Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 1 SECTION I CONTEXT Provide the following contextual information: 1. Description of any state or institutional policies that may influence the application of your SPA standards. 2. Description of the field and clinical experiences required for the program, including the number of hours for early field experiences and the number of hours/weeks for student teaching or internships. 3. Description of the criteria for admission, retention, and exit from the program, including required GPAs and minimum grade requirements for the content courses accepted by the program. 4. Description of the relationship 1 of the program to the unit s conceptual framework. 5. Indication of whether the program has a unique set of program assessments and their relationship of the program s assessments to the unit s assessment system 2. Attach the following contextual information: 1. A program of study that outlines the courses and experiences required for candidates to complete the program. The program of study must include course titles. (This information may be provided as an attachment from the college catalog or as a student advisement sheet.) 2. Chart with the number of candidates and completers (Attachment A at end of form). 3. Chart on program faculty expertise and experience (Attachment B at end of form). (response limited to 6 pages, not including attachments) 1 The response should describe the program s conceptual framework and indicate how it reflects the unit s conceptual framework 2 This response should clarify how the key assessments used in the program are derived from or informed by the assessment system that the unit will address under NCATE Standard 2.
Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 2 SUNY Old Westbury NCSS Program Report SECTION I: CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION State and Institutional Policies that Influence the Application of SPA standards Old Westbury s new Social Studies Adolescence Education major, which was certified by the New York State Education Department (SED) in the summer of 2002, is by design an innovative, interdisciplinary and inter-departmental major. The content core of the Social Studies major (see below for a description of pedagogical core and field experiences) spans the offerings of the American Studies; Humanities and Languages and Politics, Economics and Society Departments. All have substantial course offerings relevant to this new curriculum and the strength and diversity of these offerings allow us to create a Social Studies major characterized by both breadth and depth. A required set of 7 foundation courses (28 credits) in history and the social sciences introduces majors to the subject areas of economics, government, the history and geography of the United States and the world, including one course that focuses on the relationship of science and technology to society. A further 20 credit upper division concentration in either American History and Geography, World History and Geography or Politics and Economics provides majors with an advanced understanding of its subject matter and conceptual tools. Although Old Westbury does not have a Geography Department or separate geography courses, NCSS Standard 1.3 (People, Places, and Environments) is intermixed throughout the four required world and U.S. history courses for the major: American People I and II and World History I and II (see Appendix I: Social Studies Content and Pedagogical Course Descriptions). Finally, a required senior year seminar taken by all majors ( The United States in World and Multicultural Historical Perspective ) provides a context in which majors can share, debate and expand the different constructions of history and society provided through each concentration. (see Section I Attachment C, Social Studies Advisement Form). For certification SED requires all Social Studies Adolescence Education programs to demonstrate that they meet New York State Learning Standards in five Social Studies content areas: 1. History of the United States and New York; 2. World History; 3. Geography; 4. Economics; 5. Civics, Citizenship, and Government. The five New York State Learning Standards reinforce six of the ten National Council for the Social Studies Interdisciplinary Thematic Standards: 1.2 (Time, Continuity, and Change); 1.3 (People, Places and Environments); 1.6 (Power, Authority, and Governance; 1.7 (Production, Distribution, and Consumption); 1.9 (Global Connections) and 1.10 (Civic Ideals and Practices). SED also requires that all Teacher Education Candidates take two semesters of a foreign language (see Appendix I, Social Studies Content and Pedagogical Course Descriptions) for complete course descriptions and rationale that explain how particular courses or assessments within courses address each of NCSS Standards 1.1 to 1.10, as well as New York State Standards (see Section II, Attachment 2A for course titles and descriptions listed by NCSS Standard 1.1-1.10). New York State does not have specific or separate Learning Standards for Culture and Diversity
Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 3 UNC Diversity and Professionalism STANDARDS to PERFORMANCE BASED STANDARDS FOR CT (1.1); Individual Development and Identity (1.4) Individuals, Groups, and Institutions (1.5); and Science Technology, and Society (1.8). As part of SUNY/Old Westbury s Collegewide General Education Program, however, all students are required to take at least one course in the Natural Sciences. They must also fulfill a Diversity (D) requirement ( the study of the impact of race, cultural/ethnic background, gender, social class, sexual orientation, age and disability ) by taking one course designated Diversity (D) and a Social Sciences requirement ( the study of social institutions and behavior using methodologies which involve quantitative and qualitative methods) by taking one course designated (SS) Social Science (see Attachment C General Education Advisement Forms). For certification the NYSED requires all Teacher Education candidates to complete a seminar on child abuse, child abduction, preventing alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse etc. All Old Westbury Social Studies Adolescence Education candidates take a BOCES (Board of Cooperative Education) course to fulfill this requirement prior to graduation as part of the Capstone experience. NYSED also requires Teacher Education candidates to take a two hour Schools Against Violence Education (SAVE) seminar prior to graduation. This seminar is offered at Old Westbury as part of ED5900: Social Studies Student Teaching and Seminar. Finally, NYSED requires three teacher certification exams: The LAST (Liberal Arts and Science Test), The ATS- W (Assessment of Teaching Skills-Written), and CST (Content Specialty Test). All Social Studies Adolescence Education majors are required to take these tests as part of the Capstone Experience, if, in consultation with their Social Studies Content and Teacher Education advisors, they have not taken them earlier and achieved passing scores on all three exams. Field and Clinical Experiences Required for the Program IMPORTANT: Discuss who provides the supervision and give credentials diversity of the settings and grade levels The New York State Education Department requires that all Teacher Education programs include at least 100 clock hours of field experiences (Colorado = 800 hours) related to coursework prior to student-teaching and at least two college-supervised practica with individual students or groups of students of at least twenty school days each " The Social Studies Adolescence Education program meets these standards by requiring students to take ED5901: Pre-Student Teaching Practicum and Seminar (2 credits) in conjunction with ED4086 Methods and Materials of Teaching Social Studies and ED5900: Student Teaching in the Secondary School: Social Studies and Seminar (9 credits). (See below and Appendix I: Social Studies Content and Pedagogical Core Course Descriptions). Dr. Carl Mirra, a full time tenure track faculty member, who holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and Teachers College in History and Education, teaches Methods and Materials of Teaching Social Studies and the Pre- Student Teaching Practicum and Seminar connected to it, as well as Student Teaching and Seminar. Dr. Mirra, who is also a certified Social Studies teacher with several years of public high school classroom experience, supervises all Social Studies candidates in the required 100 hours of field experience and in Student teaching. The Old Westbury Teacher Education Department only uses certified social studies teachers as cooperating teachers.
Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 4 The Social Studies Adolescence Education Program integrates pedagogy in professional education coursework (Foundations of Education, Special Education, Multicultural Issues, Reading Across the Curriculum, Methods and Materials of Teaching Social Studies) and Social Studies content areas (U.S. and world history and geography, politics and economics) with the practical experience of observation and student teaching. This integration occurs at two different levels. Students learn the importance of pedagogy in teaching the Social Studies curriculum (ED4086: Methods and Materials of Teaching Social Studies) and are encouraged to reflect upon the praxis of pedagogy and content by observing its delivery in the accompanied field experience (ED5901: Practicum in Middle Childhood or Secondary Education: Social Studies). At the capstone experience checkpoint, candidates are expected to demostrate proficiency in both content and pedagogy in their delivery of the Social Studies curriculum. All candidates pursuing certification in Studies candidates must take ED4086, Methods and Materials of Teaching Secondary Social Studies in conjunction with the related practicum, ED5901. In these courses, students consider issues related to the teaching of social studies and analyze how its content is currently being taught. For ED5901, students spend 100 hours (i.e. four mornings a week for ten weeks in a middle and high school, grade 7-12, for the purpose of observation and practicum. This experience provides the opportunity to observe pupils and teachers in the Social Studies classroom, enabling candidates to make informed decisions about the nature, content and practice of social studies. In the ED5901 practicum, students have the opportunity to observe and analyze the implementation in the classroom of the social studies methods discussed in ED 4086. Students are encouraged to use the knowledge from this new experience to make connections that are their own, recognizing that teachers continuously learn from and about students just as students learn from teachers. 