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678036SGOXXX10.1177/2158244016678036SAGE
research-article2016
OpenChumbley

Article

SAGE Open
October-December 2016: 1–9
The Impact of a Career and Technology © The Author(s) 2016
DOI: 10.1177/2158244016678036

Education Program sgo.sagepub.com

Steven Boot Chumbley1

Abstract
There continues to be a shortage of qualified graduates for agriculture jobs within the United States. One reason for this shortage is
the decline in student enrollment in colleges of agriculture. One tool that can increase college preparation for future graduates and
help students succeed is the agriculture dual-enrollment program. Dual enrollment allows high-school students to take courses while
dual enrolled in a corresponding college course. The program was found to have a positive impact on students taking more rigorous
courses and gaining in-depth knowledge of agriculture. Teachers feel that this program helped in establishing higher standards in
coursework and in feeling satisfied about their job. It enhances prestige and program reputation. Dual enrollment was seen to have
little to no impact on school counselors. Research focused on the pedagogical approaches of these course offerings will benefit the
creation of future high-quality dual credit courses.

Keywords
dual enrollment, agriculture education, teachers, distance learning

Introduction increases conceptual understanding of science and promotes

positive attitudes toward learning science. The rate of student
Today's global economy demands a more educated work-
success drops further as they continue into higher edu-cation.
force. Communities need to work together to improve 21st-
Within the freshman class of 2010, only 39.4% of New Mexico
century learning and increase high-school graduation rates to
students who entered a 4-year degree program graduated. It is
prepare more students for college and successful careers
secondary and post-secondary educators' job to reach these
(American Graduation Initiative, 2014). In 2009, President
students through innovative programs that expose these
Obama made a call to increase college graduation rates by the
students to the rigor of college courses and higher education
year 2020. He laid out his desires for this initiative in the form
expectations early. Such programs allow students to enter
of innovative strategies that promote college comple-tion. Less
higher education better prepared and more likely to succeed in
than half of new college students earn an associate's degree
academics and their careers (Bailey, Hughes, & Karp, 2005).
within 3 years or a bachelor's degree within 6 years (National
Center for Educational Statistics, 2011). This affects all
An innovative program that can help students succeed and
industries, especially agriculture. This issue is compounded
increase college preparation for future graduation is the agri-
when we find that there continues to be a short-age of qualified
culture dual-enrollment program. Although dual enrollment/
graduates for agriculture jobs within the United States (Goecker,
Concurrent enrollment options have been in use for many
Smith, Smith, & Goetz, 2010). One reason for this shortage
years, agriculture-based dual-enrollment programs are not as
could be contributed to the decline in student enrollment in
prevalent. Dual enrollment (sometimes referred to as concur-
colleges of agriculture and agriculture majors (Baker, Settle,
rent enrollment) allows high-school students to enroll dually in
Chiarelli, & Irani, 2013).
their normal high-school class and a corresponding col-lege
The national high-school average freshmen graduation rate
course (Estación, Cotner, D'Souza, Smith, & Borman, 2011) .
(AFGR) is 78.2%. In the state of New Mexico, of every 100
These classes can be offered as a face-to-face/online
students who enter ninth grade, only 67 will graduate (Stillwell,
Sable, & Plotts, 2011). This rate is even lower for Hispanic
students with a national AFGR of 71% and a state of New 1

Texas A&M University—Kingsville, USA

Mexico Hispanic average of 63%. Only 32% of New Mexico
Corresponding Author:
high-school students were found to possess college-ready
Steven Boot Chumbley, Texas A&M University—Kingsville, 700 University
skills in math and science (Winograd & Sallee, 2011). Blvd., Kingsville, TX 78343, USA.
Yasar (2002) found that innovative project-based learning Email: [email protected]

