Record Details
A follow-up of the graduates of Agricultural Education at Oregon State Univeristy
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | A follow-up of the graduates of Agricultural Education at Oregon State Univeristy |
| Names |
Ferguson, John Marshall
(creator) TenPas, Henry (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 1966-05-27 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 1967 |
| Abstract | Agricultural education at the high school level, like all vocational programs, is expanding vertically as well as horizontally. With this increased emphasis placed on vocational agriculture, the shortage of teachers is already being felt and the situation will, in all probability, become more critical. The expansion of the programs to include off-farm agricultural businesses is placing additional pressures on the men in the field who received their training a number of years ago. The primary purpose of this study is to determine to what extent the men who majored in Agricultural Education, Oregon State University, have been placed in teaching and to gather information which will be of value to the Agricultural Education Department in order that continuing evaluation studies can be made. Information dealing with retention of teacher were given particular attention. The graduates of the period January 1950 through June 1964 were divided into two separate groups. The men who had remained in the teaching profession were designated as group 1; the men who left the profession were placed in group 2. Two separate questionnaires were used. The first page of both questionnaires and was designed to gather information common to both groups. The second page was designed to gather information according to the group the individual graduate was placed in. There were two mailings of questionnaires used in the study. The first mailing was sent in April 1962 to the graduates of the period January 1950 through June 1959. In January 1966 questionnaires were again circulated. This mailing included all the respondents of the first mailing who were still teaching vocational agriculture. It also included those graduates of the period January 1960 through June 1964. The findings of the study were: 1. Most (81.2 percent) graduates of the Agricultural Education, Oregon State University do enter teaching vocational agriculture the first year. 2. Oregon's drop-out rate after the first year of teaching is well below the national average. 3. The greater the age of the graduate upon entry, the less likely he is to stay with vocational agriculture. 4. Opportunity seems to be the most important factor in a graduate's making the final decision to stay with teaching vocational agriculture or to use it as a stepping stone to another occupation. 5. There appears to be some indication that the entry school plays a part in causing a graduate to remain in the profession longer or to drop out. 6. The median length of service at the entry school was found to be 3.82 years. 7. The mean number of years of service was found to be 5.25 and the median to be 4.5 years. 8. The most significant fact revealed by the rankings of those leaving the profession was the monetary gain was more important to them than service. This in an opposite viewpoint from those remaining in the profession. 9.The largest group of graduates who leave the profession stay in the field of education either as classroom teachers of other subject matter areas or as administrators. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Oregon State University. Dept. of Agricultural Education -- Alumni and alumnae |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/47650 |
