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Litigation in education has drastically risen over past decades, representing the need for teachers to have a foundational knowledge of the educational laws which govern them. The myriad of educational law sources and the perpetually changing nature of school law serve as barriers for teachers' competence in educational law. The purpose of this study was to identify the specific in-service educational law training needs of Texas school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers. Furthermore, this study sought to determine the effect of background characteristics on teacher's perceived competence on educational law issues. An educational law needs assessment was distributed to a probabilistic sample of Texas SBAE teachers (n = 325). Two-hundred and thirteen teachers completed the needs assessment, yielding a response rate of 65.5%. The Texas SBAE teachers identified (1) qualified immunity, (2) search and seizure of students, (3) transportation of students in school and (4) personal vehicles, and (5) teacher-initiated removal of students as their highest-ranked educational law in-service needs. The results of a factorial ANOVA indicated the educational law competence of teachers was significantly different based on the amount of previous educational law training the teacher had received.

A priority of agricultural teacher education programs is to develop technically competent, prepared school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers. SBAE teachers should be knowledgeable in various agricultural subject matter, such as agricultural mechanics. Using Roberts and Ball's (2009) Content-based Model for Teaching Agriculture as the conceptual framework for our study, we used a three-round Delphi technique to identify the agricultural mechanics knowledge and skills SBAE teachers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas need to successfully teach agricultural mechanics courses. Spread across all four states, a panel of 47 SBAE teachers with expertise in agricultural mechanics contributed data for our study. Thirty-five teachers participated in all three rounds. After all three rounds were completed, 71 technical agricultural mechanics knowledge and skill items (e.g., circular saw use, computer numerical control [CNC] systems use, etc.) and 49 agricultural mechanics "teacher skill" / laboratory management knowledge and skill items (e.g., budget management, developing a student traffic control system, etc.) were identified. We recommend various efforts to help expand teachers' competence in these items should be undertaken within these states, including: (1) establishing and expanding partnerships with agricultural industry stakeholders to provide professional development opportunities for SBAE teachers, (2) realigning agricultural teacher education courses and experiences to better reflect teachers' agricultural mechanics knowledge and skill needs, and (3) facilitating opportunities for teachers to develop competence in agricultural mechanics through SBAE teacher-led training. To help provide systematic, consistent examination of teacher competence needs in agricultural mechanics, replication of our study should occur at regular intervals.

The profession of agricultural education is experiencing shortages across the nation. Texas is critically impacted due to the renewed emphasis of career and technical education. This leads to questions about the preparedness of recent college graduates to handle the demands placed upon agricultural educators. Starting in 2012, Texas Tech University restructured the courses within the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications to better prepare graduates. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the agricultural education program at Texas Tech University by examining the preparedness of student teachers as determined by the cooperating teachers. A survey containing the characteristics of effective agricultural teachers identified by Roberts and Dyer (2004) was administered to cooperating teachers of Texas Tech University student teachers. The cooperating teachers evaluated the importance of the characteristics and the preparedness of Texas Tech University student teachers. The results of this survey were analyzed using a Borich needs assessment model. Texas Tech University cooperating teachers perceived student teachers to be most prepared in the categories of personal qualities and community relations and found the student teachers need further development of skills related to the categories of Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) and program planning/management.

Teachers are tasked with the important role of educating and empowering the Nation's youth. Although teaching is a rewarding vocation, teachers are subjected to risk and liabilities on a daily basis. The rising number of school-based litigation and the litigious nature of today's society bolster the need for teachers to abide and understand the administrative, statutory, judicial, and constitutional laws mandated in the state of Texas. Aside from the general liabilities faced by educators, agricultural science teachers are exposed to additional liabilities due to their unique professional responsibilities. A systematic delivery of educational law training could potentially aid in improving the educational law competency of teachers in Texas. However, educational law training is only viable if the most pertinent educational law issues are being addressed. To identify the most important educational law issues, this Delphi study involved the inquiry of school district superintendents' and attorneys' opinions of the most important educational law issues. The panel indicated teacher rights, student discipline, special education, and teacher's communication with students as the most important general educational laws issues. Moreover, the issues of student safety/supervision, communication with parents and superiors, and financial responsibility were the most important agricultural education-related issues faced by teachers.

Educational laboratory management is a paramount issue in agricultural education settings. Agricultural mechanics laboratories are found in many agricultural education programs. One of the most important issues an instructor in agricultural education settings faces is safety in the agricultural mechanics laboratory. Identifying and cultivating a culture of safety in students early on is key to reducing injuries and accidents. The purpose of this study was to gauge safety climate attitudes within a university-level agricultural mechanics laboratory. The population for this study was university-level agricultural students who were enrolled in two agricultural mechanics courses. Through the lens of Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior, the students' safety climate attitudes were assessed by the Safety Climate Attitudes Questionnaire. The highest mean scores were found in the constructs of Personal Motivation for Safe Behavior and Positive Safe Practices. The lowest mean scores were found within the constructs of Risk Justification and Fatalism. We recommend that further study of this topic be conducted in additional agricultural education settings to understand students' attitudes toward safety in laboratory environments.

A pressing concern in all agricultural mechanics courses is safety. Lab activities have an inherent propensity to cause serious injury. The safety practices which are taught by teachers are largely dependent on the equipment in the laboratory and the resources available to the program. Various researchers have indicated that problems have existed in the safety instruction of agricultural mechanics for some time. This study sought to determine how safety is taught, what equipment instructors use and attitudes towards teaching safety of agricultural mechanics teachers. The majority of instructors were certified in first aid and felt confident to use that training in the event of an emergency. The average teacher was found to teach high enrollment labs and furnished at no cost to the student eye protection in the form of safety glasses with side shields. It was found that teachers agreed that safety instruction in the lab was important, especially involving power tools, electricity, and industrial quality eye protection. Agricultural programs should be evaluated regularly for inadequate conditions that may exist in facilities, equipment, and safety. Additional research is needed targeting what barriers potentially exist with teachers using recommended safety practices in the instruction of agricultural mechanics.

With the high rates of agricultural teacher burnout and attrition in the United States, the need for teachers to strike a balance between their work and family responsibilities is imperative. The purpose of this research study was to explore the influence of gender on Texas agricultural teachers' perceived job obligations and family responsibilities. Utilizing an online survey instrument, a census of agricultural science teachers in Texas for the 2013-2014 school year was attempted. A total of 567 Texas agricultural educators completed the instrument, for a response rate of 30.8%. The teachers' involvement in household responsibilities accounted for an average of 22.63 hours per week. In addition to the hours teachers spent on their family responsibilities, an average of 58.65 hours per week were expended on the total agricultural education program (classroom instruction, FFA, and SAE). When comparing genders, female agricultural teachers, on average, reported exerting a surplus of 7.5 hours per week on family responsibilities as compared to male teachers. Findings of this study indicated female teachers' spouses worked an average of 8.65 more hours per week outside of the home, in comparison to the spouses of their male counterparts.