Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Middle school agricultural education programs and opportunities for middle school students to be members of the National FFA Organization were first made available in 1988. The Perkins V Act of 2018 provided the first federal funding to support middle school career and technical education programs. In conjunction with the federal funding provided by the Perkins V Act of 2018, the National FFA Organization adopted a national middle school membership affiliation program where middle school FFA chapters could pay a flat fee for all students enrolled in middle school agricultural education courses over the traditional membership of paying per individual student. The researcher conducted a study to examine middle school enrollment and participation in the National FFA Organization. Additionally, the researcher sought to identify the impact of the implementation of the National FFA affiliation program on the enrollment numbers of middle school FFA members, identify the participation opportunities for middle school FFA members, and determine the state associations’ inclusion of Supervised Agricultural Experiences for middle school FFA members. The study found that middle school FFA membership has increased dramatically since the inception of the National membership affiliation program during the 2019-2020 school year. Participation opportunities for middle school FFA members are offered by all associations that have middle school FFA members. Middle school Supervised Agricultural Experience award opportunities are provided by 19 of the 22 associations that completed the survey. The survey for this study was adopted from prior studies conducted by Rossetti et al. (1992) and Adair (2015).

Year manuscript completed

2025

Year degree awarded

2025

Author's Keywords

agricultural education, middle school, FFA enrollment, SAE recognitions, FFA participation opportunities

Degree Awarded

Doctor of Education

Department

Educational Studies, Leadership and Counseling

College/School

College of Education & Human Services

Dissertation Committee Chair

Randal Wilson

Committee Chair

Randal Wilson

Committee Member

Trisha Bridges

Committee Member

Alyx Shultz

Document Type

Dissertation

Available for download on Wednesday, April 01, 2026

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