National AFNR Content Standards, Revised 2015
Purpose
The AFNR Career Cluster Content Standards provide state agricultural education leaders and educators with a high-quality, rigorous set of standards to guide what students should know and be able to do after completing a program of study in each of the AFNR career pathways.
State leaders and local educators are encouraged to use the standards as a guide for the development of well-planned curriculum and assessments for AFNR-related CTE programs. These standards are intended to help shape the design of all components of an agricultural education program including:
- Classroom and laboratory instruction.
- Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) experiences through organizations such as the National FFA Organization and the Post-Secondary Agriculture Students Organization (PAS).
- Work-based learning experiences such as Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Programs and internships.
Process
The 2015 revision focused on ensuring that the content standards:
- Reflect essential and up-to-date knowledge and skills that students need to be ready for early-career success in a variety of AFNR disciplines.
- Provide a sound basis upon which to design AFNR related Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses.
- Provide a sound basis for developing end of course/program assessments to measure students’ attainment of essential disciplinary knowledge and skills.
The multi-stage review and revision process began in 2014 and was informed by input and guidance from more than 270 secondary and post-secondary educators, business, industry and state leaders in career and technical education
Alignments and Crosswalks
The National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education/National Career Technical Education Foundation (NASDCTEc/NCTEF) have provided permission to use the Common Career and Technical Core (CCTC) Standards in support of this project. In addition, the standards have been reviewed to identify crosswalks to the following national academic standards:
- Common Core English Language Arts
- Common Core Mathematics
- Next generation Science Standards
- Green/Sustainability Knowledge and Skill Statements
- National Standards for Financial Literacy
To request permission to use the AFNR standards for state or local standards development, complete and submit the Request Permission to Use AFNR Documentation Form: