Re-Visioning Graduate Teacher Education in North Carolina MA in History, Secondary Education with Licensure in History and Social Studies Appalachian State University A. Description of how the Proposed Program has been Revisioned to Reflect The North Carolina Standards for Teachers and the 21 st Century Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions Embedded in them and the Rationale for the Changes The graduate level teacher education program at Appalachian State University (ASU) builds on a solid foundation of undergraduate teacher education programs and, for the vast majority of candidates, public school teaching experience that they bring with them into the program. Over the past few years, Appalachian has engaged a variety of constituencies in a review of the NC Standards for Graduate Teacher Candidates as well as a review of the Specialty Area Standards. Each program (specialty area) was called upon to participate in this revisioning opportunity. Teacher education faculty began the revisioning process with already strong, well-developed graduate programs that had been completely revised ten years ago when they underwent review for approval by both the North Carolina State Board of Education and the UNG General Administration. All programs were again revised in 2006 to meet the then new graduate teacher standards that were already beginning to focus on preparing advanced level teachers for teaching in 21 st century schools. The MA in History, Secondary Education with M-level licensure in History and Social Studies has now been revisioned using the new North Carolina Standards for Graduate Teacher Candidates. While changes have been made so the program is aligned with the new standards, it continues to be aligned with changes occurring in schools and with best practices as informed by research. In 2004, the program was converted to an off-campus program that is delivered through the Extension and Distance Education division of ASU. Program participants are practicing teachers, and the off-campus location is more convenient to them. At the same time, the cohort model of organization was adopted. Use of the cohort model has resulted in multiple benefits. As they progress through twelve common courses over two years, candidates bond into a group that, since they are teachers studying to improve their teaching, becomes a natural professional learning community. They discuss, plan together, and work together on assignments. They learn lessons about collective thinking and labor that they carry back into their schools. Not only are their own teacher leadership skills and dispositions transformed, but their colleagues back in their home schools also are influenced by their experiences. Another benefit of the cohort design is that the curriculum can be planned collectively so that the program of study is designed as a real program rather than a mere collection of courses. Course design is driven by the history courses North Carolina high school social studies teachers must be prepared to teach. Professors propose courses, which are selected based on how well they correlate to the NC Standard Course of Study for Social Studies established by the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI). The program s curriculum includes ten common courses that cover a wide range of United States, European, and non-western history. In two common education courses: CI 5585: Teacher Leadership and School Improvement, and CI/SPE 5045: Advanced Topics in Diversity, focus is on providing a foundation of 21 st Century pedagogical knowledge, skills, and dispositions. During the curriculum design process, planning graduate level courses that build upon and expand the work begun at the undergraduate level of study for teachers of history and social studies is a priority. The two education courses are part of a 15-hour bank of courses available for use by master level teacher education programs at ASU. Those five courses were carefully reviewed and aligned to the new North Carolina Teaching Standards. Changes in the courses include increased use of written reflection of what occurs in the course and a more prominent focus in 21 st Century knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Programs may use all five of the core courses or they may elect to use some of them and develop courses in their own program that provide equally strong grounding for 21 st Century teachers. One critical focus in the re-visioning process was on diverse populations. It is no secret that North Carolina s public school student population has become increasingly ethnically diversified over the past decade. In Advanced Topics in Diversity, candidates explore their own attitudes, biases, and gaps in knowledge about students cultural and learning differences. They conduct research about learning environments, best practices, collaboration, and instructional accommodations and modifications for students from diverse cultures or with special needs. Candidates 1
