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STANDARD I: Opportunities for Standards-based Preparation
Indicators
Narrative: In accordance with Vermont Department of Educator Licensing regulations (sections 5230-5232) all undergraduate and graduate teacher education students at Saint Michael’s College also have a liberal arts major. Elementary education students must select a liberal arts major from the entire Saint Michael’s core curricular offerings except for the other two pre-professional programs (i.e., journalism and business). Specific requirements for all majors are listed in the course catalogue which is available in the Exhibit Room. The undergraduate secondary education students may major in the following liberal arts content areas: mathematics, biology, chemistry, English, French, Spanish, history, theatre arts (drama), and art (K-12). The course requirements for each liberal arts major are highlighted online and in the course catalogue. Undergraduate: Liberal Studies Requirements In addition to the major requirements, in order to ensure that students have access to a balanced liberal arts core, all undergraduates must complete the Liberal Studies Requirement (LSR). The minimum LSR requirements for all students are: 1) two courses in religious studies, philosophy, natural and mathematical sciences, and writing intensive courses 2) three courses in
social sciences and organizational 3) three courses in the humanities 4) two credits in artistic expression 5) demonstration of writing proficiency, and 6) demonstration of intermediate level language proficiency. Individual formal advising occurs every semester between the students and their respective faculty advisors. The advising forms prompt faculty to refer to a number of areas that are required under licensing regulations (e.g., portfolio status, grade point average). Undergraduate students cannot register for classes until they have a formal meeting with their advisor who then electronically “flags” their file, allowing registration. The supporting plan that is generated, offers the student with a plan for all four years of study. Shared Commitment to Undergraduate Content Preparation The faculty, staff and students are committed to maintaining a community that is dedicated to preparing students for life-long learning in a global society. Saint Michael’s College offers an academic environment where the expertise, talents, and energy of its faculty and staff guide students in the pursuit of a liberal education in the Catholic tradition (Saint Michael’s College Catalogue, p3). Faculty in the Education Department share a commitment with the faculty from the Liberal Arts and Sciences in the preparation of all students. This shared commitment among faculty creates the necessary base for ensuring excellent content preparation in the liberal arts for the teacher education students. Beginning in the Summer 2003, extensive assessments were conducted within the Education Department and across the Liberal Arts and Sciences in order to answer the querie: Do students have the necessary learning opportunities to obtain critical knowledge within their individual content areas? Ultimately, we are confident in answering the question with a clear and unequivocal Yes. Following is a description of the process that we went through, as well as the supporting data, in order to arrive at that answer. The undergraduate elementary education majors must complete a major in the liberal arts area in addition to their education degree. As defined in the 2007 Guide to Teacher Education and course catalogue, the minimum grade point average in one’s content area has increased from 2.7 to 3.0 effective with the class of 2007. In order to ensure that elementary education majors have opportunities to obtain critical knowledge within their individual content areas and that they have a balanced liberal arts education, students must complete specific courses across the liberal arts program. Examination of the courses via the catalogue and syllabi, in addition to analysis of successful completion of Praxis I and Praxis II indicates that Saint Michael’s undergraduate education majors do have opportunities to obtain critical knowledge within their content areas. The undergraduate Secondary Education licensure candidates at Saint Michael’s complete a liberal arts major in one of the following areas: history, chemistry, biology, mathematics, Spanish, French, art, English and theatre arts (drama). Successful completion is defined as meeting a 3.0 G.P.A. effective with the class of 2007. in their content area and passing the appropriate content area Praxis II test. Given the connections between access to excellent curriculum content and assessment, as well as the increased use of Praxis II as a high stakes assessment for many students, members of the Education Department and several of the Liberal Arts content area departments have begun to work together in a direct manner to ensure students have the opportunity to acquire a solid foundation in the liberal arts (indicator 1.01). Cross departmental work has involved: 1. In