an identification of the characteristics of an effective agricultural educator

the purpose of this delphi study was to develop a consensus listing of those characteristics that comprise an effective agriculture educator in rural areas. the delphi technique is effective in obtaining consensus among a purposively selected group of experts. researchers believe that the reliability is greater than 0.80 when delphi group responses numbered greater than 13. the population of the study consisted of 22 specialists in agricultural education that comprised the panel of experts for the study. the panel identified 25 characteristics of an effective agricultural educator in rural areas. the researchers set the agreement level a priori at 80%. any item which did not receive approval from 80% of the panel respondents was removed from the list of characteristics. as a result, 15 characteristics remained that were categorized into the areas of community relations skills, professional behavior, and personal qualities. the results indicated that a majority of characteristics identified by the panel of experts, stood in the professional behavior and personal quality categories needed as preconditions for agricultural educators to be effective in rural areas.