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without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https: //
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2 SAGE Open

hybrid where students participate in lab activities through their high-school these courses until they are ready. Mead (2009) cited students who take
courses but complete assessments (test and quizzes) online from the courses too young or before they are ready may end up becoming
university instructor. This is also referred to as blended learning (Barnett discouraged against any college in the future. The study's review of
& Stamm, 2010). literature has shown that other concerns exist that must be addressed for
This model has a high probability of success, because instruc-tors deliver a program to be successful. These include providing strong support
the same rigorous college content while consid-ering the pedagogical systems from both secondary and university students, especially for
strategies that may be better at engaging secondary students (Karp, minority and low-income students (Barnett & Stamm, 2010); engaging a
Bailey, Hughes, & Fermin, 2005). broad student population (Edwards, Hughes, & Weisberg, 2011); providing
appropriate dual course sequence-ing); and modeling hybrid Career and
The original intent of the dual credit programs was to pro-vide a TEcnology Education (CTE)/academic courses that prepare students for
challenging curriculum to academically prepared high-school students career success, all while maintaining high academic standards (Adelman,
(Kim, Kirby, & Bragg, 2004). As it has evolved, this program has become 2006).
a tool to help ease the transition from high school into college (Bailey &
Karp, 2003), to develop vocational skill readiness, and to reduce time to
a college degree (Burns & Lewis, 2000; Menzel, 2006). These programs
have been shown to help alleviate student boredom and “senioritis” (Klein,
Agriculture Dual-Enrollment Program Model
2007) by allowing for more independence in the learning process.
Adelman (2006) found that rigorous and innovative course offerings have The State of New Mexico School Grading Accountability system requires
a significant impact on the transition from high school into college success. that all students have taken at least one dual credit/dual enrollment course
As these programs have become more popular, they have become an or Advanced Placement (AP) class to fulfill the requirements for graduation
option for both high- and low-achieving students (Le & Frankford, 2011). (New Mexico Public Education Department, 2013). Those classes that
were dual-credit must have been completed successfully with a grade of
“C” or better. In the 2012-2013 school year, 79% of the students met this
criterion. It was also found that 41% of the students limited themselves to
Studies by Adelman (2006) and Swanson (2008) reveal that only taking one college course during their high-school career. Established
momentum to completion is an important factor in a student's quest to relationships with school leaders, teachers, and students can lead to
obtain a college degree. When students do not obtain at least 20 credits increased enrollment and success of students in dual-enrollment programs.
by the end of their freshmen year or choose not to enroll in postsecondary Offering more diversity in course selections in the area of agriculture
education right after high school, they do not generate sufficient academic sciences will also help to recruit and retain students in this high-need
momentum. This may eventually lead to failure to obtain a college degree. area.
Barnett and Hughes (2010) also found that students who participate in
dual enrollment enhance their chances of college admission. Participating
in dual enroll-ment has the opportunity to create circumstances by which The strategic plan of this program relies on four specific goals for the
stu-dents are reluctant to give up the credits earned. These students are overall program: access, accountability, afford-ability, and student
perhaps more likely to experience a sense of achievement in their initial success. These courses are offered at no cost to the school or student
college credit classes and, there-fore, enter post-secondary education and are paid for by the state.
without delay after high school to a greater degree than non-participants. School administrators, secondary teachers, and university faculty must
be in agreement on the courses offered and in what format they will be
taught. A memo of understanding (MOU) is kept on file with the high
school, college, and the state public education department. Teachers
Student participation in a dual-enrollment program has also shown to must be considered qualified by the university faculty and most often
have an impact on students' decision of a col-lege major (Morrison, require a minimum of a master's degree. Students must be at least a
2008), college persistence (Andrews, 2001), enhancing self-confidence, junior in classification and in good academic standing (mini-mum 2.5
and helping students see a connection between academic work and grade point average [GPA]).
career success (Medvide & Blustein, 2010). Dual enrollment has been
shown to benefit underrepresented and underachieving students (Bailey Currently, Eastern New Mexico University offers six dif-ferent
et al., 2005), students who are enrolled in career and technology agriculture dual enrollment courses. These courses include introduction
education programs, first-generation students (Farrell & Siefert, 2007), to animal science, dairy science, intro-duction to horticulture, introduction
and both boys and girls (Karp, Calcagno, Hughes, Jeong, & Bailey, 2007). to metal fabrication, rural buildings construction, and principles of engines
and power units. The 18 hr of dual-enrollment courses offered all apply
directly to majors in agricultural science. These courses are offered in
Although the benefits of dual enrollment have been addressed, this three different formats: fully online through the university instructor, as a
research study will also help with any per-ceived barriers to program hybrid online/face-to-face model with the university faculty offering online
success. Critics of dual enrollment have also warned about students not content and the
participating in
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Chumbley 3

