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OCR for page R1
U~rs~r~irlg
`'gricaltare
-
l Ve~ Directio~s for Ed~catio~
Committee on Agricultural Education
in Secondary Schools
Board on Agriculture
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1988
OCR for page R2
National Academy Press · 2101 Constitution Avenue, NV1 · Washington, DC 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Re-
search Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National
Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report
were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report
Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineer-
ing, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars en-
gaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use
for the general welfare. Upon authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a
mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is
president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of
Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the
selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal
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White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of
eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the
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The National Research Council was established in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology
with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accor-
dance with the general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency
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government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both
Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman,
respectively, of the National Research Council.
This project was supported under grant No. 59-32U4-5-11 from the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and grant No. G008520005 from the Department of Education. It has received funding
from the National Research Council Fund, a pool of private, discretionary, nonfederal funds consisting of contribu-
tions from a consortium of private foundations including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Charles E.
Culpeper Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foun-
dation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Support
was also received from the Merck Company Foundation and the Idaho Vocational Agricultural Teachers Association.
Preparation of this report was partially supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Understanding agriculture: new directions for education/Committee
on Agricultural Education in Secondary Schools, Board on
Agriculture, National Research Council,
p. cm.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-309-03936-3
1. Agricultural education-United States. 2. Vocational
education-United States. 3. Education and state-United States.
4. Curriculm planning-United States. I. National Research
Council (U.S). Board on Agriculture. Committee on Agricultural
Education in Secondary Schools.
S533.U47 1988
630'.7'1273-dc19
Copyrights 1988 by the National Academy of Sciences
88-13126
CIP
No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a
phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or
private use without written permission from the publisher, except for the purposes of official use by the U.S.
government.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, September 1988
Second Printing, April 1989
Ibird Printing, March 1996
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Committee on Agricultural Education
in Secondary Schools
DANIEL G. ALDRICH, Chairman, University of California, Irvine
GRAHAM BOYD, North Carolina State University
DALE BUTCHER, Benton Central High School, Oxford, Indiana
ANNE CAMPBELL, Former Commissioner of Education, Nebraska
J. BURTON ELLER, National Cattlemen's Association
DONALD E. EVANS, Pennsylvania State University
WILLIAM P. FLATT, University of Georgia
DON LOESLIE, Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers
RUSSELL G. MAWBY, W. K. Kellogg Foundation
JOHN MOORE, University of California, Riverside
MONTY MULTANEN, State Department of Education, Oregon
JAMES V. RISSER, Stanford University
STUART A. ROSENFELD, Southern Growth Policies Board
ELLEN S. RUSSELL, University of Illinois
J. ROBERT WARMBROD, Ohio State University
RON WILSON, Farm Credit Services
DALE WOLF, Delaware Development Office
Staff
CHARLES M. BENBROOK, Project Officer
·~.
111
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Board on Agricullure
*WILLIAM L. BROWN, Chairman, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
JOHN A. PING, Vic~Chairman, National Research Council
SPERRY L. ADKISSON, Texas A&M University
C. EUGENE ALLEN, University of Minnesota
EDWIN H. CLARK II, The Conservation Foundation
ELLIS B. COWLING, North Carolina State University
JOSEPH P. FONTENOT, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University
ROBERT M. GOODMAN, Calgene, Inc.
TIMOTHY M. HAMMONDS, Food Marketing Institute
RALPH W. F. HARDY, Boyce Thompson Institute and BioTechnica
International, Inc.
THEODORE L. HULLAR, University of California, Davis
PAUL W. JOHNSON, Iowa House of Representatives
CHARLES C. MUSCOPLAT, Molecular Genetics, Inc.
KARL H. NORRIS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville
Maryland
VERNON W. RUTTAN, University of Minnesota
CHAMP B. TANNER, University of Wisconsin
ROBERT L. THOMPSON, Purdue University
THOMAS D. TRAUTMAN, General Mills, Inc.
JAN VAN SCHILFGAARDE, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fort
Collins, Colorado
VIRGINIA WALBOT, Stanford University
CONRAD J. WEISER, Oregon State University
CHARLES M. BENBROOK, Executive Director
JAMES E. TAVARES, Associate Executive Director
CARLA CARLSON, Reports Officer and Senior Ed itor
GRACE JONES ROBBINS, Assistant Editor
*Through June 30, 1988.
"Through December 31, 1987.
"Chairman as of July 1, 1988.
lV
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Preface
In the 1980s, many forces have
challenged American agriculture and education. These forces include
demographics; urbanization; rapid gains in worldwide agricultural
production capacity; domestic farm and trade policies; lifestyle changes;
global competition in basic and high-technology industries; the explo-
sion in knowledge caused by increasingly sophisticated computers, dig-
ital equipment, and biotechnological techniques; specialization within
the professions; and public expectations about the role of schools, the
food supply, and public institutions. A growing number of educators,
farmers, and those in agribusinesses and public institutions recognize
the need to adjust policies. Our educational system must meet these
challenges.
This study on agricultural education in the secondary schools was
initiated in 1985 because of concerns about the declining profitability
and international competitiveness of American agriculture, as well as
concerns about declining enrollments, instructional content, and qual-
ity in agricultural education programs.
The National Research Council established the Committee on Agri-
cultural Education in Secondary Schools at the request of the U.S. Sec-
retaries of Agriculture and Education to assess the contributions of
instruction in agriculture to the maintenance and improvement of U.S.
agricultural productivity and economic competitiveness here and
abroad. The committee was asked to offer recommendations regarding:
· goals for instruction in agriculture;
· the subject matter and skills that should be stressed in cur-
ricula for different groups of students; and
v
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V1
PREFACE
· policy changes needed at the local, state, and national levels
to facilitate the new and revised agricultural education pro-
grams in secondary schools
Shortly after the committee began its work, the Congress expanded
the scope of this study to include an assessment of the potential use of
modern communications and computer-based technology in teaching
agriculture programs at the secondary school level.
Throughout the study, the committee met seven times. Members of
the committee held five hearings in various regions of the country,
organized two conferences, attended a national Future Farmers of
America (FFA) convention, and visited nine schools. The committee
contacted numerous individuals and organizations to collect informa-
tion and insights about agricultural education. Many officials and ex-
perts in the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture provided
valuable data and insights. Although the committee focused primarily
on activities at the secondary school level, it also gathered and as-
sessed information on agricultural educational efforts at the elemen-
tary school level and in teacher education programs at the college level.
The committee received statements and materials from more than
300 representatives from agribusinesses, farm organizations, agricul-
tural education groups, and parent and youth organizations; elemen-
tary, secondary and postsecondary educators and administrators; fu-
turists; and state and national policy leaders. The committee gratefully
acknowledges the contributions of these individuals and organizations.
The committee uses the terms "agriculture" and "agricultural sys-
tem" interchangeably throughout the report. These terms are used
broadly and encompass the production of agricultural commodities, in-
cluding food, fiber, wood products, horticultural crops, and other plant
and animal products. The terms also include the financing, processing,
marketing, and distribution of agricultural products; farm production
supply and service industries; health, nutrition, and food consumption;
the use and conservation of land and water resources; development and
maintenance of recreational resources; and related economic, sociolog-
ical, political, environmental, and cultural characteristics of the food
and fiber system. An understanding of basic concepts and knowledge
spanning and uniting all of these subjects define the term "agricul-
tural literacy" found in this report.
The report that follows focuses on the two major elements of agricul-
tural education- agricultural literacy (education about agriculture) and
vocational agriculture (education in agriculture). It consists of an ex-
ecutive summary, two additional chapters, and three appendixes. The
executive summary sets forth the committee's principal findings, con
OCR for page R7
PREFACE
`iii
elusions, and recommendations. Chapter 2 discusses educational pro-
grams about agriculture for all students at the secondary school level
with the goal of producing agriculturally literate citizens. Chapter 3
examines vocational agriculture education programs and explores re-
commendations for change. The appendixes review the evolution of ag-
ricultural education.
Like agriculture itself, agricultural education is at a crossroads. The
committee believes that a renewed commitment to and broadening of
agricultural education will ensure the skills and knowledge essential
to the future vitality of American agriculture.
DANIEL G. ALDRICH
Chairman
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Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
2. AGRICULTURAL LITERACY . .
3. VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE EDUCATION
TEXT REFERENCES . . .
APPENDIXES
The Changing Face of American Agriculture
A ~;~.~li..-al li'.~lilratinn in America ..........
A.
B. ^~-l~;ul~l.l~l 1J~l~ll ~
C.
· . .
The Education Reform Movement of the 1980s . . .
APPENDIX REFERENCES
INDEX
· .
ix
. ~
.
8
....... 26
. 48
...... 51
54
60
63
65