process their learning in a reflective paper where they record how their thinking is changing. Based on that personal analysis, candidates select an area on which to focus, write a comprehensive research summary of that identified area, and develop an action plan to initiate change in their classrooms and schools. Although all graduate level teacher education courses play a part in developing teacher leadership, it is the main purpose of Teacher Leadership and School Improvement. In that course, candidates complete a school improvement project in which they perform needs assessment to identify a critical learning need in the school, engage in collaborative planning to develop an initiative to address the need, and evaluate the success of the initiative. The plan must include details of how data were collected and analyzed, evidence of an increased focus on the 21 st Century skill of using data-driven assessment to improve student learning. The project must, in some way, focus on an underserved or underperforming student population, an additional exercise in learning to develop an educational environment that supports diverse learners. The redesigned capstone course for the program, HIS 5450: History and Social Studies Education, includes two key assignments that will be developed into artifacts that demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the new teacher standards. The first is an action research project, the Teacher as Researcher. Action research is a protocol more consistent with the kind of research practices that can help drive instructional improvement in the classroom. First, candidates investigate research-based instructional strategies appropriate for use in history classrooms. Some models that they study are designed to provide instructional accommodations and modifications to students from diverse backgrounds or students with special needs. Next candidates design an instructional delivery plan (including a plan for assessment) for the technique of their choice. The plan is executed in their own classroom, and assessment data are collected, analyzed, and interpreted to evaluate the degree of the impact of the lesson(s) on student learning. This approach is closely aligned with contemporary emphases on the data-driven decision-making, also found in the 21 st Century standards. The second activity in the capstone course is a personal/professional reflection of what the candidate has learned from the program and its experiences, particularly as those reflections relate to changes in the candidate s pedagogy, quality of instructional insights, capacity to better align curriculum, instruction, and assessment, proclivity and capacity to better serve the needs of underserved children, and inclination to assume appropriate leadership responsibilities in the school. The Evidence that the program meets state standards for approval of graduate teacher education programs is the culminating activity in the capstone course. A Product of Learning (POL) will be used, which has been revised for more consistency across program areas, more intense use of technology, and better alignment with research-based best practices and 21 st Century learning. The POL calls for candidates to formally and summatively evaluate how well their work (selected artifacts) measures up to the knowledge, skills, and dispositions required in the state standards. The POL is not, however, an amalgamation of already completed assignments. It is a distinct document that draws upon those assignments to assess how the candidate s perspectives and practices have been transformed. The POL now will be presented electronically to program faculty who will evaluate whether or not the POL is a satisfactory demonstration of candidate competence and meets the criteria set forth for candidates in the POL rubric. Candidates granted the master s degree license are expected to be teacher leaders in their specialty area, to facilitate the creation of healthy educational environments, to have deep knowledge and skills in their content and curriculum, to use research in making decisions about effective practice for student learning, and to be continuous, reflective practitioners who model the values of lifelong learning, critical thinking, problem-solving and innovation. The rubric that will be used to evaluate this POL will include those expectations. Because of its rigor and comprehensiveness, the Product of Learning is highly respected at the university level and is approved by the graduate school to be used as the Comprehensive Exam for master level teacher education programs. As such, documentation for the POL is presented to the graduate school in the same format as a comprehensive exam. Technology is revolutionizing how history is done, and that change is reflected in history courses. The use of electronic research techniques to identify and obtain information and sources for the Teacher as Researcher project (as well as other required history courses) is an example of the much enhanced application of information and media literacy. There has been a dramatic increase in the uses of instructional technologies in both course delivery and 2
course management. Technological applications in course delivery are quite varied, one example being the use of technologies such as Skype or Google Talks for conducting on-line individual or small group conferencing. Some courses might be delivered totally on-line, using the University-based course delivery software called AsULearn, a Moodle-based course delivery system. Other courses might be delivered in a hybrid manner, part on-line and part face-to-face. Typically, professors accept candidate assignments electronically, and return assignments, with their feedback, electronically as well. Increasingly, faculty are requiring hallmark assignments be posted in Tk-20, the College of Education s electronic assessment and information management system. B. Public School Partners Involvement in the Revisioning of the Program and Continued Involvement in the Delivery and Evaluation of the Program