The relationship between teacher effectiveness and beliefs of Virginia agricultural teachers

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between teacher effectiveness and agreement with the philosophy adopted by the Agricultural Education Division of the AVA. The study also investigated the relationship between teacher effectiveness and the strong beliefs about quality vocational agriculture programs held by teachers.

The primary subjects for this study were agricultural teachers in Virginia identified by state supervisors of vocational agriculture and verified by selected teacher educators in agricultural education as the most and least effective agricultural teachers. A total of 40 teachers were identified as most effective and 33 were identified as least effective. In addition, the general population of 368 agricultural teachers in Virginia was used to investigate the relationship between selected demographic variables and agreement with philosophical concepts.

Selected conclusions drawn from the findings were:

1. The philosophy adopted by the Agricultural Education Division, AVA does not contain the beliefs most likely to distinguish between the most and least effective teachers.

2. There are beliefs not included in the philosophy adopted by the profession that do seem to be related to teacher effectiveness.

3. The most effective teachers are more likely to express beliefs about the teacher being the key to effective programs while the least effective teachers are more likely to express beliefs about external factors being the key to effective programs.

4. Additional education is a better predictor of teacher effectiveness than either age, experience or agreement with any of the specific concepts adopted by the profession.

Selected recommendations drawn from the findings and conclusions are:

1. Research is needed to determine what other beliefs are held by vocational agriculture teachers and how those beliefs are related to teacher effectiveness.

2. Research is needed to determine what factors other than beliefs are related to teacher effectiveness.

3. The philosophy of the profession should emphasize that effective agricultural programs depend on the teacher taking personal responsibility for and being committed to those programs.