Career and Technical Education Research
We are committed to delivering the best quality Career and Technical Education teacher preparation and mentoring programs possible. We conduct evaluation of our programs and we research teacher licensure, preparation, induction, mentoring, and overall trends in the field to improve theory and practice. Below are links to research conducted by our team, or research about Minnesota Teacher Induction Programs that we work with.
State of MN CTE Annual Report Research
The purpose of this report is to underscore the impactful work being done across the state to prepare students for high-demand careers while supporting educators with teacher licensure, professional development, mentoring, and retention programs. We describe our methodology for how we conducted this research here. We present and summarize these data as described by districts during STAR reporting to PELSB. Two districts with CTE programs did not submit STAR data during the reporting window for 2025-2026, we collected their data directly by working with district staff. During analysis, we noticed several errors made by districts (e.g., submitting the wrong teacher’s name, discrepancies in age, years of experience for the same teacher working at two different districts). That said, these data still have high face validity. We estimate a less than a 1% margin of error.
Annual Report of Minnesota Teachers of Career and Technical Education: 2025-2026
Rada, L. L., & Sheehan, C. Z. (2026). Annual Report of Minnesota Teachers of Career and Technical Education: 2025-2026. Minnesota CTE, Lakes Country Service Cooperative.
https://mncte.org/stateofcte/
Annual Report of Minnesota Teachers of Career and Technical Education: 2024-2025
Sheehan, C. Z., & Rada, L. L. (2025). Annual Report of Minnesota Teachers of Career and Technical Education: 2024-2025. Minnesota CTE, Lakes Country Service Cooperative.
https://mncte.org/stateofcte/
Annual Report of Minnesota Teachers of Career and Technical Education: 2023-2024
Rada, L. L., & Sheehan, C. Z. (2024). Annual Report of Minnesota Teachers of Career and Technical Education: 2023-2024. Minnesota CTE, Lakes Country Service Cooperative. https://mncte.org/stateofcte/
Program Development
Assessing the Perceived Barriers and Needed Resources of New SBAE Programs
Ramstad, J., Smalley, S. W., & Rada, L. L. (2026, October 7–9). Assessing the perceived barriers and needed resources of new SBAE programs [Poster presentation]. 2026 North Central Region American Association for Agricultural Education Conference, Champaign, IL, United States.
The Benefits and Challenges of SAE for All and FFA Affiliation Adoption
Rada, L. L., Sheehan, C. Z., Smith, A. R., & Livstrom, I. C. (2025). The benefits and challenges of SAE for All and FFA affiliation adoption. Journal of Agricultural Education, 66(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v66i1.2770
Benefits, Barriers, and Implementation Strategies Experienced by Teachers Adopting FFA Affiliation Membership: A Case Study
Sheehan, C. Z., Rada, L. L., Greiman, B. C., & Livstrom, I. C. (2023). Benefits, barriers, and implementation strategies experienced by teachers adopting FFA affiliation membership: A case study. Journal of Agricultural Education, 64(4), 29–47. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v64i4.86
Do We Really Believe in the Three-Component Model?
Sheehan, C. Z. (2021, September–October). Do we really believe in the three-component model? The Agricultural Education Magazine, 94(2), 5–8.
Trends and Impact of FFA Affiliation on National FFA Organization Student Membership: A Secondary Analysis of Existing Data
Sheehan, C. Z., & Moore, L. L. (2019). Trends and impact of FFA affiliation on National FFA Organization student membership: A secondary analysis of existing data. Journal of Agricultural Education, 60(2), 209–220. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2019.02209
The Relationship Between Social Capital and Leadership Styles and Potential Implications for Agricultural Education: A Meta-Analysis
Sheehan, C. Z., Norris, S. L., Ahn, N. Y., Oh, J., & Moore, L. L. (2019). The relationship between social capital and leadership styles and potential implications for agricultural education: A meta-analysis. In Proceedings of the 2019 AAAE National Research Conference (Vol. 46). American Association for Agricultural Education.
Trends in National FFA Membership: A Secondary Analysis of Existing Data
Sheehan, C. Z., & Moore, L. L. (2018). Trends in national FFA membership: A secondary analysis of existing data. In Proceedings of the 2018 Western Region AAAE Research Conference (Vol. 37, pp. 174–180). American Association for Agricultural Education Western Region.