Various constituencies from the public school communities of practice have participated in the overall revisioning for graduate programs at ASU. Program coordinators and other graduate faculty representing the 12 graduate teacher education programs at ASU worked on the revision through the Graduate Studies Committee. Sub-groups focusing on the NC Standards for Graduate Teacher Candidates, 21 st Century knowledge and skills and the courses for meeting these standards provided input to the larger group and to the development of graduate-level blueprints. Advisory Councils to the graduate-level disciplines, as well as public school partners and practitioners, were engaged at various levels of the revisioning and have had input and provided feedback. Through program area advisory councils, public school partners have participated in reviewing and providing suggestions for relevance, practicability, and alignment to state and national standards, as well as 21 st Century learning principles. Input and feedback informed program revisioning and also were used in the subsequent development of the blueprints. In the Fall 2010 semester, some select specialty areas/professors are piloting some of the assignments and/or projects identified as a part of the Product of Learning. Feedback and input will be solicited from the faculty teaching the courses, candidates taking the courses, and public school partners who work with our graduate level candidates in their respective practitioner settings. As is possible and feasible, faculty and practitioners will be expected to support and evaluate candidates efforts and then provide feedback to the program areas about the feasibility, authenticity, and quality of the assignment/project, particularly as they have the potential to positively impact student learning and development. Public school partners also will be involved in reviewing the assignments and assessment instruments/rubrics designed for the POL. Feedback/input from faculty, candidates and practitioners will be reviewed and changes made as warranted for ongoing improvement of the course assignments and assessment methods. Professional development will be provided for faculty and selected practitioners on the purpose and expectations of the POL and for its assessment. To assess reliability of the rubric, faculty, along with selected master teachers, will evaluate the assignments/components to be presented in the POL. Evaluations will be compared with evaluations of assessments made of the same product by program faculty and practitioners. These comparisons and subsequent substantive discussions about the language of the rubric will be used to revise the rubric as warranted and develop ongoing training as needed for faculty, candidates, and practitioners. As needed, other pilots will follow in spring 2011. With this feedback from various stakeholders, the POL rubric will be revised as needed prior to fall 2011. Communication of expectations for the revisioned graduate programs will occur in summer 2011 for our partner practitioners and for our candidates entering in fall 2011. In addition, public school input for the overall revisioning process was sought through: (1) the ASU-Public School Partnership and its various constituents, (2) the University Teacher Education Council, consisting of faculty representatives from almost all teacher education programs on campus and selected public school representatives, and (3) the Governing Board of the Partnership, consisting of 8 public school superintendents. The Partnership Coordinating Council, consisting of 25 central office personnel and teacher representatives from public schools as well as university faculty, will partner in an advisory capacity during the implementation of the revisioned programs. Additional feedback was secured from the results of previous surveys of graduates employed as teachers in North Carolina schools as well as separate survey results from their mentors and principals. Program Advisory Committees consisting of public school representatives and faculty also were engaged in discussions centered on revisioning. Through participation on POL evaluation committees, public school partners will be deeply involved in an on-going basis. Candidates will develop a POL that demonstrates how their perspectives and practices of teaching have been transformed, based on their respective programs of study, key activities represented by artifacts developed in their programs of study, and reflections on their experiences in their graduate programs. The POL includes a synthesis of 3
program-wide learning and development that demonstrates to the profession the increased knowledge and competencies the candidate acquired from the program. The POL will be presented to a panel/committee of university faculty and professional practitioners who will evaluate whether or not the POL is a satisfactory demonstration of competency for a master teacher leader, as well as how well state standards and expectations are met. In addition to the overall revision effort at ASU, the History Department consistently seeks collaboration from public school partners. The faculty participate in the Public School Partnership Professional Learning Community for Social Studies. One of the goals of that group is to provide a venue for discussing the Department s undergraduate and graduate education programs. Faculty seek the input and counsel of practitioners in program design and implementation. The Department also consults practitioners through the Social Studies Education Advisory Council, in which Department faculty and local secondary social studies teachers work cooperatively on teacher education issues. ASU will continue the involvement of public school partners in graduate programs and will continue to extend efforts for closer communication with these partners, and their involvement in our programs and with our candidates. We plan to engage public school teachers and university faculty to work collaboratively to evaluate revised assessments, procedures, and practices and to analyze the work of our candidates in their programs of study as we move forward in the implementation of the revisioned graduate teacher education programs. 4
