W1006: Agricultural Literacy

(Multistate Research Project)

Status: Inactive/Terminating

Project Menu

SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[05/29/2007] [05/22/2008] [06/30/2009] [06/16/2010]

Date of Annual Report: 05/29/2007

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 04/24/2007 - 04/27/2007
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2006 - 09/01/2007

Participants

Participants Attachment:

Attachment

Brief Summary of Minutes

Minutes Attachment:

Attachment

Accomplishments

At the first meeting of the W-1006 the researchers developed plans to: 1. Continue developing an AITC baseline of knowledge and data. Utah State University is the lead institution in this area. 2. Identify those specific components and practices (including pedagogical strategies and curriculum materials) which correlate with AITC measurable program success. Oregon State University is the lead institution in this area. 3. Determine the significant impacts (including agricultural literacy and academic achievement) of AITC measurable program success. University of Arizona is the lead institution in this area.

Publications

Bellah, Kimberly, & Dyer, James E. (2007). Defining innovation configurations for use of an agricultural literacy curriculum guidelines: a Delphi study. Proceedings of the 2007 Western Region Agricultural Education Research Conference, Cody, WY.

Impact Statements

Academic achievement as measured by high stakes tests improved when taught by teachers who experienced Agriculture in the Classroom training.

Date of Annual Report: 05/22/2008

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 04/16/2008 - 04/18/2008
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2007 - 09/01/2008

Participants

Members in attendance:

Gary Straquadine
Administrative Advisor, Utah State University
gary.straqudine@usu.edu

Carl Igo, Co-Chair
Montana State University
cigo@montana.edu

Brian Warnick, Co-Chair
Utah State University
brian.warnick@usu.edu

Debra Spielmaker, Secretary
Utah State University (AITC
debra.spielmaker@usu.edu

Jack Elliot
University of Arizona
elliot@ag.arizona.edu

Eddie A. Moore
Michigan State University
mooreee@msu.edu

Monica Pastor
University of Arizona Extension (AITC)
mpastor@cals.arizona.edu

Greg Thompson
Oregon State University
greg.thompson@orst.edu

Michael Swan
Washington State University
mswan@wsu.edu

Ania Wieczoreli
University of Hawaii
ania@hawaii.edu

Members Absent:

Cary Trexler
University of California, Davis
cjtrexler@ucdavis.edu

Kerry Schwartz
University of Arizona
kschwart@ag.arizona.edu

Anissa Wilhelm
New Mexico State University
wilhelm@nmsu.edu

Robert Martin
Iowa State University
drmartin@iastate.edu

Non-member University Ag Educators & Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC)

Directors/Members

Kimberly Bellah
Tarlton State University
bellah@tarleton.edu

Heather Jepsen
University of Arizona
jepsenh@email.arizona.edu

Gary Moore
North Carolina State University
gary.moore@ncsu.edu

Graduate Students

Holly Schindler
University of Arizona
hollyshindler@aol.com

Brief Summary of Minutes

Multi-State Agricultural Literacy Research Committee (W-1006) Annual Meeting
April 16-19, 2008
Canyons Resort, Park City, Utah

Minutes April 16, 2008
Meeting convened at 8:00 PM with the following present:

Members in attendance:
Gary Straquadine, Administrative Advisor, Utah State University gary.straqudine@usu.edu
Carl Igo, Co-Chair, Montana State University, cigo@montana.edu
Brian Warnick, Co-Chair, Utah State University brian.warnick@usu.edu
Debra Spielmaker, Secretary, Utah State University (AITC) debra.spielmaker@usu.edu
Jack Elliot, University of Arizona elliot@ag.arizona.edu
Eddie A. Moore, Michigan State mooreee@msu.edu
Monica Pastor, University of Arizona Extension (AITC) mpastor@cals.arizona.edu
Greg Thompson, Oregon State University greg.thompson@orst.edu
Michael Swan, Washington State University mswan@wsu.edu
Ania Wieczoreli, University of Hawaii ania@hawaii.edu

Members Absent:
Cary Trexler, University of California, Davis cjtrexler@ucdavis.edu
Kerry Schwartz, University of Arizona kschwart@ag.arizona.edu
Anissa Wilhelm, New Mexico State wilhelm@nmsu.edu
Robert Martin, Iowa State University drmartin@iastate.edu
Non-member University Ag Educators & Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) Directors/Members
Kimberly Bellah, Tarlton State University bellah@tarleton.edu
Heather Jepsen, University of Arizona jepsenh@email.arizona.edu
Gary Moore, North Carolina State University gary.moore@ncsu.edu

