Journal of Agricultural Education 1 Volume 59, Issue 4, 2018 Journal of Agricultural Education A Publication of the American Association for Agricultural Education Volume 59, Issue 4, 2018 Editing Managing Board (Terms end on December 31) Member Region University Term Ends Ryan G. Anderson North Central Iowa State University 2019 Marshall Baker Western North Carolina State University 2020 Joey Blackburn Southern Louisiana State University 2020 Chris Estepp Southern Sul Ross State University 2018 Neil Knobloch (Chair) North Central Purdue University 2018 Misty Lambert North Central Iowa State University 2020 Dustin Perry Western Montana State University 2019 Ryan Saucier Western Sam Houston State University 2018 Chris Stripling Southern University of Tennessee 2019 Editorial Staff Harry N. Boone, Jr., Ph.D., Editor (2016-2018) Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, West Virginia University 4417 Agricultural Sciences Building, P.O. Box 6108 Morgantown, WV 26506 Phone: (304) 293-5451 Email: [email protected] Catherine Shoulders, Editor Elect, University of Arkansas D. Barry Croom, Past Editor, University of Georgia Tyson Sorensen, Utah State University, Assistant Editor Editorial Review Board (Terms end on December 31) Member Region University Term Ends James Christiansen Western Texas A&M 2018 Catherine A. DiBenedetto Southern Clemson University 2018 John Ewing North Central Pennsylvania State University 2019 Alexa Lamm Southern University of Georgia 2019 Nan Li Western Texas Tech University 2020 Jason McKibben North Central West Virginia University 2018 OP McCubbins Southern Tennessee State University 2020 Steve Rocca Western California State University Fresno 2018 Eric Rubenstein Southern University of Georgia 2019 Travis Park Southern North Carolina State University 2020 Amber Rice Western University of Arizona 2020 Annie Specht North Central The Ohio State University 2018 Debra Spielmaker Western Utah State University 2019 Kasee Smith Western University of Idaho 2019 Scott Smalley North Central Iowa State University 2019 Erica Thieman North-Central University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2020 Andrew Thoron Southern University of Florida 2018 Hui-Hui Wang North-Central Purdue University 2020 Journal of Agricultural Education ii Volume 59, Issue 4, 2018 Table of Contents Journal of Agricultural Education Volume 59 * Issue 4* 2018 Over The Edge: Factors Nudging Mid-Career, School-Based Agriculture Teachers Out of the Profession Jay K. Solomonson & Michael S. Retallick ........................................................... 1 Influences on the Perceived Comfort and Training Level of Personal Protective Equipment in the Missouri High School Agricultural Mechanics Laboratory G. Curtis Langley, John D. Tummons, & Tracy Kitchel...................................... 20 Experimental Studies in School-based Agricultural Education from 2006-2016: A Synthesis of the Literature in the Journal of Agricultural Education Blake C. Colclasure & Andrew C. Thoron .......................................................... 36 Needs Assessments for School-based Agricultural Education Teachers: A Review of Literature Catherine A. DiBenedetto, Victoria C. Willis, & R. Kirby Barrick ..................... 52 Identifying Extension Agent Needs Associated with Communicating about Policies and Regulations Joy N. Rumble, Alexa J. Lamm, & Keegan D. Gay ............................................. 72 Science in the Garden: A Qualitative Analysis of School-based Agricultural Educators’ Strategies Sarah M. Cross & Sami Kahn ............................................................................. 88 Preservice Agriculture Teachers’ Development during the Early Phase of Student Teaching Tyson J. Sorensen, Rebecca G. Lawver, Nicole Hopkins, Beth Jensen, Cassidy Dutton, & Brian K. Warnick ................................................................ 105 The Impact of a Short-Term International Experience on Undergraduate Students’ Cultural Competency J.C. Bunch, Shelli D. Rampold, Melissa Cater, & J. Joey Blackburn ............... 120 Identifying the First Generation Leaders in Agricultural Education: The Lost Stimson Manuscript Gary Moore ........................................................................................................ 137 Student Perceptions of Soft Skills & Career Decision Self-Efficacy through Participation in SAE Becky Haddad & Adam A. Marx........................................................................ 159 Journal of Agricultural Education iii Volume 59, Issue 4, 2018 Agricultural Communications Skills, Abilities And Knowledge Desired By Employers Compared To Current Curriculum: A Literary Review Jessica Corder & Erica Irlbeck ......................................................................... 