3 Students keep a graded daily journal in which they evaluate the implementation in the classrooms they are observing of the social studies methods discussed in ED4086. The journal requires them to reflect critically on the nature and practice of teaching and learning. In particular they are asked to comment on how classroom teachers integrate interdisciplinary social studies content with a variety of student-centered pedagogies that address the diversity of learning styles and cultural experiences. As part of their capstone experience, candidates take ED5900 Social Studies Student Teaching and Seminar. This course provides candidates an opportunity to apply content knowledge, learning principles and problem solving approaches into the teaching of Social Studies. Students are required to teach five days per week for eight weeks in a middle school (7-9) and eight weeks in a high school (9-12). Students are also required to participate in a weekly seminar with the Social Studies field supervisor. Student teachers assume full responsibility for instruction under the auspices of a licensed Social Studies cooperating teacher. In the final seminar attached to student teaching, candidates use their content and pedagogical knowledge in their own initial efforts to teach social studies classes, develop and refine lesson plans and devise assessment tools. In student teaching, candidate classroom performance is assessed through the use of Old Westbury s version of the NCSS Social Studies student teacher performance evaluation instrument. 3 Ibid. p. 11.
Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 5 Description of the Social Studies Adolescence Education Program; its Criteria for Admission, Retention and Exit Discuss Decision/Transition Points Old Westbury s new Social Studies Adolescence Education Program reflects the College s ongoing institutional commitments both to innovative, interdisciplinary education and to educating (and providing educators for) the multi-racial, multi-ethnic society that is America today. The Social Studies major integrates three interdisciplinary content departments: American Studies (U.S. history and geography); Humanities and Languages (global history and geography) and Politics, Economics and Society; with Teacher Education to prepare teacher candidates for certification in Social Studies 7-12. Social Studies faculty are drawn from the full-time, tenure track faculty of the departments of American Studies; Humanities and Languages; Politics, Economics and Society and Teacher Education and are all centrally involved in the preparation of Social Studies candidates. All but one of these faculty hold the terminal degree in their fields (the one exception will have completed his Ph.D. within the year). All have significant records of scholarship, publication, professional involvement and excellence in teaching (four are recipients of the Chancellors Award for Excellence in Teaching). Our objective is threefold: (1) to create a challenging and innovative program in Social Studies that provides our students with a broad knowledge base relevant to all areas of social studies; (2) to integrate content and pedagogy within a single major, thus facilitating the discussion of issues common to both; and (3) to create for Old Westbury s racially and ethnically diverse student body a curriculum, reflective of the missions of Teacher Education and the College to "stimulate in students a passion for learning and a commitment to building a more just world for humankind," that promotes the exploration and understanding of social and cultural diversity at a variety of historical, economic and political levels. Old Westbury has a significant transfer student population and the Social Studies Adolescence Education Program ensures, through careful advisement and transcript review, that transfer students meet the same requirements for candidacy as students who begin at Old Westbury. Admission to the Social Studies Program Pre-Candidacy: Students interested in the Social Studies Program are encouraged to meet with a Social Studies advisor as soon in their college career as possible. Students can be advised by the Social Studies Program as early as the first semester they enroll at the college; they are given information on requirements and courses, but they cannot be formally admitted to the program until completion of 48 credits at the college (or upon the college s acceptance of 48 transfer credits if they are transfer students). Students must register their Core Concentration (American History, world history, politics and economics) with the Social Studies program by the beginning of their junior year. Old Westbury has a significant transfer student population and the Social Studies Adolescence Education Program ensures, through careful advisement and transcript review, that transfer students meet the same requirements for the major and candidacy as students who begin their college careers at Old Westbury.
Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 6 Social Studies Adolescence Education majors must complete program requirements in the following: 1. General Education (51-52) a. Math proficiency b. One course in each of the following seven required domains and a second course in four domains of the student s choosing: Basic Communication (2 courses required) Creativity and the Arts Western Tradition American Experience Major Cultures Foreign Languages Natural Sciences and Mathematics c. Students must take at least one designated Diversity (D), Social Science (SS) and Humanities (H). d. Students considering a Social Studies major see a program advisor to select courses fulfilling the General Education requirements that are part of the Social Studies Major. 2. Social Studies content core (32 credits) 3. Social Studies Concentration (20 credits) 4. Professional Preparation (35 credits) Transition Points: Decision/Transition Point One I. Admission to Candidacy (readiness to begin the program) 1. A minimum of 48 credits of college study. 2. An overall grade point average (GPA) of B- (2.70) 3. English and Math Proficiency 4. Writing Sample. (focused on dispositions and interest in teaching). 5. Structured Interview (by at least two faculty members from the interdepartmental Social Studies program with assessment rubric) 6. Begin portfolio II. Admission Requirements for the Social Studies Field Experience (readiness for classroom activities) 1. Structured interview, including P-12 partners (ability to deliver content and pedagogical knowledge). 2. Maintenance of a minimum overall GPA of B- (2.70). No grade of D and only one C- in required Social Studies content or pedagogy courses will count toward the major. 3. Minimum GPA of B- (2.70) in Social Studies content and pedagogy content courses. 4. Portfolio continuation. III. Admission Requirements for Student Teaching (Readiness for Career) 1. Overall GPA of B- (2.70). 2. Minimum GPA of B- (2.70) in Social Studies content and pedagogy courses, including no less than a B (3.0) in ED 4086 (Methods) and ED5901 (Field Experience).
Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 7 3. Portfolio continuation, including Teaching Philosophy and Lesson Plans IV. Capstone Experience Graduation 1. Overall GPA of B- (2.70). 2. Minimum GPA of B- (2.70) in Social Studies content and pedagogy courses, including no less than a B (3.0) in ED 4086 (Methods) and ED5901 (Field Experience) Successful Completion of ED5900 (Student Teaching) with a minimum of a B (3.0). 4. Successful Completion and Assessment of portfolio, including technology component (power point presentation, etc.). 5. Successful completion of capstone course: AS5000 (The U.S. in World and Multicultural Historical Perspective), including research paper and lesson plan presentation. 6. Exit Interview Certification 1. Pass all New York State Teacher Certification Examinations (LAST, ATS-W, CST- Social Studies). 2. SAVE (Schools Against Violence) and BOCES Child Abuse, Drug and Alcohol Prevention Course. Relationship to the Unit s Conceptual Framework and Assessment System LANGUAGE TO USE: PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION UNIT OR UNIT - COMPETENCIES KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND DISPOSITIONS The Conceptual Framework of the Teacher Education Unit is guided by three principal themes: Diversity for a Just World; Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning and Leadership. THIS REPORT ALIGNS WITH THE THREE AIMS IN THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK UNC HAS FOUR COMPETENCIES FOR INITIAL AND THREE FOR ADVANCEDReinforced by the strong commitments to diversity and social justice articulated in the College's Mission Statement, the Conceptual Framework encourages candidates to advocate these values as they move toward roles in leadership in educational environments that use and promote interdisciplinary approaches. This emphasis on social justice, cultural diversity and interdisciplinary learning is the hallmark of the Social Studies Adolescence Education Program curriculum. In introductory and advanced Social Studies courses, students explore the past histories and contributions of different world civilizations and consider the implications of American social and ethnic diversity for the history, economy and politics of the United States today. This curricular emphasis is particularly appropriate for Old Westbury. We are currently the most ethnically diverse campus within the SUNY system: 33% of our students are Caucasian, 30% African-American, 15% Hispanic and 8% Asian-American. 4 Because of the diversity of our student body, our candidates meet the substantial need for ethnically diverse and culturally sophisticated and sensitive Social Studies teachers that currently exists both on Long Island and in New York City. 4 Approximately 14% of our students choose not to identify ethnicity.
Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 8 Our goal is to prepare Social Studies teachers who understand and appreciate different cultures, who can relate to them in positive ways and who have the skills to promote student achievement in children from diverse backgrounds. All Social Studies faculty embrace the Teacher Education mission to create leaders for a just world through interdisciplinary teaching and learning. HERE IS REFEREINCE TO THE MISSION STATEMENT USE UNIT MISSION STATEMENT We seek to prepare teachers who are progressive citizens, who value human diversity and who embody the five essential characteristics of powerful social studies outlined by the National Council for The Social Studies (NCSS): social studies teaching and learning are powerful when they are meaningful, integrative, values-based, challenging and active. 5 The approach to Teacher Education at Old Westbury is modeled on constructivist and experimentalist learning theories that are based, in part, on the teachings of Dewey and Piaget and are supported through the Social Studies curriculum. This approach mirrors NCSS s constructivist view that learning: is an intellectual process in which learners develop what they know by fitting new ideas together with ideas they have already learned from previous experience, and they do this fitting together in their own unique ways. In the process of making these intellectual constructions, learners are influenced by the social and intellectual environments in which they find themselves. As a result, because much learning occurs in schools and classrooms, these settings affect both how and what learners learn. 6 The Social Studies program institutionalizes the interdisciplinary focus of the Teacher Education conceptual framework by integrating faculty from four departments within a single program. Embodying this integration, Dr. Carl Mirra embodies this integration. A certified master teacher and active scholar in the fields of education and history, he teaches both pedagogical and content courses within the major, offered through the American Studies, Humanities and Languages and Teacher Education departments. All social studies interdepartmental faculty model in their courses the innovative and interdisciplinary instructional strategies we expect of our candidates (cooperative learning, structured debate, role playing, power point presentations and the interpretation of historical documents). At monthly Social Studies interdepartmental program meetings we discuss our own teaching, as well as assess the progress of our candidates. We expect candidates to model three key behaviors: collaboration, reflection and assessment. Our goal is to prepare Social Studies teachers who have the skills, knowledge and dispositions required to lead in the classroom, the school, the profession and the community. Social Studies Program Assessments and Their Relationship to the Teacher Education Unit Most of the key Social Studies Program assessments are either the same as or modified from (to address particular NCSS content and pedagogical standards), the Teacher Education Unit's Assessment system. These include the N.Y. State Teacher Certification Licensure Exams; GPA at the three major transition points (Admission to Candidacy, Admission to Social Studies Field Experience, Admission to Student Teaching and Capstone Experience); performance assessment of pedagogical and professional knowledge, skills and dispositions in Methods and Materials of Teaching Social Studies and Student Teaching; portfolio and research paper and presentation 5 National Council for the Social Studies, National Standards for Social Studies Teachers, Volume 1 (National Council for the Social Studies: Washington D.C., 2000) pp. 11-12. 6 Ibid. p. 11.
Discuss DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS 9 (see Section II and Section II Assessment Attachments 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7). These assessments, their major elements and rubrics, are derived from and consistent with the Teacher Education conceptual framework and were developed and implemented in conjunction with the Teacher Education Unit. The Social Studies Program also has additional assessments that address specific NCSS and New York State Social Studies content standards. For example, candidates are assessed in Student Teaching using the SUNY Old Westbury--NCSS Teacher Evaluation Performance Instrument (adapted from the NCSS form). In addition to GPA at major transition points, the Social Studies Program uses course and/or assignment grades to assess candidates' content knowledge of NCSS Standards 1.1-1.10. While like the unit as a whole, Social Studies requires a minimum GPA at each transition point of 2.70 in content and pedagogy courses, candidates must get a B or better in Methods and Materials of Teaching Social Studies to be admitted to Student Teaching. While like the rest of the unit, we do not accept a grade of D, we also only accept one grade of C- in content or pedagogy courses. For Social Studies, the primary Licensure Exam is the CST: Social Studies; we use the sub-test scores that address particular NCSS content standards, as well as the total score. We use the LAST and ATS-W only minimally as additional assessments