Graduate Students
Holly Schindler, University of Arizona hollyshindler@aol.com

Agenda Items

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Distribution and approval of the Minutes from April 24-27, 2007 (reviewed and approved)
3. Distribution of Multi-state Research Project Summary Jack Elliot (UA)
http://lgu.umd.edu
a. Gary Straquadine was introduced as the new Administrative Advisor of the research committee.
b. Jack reviewed the purpose and objectives of the committee. The W-1006 is a national multi-state Agricultural Experiment Station research committee designated to assess programmatic effectiveness and learner outcomes to evaluate the success and impact of agricultural literacy programs. Objectives are to: 1) Identify and describe the organizational structure of AITC State programs 2) Identify and describe components and practices, which correlate with AITC program success 3) Determine the relationship of AITC programs on learner outcomes. Jack Elliot discussed the meaning of multi-state and that Gary Straquadine and Brian Warnick would now be submitting the W1006 reports to USDA through the National Information Management and Support System (NIMSS).
c. Gary Straquadine asked about the needs of committee members to further their research goals.
4. Committee Member Status Reports: Each member updated the group about their efforts in agricultural literacy over the past year.
" Holly Schindler updated the committee on the Academic Achievement study in Arizona and Phase II of the Academic Achievement study replicating the study in Florida. This research project is being done to determine the academic impact of the Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) teacher training workshops by comparing AIMS (Arizona high-stakes test) scores and now Florida high-stakes test scores between the students of teachers who have been trained with AITC resources with those who have not. Holly also shared and copies of a brochure that summarized the study noting the methods, procedures, and results. Briefly the method utilized each states standardized test, and compared the scores of elementary classrooms whose teachers completed an AITC training and incorporated AITC lessons into the curriculum with the scores of elementary classrooms whose teachers did not attend a training and have not incorporated AITC lessons. The procedures were as follows: 1) gain Institutional Review Board Approval, 2) Identify elementary schools with multiple elementary teachers who attended a summer AITC conference, 3) in each school, identify teachers within the same grade level to serve as the control group, 4) have the participating teacher complete a form regarding curriculum and lessons taught during the school year, 5) teachers within the treatment group completed a questionnaire regarding the frequency of Food, Land & People (FLP) lesson implementation and new pedagogy as a result of the AITC training, 6) administer a post-test to determine the effectiveness of AITC and the correlation of FLP lesson plans with students achieving higher scores in math, reading, and writing. The results indicated that 1) teachers that used agriculturally based examples and lessons had students that achieved higher scores, 2) teacher benefited from increased knowledge of learning styles and content methodology, 3) the hands-on technologies and relationship to prior knowledge used in AITC curriculum increased student abilities to comprehend not only science concepts, but also math and writing concepts.
a. Greg Thompson (OSU) discussed the Oregon Summer Ag Institute (a program of Oregon Ag Education Foundation), lessons generated from this program are posted on the Oregon AITC website. Greg also discussed the Get Oregonized Oregon history book, developed by Oregon AITC and distributed statewide to 4th grade teachers. OSU is planning some kind of evaluation of this project.
b. Mike Swan (WSU) has been doing international work in the United Arab Emirates. He has been using some AITC resources while overseas.
c. Ania Wieczoreli (U of H) shared the U of H Biotechnology and Agriculture Education Program. The program is called Gene-ius Day. This program provides 120 elementary students (3rd - 5th grade) per month with an onsite experience learning about and doing hands-on activities related to biotechnology. As part of the experience, students prepare a poster and then present it at a fair with other students and their parents. Everyone is educated.
d. Eddie Moore (MSU) shared some information about the history of AITC in Michigan and some ideas for future funding in Michigan.
e. Carl Igo (MSU) reported on their meeting with the Ag in Montana Schools Board (an AITC group in Montana) and how to improve the program through collaboration with MSU. They are planning future work with this group.
f. Kimberly Bella (TS) discussed some anecdotal reports of a project evaluation from a Texas Summer Ag Institute teacher in-service.
g. Gary Moore (NCSU) discussed a program at NCSU to help students to become more agriculturally literate through a 3 credit course in general science called Agriculture Biotechnology.
h. Debra Spielmaker (USU) updated the group on the AITC state reports and the baseline data collected to meet Objective 1. Debra reviewed the 2006 survey results and the questionnaire for 2007. The 2006 survey results are posted online (PowerPoint presentation) http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/reports.htm. The demographic findings were of particular interest. The 2007 results will be posted in May 2008. Debra mentioned that if any researcher needed any of the raw benchmark data that she could send it to them for research projects they might be conducting. She also encouraged them to send her any questions that they want asked in 2009 about 2008 to be sent to her no later than November 1, 2008.
i. Brian Warnick and Debra Spielmaker (USU) also reported on a research project recently completed that found teachers who participated in the USU online course (Food, Land & People) continued to use the course resources with their students after 3 years. Hopefully this research will be presented next year.
j. Brian Warnick previewed some of USUs research with Utah 7th grade teachers who must provide 15 hours of instruction on agriculture and careers in agriculture. The Utah AITC program provides the agricultural instruction for this mandatory curriculum. More on this study can be found online, in the Western Region 2007 Agricultural Education Conference papers. http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/research.htm
5. Brian Warnick asked committee members to meet at breakfast over the next two days to discuss next years research initiatives.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 PM.

April 18, 2008: 8:30 AM 3:30 PM
W-1006 research findings were presented in the research paper presentations. Papers related to agricultural literacy can be viewed online, in the Western Region 2008 Agricultural Education Conference papers. http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/research.htm

April 19, 2008: 8:30 Noon
Committee members met in small groups at breakfast on Thursday and Friday.
W-1006 research findings were presented in the research paper presentations. Papers related to agricultural literacy can be viewed online, in the Western Region 2008 Agricultural Education Conference papers. http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/research.htm

The W-1006 Multi-State Research Committee will officially meet again next year in Reno, NV, April 21-24.