Impact of Affiliation on National FFA Recognition: A Secondary Analysis of Existing Data
Sheehan, C. Z., & Moore, L. L. (2018, September 17–19). Impact of affiliation on national FFA recognition: A secondary analysis of existing data [Poster presentation]. Western Region Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Boise, ID, United States.
Induction and Mentoring Research
Factors Influencing Teachers’ Perceptions of Success in Career and Technical Education Programs
Rada, L. L., & Ramstad, J. (2026). Factors influencing teachers’ perceptions of success in career and technical education programs. Journal of Career and Technical Education, 41(1). https://doi.org/10.21061/jcte.524
Minnesota Agricultural Educators Inservice Needs Related to Program Design, Leadership and SAE Development
Rada, L. L., & Smalley, S. W. (2025). Minnesota agricultural educators inservice needs related to program design, leadership and SAE development. Journal of Agricultural Education, 66(3), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v66i3.2772
Determining the Classroom Needs of School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers in Minnesota
Rada, L. L., & Smalley, S. W. (2025). Determining the classroom needs of school-based agricultural education teachers in Minnesota. Journal of Agricultural Education, 66(1), Article 18. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v66i1.2769
The Relationship Between Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Professional Commitment of Minnesota School-Based Agricultural Education Teachers
Rada, L. L., Smith, A. R., & Greiman, B. C. (2025). The relationship between psychological needs satisfaction and professional commitment of Minnesota school-based agricultural education teachers. Journal of Agricultural Education, 66(1), Article 17. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v66i1.2771
Induction Programs for Early Career Agriculture Teachers
Tummons, J. D., Disberger, B., Rada, L. L., & Mott, R. L. (2024). Induction programs for early career agriculture teachers. In R. Barrick & A. Thoron (Eds.), Emerging research in agricultural teacher education (pp. 163–190). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-2766-1.ch009
Measuring Mobility: A Quantitative Description of SBAE Teacher Mobility in Minnesota
Haddad, B., Rada, L. L., & Smith, A. R. (2024). Measuring mobility: A quantitative description of SBAE teacher mobility in Minnesota. Journal of Agricultural Education, 65(1), 226–244. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v65i1.2471
Expanding Our Circle of Support
Rada, L. L. (2023). Expanding our circle of support. The Agricultural Education Magazine, 96(2), 26–27.
Mentorship Matters
Rada, L. L. (2022, March–April). Mentorship matters. The Agricultural Education Magazine, 94(5), 20–22. https://www.naae.org/naae/assets/File/public/magazine/Volume94/2022%2003%20–%20March%20April.pdf
Beginning and Mentor Agriculture Teachers’ Perceptions of Psychosocial Assistance, Similarities, and Satisfaction
Burris, S., Kitchel, T., Greiman, B. C., & Torres, R. M. (2006). Beginning and mentor agriculture teachers’ perceptions of psychosocial assistance, similarities, and satisfaction. Journal of Agricultural Education, 47(4), 64–75. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2006.04064
A Comparison of the Inservice Education Needs of Two Cohorts of Beginning Minnesota Agricultural Education Teachers
Joerger, R. M. (2002). A comparison of the inservice education needs of two cohorts of beginning Minnesota agricultural education teachers. Journal of Agricultural Education, 43(3), 11–24. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2002.03011
A Description of the Nature and Impact of Teaching Events and Forms of Beginning Teacher Assistance as Experienced by Minnesota Agricultural Education Teachers
Joerger, R. M., & Boettcher, G. (2000). A description of the nature and impact of teaching events and forms of beginning teacher assistance as experienced by Minnesota agricultural education teachers. Journal of Agricultural Education, 41(4), 104–115. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2000.04104
Preparation and Licensure Research
The Context of Learning: A Multi-Grounded Theory of the Moderating Variables of Teaching and Learning
Sheehan, C. Z. (2020). The context of learning: A multi-grounded theory of the moderating variables of teaching and learning [Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University].
Teacher Self-Efficacy in SBAE Methods Coursework: A Mixed Methods Study
Sheehan, C. Z., & Moore, L. L. (2019). Teacher self-efficacy in SBAE methods coursework: A mixed methods study. Journal of Agricultural Education, 60(3), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2019.03219
A Narrative Analysis of Context-State-Result (CSR) and History of the Delta Conference
Sheehan, C. Z., & Moore, L. L. (2019, May 21–24). A narrative analysis of Context-State-Result (CSR) and history of the Delta Conference [Poster presentation]. American Association for Agricultural Education National Conference, Des Moines, IA, United States.