teacher leading secondary lab activities; and solely by the high-school change. change. At Stage 1, Informational, the teacher is interested in
teacher serving as a university adjunct instructor. It has been found that learning more about the innovation. Teacher concerns at Stage 2,
programs with the hybrid course model have a high probability of success, Personal, involve concerns about how the innovation relates to the
because instructors deliver the same rigorous college content while individual. Stage 3, Management, is reached when the teacher begins to
considering the pedagogical strategies that may be better at engaging sec- experiment with implementation; At this point, teacher concerns intensify
ondary students. around the logistics and new behaviors associated with putting the change
into practice. At Stage 4, Consequence, looks at con-cerns about the
To ensure program rigor, university instructors and high-school effect of the innovation on the students. Stage 5, Collaboration, reflects
teachers work together to make sure students are per-forming their own teacher interest in coordinating with others in using the innovation. Stage
work and put forth the required effort. 6, Refocusing, involves thinking about making major modifications in the
Student assessments are developed by the university instructor and are use of the innovation, or perhaps replacing it with something else.
completed online through the university black-board system. This
increases student accountability and maintains the high standards and
rigor of the university.
Although strengths and benefits of the program have been identified, The CBAM Levels of Use focuses on general patterns of teacher
areas that merit program improvement exist as well. The dual-enrollment behavior as they prepare to use, begin to use, and gain experience
program, agriculture course offer-ings, and how those courses are offered implementing a classroom change (Hall & Hord, 1987, 2006). Level 0,
are continually changing and adapting to best serve the needs of the Nonuse, reflects a state in which the teacher has little knowledge of the
students, secondary schools, and the university. This research will assist change and no plans for its implementation. Level I, Orientation, is when
program leaders in addressing all of these needs and making the she or he decides to seek more information about the change, but has not
necessary pedagogical, program, and course-content changes. made a decision to implement it. Level II, Preparation, is when a teacher
is actively preparing to put the change into practice but has not actually
begun to implement it in the classroom. Level III, Mechanical, is when the
teacher begins change implementation. Level IVA, Routine, has been
reached when the teacher is comfortable with the change and not planning
Conceptual Framework
to amend how it is used. Most teachers settle in at a Routine level of use.
This research was guided by the Concern-Based Adoption Model (CBAM; Some, however, may actively assess the impact of the innovation on their
Hall & Hord, 2006), a conceptual frame-work that describes, explains, students and initiate changes in the innovation or their use of it on this
and predicts likely teacher concerns and behaviors throughout a change basis.
process. In this case, the CBAM is applied to the change process of
teachers implementing and enrolling in the agriculture dual-enroll-ment
program. It was originally based on research that showed that beginning The CBAM is helpful not only in understanding the change process,
teachers went through developmental stages and expressed predictable but also in designing change strategies. An effective change strategy is
concerns at each stage as they learned to teach (Hall & Hord, 2001). The one that helps teachers through the stages, addressing the seven
model was later adapted to measure concerns teachers expressed as concerns more or less in sequence (Anderson, 1997). For example,
they learned to use new practices and the extent to which they actually skipping the stage of personal concern, or not giving teachers enough
implemented the innovations. time to work through it, makes successful change more difficult.

