Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** agricultural science professional…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** agricultural science professional development (acre) 2.0 project seeks to improve the quality of education for students in grades k-12 in mississippi by advancing students' understanding and practices of agricultural literacy related to food science and poultry science within k-12 classrooms. This proposal meets the animal health and production and animal products, and food safety, nutrition, and health, priorities of the afri farm bill because IT focuses on 1) the science and business of producing poultry species, 2) foods of animal origin, and 3) food safety. The aim of this project is to strengthen and enhance the quality of k-12 food science and poultry science instruction through in-service teacher PD. K-12 teachers will gain increased knowledge of food science and poultry science disciplines and increased awareness of career opportunities which, in turn, translates into improved and integrated curricula to educate and recruit the future agricultural workforce. The evaluationof the acre 2.0 project will include quantitative and qualitative components. Content and disposition to food science and poultry science will be assessed through a survey to be administered at three points throughout the project in three cycles: pre-test before the summer institute, posttest at the conclusion of the summer institute, and delayed posttest at the conclusion of the spring academic year session. Further, additional data will be collected through interviews that are administered at three points throughout the project in three cycles: pre-institute interview, post-institute interview, and delayed post interview during the spring after the final academic year session. Teachers will be required to submit lesson plans exemplifying their teaching practices; these plans will be collected at the end of the summer institute and then in the spring at the academic year session for coding and analysis.