AEE 501
Foundations of
Agricultural and Extension Education
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Federal Legislation
Impacting on Agricultural and Extension Education, 1958-Today
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Introduction:
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The 1960s marked a
period of change in America. We experienced the Civil Rights movement,
Women's liberation, the Viet Nam war, the Beatles, LSD, Woodstock, and
more. To get a hint of society in the 1960s you might enjoy Country Joe and the
Fish singing at Woodstock. Legislation for extension and
agricultural education reflected
these changes. In this lesson we learn how federal legislation for
extension and agricultural education reflected the changes in society. |
Lesson Objectives:
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At the completion
of
the lesson you should be able to:  Describe
the impact of the Vocational Education Act of 1963 on agricultural
education. Identify
the current legislation under which extension and agricultural
education operate.List the
various "mandates" required
of extension in the post-1963 extension legislation. Hypothesize
what future legislation
in extension and agricultural education will address. |
Learning Activities:
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The
Vocational Education Act of 1963 caused major changes in vocational
education, including agriculture and home economics. Appendix
B of Understanding Agriculture: New Directions for
Education (National Academy of Science) provides a history of
federal legislation affecting
agricultural education. Advance to page 58 and read about the 1963 Act.Even though it
ends in 1994, this University
of Florida document identifies important legislation passed since
1972 that affects extension. This Colorado State document
takes you up to 2002. The Federal
Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (FAIR, also known as
the Farm Bill) had several provisions impacting agricultural education
and the extension service. Title
VIII has most of the provisions concerning agricultural and
extension education. Scan the list of sections of Title VIII and click
on those you think impact on agricultural education or extension and
see if you can figure out what is being said. This is the first farm
bill to specifically contain provisions dealing with high school
agricultural education (be and sure to read the
materials in Section
805 (h))The
Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 is what Career and
Technical Education operates under today. Read
this 2 page synopsis of the act. IF
you really want to dig into the Perkins legislation there are a variety of
resources available from the Association for Career and Technical
Education. During the
past few decades
legislation impacting extension has been contained in the Farm Bill.
The most recent Farm Bill was passed in 2008. It is only 1,770 pages
long. You can go to the 2008
Farm Bill web site and read the entire bill or read a summary
of it at AgWeb.com. There are several different organizations
that discuss the 2008 Farm Bill from their perspective:
View a PowerPoint Presentation on Era II (1958-now) of Federal Legislation
impacting agricultural and extension education. Download this presentation. |
Assignments:
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Complete the Legislation II worksheet.
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