Different concerns always interact and are operationalized by users at

Today's educational systems involve numerous individu-als various development points throughout the pro-cess. For example, the
responsible for facilitating change. These facilitators need a means of teachers' knowledge of the innovation grows through the process of
assessing the needs of the individuals with whom they work so that the implementing the innovation and may affect the raising or lowering of per-
most appropriate and timely assistance can be given. Two important kinds sonal concerns.
of assessment information CBAM provides are as follows: Concerns of
the individual about whatever new programs, products, or ideas
(innovations) are being offered, delivered, or implemented, and individuals'
Purpose/Objectives
knowledge of and how they use these inno-vations . The particular focus
of this study is on teachers' stages of concern and levels of use Information from this study can contribute to a better understanding of
components of this model. the agriculture dual-enrollment program partici-pants, their opinions of
course offerings, and the overall agriculture dual-enrollment program. The
Stages of Concern is a framework that describes the feel-ings and purpose of this study was to understand teacher's perceptions of the New
motivations a teacher might have about a change in curriculum and/or Mexico agriculture dual-enrollment program impact on secondary schools
instructional practices at different points in its implementation (Sweeny, and students. Objectives that guide the research for this study include
2003). At Stage 0, Awareness, the teacher has little knowledge about or the following:
interest in the
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1. Determining teachers' perceptions of the impact of the agriculture Open-ended responses were solicited to investigate pro-gram
dual-enrollment program to areas of student success. participants' experiences because this method allowed researchers to
understand how people “make sense of their world” (VanMaanen, 1979).
2. Evaluating teachers' perceptions of the impact of the agriculture The felt researcher this was appropriate with the CBAM as change within
dual-enrollment program to secondary teachers. this model is viewed as “a highly personal experience and involves devel-
opmental growth in feelings and skills” (Hall & Hord, 2001).
3. Evaluating teachers' perceptions of how the agricul-ture dual-
enrollment program's presence on a cam-pus influenced Open-ended questions were asked at the end of each Likert-type scale.
counselors. These were reviewed by the researcher and the data analyzed using the
4. Evaluating teachers' perceptions of the overall bene-fit of the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). This uses unitizing
agriculture dual-enrollment program to the secondary campus. and categorizing the data. The constant comparative method allows the
researcher-ers to repeatedly compare the responses with previous
responses in an attempt to discover new relationships (Dye, Schatz,
Rosenberg, & Coleman, 2000). Following the unit-izing of the data, the
Method
data were coded as part of an audit trail to ensure confirmability
This research uses a descriptive study with open-ended questions. These (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993). The units of data were sorted
research methods sought to overcome weaknesses of a single method into emergent categories of ideas.
(Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). After institutional review board (IRB)
approval and individual participant agreement to participate, col-lection of
data began. The sample population for this study was all New Mexico The researcher used measures of credibility to ensure validation of
teachers (N = 34) who were currently offering the agriculture dual- the research. Credibility relates to the level of confidence in the
enrollment courses on their high-school campus out of the 90 teachers in researcher, study design, and findings to accurately represent the data
the state. We received a response rate of 84% (n = 28). (Ary, Jacobs, Razavieh, & Sorensen, 2010).
Credibility was established through member checks and peer debriefing.
Participants were purposely selected for this study based upon their
Comparison of early and late responders revealed no sig-nificant (p < experience teaching and participating in the agriculture dual-enrollment
.05) difference. Based on this information, the researcher felt the findings program. Although there is poten-tial to transfer this to other settings, the
could be generalized to the population. findings of this study are limited to the participants of this study in the
state of New Mexico.
Quantitative data were collected in relation to teacher's perceptions
on the cost and benefits of the dual-enrollment program. Teachers were
asked to rank the impact of the dual-enrollment course offerings on a 1
to 5 scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). The rating was on Findings
the dual credit course offering in relation to areas of student success, Objective 1 sought to measure the impact of the dual agriculture-
impacts on the high-school teacher, guidance counselor, campus principal, enrollment program on student success. Table 1 illustrates the perceived
and secondary school campus as a whole. impact dual enrollment has on students
success. success.

