Agricultural education teacher gains professional development certification

COLLINS — Mark Starkey, agricultural educator at Western Reserve Local Schools, recently attended a 12-day professional development institute at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minn. This Professional Development Institute was designed to certify educators across the United States to teach Technical Applications in Agriculture, a newly developed course funded through a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. This newly designed course is a joint venture bringing together partners such as AgCentric, Northern Center of Agricultural Excellence, Ridgewater College, and Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE). Starkey was one of 14 educators from 10 different states assigned to field test the Technical Applications of Agriculture (TAA) coursework. Educators attending the institute were selected based on an application, which included an administrative support letter. Starkey was the only teacher from Ohio. Other states represented by educators at this institute included Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington and Oregon. The course is designed for dual enrollment credit at post-secondary institutions. Secondary students successfully completing the course for a credential and college credit will move seamlessly into an agricultural technician training program at partnering post-secondary schools or into the agricultural technician workforce. The development of the Technical Applications in Agriculture (TAA) course is funded through an Advanced Technological Education National Science Foundation grant. The Technical Applications course challenges students in a skills-based capstone course that includes higher-level project based learning, critical thinking, and advanced diagnostics while incorporating every level of STEM education. CASE (Curriculum for Ag. Science Education) is an instructional system that is changing the culture of agriculture programs in the United States through intense teacher professional development; inquiry-based, student-focused lessons; assessment; and certification. CASE equips teachers to elevate student experiences in the agriculture classroom, and prepares students for success in college and careers emphasizing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). In 2009, schools began implementing CASE into their programs. More than 2,000 teachers from 45 states, plus the Virgin Islands, hold close to 3,000 certifications and use them each day in their agriculture classrooms. During the CASE Institute, Mark Starkey spent 100 hours working through nearly every lesson in the year-long curriculum and learning how to deliver lessons in an inquiry-based way that will shift focus in the classroom from teacher-led to student-directed learning. CASE is an initiative of the National Council for Agricultural Education and managed by the National Association of the Agricultural Educators (NAAE). For more information about CASE, visit www.case4learning.org.