SECTION C SECTION C-I: Key Evidence(s) Name of Evidence Brief Description of Evidence Standards Addressed 1 Product of Learning The Product of Learning (POL) is a culminating project that demonstrates how candidates have transformed their perspectives and practices of teaching and, consequentially, improved the conditions for student learning and development. The POL demonstrates a candidate s competencies in relation to the graduate standards and verifies and documents through artifacts and reflections how graduates have achieved the program goals of becoming leaders in their educational settings. (1) Teacher Leadership (2) Respectful Educational Environments (3) Content & Curriculum Expertise (4) Student Learning (5) Reflection 5
SECTION C-2: Relationship of the Evidence to the Standards NORTH CAROLINA TEACHER STANDARD 1. TEACHERS LEADERSHIP KEY EVIDENCE FROM SECTION C-1 DEMONSTRATING THE STANDARDS Teacher leaders assume the roles and responsibilities of collaborative leaders in schools and communities. Teachers demonstrate leadership in their classrooms, schools and professional organizations; they advocate for students and effective educational practices and policies; and they are role models for ethical leadership. Teacher leaders will know and be able to: Evidence 1: Product of Learning Demonstrate effective ongoing communication, collaboration, and team building among colleagues. Facilitate mentoring and coaching with novice teachers. Set goals and establish priorities while promoting educational initiatives that positively affect student learning. Participate in professional learning communities. 2. RESPECTFUL EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT Teacher leaders model leadership by establishing a positive and productive environment for a diverse population of students, their families, and the community. Teachers are knowledgeable about cultures and global issues and how they are contextualized locally. Teachers help colleagues develop effective strategies for students with special needs. They encourage positive, constructive relations among colleagues and students. Teacher leaders: Evidence 1: Product of Learning Facilitate the development of inviting, respectful, supportive, inclusive, and flexible educational communities. Create collaborative partnerships with families, schools, and communities to promote a positive school culture. Facilitate and model caring and respectful treatment of individuals within the learning community. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of diverse world cultures and global issues. Encourage high expectations for all students. Collaboratively design and implement curriculum and instruction that is responsive to learner differences. 6
3. CONTENT AND CURRICULUM EXPERTISE Teacher leaders have a deep knowledge of the subjects they teach and understanding of curriculum theory and development. They value collaboration and the interconnectedness of disciplines. They understand the importance of curriculum relevance in engaging students in content. Teacher leaders: Evidence 1: Product of Learning Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Model the integration of 21 st century content and skills into educational practices. Develop relevant, rigorous curriculum. 4. STUDENT LEARNING Teacher leaders facilitate student learning through evidence-based practice informed by research. They understand and apply research in child and adolescent development, cognitive development, and general and specialized pedagogy. They encourage critical reading, writing and thinking in the learning process. They foster instructional and evaluation methods that embrace variety and authenticity. They promote student reflection and self-assessment. They encourage colleagues and students to take on leadership roles and work in teams. Teacher leaders: Evidence 1: Product of Learning Seek out and use existing research to inform school practices. Design action research to investigate and improve student learning and school policies and practices. Model technology integration that supports student learning. Critically analyze student and school performance data to determine needs and plan instruction that is rigorous, coherent, and substantiated within a theoretical and philosophical base. 5. REFLECTION Teacher leaders contribute to systematic, critical analysis of learning in their classrooms and beyond. They are lifelong learners who model and support ongoing professional development. Teachers embrace critical thinking, problem solving, and innovation. Teacher leaders: Evidence 1: Product of Learning Promote an educational culture that values reflective practice. Model the development of meaningful professional goals. Model personal and professional reflection to extend student learning and school improvement 7
