A Comparative Analysis of College Readiness Assessment Results of Illinois High School Agriculture Students

Abstract

Agricultural education is defined by a best practice three-component model of instruction that includes a classroom experience, leadership development and FFA involvement, and an experiencebased activity through a Supervised Agricultural Experience program (SAE). Based on program of activities award criteria, each year state FFA associations recognize top chapters with gold or silver emblem designations. This quantitative study provides a comparison of eleventh grade Illinois agriculture students from Gold and Silver Emblem FFA chapters to all Illinois eleventhgrade students on college assessments. In addition, it provides a comparison of Illinois agriculture students from Gold and Silver Emblem FFA chapters to all juniors tested from the same schools. Student identification numbers were securely collected from agriculture instructors and principals at qualifying schools and data were compiled by the office of the state board of education. The assessment results were analyzed and compared to determine if there were statistically significant differences that emerged between selected agriculture students and their peers using the ACT assessment designed to measure college readiness. Results indicated that the selected group of agriculture students are as college ready as their peers. Further analysis indicated that female agriculture students perform at a higher level than their peers on college readiness assessments.