the summer of 2003, the chair person of each department was given a list of the content area competencies required by the State of Vermont for each major and asked to indicate: in which courses students have the opportunity to obtain each of the competencies, and, if appropriate, which competencies would not be addressed. The following links will connect the reader to the resulting endorsement area curriculum maps (English, history, sciences, foreign languages, art, theatre). An additional link has been created for special education as well. Each chair completed that task and many had individual conversations about the connections between and among their liberal arts and sciences content area and the pedagogical work of the Education Department. Each of the Department Chairs was very interested in understanding the competencies for their content area. 2. The next step involved cross-referencing the number of secondary education students who were and were not successful with the Praxis II exams on their first attempt. Although the numbers of the Saint Michael’s students who take the individual content area Praxis II exams is small, faculty from the Education Department and liberal arts areas (i.e., biology, chemistry, mathematics, English, history) began serious conversations about the impact that Praxis II does or should have on the curriculum and instruction at Saint Michael’s College. The results have been quite positive and interesting. Faculty from the following departments have agreed to take the Praxis II exams as a means of better informing college wide conversations: mathematics, English, and history. 3. A faculty member of the Education Department took Praxis II for Elementary Education in the Spring of 2004. FACULTY RESPONSES AFTER TAKING PRAXIS II IN MATHEMATICS, ENGLISH, AND EDUCATION. 4. The information from steps 1-3 will be combined to inform the ongoing conversations between Liberal Arts faculty members and Education Department members. At this point, faculty within the Education Department feel quite positive about the reception that we’ve received from our colleagues. It is clear that the Liberal Arts faculty are committed to working in a collaborative manner to support the development of teacher education candidates.
Graduate Liberal Arts Requirements The graduate program is also rooted in the liberal arts tradition of Saint Michael’s. Graduate students must have a 30 credit liberal arts major (graduate catalogue), with supporting liberal arts coursework from an accredited American college or university, or its foreign university equivalent (sections 5230-5232). Within the program, students follow Vermont Department of Education requirements in order to obtain initial licensure as an elementary, middle or high school teacher, as well as special education: resource room or consulting teacher/learning specialist, TESOL and principal. In order to gain admission into the graduate program, students are required to meet the following criteria: 1. A bachelor’s degree with mastery level evident in content areas appropriate for grade levels and with successful completion of a Liberal Arts and Sciences major. 2. Cumulative GPA of 2.8, and a GPA of 2.8 in the major. Effective with the class of the spring of 2005, the G.P.A. requirement will be 3.0. 3. Successful completion of the entrance interview. 4. Evidence of successful work experience with children or youth. Advising is individualized at the graduate level. Graduate students meet with a faculty member prior to candidacy to develop a degree completion plan (special education, elementary, curriculum, technology specialist, school leadership, educational foundations, reading, TESOL.) This plan includes credits accepted and transferred (up to 9 credits may be transferred in pending approval from the faculty advisor) and a Statement of Goals. Several examples of graduate student goal statements are in the Electronic Exhibit Room.
Narrative All candidates at the undergraduate and graduate initial endorsement areas have the opportunities to demonstrate a deep understanding of the central concepts, skills, and dispositions necessary to their endorsement area. The following table cross references each endorsement area to the state competencies and with the Saint Michael's DCP (Degree Completion Plan). Both documents can be used during academic advising. Competency Based Curricular Maps
Five Standards and 16 Principles Curricular Maps: In order to earn a recommendation for initial licensure, both graduate and undergraduate students must pass both Praxis I and Praxis II in their content area, meet the state of Vermont standards for the licensure portfolio, and pass student-teaching with a “B” or better. Undergraduate Secondary Education majors must also have a letter of recommendation from a liberal arts advisor verifying their depth of knowledge prior to student-teaching. The combination of these requirements increases the likelihood that graduates are knowledgeable in their field of study, knowledgeable in their endorsement area, and able to translate that theoretical knowledge to practice.
