Program Status Report 1 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSIT COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Program Folio Status Report Program:_MS in Education Degree Level:_Master s Program Leader: Dr. Joyce C. Fine Program Faculty:_Dr. Joyce C. Fine, Dr. Lisbeth Krauss, Dr. Nancy Marshall, Dr. Lynne D. Miller, Dr. Helen Robbins (Instructor), Dr. Patsy Self (part time) I. Program Mission and Conceptual Framework Linking Program to College The mission of the MS in Education Program is linked to the COE mission and is therefore to: 1. Facilitate the preparation of reading professionals who have the knowledge, abilities, and dispositions to enhance learning and development within diverse settings. 2. Facilitate an environment that promotes the discovery, development, documentation, assessment, and dissemination of knowledge related to teaching and learning in the field of reading. 3. Facilitate professional partnerships in the community that foster change. II. III. Program of Studies (attach the curriculum) Curricular Changes Since Last Review (2001) and Impact on Standards, Competencies, and Practices There have been multiple changes to the program since 2001. These were due to the evolution of the College of Education s Conceptual Framework, an increase national emphasis on accountability, and changes in standards from the International Association, in Standards for Professionals, Revised 2003, and the revision of the Florida Department of Education in their Competencies and Skills for Teacher Certification. As a result of the Report of the National Panel, there was a major revamping of the curriculum to be sure to include explicit instruction in the identified five major areas for reading instruction, based on scientifically-based reading research (SBRR). After the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, faculty participated in the First Teacher Education Network (RFTEN), sharing many strategies to help diverse populations. The Florida State Department of Education mandated that a course in Organization and Supervision of Programs be added in 2002. Over time, the areas included in preparing reading professionals to teach the literacy process have been expanded with the recognition that other factors, such as motivation, are also significant and the definition of research has broadened to include qualitative research, as well as,
Program Status Report 2 experimental research. As the changes were made to the courses assignments, rubrics were created to align to the standards and goals of the courses. This movement lead to another mandate, to teach a course on (RED 65) so candidates would be able to interpret data used for progress monitoring. Also added to the curriculum was information about Response to Intervention (RTI) which was mandated in 2004 with the IDEA legislation. With the growing awareness of the importance of supporting adolescents, the Practicum (RED 6805) underwent curricular change to focus on Adolescent Literacy and was held in high schools with diverse populations. The responsibility of the general education teacher for RTI was included in the Organization and Supervision course. Topics, such as differentiated instruction, as they become current have also been added. Most recently, the IRA has required master s level programs to include experiences coaching teachers on site at their schools in order to prepare the master s candidates to mentor other teachers. This raised the bar on the types of assignments that would count as meeting the IRA standards. We have also added RED 5147, Developmental, which is an on-line course building upon the Florida Online Professional Development (FOR-PD) course. IV. Changes in Candidates Performance, Faculty, Resources, and Governance The changes in candidates performance that are noticeable are that they are asked to perform on a higher and higher level. Teachers are now asked to not only be able to teach anyone to read, but also to be able to teach other teachers how to better teach their students to read. The mentoring of teachers at the school site prepares the students to be Literacy Coaches, as the role of the Literacy professional has evolved. There have been changes in the faculty which includes the retirement of Dr. Sharon Kossack, who worked at the university for 30 years and the addition of Dr. Maria Tsalikis as a Visiting Instructor for a few years, and as an adjunct and then the addition of Dr. Helen Robbins in an instructor position. With the budget cuts, there are almost no supplies that are purchased in support of the clinical courses as there were at one time. The College of Education has had multiple deans and changes in the chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction during this time, but the Strand has continued with one program leader, Dr. Fine, during this time. V. Describe the methods by which candidates in the program impact on P-12 student learning or support the school learning environment. The candidates in the MS in Education program participate in two courses. The first is held at an elementary school, RED 6515 and RED 6546, (the Community Literacy Club), in which the candidates conduct one-on-one tutoring during the summer. The second is a that focuses on adolescent literacy, (the Scene) at North Miami Senior High School. Each teacher works with a group of students, up to three at a time. They assess and intervene with targeted instruction. During the other courses, the candidates also complete assignments in their classrooms and with other teachers in their classrooms. VI. How is technology used in the program to impact instructional strategies in schools? Specify the types of technology (e.g., using Internet resources for
