COUNCIL FOR TEACHER EDUCATION
Minutes for February 8, 2016
The sixth meeting of the Council for Teacher Education for the 2015-2016 academic year was held Monday, February 8, 2016 at 3:15 p.m. in Speight 211. Members present: Vivian Covington (Chair), Barbara Brehm, Kermit Buckner, Charity Cayton, Kristen Cuthrell, Ellen Dobson, Cheryl Johnson, LCSN-PCS Representative Heather House, Laura Levi-Altstaedter, Kathy Misulis, Marissa Nesbit, Jeff Pizzutilla, Robert Quinn, Sandra Seay, Nicole Smith, Liz Doster Taft, Cynthia Wagoner, Ivan Wallace, Jamie Williams, Elaine Yontz, Student Representative Sarah Cope and visitors Terry Atkinson, Laura Bilbro-Berry, Ann Bullock, and Christy Sutton. Absent were Lena Carawan, Lori Flint, Sean O’Dell, Lisa Rogerson, and Shari Steadman.
Approval of Minutes January 11, 2016 Meeting
Minutes were approved as written.
Announcements
Members were reminded that the Office of Teacher Education is now the Office of Educator Preparation. Dr. Covington’s title is Executive Director of Undergraduate Affairs and Educator Preparation.
Please note that the remaining meetings will be held in Speight 211.
Standing Updates on Assessment, Accreditation and Data Management
Ellen Dobson, Interim Director of OAADM, reminded members that it is getting close to EdTPA time and portfolios will be coming in. Her office is hosting an event called Ed Camp. It is an “unconference” with no set agenda or format. The focus will be on educational technology and participants will decide what to talk about. Holly Fales and Jason Whited from OAADM and Dan Zuberbier from the Teaching Resource Center will lead the camp scheduled for Saturday, April 23, 2016 in Rivers and Speight Buildings. Lunch will be provided. Contact either Holly or Jason for further information.
Standing Update from the Office of Clinical Experiences & Alternative Licensure
Nicole Smith reported that two meetings will be held for students interested in adding another licensure area to their existing major on February 16, 2016 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. or February 19, 2016 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in Rivers 138. Elementary or Special Education students adding a reading license do not need to attend.
The Internship Applications for fall/spring are due in person by the program coordinator by 5:00 p.m. on the following dates:
Round 1: April 4, 2016
Round 2: May 10, 2016
Round 3: July 1, 2016. No applications will be accepted after July 1, 2016. There are no exceptions.
Heather Payne will be on maternity leave late March and Elizabeth Bentz will be helping with her duties. Applications are welcome prior to the due dates.
Notices were sent to program coordinators today for students entering Intern I in fall 2016. Required Intern I meetings will be held on two days. Students are required to attend one of the seven meetings. Seating is first come, first served. Dates and times are Monday, February 29, 2016 from 9-11:00 a.m., 1-3:00 p.m. or 3-5:00 p.m. in Speight 305 or from 1-3:00 p.m or 3-5:00 p.m. in Speight 229; or Thursday, March 3, 2016 from 11:30-a.m.-1:30 p.m. or 2-4:00 p.m. in Speight 229.
Ninety-five percent of practicum placements have been made.
Inclement weather guidelines relating to public schools were given to Intern II students earlier, which were very helpful.
Old Business
Approximately 10 students attended a meeting with Deborah Goodman of NCDPI’s Division of Digital Teaching and Learning to share and discuss the draft of Digital Learning Competencies that align with existing professional standards and also complement the NC Digital Learning Plan efforts. Program areas were thanked for their help in soliciting students’ attendance.
New Business
Dr. Terry Atkinson, Graduate Coordinator lead a conversation on the process and implications of new MAED students wanting to transfer courses that require evidences. If such a course is accepted, how would the “proof of evidences” be determined and who would make the determination? Would courses taken out of state, as well as, in-state be accepted? What if a course is acceptable, but an evidence wasn’t required in the course at the previous institution? Could the student complete an evidence only? If so, who would evaluate the evidence? Could the student be accepted into the program provisionally? Ellen Dobson stated she would contact DPI to pose the question particularly if a student transferred in from an in-state school. Although a course meets a particular standard, evidences may be obtained in different ways. After much discussion, it was decided to table this item until information is received from DPI.