Respectfully submitted,
Debra Spielmaker, Secretary

Minutes Attachment:

Attachment

Accomplishments

Publications

Powell, D., Agnew, D., & Trexler, C. (2008). Agricultural literacy: Clarifying a vision for practical application. Journal of Agricultural Education, 49(1), 85-98.

Impact Statements

Date of Annual Report: 06/30/2009

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 04/22/2009 - 04/25/2009
Period the Report Covers: 09/01/2008 - 10/01/2009

Participants

Brief Summary of Minutes

Multi-State Agricultural Literacy Research Committee (W-1006) Annual Meeting
April 21-23, 2009
Horizons Resort, South Tahoe, Nevada

Minutes April 21, 2009
Meeting convened at 6:30 PM with the following present:

Members in attendance:
Gary Straquadine, Administrative Advisor, Utah State University gary.straqudine@usu.edu
Carl Igo, Co-Chair, Montana State University, cigo@montana.edu
Brian Warnick, Co-Chair, Utah State University brian.warnick@usu.edu
Debra Spielmaker, Secretary, Utah State University (AITC) debra.spielmaker@usu.edu
Jack Elliot, Texas A&M University jelliot@tamu.edu
James Knight, University of Arizona jnight@ag.arizona.edu
Greg Thompson, Oregon State University greg.thompson@orst.edu
Michael Swan, Washington State University mswan@wsu.edu
Ania Wieczoreli, University of Hawaii ania@hawaii.edu

Members Absent:
Cary Trexler, University of California, Davis cjtrexler@ucdavis.edu
Kerry Schwartz, University of Arizona kschwart@ag.arizona.edu
Anissa Wilhelm, New Mexico State wilhelm@nmsu.edu
Robert Martin, Iowa State University drmartin@iastate.edu
Eddie A. Moore, Michigan State mooreee@msu.edu
Monica Pastor, University of Arizona Extension (AITC) mpastor@cals.arizona.edu

Non-member University Ag Educators & Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) Directors/Members
William Deimler, Utah State Office of Education william.deimler@schools.utah.gov

Graduate Students
Shawn Anderson shawn.anderson@oregonstate.edu
Agenda Items and Minutes

