EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Agricultural Education Curriculum Innovation Project

In 2001, California State University, Fresno (CSUF) was awarded funds by the United States Department of Agriculture to implement the Agricultural Education Curriculum Innovation Project, a three-year collaborative project between the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and the Kremen School of Education and Human Development (KSOEHD). This evaluation report covers the second year of project implementation (2002-2003).

The project continues to focuses on two themes: 1) to educate children in Fresno County schools (grades K-8) about the importance of agriculture to our society and the many educational and career opportunities available within the industry, and 2) to integrate agricultural education and awareness into the daily activities in K-8 classrooms throughout the Central Valley of California by preparing and supporting teachers with an agriculture-related knowledge base and accompanying resources.

As in 2001-2002, two professors modified their required teacher preparation class, Curriculum and Instruction in the Elementary School (CTET 150), by adding an agriculture-related component to four sections of the class. Students in all four classes completed a pre- and post-survey designed to measure their knowledge of and attitudes toward including agriculture-based curriculum in the classroom. The students who had the added exposure to using agriculture in the K-8 curriculum by being required to develop an agriculture-related curriculum unit had statistically significantly higher increases in knowledge of teaching agriculture in the classroom on most items compared to the group who had the general curriculum assignment.

A 3-unit course (Going Country) intended for Liberal Studies majors, teacher interns, and current K-8 teachers was offered in the spring of 2003 through the Division of Extended Education. At the conclusion of this class students were surveyed to measure knowledge gained and attitude change. Results indicated that participants became significantly more knowledgeable about and had stronger intentions to teach agriculture in the K-12 classroom after attending the Going Country course. Recommendations based on these surveys were provided to the project director.

The Central Valley Agricultural Literacy Program was invited by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Peter Mehas, to speak at one of the monthly superintendent's meetings held at the Fresno County Office of Education in downtown Fresno. The superintendents were provided with extensive information on the project's efforts and activities.

In order to address the need for additional student recruitment into the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Ms. Lonna Torrico, Director of the Central Valley Ag Literacy Program met with a variety of individuals and groups, including hundreds of students and faculty from numerous local community colleges and school districts to discuss the agricultural education program and the desire for recruitment of individuals into the Liberal Studies program at California State University, Fresno. In addition, Ms. Torrico presented information about the project and its recruitment efforts at a number of statewide and national teacher professional organizations.

This grant-funded program is being implemented as planned. The collaboration between the two schools is working well and the program goals are being met on the timeline projected for the project. Results of the study indicate that introduction of agriculture-related content in a teacher preparation course is a highly effective method for imparting knowledge and improving teacher attitudes toward agriculture.