Narrative Course Progression At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, specific courses address typical child and adolescent development. The child and adolescent development courses are introductory courses and have requirements related to conducting observations in the field. As students progress in their programs, there is an expectation that they will demonstrate the ability to apply the information acquired about “typical” development in their field-placements. Ultimately, the goal is for students to apply the information as they plan, implement, and evaluate instruction. These courses are: ED 251: Child Development, ED 271: Adolescent Development, GED 518: Adolescent Development, GED 519: Child Development GED 635: Middle Grades Endorsement. Additional courses available through the psychology department include: PS 252: Child Development, PS 254: Adolescent and Adult Development. After demonstrating mastery of typical development, students acquire knowledge and skills related to atypical child or adolescent development. At both undergraduate and graduate levels, and across elementary, middle and high school levels, Saint Michael’s students tutor individual children or adolescents who experience disabilities. At the undergraduate (ED 340, ED360) and graduate (GED 641A, GED 641B) levels there is one common assignment, a student centered case study. This case study requires the integration and application of: child or adolescent development, pedagogy, special education laws and regulations, and curriculum planning for an individual student. There are two types of assessment for this assignment. The first is course/instructor specific. The second is the use of the State of Vermont Educator Licensing rubric, Entry 3: Individual Student Accommodations. If the case study meets criteria on the state rubric, the student can include the case study in their licensure portfolio. If it does not meet the standards to be included in their licensure portfolio, students have the opportunity to conduct another case study during their student-teaching semester. Examples of students work can be found in the Exhibit Room. Application Reference to the field-based experiences chart offers a perspective of where these courses fit in reference to the entire sequence. The field-based experiences purpose chart describes the reasons for each of the field-placements.
Narrative Increasingly, both undergraduate and graduate students come to campus with skills in the area of technological literacy. Most students can use basic presentation programs (e.g., Powerpoint), spreadsheet programs, digital cameras and scanners. Therefore at both the undergraduate and graduate levels we have moved away from requiring separate technology courses. Instead, since the Fall of 2002, we deliberately integrated the use of technology into a variety of courses. The following table highlights several of the courses that have assignments requiring the use of technology.
Faculty model the seamless use of technology in many of the undergraduate and graduate courses. Seventeen classrooms across campus have been equipped with various levels and types of technology. These classrooms are categorized into three levels of sophistication with regards to the types and amount of available technology.
As noted on the website there are a variety of other resources available to faculty and staff. Of particular note is the Faculty Development Lab. This lab features an isolated PC network, 3 multimedia computers with specialized software, scanners, MAC computer, color printer, SMARTboard setup for practice. Ongoing small group or individual support is available to all faculty members. Faculty members have the support of a staff person who is dedicated soley to faculty for support in the design and incorporation of technology into the classroom. It is our belief that through modeling and establishing expectations about weaving technology into instruction, we will increase the students use of technology in their instruction in the public schools. In addition, Saint Michael’s College Graduate Department has Technology Specialist program that is based on the State of Vermont competencies. Initial accreditation for this program was granted in the summer of 2004.
Narrative The Education Department at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, is committed to awakening and sustaining the spirit of teaching and learning through nurturing the following characteristics in our students. Dignity and Diversity Knowledge and Wisdom Character and Community It is within this context that our faculty strive to create opportunities for our students to engage in meaningful learning experiences that are aligned with Vermont’s Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities, Five Standards and 16 Principles, and positive classroom management skills. While individual syllabi with the explicit connections to the Five Standards and 16 Principles are available through Faculty Chart, it is the connections among and between the courses that speak to the richness of the whole program. The density of our program and the richness of the experiences are so because of the manner in which the courses complement and build upon each other. Development of Teacher The embedded tables highlight the deliberate progression of coursework and field experiences with the emphasis on increasing the understanding of and experiences with the design, implementation and evaluation of instruction that is rooted in the Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities, as well as the Five Standards and 16 Principles. The tables serve as curriculum maps from two separate vantage points. The first table maps out where each of the 16 principles is embedded in the coursework at the following levels: awareness, intermediate or synthesis levels. The advantage of the representation is the examination of the entire graduate and undergraduate programs simply ensuring the deliberate focus on the Five Standards and 16 Principles. This table represents more of an input perspective. An outcomes perspective is reflected in the second table where the focus is more pedagogical (undergraduate and graduate) in nature. This table connects the Five Standards, and the 16 Principles with aspects of our Department theme (column #1, with the Saint Michael’s courses (column #2), with the scaffolded learning experiences, and finally with the outcomes required as part of the State of Vermont Licensure Portfolio (column #4). Please note that in column 2, the 200 and 500 level courses represent simply an introduction of the concepts. Higher numbered courses, e.g., ED 300 and ED 400 or GED 600, reflect application and synthesis levels. Tables are designed to link directly to Vermont’s licensure portfolio requirements.