1. Welcome and Introductions: Jack Elliot announced that he would continue to participate with the research committee (W-1006) with his move to Texas A & M and that James Knight would be added to the research committee as a member from the University of Arizona.
2. Distribution and approval of the Minutes from April 16-19, 2008 (reviewed and approved)
Distribution of Multi-state Research Project Summary Brian Warnick opened the meeting by distributing the W-1006: Agricultural Literacy Program of Work (research project plan, http://lgu.umd.edu) and asked states if they would report on projects or research completed or conducted that met the objectives. Before the state reports began, Gary Straquadine, the committee Administrative Advisor, discussed the importance of or working with our individual Agriculture Experiment Station (AES) directors to keep them aware of our research committee and our individual state progress. He advised the group to be proactive. Jack Elliot provided the committee with a brief history of the research committee and reminded the group that the W-1006 had two more years of USDA-AES administrative support to work on the following objectives to: 1) Identify and describe the organizational structure of AITC State programs 2) Identify and describe components and practices, which correlate with AITC program success 3) Determine the relationship of AITC programs on learner outcomes. Jack also discussed the importance of filing CRIS reports when funding is obtained from AES or other USDA funds. Gary Straquadine reviewed the short form for CRIS reports and reminded the group that the CRIS model of outputs (accomplishments) and outcomes (impacts) are very important when AES directors and other administrators look at the continuation of research committees. Gary also defined for the group the difference between an output and an outcome based upon the USDA-AES and Extension logic modelinputs - activities or processes outputs outcomes. He mentioned that outcomes relate to successful achievement of our program objectives and that outcomes address a benefit, change of behavior, or practice change in our target audience.
3. Committee Member Status Reports: Each member updated the group about their efforts in agricultural literacy over the past year.
a. Debra Spielmaker (USU) updated the group on the AITC state reports and the baseline data collected to meet Objective 1. Debra reviewed the 2007 and 2008 survey results and the questionnaire for 2008. The 2007 survey results are posted online (PowerPoint presentation) http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/reports.htm and the 2008 results will be posted in June after the Agriculture in the Classroom Consortium annual meeting. She noted that 41 states completed a 2008 report, an increase over 2007 when 38 states reported. Highlights of the 2007 report revealed that about 70% of the classroom resources developed by AITC programs were aligned or correlated with state or national standards. The 2008 survey included findings that there had been a decline in the number of pre-service teachers receiving AITC pre-service training over the last three years (2006, 2007, 2008). The 2008 survey asked state AITC contacts about their familiarity with current popular or best selling books about agriculture and food. This question provides some feedback about future AITC professional development. Two additional unique questions were asked on the 2008 survey, one question about their state AITC website, and the other about the scope of their AITC program and materials. The results are posted on http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/reports.htm. Debra mentioned that if any researcher needed any of the raw benchmark data that she could send it to them for research projects they might be conducting. She also encouraged them to send her any questions that they want asked in 2010 to be sent to her no later than November 1, 2009.
b. Brian Warnick and Debra Spielmaker (USU) also reported on a research project, A Casual-Comparative Model for the Examination of an Online Teacher Professional Development Program for an Elementary Agricultural Literacy Curriculum, recently completed that found teachers who participated in the USU online course (Food, Land & People) continued to use the course resources with their students after 3 years. A poster on the research is being presented at this research meeting.
c. Brian Warnick (USU) also reported on a Personal Food Production (gardening project) he is involved with and will be conducting research on a variety of aspects with the project.
d. Greg Thompson (OSU) shared a flyer from and discussed the Oregon Summer Ag Institute for K-12 teachers (a program of Oregon Ag Education Foundation); the lessons generated from this program are posted on the Oregon AITC website. Greg discussed the course schedule and theme which was the Science in agriculture, Agriculture and the economy, Agriculture and the environment, family versus corporate funding, diversity of agriculture, the role of agriculture in daily life. Greg said the changes in teacher perceptions are measureable. OSU is planning to do an evaluation of this project.
e. Jack Elliot (U of A and recently Texas A & M) reported that three research projects had been generated out of a cooperative agreement with Arizona AITC Ag in the Classroom and Academic Achievement by Holly Renee Schindler a masters thesis; Agricultural Perceptions of Participants of the Arizona Summer Agricultural Institute by Heather Rae Jepsen a masters thesis; and Arizona Agriculture in the Classroom: Academic Achievement Study by Monica Pastor, Holly Schindler, and Jack Elliot.
f. Mike Swan (WSU) has been working with Washington community colleges to learn about their agricultural courses. Eighteen of thirty-four community colleges said they had an entry level soils course. He worked with the group to put together a course syllabi and lab manual for the course to create a common course that would be offered at the community colleges statewide and provide some continuity, important when students transfer credits.
g. Ania Wieczoreli (U of H) provided the committee with an update of the U of H Biotechnology and Agriculture Education Program. The program is called Gene-ius Day. This program provides 120 elementary students (3rd - 5th grade) per month with an onsite experience learning about and doing hands-on activities related to biotechnology. As part of the experience, students prepare a poster and then present it at a fair with other students and their parents. Everyone is educated. She also discussed work being done with other grade levels and a comic book. Her program meets the needs of 11,000 students each year.
h. Carl Igo (MSU) reported on that they held a Summer Ag Institute during the summer of 2008 at MSU. Eight teachers participated. Agriculture in Montana Schools provided some funding. The teachers participated in numerous hands-on activities including beef nutrition where they looked at bacteria from the stomach of a cannulated cow, and learned about how to integrate food and fiber production into their science and math lessons. Carl plans to work with the Montana Outdoor Science Center and focus on agriculture and math at the 2009 Summer Agriculture Institute.
4. Brian Warnick asked committee members to meet at breakfast in the morning to discuss short-term and long-term outcomes of the research committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM.

April 22, 2009: 7:45 AM Breakfast meeting
Gary Straquadine clarified again the difference between an output and outcome (see above). Gary reiterated that impacts or outcomes can be measured as policy or practice changes among our identified target audiences. Carl Igo mentioned the Food and Fiber Literacy Standards, which W-1006 adopted as guidelines (2004) for measuring agricultural literacy should be looked at for evaluating agricultural literacy projects. Jack discussed the importance of all our individual state agricultural literacy efforts and recommended that we attach the western state Agriculture the Classroom outputs and outcomes as they are related to this project and our respective institutions. These reports are attached. Papers and projects related to agricultural literacy can be viewed online, at http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium. Jim Knight suggested that we look for more multistate opportunities in the next coming year, Gary agreed and Carl mentioned important ag literacy research efforts my want to focus on food safety and obesity.

Gary encouraged us to engage other researchers in other states who have an interest in agricultural literacy to become members of this committee.

Debra requested that any changes and project impacts be sent to her by May 25th for submission to Gary and Brian to be included in the NIMSS (National Information Management and Support System) report.

The W-1006 Multi-State Research Committee will officially meet again next year in Great Falls, MT, April 21-23, 2010.

Respectfully submitted,
Debra Spielmaker, Secretary

Minutes Attachment:

Attachment

Accomplishments

Arizona 2008 Report Classroom Resources " Arizona Farm Bureau has developed lessons which include " Curriculum Kits: Apples, Pumpkins, Poultry, Insects, Dairy, Plant, Cotton and Cattle at www.azfb.org/programs/aitc " Presentation Enhancements: Giant hamburger and pizza with removable pieces for use in lessons. Major Program Accomplishments or Outputs -Eighteenth Annual Summer Agricultural Institute was held for 28 educators with help from 78 volunteers giving 350 hours of service. Fifteen thousand dollars from 30 agribusinesses and organizations funded the five-day Institute that traveled through four counties. The Food, Land & People curriculum and Arizona Specialty Crop Lessons are provided for free to the participants. -Maricopa County Farm Bureau continued its funding of half of the Program Coordinators salary to have trained volunteers who give educationally appropriate presentations in classrooms. -42 volunteers read to 3563 primary students during Arizona Agricultural Literacy Days. -A partnership has been formed with the AZ Foundation for Resource Education in which an Educator Workshop will be held each semester. These workshops are coordinated by their teaching faculty in collaboration with AITC staff. -A partnership has been formed with Western Growers Association to coordinate six-hour workshops for their Gardening With Children grant recipients and a Specialty Crop Grant was awarded to have these trainings each summer for the next three years. -Volunteer Agriculture Educators have implemented educational events at their farms with advice from the Ag Literacy staff and reach 5000 students. -On going meetings have been held with Science Curriculum Coordinators to begin implementing Professional Development opportunities for their faculty. -Quarterly electronic Ag Literacy News newsletter implemented. -Coordinated the education area for AZ Agriculture Day with 1100 visitors. -Funding cuts have reduced 1.5 FTE to .65 FTE in the Ag Literacy program. -AZ Farm Bureau hired a full time Ag Education Manager who has developed lessons and trained volunteers. -Student and teacher contacts by AZ Farm Bureau, AZ Beef Council and University of Arizona Ag Ventures -programs are included in this report. -AZ Beef Council coordinates Beef Days in which students rotate among different learning stations. Major Program Impacts or Outcomes -The Ag Literacy program developed and coordinates the educational workshops for the Western Growers Association garden grant recipients. -100% of Summer Ag Institute participants rated the Institute as more valuable than other in-service programs and said it will make a significant difference in the way they present agriculture concepts in their classroom curriculum. -A research study shows that elementary students taught by AITC trained teachers have equivalent test scores for the state mandated standards achievement test to those students not taught using AITC materials. -Research showed 100% of teachers trained by AITC used lessons in their classroom after attending training, especially when prompted by suggested lessons in the newsletter. -100% of participants in workshops demonstrate their understanding of the lessons as well as an increase in agriculture knowledge as they work in teams to teach a lesson of their choice prior to completion of the workshop. -5% of educators participating in informational events request presentations by the Agriculture Educator volunteers for their students. -An agriculture lesson taught by an Agriculture Educator volunteer in a fourth grade classroom led to the fourth grade teacher coordinating agriculture lessons for all 28 classrooms in the K-6 elementary school. -AZ Farm Bureau recognized the value of educating about agriculture and has employed a full-time Ag Education Manager for their AITC program. Biosketch State Contact: Ms. Monica Pastor; mpastor@cals.arizona.edu Arizonas Ag Literacy Program is in a state of flux because of drastic reductions in state funding for Universities. Monica Pastor is a University of Arizona faculty member who devotes fifteen percent of her time in supervision of Gerry Parker who is a half-time program coordinator for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County. Monica and Gerry both have Masters in Education. Gerry is a farm owner, school board member, and a former classroom teacher. She just completed her first year in the Ag Literacy program. She works closely with 15 members of her Ag Literacy Advisory Committee in administering a research-based, scientifically accurate program that utilizes current education pedagogy. Monica was promoted to County Extension Director in October of 2007. Prior to that she was an Associate Agent, Agricultural Literacy for seven years. Monica has been involved with Ag in the Classroom since her tenure as a Fieldman and Director of Field Services with the Arizona Farm Bureau. When she became Executive Director of the Maricopa County Farm Bureau the Ag in the Classroom program was a priority directive from her volunteer Board. She was instrumental in coordinating meetings of the agriculture community to discuss education efforts by each of the agriculture organizations. A culmination of these meetings resulted in the development of the Summer Agricultural Institute and the formation of the AZ Foundation for Agricultural Literacy. The SAI just completed its eighteenth annual Institute and the Foundation is the funding source for SAI, AG Day, teacher workshops and curriculum development for the Agricultural Literacy program in Arizona. California 2008 Report Classroom Resources " Teacher Resource Guide; http://www.cfaitc.org/trg/ " WHATS GROWIN ON? and WHATS GROWIN ON? Teacher Guide; http://www.cfaitc.org/wgo/ " Commodity and Natural Resource Fact and Activity Sheets; http://www.cfaitc.org/Commodity/Commodity.php " Web Activities for Students based on WHATS GROWIN ON?; http://kids.cfaitc.org/wgo6/ " Milk Matters: Discovering Dairy www.cfaitc.org/LessonPlans/LessonPlans.php " Gardens for Learning; www.cfaitc.org/gardensforlearning/ Major Program Accomplishments or Outputs The winning stories of our annual IMAGINE THIS... student writing contest were illustrated and published in book format, a change from the formerly produced animated video. The book format helps teachers meet more standards and has been praised by the education community. Student authors participated in book signings with professional authors at the State Fair. Nearly 10,500 stories were written by 3-8 graders in 2008. In 2008 CFATIC developed Gardens for Learning: Linking State Standards to Your School Garden as a supplement to the instructional book published by CA School Garden Network. The 26-page supplement was funded by the CA Assn. of Nurseries and Garden Centers and identifies state teaching standards being satisfied by the garden activities within the book and is being distributed by CFAITC and CSGN. In Dec. 2008, CFAITC completed a new curriculum unit featuring the dairy industry. The unit, Milk Matters: Discovering Dairy, was sponsored by a grant from the CA Milk Advisory Board and is available online. The last comprehensive unit we developed was in 2001. 550+ attendees participated in the National Ag in the Classroom Conference, hosted by CFAITC in Orange County in June 2008. It was a successful event, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants. The CFAITC donor newsletter, Hands on Ag was revived with a new design and a focus on strengthening donor relations. The first new issue was released in 2008 to nearly 4,000 current, lapsed and prospective donors. CFAITC partnered with CFBF to offer a youth category for the first time in their annual photo contest. The new Budding Artists category awarded 2 prizes to children of Farm Bureau members under the age of 13. 500,000 copies of our student newspaper, WHATS GROWIN ON? (6th edition) were distributed to classrooms and communities through the CA Newspapers in Education Program in 2008. The issue focused on plant health and was included in multiple CA newspaper circulations. Major Program Impacts or Outcomes Of the 138 respondents who participated in a Nov. 2008 CFAITC survey, 85% of respondents reported to have used CFAITC programs and/or materials in their classrooms. Of this total, 94% of teachers agree that their students have developed an appreciation for agriculture as a result. The same survey showed that 95% of respondents agree that curriculum content in our WHATS GROWIN ON? student newspaper always/often meets the California State Board of Educations Content Standards. The number of CFAITC ambassadors increased by nearly 7% in 2008(11,406 in Dec. 2008 compared to 10,686 in Dec. 2007), showing significant gains in our target audience. Ambassadors are defined as educators acting as a liason between CFAITC and their school community. CFAITC is represented in 40% of Californias schools. The CFAITC Web site (www.cfaitc.org) received 183,847 unique Web site visitors in 2008, an increase of nearly 40,000 (28%) visitors compared to 2007. CFAITCs Literacy for Life Teaching Award (formerly known as Outstanding Educator Award) nominations increased by 250% in 2008 as a result of increased program visibility. There were 86 nominations online in 2008 compared to 24 online nominations in 2007. Biosketch State Contact: Ms. Judy Culbertson; jculbertson@cfbf.com Judy Culbertson, a 5th generation pear grower, grew up in Courtland, a small town just outside of Sacramento, California. Following high school, she attended and graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Business Management. In 1980 Judy joined the Agriculture in the Classroom program. Today she serves as the Executive Director for California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. Judy hopes that through the Foundation, every student can gain an appreciation and curiosity for learning about where their food and fiber come from. The dedication and belief Judy possesses in the value of agriculture and education does not stop with her role with the Foundation. She represents the Foundation on a variety of local, statewide and national boards and committees along with dedicated involvement within her own community. Montana 2007 Report Classroom Resources None reported for 2007, 2008 Major Program Accomplishments or Outputs Diana Agre and Kim Hofstad, 4th grade teachers in Conrad, were chosen to receive the National Award of Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture. They were honored at the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey in June. "Montanas Kids, Critters & Commodities K-3 Resource Guide for Teachers" Lessons were printed, bound, P R and distribution begun. Printed a teacher activity in bi-annual Newsbits. Post cards printed (and bumper stickers) from winning bumper stickers. Winning K-6 students, their families and teachers honored in Helena at the Ag Day/Bumper Sticker Luncheon. Essay Contest: Expanding Opportunities for Careers in Agriculture". 24 winners attended the CareerAwareness Workshop on the MSU-Bozeman campus June 11th-15th. Summer Volunteer Workshop trained volunteers and teachers and distributed Treasure Chest materials. Attended MEA/MFT & Montana State Reading Conference. Major Program Impacts or Outcomes 80% of Teacher Workshop teachers say they use AMS materials in their classrooms More schools/areas are hosting agriculture days or fairs to expand awareness of agriculture as an addition to AMS materials and training. There has been an increase in requests for AMS materials and presentations. Biosketch State Contact: Ms. Margie Thompson; flatcreek@3rivers.net Oregon 2008 Report Classroom Resources None reported in 2008 Major Program Accomplishments We reached more than 7,300 students through our first annual literacy project. More than 130 volunteers read to K-3 students throughout the state. Volunteers read the book, lead the students through an activity and left the book and a teacher packet in the classroom. We received record entries for our calendar contest. 2,101 students submitted artwork about Oregon agriculture. We printed our seventh school year calendar with student artwork and daily agricultural facts. Students from 29 of our 36 counties submitted artwork. We printed 10,000 calendars and are distributing them throughout Oregon. Nearly 350 people attended our Fall Harvest Dinner, which is our only fundraising event. We raised more than $42,000 and sold 39 cases of Get Oregonized books that will be donated to schools throughout the state. Major Program Impacts AITC materials and lessons were delivered to more than 77,100 students, an increase of 21% from the previous year. 80% of Oregon counties participated in our K-6 calendar contest. Biosketch State Contact: Ms. Tami Kerr; Tami.Kerr@oregonstate.edu BS in Agriculture Business Management with a minor in Animal Science. Nine years as Director of Oregon AITC.

Publications

Impact Statements

Date of Annual Report: 06/16/2010

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 04/21/2010 - 04/24/2010
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2009 - 09/01/2010

Participants

Brief Summary of Minutes

Multi-State Agricultural Literacy Research Committee (W-1006) Annual Meeting
April 21-24, 2010
Holliday Inn, Great Falls, Montana

Minutes April 21, 2010
Meeting convened at 8:00 PM with the following present:

Members in attendance:
Nancy Irlbeck, Administrative Advisor, Colorado State University nancy.irlbeck@colostate.edu
Jack Elliot, Texas A&M University jelliot@tamu.edu
Carl Igo, Co-Chair, Montana State University, cigo@montana.edu
Debra Spielmaker, Secretary, Utah State University debra.spielmaker@usu.edu
Greg Thompson, Oregon State University greg.thompson@orst.edu
Brian Warnick, Co-Chair, Utah State University brian.warnick@usu.edu

Members Absent:
Robert Martin, Iowa State University drmartin@iastate.edu
Eddie A. Moore, Michigan State University mooreee@msu.edu
Monica Pastor, University of Arizona Extension (AITC) mpastor@cals.arizona.edu
Kerry Schwartz, University of Arizona kschwart@ag.arizona.edu
Michael Swan, Washington State University mswan@wsu.edu
Cary Trexler, University of California, Davis cjtrexler@ucdavis.edu
Ania Wieczoreli, University of Hawaii ania@hawaii.edu

Non-member University Ag Educators & Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) Directors/Members
John Valez, Oregon State University john.valez@orst.edu

Graduate Student
Shawn Anderson, Oregon State University shawn.anderson@oregonstate.edu
Agenda Items and Minutes

1. Brian Warnick began the meeting with a welcome and introductions. Nancy Irlbeck from Colorado State University was introduced and will be replacing Gary Straquadine, Utah State University as the committee administrative advisor. Jack Elliot announced that he would continue to participate with the research committee (W-1006) and would encourage Texas A&M faculty to be involved.
2. The minutes from April 21-23, 2009 were distributed and approved.
3. The committee reviewed the Multi-state Research Project Summary, W-1006: Agricultural Literacy Program of Work (research project plan, http://lgu.umd.edu), each member present reported on projects or research completed or conducted that met the objectives. It was discussed that this would be the final year of the W-1006 unless the group determined that they would like to continue (with a project extension) or prepare a new proposal to create a new agricultural literacy project.
4. Currently each state involved has a leadership role on one the following project objectives: 1) Identify and describe the organizational structure of AITC State programs (UT) 2) Identify and describe components and practices, which correlate with AITC program success 3) Determine the relationship of AITC programs on learner outcomes (AZ has the leadership role for objective 2 and 3).
5. Committee Member Status Reports: Each member updated the group about their efforts in agricultural literacy over the past year.
a. Oregon: Greg Thompson (OSU) shared a flyer from and discussed the Oregon Summer Ag Institute (SAI) for K-12 teachers (a program partnership between of Oregon Ag Education Foundation and Oregon State University); the lessons generated from this program are posted on the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) website. Greg discussed the course schedule and the importance of the teacher farmer partnership that is part of the SAI. The project costs about $50,000 each year, 25 teachers participated in the 2009 SAI. Greg mentioned that each teacher developed a lesson plan to earn credit for the SAI. Debra suggested that Greg go to a more reflective assessment, such as a portfolio. Shawn Anderson, OSU graduate student, conducted an evaluation of the 2008 SAI this past year. Shawn discussed the results of the SAI 2008 qualitative study which was designed to determine an increase in agricultural knowledge. Shawn is refocusing his research around agriculture literacy, and will present a paper on his research at this research meeting. The paper A Qualitative Analysis of Teachers Conceptions of Agriculture will be posted on this website http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/research.htm.
b. Carl Igo (MSU) reported on that they held a Summer Ag Institute during the summer of 2009 at MSU. Eight teachers participated this year, a very diverse group K-12 educators, from a variety of disciplines, for his Summer AITC. Carl used the teacher participants as facilitators who then used Utah and Oklahoma AITC lessons to teach others. The teachers were encouraged to gather other materials to make their presentation. This worked very well. School and community gardens are becoming more popular in Montana and Carl will be investigating how to integrate with this effort. Dr. Igo also mentioned that MSU was working on an adult ag literacy study with community food coops and how much members will pay for food. A grant was also obtained to develop curriculum/lesson plans for wildlife fires in shrub brush ecosystems for high school ag teachers and middle school science teachers. Lastly Montana has a new AMS (Agriculture in Montana Schools) K-12 education coordinator, Lorri Brenanan, who he looks forward to working with.
c. Dr. Jack Elliot at Texas A&M, just completed a full year at A&M and said that in terms of agricultural literacy nothing and everything, has been accomplished. Jack is working solely as an administrator in Extension. He mentioned that he would try to get agricultural literacy Extension work being done at his institution documented at the Experiment Station, not just within Extension. Departments are very compartmentalized at A&M and he said that there needs to be more integration to get the research documented. Jack mentioned that education and ag literacy is a priority for the new USDA agency, NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture), so he thinks there will be funding available in this area, and feels like there needs to me more data captured from a wider group and adult education.
d. Debra Spielmaker (USU) updated the group on the AITC state reports and the baseline data collected to meet Objective 1. Debra reviewed the 2008 and 2009 survey results and the 2009 questionnaire. The 2008 survey results are posted online (PowerPoint presentation) http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/reports.htm and the 2009 results will be posted in June after the Agriculture in the Classroom Consortium annual meeting. She noted that 40 states completed a 2009 report, 42 reported in 2008. Highlights of the 2009 report revealed that about 80% had developed new classroom resources and that 98% of the resources developed were aligned or correlated with state or national standards. The 2009 survey asked state AITC contacts about other agricultural organizations that were conducting agricultural literacy programs in the respective states, and if they could estimate the number of staff and volunteers in these programs and the estimated number of teachers and students reached. Additional questions were asked about AITC state program interactions with STEM programs in their respective states, 40% had worked with STEM program in their respective states, revealing a need in this area. The reports have been gathered with a secured system using ColdFusion programming; this cumbersome system will be replaced with a database/spreadsheet survey made in GoogleDocs. The complete results are posted on http://www.agclassroom.org/consortium/reports.htm. Debra mentioned that if any W-1006 researcher needed any of the benchmark survey data she would be happy to provide it. Nancy asked about the potential to develop a database where researchers would have wider access and there could be wider dissemination. Brian and Debra said they could investigate to see how this might be accomplished, but that perhaps submitting agricultural literacy research from the Journal of Agricultural Education, American Association of Agricultural Educators to an already existing educational database such as ERIC, might provide even greater access. Debra asked the group to please send her questions they would like to ask for the next survey no later than November 1, 2010. Debra discussed several Utah AITC educational initiatives currently underway, including 20 short (YouTube) career videos being developed with funding from a USDA SPECA grant and developing STEM integration materials for middle school science teachers. She suggested that others seek STEM funding to implement and improve projects for research. Debra mentioned that she was revising the USU - Food, Land & People online courses (elementary and secondary) to provide teachers with Utah State Office of Education credit or USU credit to increase teacher participation. Teachers are requesting licensing hours not university credit hours.