SECTION C-3: Detailed Description of Key Evidence(s) Name: Product of Learning Evidence #1 (Required) Specific Artifact(s): See the narrative below. Standard(s) Addressed by the Evidence: Standards 1-5 Rationale The primary purpose of the graduate teacher education programs in Appalachian State University is to prepare candidates to become better teachers and, consequentially, to enable students in their classrooms to become successful learners. It is well documented in education research that strong instruction, along with instructionallyfocused leadership and a strong curriculum, is a critical ingredient to improved student learning. Given that perspective, the rationale for the development of the Product of Learning evidence for the Master of Arts in History, Secondary Education is to document and verify the competency of graduate candidates and to document how their perspectives, teaching practices, and their ability to have an impact on student learning have improved as a result of participation in the program. The outcomes we seek are the improvement of what our candidates know and can do as teachers, and subsequently, the improvement of the learning outcomes for the students in their classrooms. Teachers granted the master s degree license are expected to be teacher leaders in their specialty area, to facilitate the creation of healthy educational environments, to have deep knowledge and skills in their content, to use research in making decisions about effective practice, and to be continuous, reflective practitioners who model the values of lifelong learning, critical thinking, problem-solving and innovation. Throughout the MA in History, Secondary Education, candidates will demonstrate that their work meets state standards and is aligned to 21 st Century knowledge, skills, and dispositions. DESCRIPTION OF ARTIFACTS AND EVIDENCE Product of Learning The overall purpose of the Product of Learning (POL) is for candidates to demonstrate how their thinking about teaching and learning in history and their professional practice has been transformed by participation in the program. The POL is conceptualized in three stages. Stage One is Process, in which candidates complete their course work where they study the latest research and best practices in the discipline. Certain key assignments in those courses are targeted to become artifacts that are included in the POL. In Stage II - Product, candidates assemble those key assignments as artifacts that provide evidence that they have met the graduate teaching standards. In Stage III Reflection, candidates engage in summative self-assessment to determine the impact of their work in the program upon their thinking and practice as professional teachers. Stage One Learning Process and Developing the Evidence 1. Standard l: Teacher Leadership. Candidates will complete the School Improvement Project in CI 5585: Teacher Leadership and School Improvement, in which the overarching goal is to improve student learning by collaborating with others in the school/community to plan and implement initiatives to bring about change. The project includes the following steps: 1) conduct needs assessment that includes collecting data to target and define a problem, 2) set goals that specify how the initiative will address the problem, 3) design and implement the initiative for improvement, 4) assess the initiative s effectiveness by collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting data. The project is performed in the candidate s home school (or other school willing to work with the candidate). Project participants form a professional learning community in which they communicate and collaborate with colleagues (both veterans and novice) to use data-driven decision-making to address problems. 8
Standard 2: Respectful Educational Environment. Candidates will complete a Reflective Diversity Project in CI/SPE 5045: Advanced Topics in Diversity, in which they explore their own attitudes, biases, and gaps in knowledge about the cultural and learning differences among the increasingly diverse students in their classrooms. In the project, candidates will: 1) write a personal reflection in which they identify an area of cultural or learning differences on which to focus, 2) write a comprehensive research summary of the identified area of study, 3) write an action plan to work toward change of the target area in the candidate s own school. The ultimate goal of the project is to enhance candidates capacity to develop productive and equitable learning environments by enhancing their understanding of diverse cultures and/or student needs. Candidates also work on Standard 2 in the School Improvement Project in CI 5585: Teacher Leadership and School Improvement. One requirement is that some aspect of the project focus on an underserved population. For example, projects might include goals such as to 1) strengthen services to a given population (ELL, special education, AIG), 2) facilitate professional development for teachers to improve instruction/assessment for large groups of students while targeting specific need populations, 3) address the achievement gap for a given population (analyze data and implement strategies that will lead to an improvement), 4) create a support group for students with special needs, 5) create an opportunity/program that will provide support (tutoring from adults, peer mentoring in the classroom or across grade levels), 6) provide help by networking with agencies outside of the school, and 7) create opportunities or programs for parents (support to attend conferences, parent workshops, family nights). Standard 3: Content and Curriculum Expertise. Candidates are required to pass comprehensive exams in which they demonstrate proficient mastery of both history content and an understanding of the way history is learned and taught. The history courses required in the program increase the candidate s literacy about a wide range of historical topics, which enhances their capacity to develop relevant and rigorous curriculum. The capstone course for the program is HIS 5450: History and Social Studies Education. One assignment in that course is an action research project, the Teacher as Researcher, which is designed to have candidates study the current teaching models and theories of instructional delivery in history and to design a plan (including assessment) for implementing one of the research-verified techniques in a real classroom. The Teacher as Researcher project includes many 21 st Century learning principles. For example, examining current best practice in history instruction enhances the capacity of candidates to plan innovative lessons and to use datadriven decision-making (critical thinking) to assess the impact of their teaching upon student learning. 21 st Century learning principles call for increasing literacy in all areas, and the action research project increases candidate understanding about both the teaching and the learning of history. The use of electronic research techniques to identify and obtain information and sources for the Teacher as Researcher project (as well as for other required history courses) is an example of the much enhanced application of information and media literacy. Standard 4: Student Learning. In the Teacher as Researcher project, candidates study the most recent research on instructional delivery techniques for the secondary history classroom. Candidates select one of the techniques and conduct in-depth research to learn its history, uses, and implementation details. Candidates design an implementation plan (including assessment design) and execute the plan in a real public school classroom setting. Next, candidates assess the impact of their instruction on student learning and conclude with an assessment of the model s usefulness and a plan to amend the model for future use. The overall goals of the assignment are to develop the capacity of candidates to identify and implement research-verified teaching practices and to use data-driven decision-making to analyze the impact of teaching upon learning. Standard 5: Synthesis Reflection. Candidates will write a synthesis reflection paper in which they engage in critical self-assessment that traces how they have grown as professional teachers as a result of participation in the program. Such self-assessment differs from the informal reflection that is common practice for teachers as they continually review what the teacher and students are doing in the classroom. This formal, written reflection is conscious and deliberate. Such directed thinking increases the intensity and permanence of changes in the candidates conceptualization of teaching and of their individual performance. It is, therefore, valuable as a summative activity. Candidates will use specific examples of readings and activities from individual courses to illustrate how the program as a whole changed their understanding of history and the teaching and learning of history. 9
Stage Two Construction of the Product of Learning At the orientation for new graduate candidates, the program coordinator introduces the Product of Learning and explains how, as they work through the experiences in the MA in History, Secondary Education program, candidates will complete target activities that will become artifacts in their POL. The five North Carolina Teaching Standards are introduced including an overview of how the artifacts address them, so that candidates understand the importance of those activities as they engage in them. The actual construction of the POL occurs in the capstone course, HIS 5450: History and Social Studies Education. The purpose of the POL and the standards that are to be addressed are reviewed in detail. Also, candidates are provided with a copy of the POL assessment rubric, which lists the graduate teaching standards and subordinate indicators. Explicit instructions are provided on the preparation of a group of linked electronic files that will provide evidence that the candidate has met all of the standards. The candidate will create a homepage from which reviewers will be able to access all supporting materials organized by standard. The first item on the homepage will be the candidate s name with a list of courses in his/her program of study. Next will appear links to separate pages for each of the five standards. On a standard page, the first item will be a written copy of the standard with its indicators followed by a rationale that explains how the associated artifacts meet that standard. The final thing on each standard page will be links to the electronic versions of the artifact(s) themselves. Written Directions The purpose of the Product of Learning (POL) is to provide clear evidence that you have met each of the five North Carolina Teaching Standards. To accomplish that purpose, create an electronic POL folder that includes the following: 1. A home page that includes: a) Your name b) A list of the courses on your program of study (see Schedule of Courses) c) Links for five pages, one for each of the five North Carolina Teacher Standards