The National Council for Agricultural Education has released a new set of content standards (pdf). These standards “state agricultural education leaders and educators a guide for development of well-planned curriculum for AFNR-related career and technical education programs.”

The multi-stage revision of the standards began in 2014 and included input from more than 270 secondary and post-secondary educators, business, industry and state leaders in career and technical education. The revision process reflected essential and up-to-date knowledge and skills that students need to be ready for early-career success in a variety of AFNR disciplines. In addition, the revisions provide a sound basis on which to design AFNR related career and technical education courses as well as for developing assessments to measure students’ knowledge and skill levels.

“We are so grateful for the assistance we received while revising these standards,” said Mike Honeycutt, managing director of the National Council for Agricultural Education. “These standards will help students in agricultural education across the nation move toward college and career readiness in an industry that is currently in desperate need of thousands of skilled workers.”

The revisions of the standards were made possible due to funding provided by John Deere and CSX. In addition, the council would like to thank Vivayic, Inc. for all of their assistance.