Mohave Community College Baseline Education Program Review for

Transcription

1 Mohave Community College Baseline Education Program Review for Department Mission: The mission of the Department of Education is to provide a program for students which emphasizes: Stimulating learning through reflection and experience Valuing equality and diversity as an essential ingredient of a democratic society Becoming inquirers and creative problem-solvers to serve their community and profession Maintaining oral and written communication and interpersonal skills Integrating technology into the curricula Working Cooperatively with Mohave County Childcare Providers Working cooperatively with the Mohave County K-12 School Districts Preparing students to earn an associate degree in education Preparing students for transfer to four-year institutions Department Education Department Early Childhood Education including Child Development Department Goals 1 Maintain positive relationships between Mohave County s K-12 schools and MCC s Education Program. 2 Maintain articulation agreements for MCC s education courses with our transfer institutions: NAU, ASU, and UA and participate in ASU s Teaching Foundations Project and other grant and programs sponsored by outside agencies for the benefit of future educators. 3 Analyze curriculum and modify as needed to insure the curriculum meets current standards. 4 Continue to offer courses and degrees which meet the needs of MCC students. 5 Develop different methods of course delivery to accommodate student needs. 6 Maintain positive relationships between Mohave County Childcare Providers, First Things First, PCPP and MCC s Education Program.

2 Goal #1 s Objective: The K-12 school personnel will provide feedback using The Education Department Survey. MCC s Mission Statement Ties directly to serving our constituents. Department Mission Impacts the curriculum for education courses. Describe new resources needed for Goal #1, if any? Postage, Letterhead, Envelopes, and Secretarial Assistance Goal #2 s Objective: The education department chair will attend ATF Meetings, ASU Teaching Foundations Project Meetings, and communicate as needed with transfer institution personnel. MCC s Mission Statement Ties directly to serving our constituents and empowering student to succeed. Department Mission Helps students prepare to transfer to universities. Describe new resources needed for Goal #2 if any? Travel Funds to ATF Meetings and other necessary meetings at the transfer institutions Goal #3 Objective: The Education Program Coordinator will review the education program and make changes as needed to increase enrollment. MCC s Mission Statement Ties directly to the use of innovative learning methodologies and empowering students to succeed. Department Mission Ties to the first five statements in our mission statement

3 Goal #4 Objective: The Education Program Coordinator will meet with academic chairs to propose how many sections should be offered, times of courses, days of courses, and delivery methods, plus look to the addition of associate degrees in middle and high school teaching majors. MCC s Mission Statement Tied directly to empowering students to succeed. Department Mission Helping students earn an associate degree and/ or preparing students for transfer to four year institutions. Describe new resources needed for Goal #4 if any? None Goal #5 Objective: The Education Program Coordinator will meet with the Distance Education Academic Chair to investigate the possibility of developing an online AA in Education with emphasis in Early Childhood Education. MCC s Mission Statement - Ties directly to serving all constituencies. Sine many of our students live in rural areas, and our ITV System doesn t function effectively, there is a need for online degrees. Department Mission Using technology into our programs to serve students. Describe new resources needed for Goal #5, if any? None

4 Goal #6 Objective: The constituents will provide feedback using the Education Program Survey. MCC s Mission Statement Helps the Education Programs serve their constituents. Department Mission We will continue to work cooperatively with Mohave Childcare Providers Describe new resources needed for Goal #6, if any? Secretarial assistance, postage, letterhead, and envelopes Part II: Data The only data supplied by MCC was the CCSSE Study With 4.00 being the highest possible result, Bob Faubert stated in the CCSSE Study 2011, we would like to see a mean of at least Although the education program s score fell above the mean, the education programs score of 3.02 shows there is room for improvement. At my request, Tom Franklin, NAU LHC Program Coordinator was very willing to provide data (Appendix A) which shows a breakdown of MCC students from all the Southern campuses who have earned a bachelor s degree in Education from NAU during the last five years. As can be seen in the report, eighty MCC students on our three Southern campuses have earned a BS in Elementary Education. Before transferring to NAU, eleven MCC students earned AGEC without earning an associate s degree. Twenty-nine MCC students earned an associate degree with only four majoring in elementary education and one in child development. The majority, forty MCC students, transferred credits from MCC BUT did not earn an AGEC or associate s degree. I find it really odd that of the twentynine students transferring to NAU s elementary education degree program, only four listed elementary education as their associate degree major. Data (Appendix B) supplied by Shelly Castaneda of MCC s Institutional Research Department, indicates a steady decline in the number of students enrolling in MCC s education classes.

