Perceptions and perceived knowledge levels of Texas public school superintendents regarding the agricultural science and technology program

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions and perceived knowledge levels of Texas public school superintendents regarding the agricultural science and technology program. An additional purpose was to determine what relationships exist between superintendents' demographics and their perceptions and perceived knowledge levels regarding the agricultural science and technology program and its teachers.;The statement of the problem was that the agricultural science and technology program in Texas is not fulfilling its maximum potential in its efforts to provide a high quality education for the student population it serves.;The design for the study was descriptive-correlational, using a mailed questionnaire to gather data. The population for the study was Texas public school district superintendents in whose district an agricultural science program was offered during the 1999--2000 school year. One hundred superintendents were randomly sampled, with the sample being proportional and stratified according to the ten geographic areas of the Texas FFA Association. A 71% response rate was attained.;Ninety percent of the respondents were male, the majority (55.7%) were 50 to 59 years old, and 91.4% were Anglo. Two-thirds (66.7%) indicated academics as their primary teaching area, and a vast majority had no career and technology education (82.9%) or agriscience (88.6%) teaching experience. Most (58.6%) had not been enrolled in agriscience themselves, almost two-thirds (65.7%) had not had a child enrolled, and 67.1% had work experience in agriculture.;As a group, superintendents were found to have a positive perception of the agriscience program and its teachers. They perceived themselves to be very knowledgeable about most aspects of the program, with knowledge levels higher for areas related to funding and lower in areas related to the curriculum. Several relationships were found between selected demographic variables of the superintendents and their perceptions and perceived knowledge levels of the agriscience program and teachers.