Teachers were asked open-ended questions relating to the impacts on Overall teachers agreed that the program had a positive impact on
students, themselves as a teacher, and the school as a whole, and their student success. Teachers felt the largest impact of the agriculture dual-
overall opinion of the agriculture dual-enrollment program. The instrument enrollment program on students' success was the learning of in-depth
used for this study was the Teacher Dual Enrollment Impact Survey, agriculture knowledge, staying on campus to get college credit, and
developed by the National Association for Concurrent Enrollment gaining an appreciation for the challenge of college courses.
Partnerships (NACEP)).

Teachers were also asked the open-ended question, “What is the

The NACEP is a professional organization with more than 200 greatest single impact agriculture dual enrollment courses have had on
postsecondary members across the United States. Per NACEP guidelines, your students?” They responded that involvement in the program led to
none of the “essential questions” was deleted or modified beyond more students getting involved in more rigorous courses and different
specifying course focus (in this case, agriculture science). The validity of types of stu-dents getting involved, encouraged them to stay in school,
this instrument has been established through testing and usage across and gave them the opportunity to start college early. Examples of teacher
the coun-try within the NACEP (2011). Chief academic officers at the comments include,
institution were also given an opportunity to review drafts of the survey to
ensure validity from their perspective. The reliability of the instrument
results in a Cronbach's alpha score of .957 post hoc evaluation. Many of these students are the first in their family to take college
course or even consider going to college. They never thought
about it until taking these courses.
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Chumbley 5

Table 1. Perceived Benefits of the Agriculture Dual-Enrollment Program to Table 2. Perceived Benefits of the Agriculture Dual-Enrollment Program to
Student Success. Secondary Teachers.

Prompt M Mode SD Prompt M Mode SD

Gained an in-depth knowledge of 3.93 4 0.98 Felt supported by the dual university 3.96 4 1.17
agriculture liaison
Choose to take enrollment courses 3.86 5 1.46 Established higher standards for students 3.89 4 1.03
on campus work. work

Gained an appreciation for the 3.79 4 1.26 Found the job more satisfying 3.71 4 1.08
challenge of college Felt more connected with my discipline 3.64 3 1.03
Have enrolled in academically 3.75 4 0.93 Found dual content useful in non-dual 3.61 4 0.99
challenging courses courses. courses

Developed effective time 3.75 4 1.00 Learned about new ideas in my discipline 3.61 4 1.07
management skills Increased critical thinking skills taught in my 3.61 4 1.26
Continued learning into their seniors 3.68 4 0.90 courses
year. year
Learned new instructional strategies 3.57 4 1.07
Developed effective study habits 3.68 4 1.01 3.46 3 1.17
Been energized as a teacher
Developed an understanding of their academic 3.64 4 0.95 3.43 3 1.17
Taken leadership positions within the
skills school
Developed realistic college 3.57 4 1.03 3.32 3 0.95
Developed better understanding of college
expectations expectations
Considered, for the first time, going to college 3.57 4 1.13 Found it more difficult to fulfill other 2.61 2 1.17
responsibilities
Been released from other school duties 2.50 2 1.26
*(1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).
*(1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).

This program encourages students to stay in school and take a serious look
at post-secondary education.
teachers felt that it opened up more teaching options for them. Two of the
more experienced teachers wrote,
Several teachers saw the program as a benefit to students'
understanding of college rigor, gaining confidence in their academic skills, It has allowed me to view myself in a different way and evaluate myself as an
allowing them more elective options, positively affecting their work ethic, educator in order to improve my craft.
helping them tie material to real-world skills, and helping them to meet
state standards for graduation. It has inspired me to continue learning and stay up with current information
and trends.

