NAAE Assumes Management of CASE

NAAE has recently assumed administrative and fiscal operations for the national Curriculum in Agricultural Science Education (CASE) from The National Council for Agricultural Education.

“NAAE provides CASE staff support and other resources that The Council simply isn’t designed to accommodate,” said Dan Jansen, CASE project director. “The move of management responsibilities provides even better support services for CASE teachers and ensures stability of the project long term.”

“Taking on the management of CASE is a natural fit for NAAE,” said Alissa Smith, NAAE Associate Executive Director, who heads up NAAE’s professional development efforts.  “NAAE is the lead organization in the U.S. when it comes to professional development for agricultural educators.  This curriculum provides the quality and sustained professional development that helps teachers do a better job in the classroom.  That can lead to so many good things – increased learning, better job satisfaction, all the way to improved retention of ag teachers.”

The CASE Advisory Council, chaired by Nancy Trivette, New Jersey Agricultural Education Program Leader, will continue to provide oversight for the CASE Program.

CASE, a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) –based program for teaching agriculture integrates the three-circle model of agricultural education to develop students’ content knowledge, real-life experiences, and leadership skills and improve college readiness.  The CASE Program is aligned with national agriculture, science, math and English standards, and provides hands-on experiences with every lesson to help students make the connection between academic concepts and real life.

CASE currently consists of an introductory course (Introduction to Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources), and two second year courses – Principles of Agricultural Science – Animal  and Principles of Agricultural Science – Plant.  Plans are in the works to develop seven additional CASE courses, pending funding.

Any teacher who wants to adopt the CASE Program is required to attend an intensive, two-week professional development workshop called the CASE Institute.  Only teachers who complete the CASE Institute will be certified to teach  a CASE Program course.

“CASE is really all about professional development of teachers.  This is done through CASE Institutes, curriculum resources, and other outreach activities,” said Jansen.
Thirty-six agricultural education programs in 10 states are field testing CASE plant and animal courses, with plans to field test the introductory course during the upcoming school year.

“With the CASE curriculum, I feel more confident in my own ability to teach, knowing the material I am teaching truly is preparing each and every student for a post-secondary education or a future career,” wrote Lee Ann Fent, agriculture instructor at Carthage Technical Center in Carthage, Mo., who uses the CASE animal science curriculum.

 “To say that CASE is important to agriculture education programming at Southeast Polk High School is an understatement,” wrote Joseph Horton, Associate Principal at Southeast Polk in Iowa.  “The CASE Program has allowed us to reinvent agriculture education for the benefit of our students, and it is responsive to the changes in the agriculture industry and a changing global landscape.”

CASE has also been embraced by agricultural industry. 

“Our success depends on our ability to attract and recruit qualified employees with a strong math and science education, particularly in the area of agriculture,” wrote William Buckner, President and CEO of Bayer Crop Science.  “We believe the CASE Program will help improve the college and career readiness of these students, some of whom will pursue careers in our industry.”

“CASE is a complete program – from content to professional development to assessment to certification.  It is, without a doubt, one of the most thoughtful and exciting curriculums for agriscience that I’ve seen,” said Jay Jackman, NAAE Executive Director.  “NAAE is proud to be providing CASE with the long-term support it needs to grow into what I know it can be.”

For more information about the CASE curriculum, visit www.case4learning.org.