d) A link for the Synthesis Reflection 2. On the page for each North Carolina Teaching Standard include: a) A written copy of standard along with its subordinate indicators b) A rationale that explains how the selected artifacts serve as evidence of your proficiency in what the standard requires c) Links to the artifact(s) associated with that standard Artifacts 1. School Improvement Project from CI 5585: Teacher Leadership and School Improvement 2. Reflective Diversity Project from CI/SPE 5045: Advanced Topics in Diversity 3. Teacher as Researcher project report from HIS 5450: History and Social Studies Education 4. Synthesis Reflection Writing the Rationale/Reflection. A rationale is a justification of how a selected artifact(s) demonstrates that you meet a standard. Write a short essay for each standard that begins with a brief description of the associated artifact. Follow with an explanation of how your work on that artifact(s) demonstrates your competency in the requirements of that standard. Be sure to include discussion of both the standard and its subordinate indicators. Do not use generalizations. Use language from the standards and specific references to the artifact(s). A reflection explains how work on the artifact(s) changed your knowledge, your thinking, and your practices. Finish each essay with a discussion of the impact of the related artifact(s) on your development as teacher. For example, how did the work change what you are capable of doing as a teacher, the environment in your classroom, the impact of your teaching on student learning, etc.? 10
Stage Three Synthesis Reflection Writing the Synthesis Reflection. One of the characteristics of master teachers is that they engage in critical self-assessment of their performance and can trace their professional growth over time. Such selfanalysis involves reflection. Informal reflection is common practice among teachers as they continually review what they and their students are doing in the classroom. Formal written reflection is different in that it is conscious, deliberate, and systematic. Intentional reflective analysis increases the intensity and permanence of changes in your conceptualization of teaching overall and your performance in particular. In this essay, you will think about and write about how the work you have done in this graduate program has changed your understanding of history and the teaching and learning of history. Further, you will consider how this graduate work has transformed your sense of being a professional and your capacity to take on the roles and responsibilities of a professional. The essay is a synthesis in that you are considering the impact of the program as a whole on your professional development. Even though you will be writing about comprehensive changes, you must use specific examples from the readings and activities you have done in individual classes to illustrate those changes. In your essay, be sure to address how participating in the program has had an impact on you in the following areas: 1. Your capacity to assume leadership roles and responsibilities (such as collaborative planning, team building to work on educational initiatives, mentoring, participation in professional learning communities) in your school 2. Your understanding of how to create an effective learning environment (including students from diverse cultures or with diverse learning needs) 3. Your understanding of history content, including the skills fundamental to the discipline 4. Your understanding of how people (students, teachers, the public) learn history 5. Your understanding of how to teach history (how your instruction has changed, inclination to use research-verified teaching practices, inclination to use informed innovation, etc.) 6. Your understanding of the impact that teaching has upon learning (ability to analyze student performance, capacity to use data-driven decision making, etc.) EVALUATION OF THE POL Program faculty will evaluate the POLs. Evaluators will be able to access the electronic files for each candidate. The artifacts and supporting materials for each standard will be evaluated for each candidate using the following scale: 0 Does Not Meet Standard: Evidence does not have accompanying rationale-reflection that adequately addresses standard and/or evidence does not address standard adequately. 1 Meets Standard: Rationale-reflection adequately addresses standard by justifying how the evidence demonstrates standard. Evidence reflects standard sufficiently. 2 Target: Rationale-reflection provides insightful, in-depth support to justify the selection and value of evidence. Standard is clearly and thoroughly addressed and supported by the evidence, reflecting advanced teacher knowledge and performance. Each candidate must score at least 1 for each standard, or the candidate will be asked to rework the POL until such passing scores are reached. With five standards being assessed, the passing scores range from 5 to 10, with 10 being considered outstanding. Non-passing scores also will be recorded with a note that the candidate was asked to rework the POL. Repeat scores will be entered into the database along with the initial scores. With this data, we can search for individuals scores, calculate median scores, and plot frequency distributions for pass and non-pass scores. D. Timeline for Implementation Fall 2012 Semester Implement the revised program, including the revised assessment system at the beginning of the new cohort, which will matriculate in Fall 2012. 11