The second objective was to determine the perceived benefit of the

agriculture dual enrollment to secondary-school teachers. Table 2 Objective 3 was evaluated teacher's perceptions of how dual
provides more details on these findings. enrollment's presence on a campus influences counsel-ors. Table 3
details how teachers felt this program affects counselor decisions.
It was found that high-school teachers perceive the agri-culture dual-
enrollment program as a benefit to them personally. They felt that this The dual-enrollment programs' impact on school counsel-ors was
program had the greatest impact on their ability to establish higher found to have the lowest average of all of the areas of impact. They
standards for student work, making their job more satisfying, and helping “disagreed” that the agriculture dual-enroll-ment program had an impact
them to feel more connected to their discipline. It was found that teachers on the way counselors enrolled students in their classes or the way they
felt supported by the university liaisons for the program. presented college options to students over other areas. These were also
the areas found to have the most variability in their responses.
Overall, they did not feel that their participation in the agri-culture dual-
enrollment program took away from other duties, nor did it result in them The fourth objective was to assess teacher's perceptions of the
being released from other school duties. benefits of the agriculture dual-enrollment program to the overall secondary
campus. These findings are presented in Table 4.
When asked, “What is the single greatest impact the agri-culture dual-
enrollment program had on you as the teacher?” teachers reported a When determining teachers' perceptions of the dual-enrollment
variety of impacts this program has on them as a teacher. These included program's impact on the overall secondary cam-pus, teachers “agreed”
more students get-ting involved and increased motivation as a teacher. that it had a positive impact. They felt the strongest impacts of the program
Many participants noted that it increased the rigor in their teaching and were in the areas of enhanced prestige and reputation of the high-school
their knowledge of new agriculture technologies. Several campus.
The program was shown to have a positive impact on courses
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6 SAGE Open

Table 3. Perceived Impact of the Agriculture Dual-Enrollment Program in your involvement with the agriculture dual enrollment pro-gram?”
Relation to School Counselors.
Teachers expressed that some possible challenges they faced included
Prompt M Mode SD getting all students interested in the courses, aligning lab activities to
match the college course material, and finding time to develop lab
Perceived more students as capable of 2.79 4 1.62
activities that fit with dual-enrollment agriculture courses, and that they
higher levels of academic
achievement would like to have more resources from the university with regard to
2.79 4 1.66 technology.
Increased their knowledge of current
college requirements
Developed a better understanding of skills 2.71 4 1.58
students need to succeed in
Discussion
college
Changed the way they present college 2.61 4 1.85 The researchers found that overall, teachers felt the agri-culture dual-
options to students enrollment program had a positive impact on students, teachers, and the
Enrolled more students in my 2.39 4 1.77
secondary campus as a whole.
agriculture science class There was found to be an affirmative effect on the com-

*(1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). munity's perception of the agriculture program and high-school course
rigor, similar to findings by Hughes (2010).
These findings are comparable with previous research on the benefits of
Table 4. Perceived Benefit of the Agriculture Dual-Enrollment Program to
dual-enrollment courses (Bailey & Karp, 2003; Barnett & Hughes, 2010).
the Overall Secondary Campus.
The agriculture dual-enrollment program leaders were validated in their
Prompt M Mode SD goals from the findings on their relationships with teachers and the
3.61 4 1.32 constructive comments made within open-ended questions. The positive
Enhanced its prestige and academic
reputation impact on the campus as a whole is a major part of change adoption
Progressed in meeting its goal of offering 3.57 4 1.23 within the CBAM. One of the primary principles of this model is that the
rigorous courses context of the school influences the process of change. The teachers'
Demonstrated to parents that their 3.57 4 1.29 comments back up these findings as well as provided some more detail in
students are doing challenging work how exactly they were affected in these areas.
Offers perquisite courses for agriculture dual 3.50 4 1.20
enrollment that are appropriate
Raised expectations for student 3.39 4 1.17
performance
Based upon the comments, with regard to stages of con-cern,
*(1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). teachers were found to be in Stage 4, Consequence.
This is when the teacher concerns focus mainly on the impact of the
change on students in their classrooms and on the possibilities for
being more rigorous and demonstrating to parents that their students were
modifying the innovation or their use of it to improve its effects. With
taking part in challenging schoolwork.
regard to the framework levels of use, teachers were found to be at Level
Participants were then asked the open-ended question, “What is the
IVA, Routine. This involves teachers establishing a pattern of regular use
single greatest impact the agriculture dual-enrollment program had on
and making few changes and adaptations in use of the innovation.
your school?” A majority of teachers feel that it increased the school and
program prestige as well as increased their school score with the state-
grading system. They felt this program established a positive relationship-
Teachers did not feel that the program had a highly positive impact on
ship between the high school, the agriculture program, and the university.
the way counselors perceived their pro-grams or worked with their
Teachers noted that it has led to increased participation and community
students. These findings were counter to the findings of Medvide and
support. Two of our teachers who have worked with this program for the
Blustein (2010).
last 2 to 3 years replied,
The findings of this study suggest that counselors are at the lowest levels
of concern and levels of use and awareness
It gives the community a different view of our school. It gives parents and the and nonuse, respectively. These findings may be due to counselors
community ideas about what our school has to offer our students. having limited contact with agriculture dual-enrollment liaisons. By
addressing the early stages of con-cern related to awareness and
informational, the researcher can successfully reach the later stages of
This has been a selling point for many of the electeds and it has also collaboration.
made an impact on the student work in all classes. As the school counselors advance through the stages of CBAM, it is the
researchers' hope that this will lead to them becoming advocates of the
The final question of the survey was an open response asking, “What agriculture dual-enroll-ment program.
are some challenges that you have seen from
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Chumbley 7

Probing

Stages of Concern Innovation

Resource users and
Change Levels of Use
System Facilitator non-users
Innovation

Intervening

Figure 1. Concerns-based adoption model by Hall and Hord (2006).

Recommendations for Educational will benefit the creation of high-quality dual-credit courses.
Practice It is suggested that researchers continue studying the benefit of students'
participation in the dual-enrollment program on college entrance and
Dual-enrollment program directors are encouraged to develop and success in higher education. Research should also be done in relation to
present a professional development workshop for school the reasons students take dual-enrollment courses and the ultimate
counselors to increase their level of understanding and adoption career paths of these program participants. To develop a program that is
of the agriculture dual-enrollment program. We thought this was available to a wide range of learners, while maintaining high standards
important as the level of counselors' support was the con-struct
for course accountability, more research should be done to find how well
that had the lowest average scores from teachers. Using the
these programs address student variables (attitude, learning style,
CBAM, counselors need to be better informed through appropriate
autonomy, etc.). It is also sug-gested that a similar study be conducted
professional development before they can advance further along
with school administrators and school counselors to gauge their level of
the spectrums for levels of concern and levels of use. As noted
use and stages of concern with the agriculture dual-enroll-ment program.
within CBAM, an organization does not change until the individuals
within it change (Hall & Hord, 2006).
It is suggested that continued professional development should
be offered focused on the training of new teachers and experienced
teachers as they possibly enter the higher stages of concern,
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
which involves refocusing and the consideration of making major
modifications in the use of the innovation. This is suggested The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
because, even with high overall opinion scores from teachers,
there is a little more than one third of the pro-grams in the state
Funding
that actually are taking advantage of this unique program offering.
This should include the development of suggested lab activities to The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research
address some of the comments made by participants. These and/or authorship of this article: This project was made possible by funding from the

trainings can help the high-school instructors create the necessary United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food &
Agriculture [Grant # 2014 -04542].
college-like atmosphere and assist in pedagogical strategies
necessary for student success.
The best way to offer this professional development that will
References
reach the largest audience is by offering it at the annual New
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