Certification Measures: Are They Predictive Of Secondary Agriculture Teacher Proficiency?

The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of teacher preparation program certification requirements to predict classroom teaching performance. The accessible sample consisted of 12 Agricultural Education graduates from the University of Missouri. Teaching performance was assessed by the teacher’s supervising administrator using the Performance Based Teaching Evaluation instrument, and by the researcher through classroom observations using the Formative Assessment of Teaching instrument. The first research objective sought to describe the teacher certification requirements that were predictive of teaching performance during the initial years of teaching as assessed by the teachers’ administrative supervisors. Agricultural education coursework GPA accounted for 40% of the variance associated with teaching performance, as assessed by public school administrators. The second research objective sought to describe the teacher certification requirements that were predictive of observed classroom teaching performance. Upon regressing the dependent variable, teaching performance, on the seven certification measures, no certification measure, or combination of certification measures, were found that could explain a significant proportion of the variance in teaching performance. Research objective three sought to describe school administrators’ perceptions of necessary teaching characteristics and the relationship between cognitive abilities and teaching performance. Administrators, in face-to-face interviews, emphasized the importance of affective characteristics to teaching. Administrators perceived that higher academic abilities did not necessarily equate to successful teaching performance.