Agricultural Education, Diversity in

When it was first established, the goal of agricultural education was to enhance better farming practices at the secondary and postsecondary level in order to help maintain the United States' status as an industrial and agricultural leader. Prior to school desegregation, Black and White youth participated in secondary agricultural education in racially segregated classrooms throughout the southern and eastern states. The participation of Black youth in agricultural education led to the promotion of agriculture in rural Black public schools and the development of a Black youth organization known as the New Farmers of America. Today, agricultural education extends beyond the classroom and into homes, communities, inner cities, and villages around the world. This entry describes the rise, the fall, the transformation, and the future of ...