Program Status Report 3 instruction, Powerpoint presentations, electronic gradebooks etc.) used and discussed in program courses. Please complete the Table below indicating in which courses you are infusing technology in your programs. Table 1 Technology Experiences Across Program Number RED 6314 RED 6247 RED 6515 and RED 6546 RED 6805 RED 6747 Name Teaching Organization and Supervision of Programs Diagnosis of Difficulties and Programs of Remediation Practicum in Research in Experience/ Assignment PowerPoint presentation on Theories of Process Teacher Study Group (TSG) On-line responses; TSG Professional Development PowerPoint; Professional Development Workshop with colleagues at school using a PowerPoint PowerPoint of case study Research for information books on line with students Technology Sites paper and use with students PowerPoint of case study Professional Development Research PowerPoint Rubric/ Rubric Rubric Common N VII. How is diversity addressed in your program? In what courses are content, candidate and issues of diversity discussed? Diversity it addressed in
Program Status Report 4 LAE 5415, Children s Literature, talking about the need to have all children find themselves, or people like themselves, in books, in the Diversity Survey they do Please complete Table 2 below indicating in which courses you infuse diversity content, and issues. Table 2 Diversity Experiences Across Program Number LAE 5415 LAE 6319 RED 65 RED 6546 RED 6515 RED 62247 RED 6805 Name Children s Literature Instruction in Language Arts in Diagnosis of Difficulties Programs of Remediation Organization and Supervision of Programs Practicum in Experience/ Assignment Diversity Survey; accommodations for teaching from books in the Children s Literature Folio; Differentiating reading and writing instruction Text-In 2 the Classroom (assessing materials for appropriateness in diverse classrooms; Appropriateness of testing materials for all students materials and accommodations Accommodations for diverse student populations; Needs, gathering data from school; Plan, making suggestions to improve reading programs and closing the Literacy Gap Students read about marginalized adolescent readers and tutor for two hours a week with Rubric/ Common N
Program Status Report 5 linguistically and culturally diverse students VIII. In a table/grid format indicate the courses in the program in which students complete field number of field hours, and required assignments. Program Education (MS) RED 6546 and RED 6515 RED 6805 RED 6247 Field Experiences (list attached) Students work within their own classroom and with other teachers in their classrooms Table 3 Field Experiences Across Program Clinical Practice (Student Teaching or Internship) Practicum at an elementary school for three weeks, Monday through Friday Practicum at North Miami Beach High School Needs Workshop P-D at their school for area identified as needed Work in own classroom on strategies Required Assignments Small group project/ lesson plans, field notes from tutoring, that demonstrate impact on P- 12 student, case study Lesson plans and field notes that demonstrate impact on P- 12 students RED 6336 Strategy presentations RED 6747 Workshop P-D Home school presentation LAE 5415 Chart development I-Chart Text-in 2 the classroom LAE 6319 Beginning Inventory Total Number of Hours 1 hours 80 hours 30 hours 3 hours 2 hours 10 hours 2 hours 5 hours 4 hours 4 hours RED 65 Needs 3 hours
Program Status Report 6 IX. (a) In a table/grid format indicate how faculty in the program are meeting the FDOE Recency requirement (e.g., types of activities in which faculty are involved in the schools, amount of time spent per semester, types of schools being impacted); (b) Indicate how these activities are directly linked and related to the courses faculty teach and; (c) Describe how these activities are impacting and helping to improve the program. Table 4 Faculty Activities in P-12 Schools Faculty Name Fine Miller Tsalikis Robbins Semester/ear School Activities Fall, Spring, Fall Spring Fall, Spring, Fall, Spring, teach children directly, Name of School(s) Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS; North Miami Senior High; Park Trails North Twin Lakes Dr. C. J. Finlay Elementary Devonaire North Twin Lakes South Hialeah Private school Dr. C. J. Finlay Gloria Floyd Elementary Dr. C. J. Finlay Gloria Floyd Jack Gordon Private school Number of Hours 4 Impact Student gains in reading, writing (documented in research article in IRA book) Student gains in reading, writing (documented in research article in IRA book)
Program Status Report 7 Kraus Marshall X. Specify the measures used to assess student learning outcomes and at which point in the program the assessments occur. There are rubrics for all assignments in the program. A critical task documents student learning outcomes for each of the courses on TaskStream. It is not possible to pass any course if the candidate have not achieved at least a grade of Acceptable on each task. Prior to being allowed to start the clinical, the Community Literacy Club, students must receive a grade of Acceptable on a Framework paper which describes the various aspects of reading assessment and intervention. XI. Describe program changes, modifications, and revisions made based on assessment results. Based on raising standards and the faculties own review of assessment results, more consideration of the needs of diverse learners have been added to the assignments. This includes the Children s Literacy Folio in Children s Literacy (LAE 5415), the technology assignment in the (RED 6805), and accommodations for diverse students in the reading and writing assessment in LAE 6319. We have also added the mentoring of other teachers at the candidates own school to meet the additional level of requirements to standards from the International Association. When the college moved to the TaskStream assessment program, the tasks and rubrics were revised and refined. Based on candidates evident lack of knowledge in certain areas, the framework paper assignment was developed to support candidates in reviewing their leaning prior to being allowed to participate in the. This serves as a midpoint evaluation of the candidates in the program. XII. Remediation of Weakness from Prior Review (if any). There were no programmatic weaknesses sited in the last review.