The National Research Council’s 1988 report recommended, "beginning in kindergarten and continuing through twelfth grade, all students should receive some systematic instruction about agriculture." More than a decade later, tremendous progress has been made in establishing state-based programs that use agriculture as an instructional vehicle for achieving state and local school district learning standards. Pennsylvania was the first state to include "agricultural literacy" as part of its academic requirements. In other states, coalitions of agricultural organizations such as Farm Bureau are working cooperatively with state departments of education to include education about agriculture in the curriculum.