Describing retention of agriculture teachers in Illinois by the numbers
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Agriculture is a fundamental piece of civilization. By the very nature of agriculture practice, agriculture practice traces back to the very earliest cultures. Advancements in agriculture technology and practice correspond to advancements in civilizations as a whole. The industrial revolution spurred a decrease in the percentage of people tied directly to the production of agricultural products. With the need to advance and innovate in agriculture there was a rise of agricultural societies, agricultural expositions, and agriculture in education. The rise of agriculture in education created a rise of the agricultural education profession. This profession has changed and progressed with the ever changing world of agriculture. In 2014 there were 381 school based agricultural educators in Illinois. A challenge that is seen across education is the rate at which teachers leave the profession, this phenomenon was also seen in agricultural educators as a sample. The shortage of agricultural educators is a challenge and teacher retention appears to a component of that shortage. The purpose of this study was to explore what impacts retention of school based agricultural educators in Illinois. The variables included in the model were: years of experience, type of teaching license, gender, and type of program (single or multi teacher), by year from fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2021. Beginning in fiscal year 2018, the Three Circles (FFA & SAE) Grant was established and funded by the Illinois General Assembly and Illinois State Board of Education, and included in the final four years of this study. The Three Circles (FFA & SAE) Grant supports extended contracts equivalent to sixty days of additional compensation for school based agricultural teachers. The population was all school based agricultural educators in Illinois from fiscal year 2014 (N = 371) through fiscal year 2021 (N = 434). The data utilized was collected by the Illinois State Board of Education through the Facilitating Coordination of Agriculture Education annual reporting processes. The data was acquired as public information and aligned describing individuals. The researcher utilized the Chi Square Test of Independence to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics were utilized to describe the population of agricultural educators by year in the study. Through the eight years, the mean and median years of teaching experience decreased. The rate of retention increased as did the number of school based agricultural teachers. Both in number and percentage of female teachers, teachers in multi teacher programs, and non-traditionally certified teachers increased over the period of this study. After the first four years of the study, the Three Circle (FFA & SAE) Grant was introduced, over the final four years of the study, participation in the grant increased substantially. The analysis of interactions of variables indicate that the model was significant in explaining teacher retention. When variables were analyzed by year, there was inconsistency in the relationships being explained by the model. Interactions across Block 1, interactions between two variables, could be explained by the model in seven of the eight years. As the number of variables in the interactions were increased in blocks, the ability to be explained by the model was less likely to be achieved. Block 5 could be explained by the model in one of four years and Block 4 could be explained in two of eight years. With the addition of variables degrees of freedom were increased and there was an observed decrease in predictability. The Chi Square Omnibus Test was determined to be explanatory in seven of the eight years. These results suggest that the difference between stayers and leavers can be explained utilizing the model that we created with the variables: gender, years of teaching experience, single/multi-teacher program, type of teaching license, and Three Circles (FFA & SAE) Grant participation. This combination of factors significantly explained teacher retention in this time frame. Recommendations include strengthening professional development and advanced degree programs with a focus on our non-traditionally certified agriculture teachers. Focusing on multi-teacher programs by striving to understand the dynamics in these programs because research suggests that workload and mentoring are important factors in teacher retention; yet, being in a multi-teacher program was not a significant factor. Additional work in this space could yield positive impact. Additional recommendations also include continuing to grow programs focused on teacher retention and continue to explore compensation programs. A shortage of agriculture teachers continues to be a concern in Illinois. The longitudinal look at the data described how the profile of agricultural educators in Illinois changed over a period of time. The model suggests that the difference between stayers and leavers can be explained. The comparison of relationships between years shows inconsistent relationships year to year. Overall, even as the number of agricultural educators expanded considerably over eight years, the number of leavers did not.
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Ph. D.