Arizona Agriculture Educator's Perceived Effectiveness of Recruitment Topics Targeting Urban Students

Abstract

This descriptive survey research aimed to describe what agriculture educators found to be the most effective recruitment topics in urban programs in Arizona, as well as describe demographic data to provide educators with a baseline of information to evaluate their recruitment efforts. All urban agriculture teachers were given a web-based questionnaire and instructed to select the topics used during recruitment activities, then rank their effectiveness using a five-point Likert scale. Results indicate that a wide range of topics are utilized during recruitment and that McClelland's Acquired Needs serves as a strong framework for recruitment with all topics being ranked at moderately effective or higher. Achievement is perceived as more effective than power or affiliation. It is recommended that agriculture educators continue to use topics under all three needs, but be sure to emphasize achievement based topics.