5 Part III: SWOC Analysis Strengths: The Mohave Community College Education program prepares students in four different areas. First students who are uncertain about whether to pursue a career in education have the opportunity to enroll in Education 205, Introduction to Teaching. In this course, students gain theoretical knowledge and participate in thirty hours of field experience in the public schools, which assists them in making an educated decision about teaching as a career. Second, Mohave Community College s Education Program is closely aligned with Northern Arizona University s Education Program on its satellite Mohave Community College s Southern campuses; therefore, our students can transfer seamlessly to Northern Arizona University. All education majors attending the Northern Arizona University must complete Education 205 with a grade of B or higher. Third, for students planning to transfer to other four-year universities, Mohave Community College does provide an associate degree program. Students completing their AJEC-A are able to seamlessly transfer to Northern Arizona University, University of Arizona, and Arizona State University. By completing at least the first two years of their coursework, students can save a considerable amount of money, due to Mohave Community College s low tuition rates. Fourth, Mohave Community College works collaboratively with several Arizona universities in the Programs. Fifth, recently the education department began to offer the Child Development Associate pathway designed to meet the needs of people already working in the field of early childhood education including Head Start assistants and other childcare providers. This pathway provides the opportunity for students to meet the requirements for the national Child Development Associate credential awarded by the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition. Nine courses have been included in this pathway which are transferable to our Associate of Arts Degree in Education with Emphasis on Early Childhood Education. Lastly, in our course offerings, the instructors are encouraged to avoid focusing only on the transmission of knowledge and to utilize innovative teaching methodologies to help insure student success. Recently, the CELT Classroom is available for instructors to use all forms of technology including Smart Boards which are in many public school classrooms in Mohave County. The college also provides computer labs for student use, and our education department is supported by a library staff, which does their best to provide needed books, media, and computer and printer usage

6 for students. They also provide workshops for the education students on how to do educational research. Weaknesses: One of the glaring inadequacies of the education department is the lack of counseling and advising for any student considering a teaching career. There is one education program coordinator for four campuses. With a high turnover of advisors, there needs to be ongoing workshops for advisors, so they know how to advise people seeking degrees in education. Currently there is no way to track how many students graduate from MCC with degrees in education or how many students transfer to university education programs. NAU has provided the following statistics: eighty students have graduated from NAU with teaching degrees in the past years, yet every year, MCC has few graduates with associate degrees in education. Our Education Program Coordinator has asked NAU personnel to provide the number of MCC education transfer students in their program. The information is located in the data section of this report. Traditionally MCC has offered AA degrees for anyone seeking a degree in early childhood education and elementary education; however, there are no degrees for middle or high school teaching majors. Since 80% of MCC students are relying on federal funding for school expenses, and it is necessary for students to declare a major, there is currently no option for any student wishing to major in middle or secondary school content areas. MCC also has only had the option of earning an AA degree and not the possibility of earning an AS degree. MCC s Education Program includes field experiences in two classes and is in need of a Field Experience Facilitator if we are to offer more education classes and use associate faculty. It is necessary for the field experiences to be handled in a professional manner which includes travel to the K-12 classrooms to insure MCC students are completing the field experiences and assignments. MCC does not have a Career Placement Center to help students decide on an appropriate career choices. We could have many students who don t know that a teaching career is a viable choice for them.

7 Opportunities: The Educator Program Coordinator receives phone calls from interested community members with bachelor degrees, asking if MCC offers teaching certification. Currently we direct students to one of the universities. This could be an underserved population. The ASSCC currently has over 150 childcare providers who are ready to register for Ed 195 classes, which are part of the ECE Pathway. These students need to be encouraged to continue their education at MCC. There is room for expansion in the area of education degree pathways, such as for those students interested in teaching middle or high school students. The opportunity to offer child development classes concurrently with area high schools is a possibility, since the child development classes are now transferable to the universities. Challenges: We live in a county which has the least amount of college graduates which makes it necessary to encourage a cultural shift. One in which a college education is valued by the parents and their children. Even with all of our recruitment efforts at the local high schools, few students seek teaching as a major at MCC or so it seems from our graduation rate. The Education Coordinator has held several meetings at the high schools for students interested in becoming teachers. The attendance was very low. Another challenge is the low pay and lack of tenure for teachers in Arizona which does not encourage people to become teachers in the our K-12 schools. Currently, MCC does not have a positive community presence in the educational arena with some constituents. The Education Program Coordinator is constantly working to change potential student s minds about the MCC commitment to its education majors. Currently the rosters from our education classes are not sent to the National Student Clearinghouse to see if and where the students transferred to upon graduating from MCC.

8 Part IV: Action Recommendation The first program objective to be completed this year will be creating an online AA Degree in Education with the emphasis on Early Childhood Education. The Education Program Coordinator will work closely with the Distance Education Academic Chair to investigate the possibility of developing the degree. Perhaps an online degree will encourage more students to enroll in MCC s Education Program; since in the past three years, we have lost many students to the Rio Salado online education programs. The second program objective will be to work with LHC Academic Chair to create a viable advising program aimed at potential education majors and current education students.

9 Appendix A: Information from Tom Franklin, NAU Program Coordinator Peggy, During the last five years, here is a breakdown of MCC students from all campuses who have earned a bachelor s degree in Education from NAU. Fall, Fall, Spring graduates Spring, graduates Fall, Spring, graduates Summer, graduates Fall, Fall, Spring, graduates Spring, graduate Total of 80 students earned BS Elementary Education during last five academic years all campuses Of the 80: 11 students earned AGEC without earning an associate s degree 29 students earned associate s degrees 4 - elementary education 1 - child development 2 - general studies 1 - art 1 - liberal studies 1 - social/behavioral studies 19 students associate of arts 40 students transferred credits from Mohave CC but did not earn AGEC or associate s degree Thomas Franklin Program Coordinator Northern Arizona University - Lake Havasu City (928) voice (928) fax

10 Appendix B: Shelly Castaneda s Data See attachment labeled Shelly MCC Education Course Enrollments