1. National Agricultural Literacy Assessment Instrument: LMALI
Dr. Max L. Longhurst, Rose Judd-Murray, & Dr. Debra Spielmaker
NAITC Conference – June 26, 2018

2. Agricultural Literacy Assessment
In order for educators and administrators to effectively use the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes in the classroom, an assessment instrument was needed.
Research team
Panel of teacher experts
Advisory committee of agricultural experts

3. Background Agricultural literacy measurement
Measurement requires a literacy framework… (Leising & Zilbert, 1994; Birkenholz et al., 1994; and Boatner, 2004)
Agricultural literacy frameworks
FFSL (Leising et al., 1998)
NALOs (Spielmaker et al., 2014)

4. LMALI Development
Learning continuum used to develop LMALI questions in a three category progression:
Exposure
Factual Literacy
Applicable Proficiency

5. Research Purpose
Develop a Agricultural Literacy Instrument for grades K-5 that aligns with the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (NALOs).
Nationally validate this measure for use within K-5 classrooms.

6. Research Design & Methods
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
Organize
Teacher Expert Teams
Agricultural Experts
Develop Instrument
Statistical Analyses
Descriptive EFA
CFA
Cronbach’s Alpha
Implement
Replicate Validity and Reliability Testing
Literature Review
Theoretical Framework Development
National Testing of Instrument

7. Current Data 247 second graders Participating States:
Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Wisconsin
Initial EFA shows:
Exposure 12 of 15 questions > 70%
Literacy 12 of 15 questions > 70%
Proficiency 7 of 15 questions > 70%

8. Example Item A Item: 42E4 M = 27.2 SD = 0.44
Loading appears may be weaker for NALO Theme 4, or this may be due to the integrated nature of the STEM Theme?

9. Example Item B Item: 12P1 M = 9.7 SD = .29
Students clearly know that apples come from a farm, however, cotton/jeans (M=34.4) and paper (M=24.3) are less understood?

10. Example Item C Item: 22L2 M = 19.8 SD = .40
Students demonstrated a continuum of understanding when responding to transportation of food. Trucks (M=93.9), ships (M=55.9), and
trains (M=33.6)

11. Example Item D Item: 12L1 M = 85.8 SD = .35
Students are able to identify the items farmers need to grow plants.
Rain (M=96.4), Soil (M=91.9), Sun (M=94.7)

12. Implications / Use
Consider how NALO Theme 4 is evaluated as an integrated component or independent factor?
Critical tool for program evaluation, student understanding.
Further CFA, and item analyses are needed.
LMALI availability planned for August 2018.

13. Questions? Dr. Max L. Longhurst Utah State University
Rose Judd-Murray
Utah State University
Dr. Debra Spielmaker
Utah State University