Narrative The Education Department at Saint Michael’s College places a high value on supporting our students as they cross the bridge between educational and developmental theory to practice. Therefore, we have carefully designed field-based experiences that begin with structured observation and culminate with student-teaching. Regardless of licensure area (e.g., elementary education, special education, art education), students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels have many opportunities to participate in a wide variety of field-placements with children and youth across the age span. The specific requirements are highlighted in the graduate and undergraduate course catalogue. The Field-Based Experience chart specifies all of the required opportunities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Each of the courses is also linked to the course syllabi, which in turn offers a glance at requirements for the field-placements. The syllabi include references to the standards and principles. Table 1. Required Field Experiences
At the undergraduate level, beginning in the first education course, ED 231: Schools and Society, field-based faculty (i.e., classroom teachers) have the opportunity to provide evaluative feedback regarding each Saint Michael’s student. During this initial placement, the emphasis for the Saint Michael’s student is on: professional responsibility and structured observation. The undergraduates are given very specific observational tools to use during the 2.5 hour weekly placement as a means to practice the many skills associated with observation. As the field-based experiences evolve, the emphasis shifts from observation to planning, implementation and evaluation of instruction. At the graduate level the introductory course is GED 516: Teacher As Decision Maker. The focus of this course is examination of the role of teachers in contemporary education. At least 30 hours of field observation are required. Students examine the practical and philosophical influences on teachers’ decision-making process in relationship to curriculum and instruction. Students are introduced to the Vermont Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities. The purposeful progression of field-based experiences is highlighted on the following table. The Five Standards and 16 Principles for Vermont Educators are noted via number in the column labeled Purpose. Table 2. Progression of Field Experiences
Narrative Reflective practices are embedded in every education course. As a Department, we are committed to producing reflective teachers who are able to engage in critical, professional reflection about the teaching and learning experiences of every day. Samples of student journals and course syllabi can be found in the Exhibit Room in the context of specific assignments and student portfolios. Ultimately, the licensure portfolio is the culmination of their ability to operationalize reflective practices.
Narrative Undergraduate and
graduate students engage in study and dialogue around legal and ethical
principles throughout the programs. In the initial courses at each
level (i.e., ED 231: Schools and Society and GED 516: Teacher As Decision
Maker), there are explicit references to the legal and ethical principles
of teaching. For example, in ED 231 in the Spring of 2004, a
specific focus was place on the new No Child Left Behind Legislation and
the implications on the federal, state and local levels. Students
produced a variety of
powerpoint presentations as a means of communicating their
understanding of the law and the implications for practice. The principal/school leadership requires that graduate students take GED 567: The Legal and Financial Management of Schools. The focus of this course is the exploration of legal and financial functions from a systemic perspective. Ultimately, all undergraduate and graduate students must be able to demonstrate professional conduct that is guided by legal and ethical principles in a variety of situations throughout a 16 week student teaching experience. During this time, the supervisor maintains an individual dialogue with each student as s/he moves from student to teacher. The individual conversations feed into small group discussions during the student teaching seminars at the undergraduate and graduate levels. |
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