177 Using Cognitive Dissonance to Theoretically Explain Water Conservation Intentions Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Alexa J. Lamm, & Laura A. Warner .......................... 194 Can they Relate? Teaching Undergraduate Students about Agricultural and Natural Resource Issues Alexa J. Lamm, Jessica Harsh, Courtney Meyers,& Ricky W. Telg .................. 211 A Model for Understanding Decision-Making Related to Agriculture and Natural Resource Science and Technology Taylor K. Ruth, Joy N. Rumble, Alexa J. Lamm, & Jason D. Ellis .................... 224 Spanning the Gap: The Confluence of Agricultural Literacy and Being Agriculturally Literate Chris Clemons, James R. Lindner, Bruce Murray, Mike P. Cook, Brandon Sams, & Gwendolyn Williams............................................................................ 238 Conceptualizing Integrative Agricultural Education: Introductory Framework for Integrating Mathematics in Agricultural Curriculum Kelly Robinson, Donna Westfall-Rudd, Tiffany Drape, & Hannah Scherer ..... 253 Assessing the Effects of the Smartphone as a Learning Tool on the Academic Achievement of School-Based Agricultural Education Students in Louisiana H. Eric Smith, J. Joey Blackburn, Kristin S. Stair, & Michael F. Burnett ........ 270 Effects of Question Difficulty and Post-Question Wait-Time on Cognitive Engagement: A Psychophysiological Analysis Kyle C. Gilliam, Matt Baker, John Rayfield, Rudy Ritz, & R. Glenn Cummins ............................................................................................................ 286 Impact of Agricultural Mechanics Camp on Intentions To Teach Erin K. Gorter & Benjamin G. Swan ................................................................. 301 The State of the Profession: STEM in Agricultural Education Marshall Swafford ............................................................................................. 315 Journal of Agricultural Education iv Volume 59, Issue 4, 2018 Journal of Agricultural Education, 59(4), 1-19 https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2018.04001 Over The Edge: Factors Nudging Mid-Career, School- Based Agriculture Teachers Out of the Profession Jay K. Solomonson1 & Michael S. Retallick2 Abstract The field of agricultural education has experienced a consistent labor shortage the past several decades. Consequently, many school districts struggle to fill their open positions, while others are forced to shut down their agricultural programs completely due to inadequate staffing. Teacher attrition has been identified as a predominant factor behind the teacher shortage. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify factors influencing mid-career school-based agriculture teachers’ decision to stay in or leave the secondary agriculture teaching profession. Researchers developed and administered questionnaires, as well as conducted interviews, to gather data from current, mid-career agriculture teachers to answer the research questions. The researcher’s discovered mid-career agriculture teachers are satisfied with their careers and significant differences do not exist in overall job satisfaction between those contemplating leaving and those who were not. However, differences existed between groups in areas related to recognition and school policy and administration. Additional findings suggest mid-career agriculture teachers value student and program successes, autonomy and variety, and stakeholder support. Moreover, the researcher’s discovered mid-career agriculture teachers experience similar frustrations as teachers in other professional life stages; however, they seem to struggle more with balancing their personal and professional lives due to changing family dynamics. Keywords: teacher retention, teacher attrition, mid-career, job satisfaction, teacher shortage Notes: This paper is a product of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. IOWO3813 and sponsored by Hatch Act and State of Iowa funds. Introduction The current United States educational system is on the cusp of a major teacher shortage. According to the projected demand for teachers, an annual shortfall of 112,000 educators is expected for the foreseeable future with an estimated 300,000 new teachers being required annually through 2020 to keep up with the current demand (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, & Carver-Thomas, 2016). Researchers have suggested it is not solely the decline of those entering education causing the teacher shortage, but that high teacher attrition is the “driving factor” behind the shortage (Sutcher et al., 2016, p. 38). Researchers report an 8% annual attrition rate with two-thirds of leavers doing so before becoming retirement-eligible (Sutcher et al., 2016). Sutcher et al. (2016) suggested, “Reducing