Exploring the Employability Skills and Academic Success of the National FFA Membership
A collaborative study between the National FFA Organization and Purdue University1 in 2018-19 explored the relationship between involvement in FFA and college and career readiness, representing the largest sample of FFA members to date in all existing published research on FFA members. Involvement in FFA is correlated with academic success. The three-component model of school-based agricultural education revolves around the integral relationship between classroom instruction, work-based learning through a supervised agricultural experience program, and membership in FFA. FFA does not exist without classroom instruction and school-based agriculture programs, in which student academic success is of high importance. This study provided the first baseline of FFA members’ academic success and revealed that FFA members possess academic scores that are higher than the national average. FFA members show higher ACT and SAT scores on average than the 2018 high school graduating class average. FFA members have a collective average ACT score of 23.5, compared to the national average of 20.8. FFA members have a collective average SAT score of 1152, compared to the national average of 1068. Additionally, [...]
