Do I stay or do I go? A mixed-methods study of factors of attrition as reported by leavers of secondary agriculture programs

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2013-05

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Abstract

Agricultural education has experienced a perpetual shortage of qualified agriculture teachers in secondary classrooms for decades. Teacher attrition has been identified as a contributing factor. This two-phase exploratory mixed-methods study sought to deepen the knowledge base regarding secondary agriculture teacher attrition. The first phase of this study was a qualitative case study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with former secondary agriculture teachers in order to describe how they characterized their experience teaching agriculture and determine the reasons they perceived for exiting the profession. Data from the interviews was analyzed and used to develop an attrition risk assessment instrument, which was pilot tested to establish validity and reliability during the second phase of the study.

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