ERIC Number: EJ1463245
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1042-0541
EISSN: EISSN-2162-5212
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Professional Rededication to SAE: Describing SAE Implementation in the United States
Journal of Agricultural Education, v66 n1 Article 7 2025
The 'home project' concept, now known as a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), has been a cornerstone of School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) for 100+ years. This experiential element of SBAE provides students with authentic and relevant experiences to enhance the learning process. While agricultural educators throughout the U.S. agree that SAE is an essential aspect of agricultural education, many educators claim they are not confident in implementing SAE into professional practice. This lack of confidence from educators has caused SAE to decline to the point of professional concern. This study aimed to describe SAE implementation nationally. Data utilized in this study was collected from the Agricultural Experience Tracker (AET) through student and teacher entries. Data represents entries from 619,077 students in 4,820 SBAE programs in 45 states. It was determined that the states utilizing the AET for record-keeping the most were Oklahoma (94%), Montana (94%), and Colorado (92%). Additionally, data suggested that 52.3% of SBAE students have an SAE, and the most common SAE types are within the Animal Science, Plant Science, and Power, Structural, and Technical Systems pathways. Furthermore, an estimated 865,245 SAEs nationally account for approximately $558 million in income and $857 million in investments. Overall, this suggests that the average SAE is unprofitable, which is not uncommon for new agricultural enterprises. The vast scope of SAE should be shared with agricultural education stakeholders, including educators, state staff, political leaders, educational administrators, etc., to communicate the impact of work-based learning and SAE in SBAE.
Descriptors: Agricultural Education, Program Implementation, Experiential Learning, Authentic Learning, Learning Processes, Animal Husbandry, Botany, Power Structure
American Association for Agricultural Education. P.O. Box 7607, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, Raleigh, NC 27695. Web site: https://jae-online.org/index.php/jae/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Oklahoma; Montana; Colorado
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A