6. Brian Warnick asked committee members to meet at breakfast (7:30 AM) to discuss how the members wanted to proceed concerning a continuation of the W-1006. Dr. Irlbeck said she would contact the USDA to determine how the W-1006 could continue. She also shared that she felt the committee was doing important work and needed to seek out way to brand or get others to identify with this effort nationally/globally. She also suggested that Kellie Enns from Colorado State University be added to the committee.

The committee adjourned at 9:45 PM

The committee reconvened at 7:30 AM, Wednesday, April 22, 2010
Greg suggested that we need to invite more people to the table. Look at multi-state grants and other funding sources. Jack asked about the next step and what the mechanisms might be for increasing committee participation. Brian added that we need the agricultural literacy (AITC) state coordinators to participate on the committee. The committee as asked to meet again at breakfast on Friday.

The committee adjourned 7:50 AM to attend research sessions.

The committee reconvened at 7:30 AM, Thursday, April 23, 2010
The discussion continued concerning how the research committee should proceed. Dr. Irlbeck said that she had heard back from Harriet Sypes at USDA and that we could request a continuance of the W-1006 for 1-2 years to complete research area projects and modify current objectives based on the research that had been conducted to complete the project purpose or propose a new agricultural literacy project with a new program of work with different objectives. The committee discussed the two options and agreed that it would be better to get a continuance to complete a meta analysis on objective 1 and modify objectives 2 and 3 as the research that has been conducted to measure these objectives is complete but has lead to new research questions. The group suggested the objectives be modified in the following way: (changes are underlined, deletions are shown as strikethroughs)

1. Continue developing an AITC baseline of knowledge and data, investigate a database program or the utilization of a current educational database, and complete a meta-analysis research report on the data collected between 2005 and 2010. Use these findings to influence and revise current agricultural literacy benchmarks and standards, resources, implementation methods and research as they relate to new national common core education standards (www.ccsso.org)
2. Identify those specific components and practices (including pedagogical strategies and curriculum materials) which correlate with AIITC measurable program success, as related to STEM initiatives.
3. Determine the significant impacts (including agricultural literacy and academic achievement) of AITC measurable program success.
4. Investigate the certification of agricultural literacy resources and a logo to signify the certification.

The committee decided to get together for a conference call in May or June to finalize these objective changes prior to the submission of the annual committee report.

The meeting continued with a discussion about STEM initiatives and how STEM is an integration, of content, something agricultural education has been doing since its inception. Nancy mentioned STEM careers and suggested a certification logo for agricultural literacy. We discussed how this certification/logo could help to brand agricultural literacy. Debra mentioned that there have been some discussions at USDA to revisit agricultural benchmark and standards developed by Oklahoma State in 2002. This is something the committee may want to be involved in and Debra would let the committee know if there was an opportunity to be involved.

The committee adjourned 7:50 AM to attend other meetings, but will reconvene in May or June on a conference call to finalize the project continuance request and objective changes.

Respectfully submitted,
Debra Spielmaker, Secretary