Assessment of the Morale of Beginning Vocational Agriculture Teachers in Illinois

The mora le o f voca t iona l ag r i cu l tu re teachers has been a concern o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l e d u c a t i o n p r o f e s s i o n d u r i n g r e c e n t y e a r s . M i l l e r (1978) f ound t ha t t he mo ra le o f beginning voca t i ona l ag r i cu l t u re t each e rs i n V i rg in ia was h lghe r t han the mora le l eve l o f expe r i enced teach e r s . However, D e b e r t i n a n d P r i e b e (1984) r e p o r t e d t h a t experienced teachers sco red h igher on the Purdue Teacher Op in iona i re , an ins t rument des igna ted to measure teacher mora le , t h a n d i d b e g i n n i n g v o c a t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r e t e a c h e r s . Grady (1985) found tha t voca t iona l ag r i cu l tu re teachers expressed modera te leve ls o f sa t is fac t ion w i th the i r jobs , and tha t more exper ienced teachers repor ted h igher leve ls o f job sa t i s fac t i on than beg inn ing teachers .