Standing Committee Reports
Curriculum Committee
Chair, Jamie Williams reported that the committee met February 1, 2016 and approved the following.
- Package from Office of Educator Preparation – Laura Bilbro-Berry
- Request #1: Remove Anthropology, Chemistry, Economics, French, Geography, Geology, German, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Sociology, and Teaching English as a Second Language from the catalog as Academic Concentrations for Teacher Education majors. Very few students choose these areas as a concentration and these courses have low enrollments.
- Package from the Department of Mathematics, Science, and Instructional Technology Education – Dr. Jesse Strycker, Assistant Professor
- Request #1: EDTC 6037 be formally recognized as a viable alternative to EDTC 6035 towards the completion of the Graduate Certificate for Special Endorsement in Computer Education
- Package from the School of Art and Design – Kate LaMere, Associate Professor
- Request #1: To meet North Carolina teacher licensure requirements, change language stating that students must earn a C (2.0) or higher in all professional education credits.
- Request #2: Revise art history course prefixes to reflect the new ARTH (art history) prefix.
The report was accepted. The next meeting will be March 14; proposals are due March 9, 2016 (spring break).
Evaluation & Planning Committee – No report
Admissions & Retention
In the absence of Chair Shari Steadman, Dr. Covington reported that the committee met and accepted one petition for exception. The report was accepted.
Policy Committee
Chair Laura Levi-Alstaedter reported the committee met today to discuss the Co-Teaching initiative. Ann Bullock discussed the Co-Teaching Initiative and explained that the proposal submitted before this committee is to introduce an exception to the Internship II policy beginning Fall 2016. The exception would include the following:
- Co-teaching would be either a 1 to 1 (one intern and one clinical teacher) or 2 to 1 (two interns and one clinical teacher)
- Co-Teaching would be based on the 7 Friend research strategies.
- “All days” would be a minimum of 10 days, with a minimum of 5 solo days per intern.
- Co-planning would be required as part of the Co-Teaching experience.
- Candidates and clinical teachers selected for co-teaching would be required to have CTE-approved and EPP-delivered foundational training and pairs training.
The following items were discussed prior to approving the exception.
Programs/ departments that implement Co-Teaching are asked to designate a representative to a Co-Teaching subcommittee. There needs to be clear indication from the school where the clinical teacher teaches that they welcome this type of placement.
Several questions were asked.
1) Would there need to be a curriculum change or just mention of the special placement on the syllabus? This would depend on how the syllabus is written.
2) Was there additional work required from the clinical teacher and intern? Dr. Covington explained that some teachers expressed they felt there was an extra burden so changes are being made to the training and its delivery in an attempt to allow more time for completing the training prior to Internship II.
3) Have interns in a Co-Teaching placement expressed a concern with having more work? Dr. Covington explained that there have been some complaints, but that there are benefits. Dr. Smith and Covington explained some of the benefits of Co-Teaching are that interns get more teaching time. Dr. Bullock explained that there are some programs that were losing clinical teachers because they had to “give up” their class for the 15 “all days”. Complaints from students were more in programs that did traditional and co-teaching models versus those programs where all interns did co-teaching.
4) Were the edTPA results significantly different between Co-Teaching and traditional placement? Dr. Bullock explained that while they were not, edTPA results in Co-Teaching placements were not worse than traditional. Dr. Covington explained that there were three of the fifteen edTPA rubrics in which interns in Co-Teaching placements scored significantly higher than those in traditional placements. There are other institutions across the state where Co-Teaching is being implemented.
This exception will become one option for internship if this exception passes.
Oversight of Co-teaching is transitioning from the Department of Elementary/Middle Grades to the Office of Educator Preparation, meaning the OCE will facilitate the logistical part of placements and training.
Cheryl Johnson called for the question. The policy change was accepted unanimously.
A tentative date of March 18, 2016 has been set for a Train the Trainer session. One person from each program area should attend. Further information will be forthcoming from Nicole Smith.
There being no further business, a motion was made by Kermit Buckner and seconded by Charity Cayton to adjourn at 4:15 p.m.
The next meeting will be March 14, 2016 at 3:15 p.m. in Speight 211.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherry S. Tripp