A Comparison of the Impact of Teaching Events Upon the Experience of Entry-Level Agricultural Education Teachers

The convergence of pressures from global competition, an aging American work force, sliding student achievement scores, high teacher attrition rates, and an imminent mass retirement of our most experienced public school teachers has caused policy makers, state department of education leaders, school administrators, researchers, and teacher educators to examine and revise the practices of preparing and retaining teachers (Carnegie Task Force on the Future of Teaching,1986; Holmes Group,1986; National Commission on Teaching and America's Future,1996; Darling-Hammond, Chung, & Frelow,2002; Darling-Hammond,2002; National Commission on Teaching and America's Future,2003). Despite the limited supply of some types of teachers (e.g., technology education, agricultural education, specials needs, mathematics, science), Americans still want teachers in the classrooms who can teach. This sentiment reflects research findings that show that student achievement and performance levels are higher when taught by well-prepared and experienced classroom teachers (Hawk, Coble, & Swanson,1985; Monk,1994; Sanders & Rivers,1996; Darling-Hammond,1997,2000a,2000b,2000c,2002; Goldhaber & Brewer,2000; Darling-Hammond, Berry, & Thoreson,2001; Darling-Hammond, Chung & Frelow,2002). Unfortunately, many students, especially students from rural and urban settings, do not benefit from the expertise of quality teachers (Ingersoll,1999,2001). Instead, they see a steady stream of teachers coming and going due to a variety of events that affected their initial teaching experience and decision to leave the profession.