Validating the list of tasks associated with teaching school-based agricultural education

School-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers face diverse and extensive expectations from students, administrators, parents, and stakeholders, often requiring them to assume numerous roles and responsibilities. Insights into the needs of teachers, the challenges they encounter, and the traits of effective teachers shed light on the nature of the roles expected of SBAE teachers. The interplay of professional needs, challenges, and desired characteristics forms a complex set of expectations for SBAE teachers. Despite this complexity, SBAE teachers are expected to master an ever-growing array of skills, challenges, and attributes pertinent to their profession. To better describe such, Best (2023) developed a list of 238 tasks associated with teaching SBAE through a nationwide Delphi study. The purpose of this study was to validate the list of tasks SBAE teachers are expected to complete as part of their professional roles and responsibilities. Human Capital Theory served as a the theoretical framework for the study, in particular, job-specific tasks of SBAE teachers were examined. The validation of the list of tasks consisted of a descriptive, non-experimental research design which sought to ascertain the opinions of SBAE teachers nationwide. For each task, participants were asked to rate their agreement to the statement, “This task is important for my role as a school-based agricultural education teacher.” Respondents did so on a five-point, Likert-type scale (1= Strongly disagree, 5 = Strongly agree). Principal Component Analysis was used to evaluate responses and determine the primary tasks associated with teaching SBAE. In total, 69 primary tasks were identified across five components: Supervised Agricultural Experiences, Advising a FFA Chapter, Other Professional Responsibilities, Classroom and Laboratory Instruction, and FFA Awards and Degrees. Further, internal reliability estimate (Cronbach’s alpha) coefficients were calculated for the instrument and each of its five components. All Cronbach’s alpha scores were acceptable, and inter-item correlations were deemed adequate. The findings of the study yielded five general conclusions which are presented and discussed along with recommendations for practice and research.