursue a career in teaching agriculture. Given the systematic program evaluation of the effects of Teach Ag Campaign efforts on agriculture teacher supply is lacking, this study investigated the outcomes and effectiveness of a preservice agriculture teacher recruitment program using Kirkpatrick’s program evaluation framework. The results indicated that the design and implementation of the Agricultural Education Institute (AEI) effectively met the needs of program participants, and the program positively affected participants’ knowledge, attitude, and aspiration regarding a career teaching agriculture. In addition, the findings demonstrated that the AEI contributes to producing agriculture teachers who support Florida's school-based agricultural education programs. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for practice in terms of participant recruitment, program design, implementation, and future research were proposed.