NCATE Review

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Northern Michigan
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Totals 1983-2000

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Education Unit:
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STANDARDS

Standard 1
Candidate Knowledge,
Skills and Dispositions

Standard 2
Assessment System
and Unit Evaluation

Standard 3
Field Experiences
and Clinical Practice

Standard 4
Diversity

Standard 5
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Performance, and
Development

Standard 6
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STANDARD FOUR

Diversity
The Unit designs, implements, and evaluates curriculum and experiences for candidates to acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to help all students learn. These experiences include working with diverse higher education and schools faculty, diverse candidates, and diverse students in P-12 schools.

1.0 DIVERSITY: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS AND ENTRY-LEVEL RUBRICS

Fundamental to the Unit’s Standard Four is the goal that candidates have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to create just and caring learning communities that honor diversity and assure all students learn. Essential to assuring all students learn is the requisite knowledge, skills, and dispositions relative to the many ways that: 1) learning opportunities for all students are created by honoring diversity and assuring equity; 2) content as medium is enriched by honoring differences. Differences in race, class, ethnicity and cultures, religion, gender, sexual orientation, class, and students with impairments, for example, become opportunities and resources for successful teaching and learning.

The Unit’s commitment and approach to diversity are integral elements of the conceptual framework, that is to say, derivative from Israel Scheffler’s definition of education as “formation of habits of judgment and the development of character.” Therefore, the conceptual framework asserts that “teaching is essentially axiological: it is grounded in ethical and aesthetic values. Teaching means addressing the full range of human diversity as it impacts on the learning of individual students and the class.” From the proposition that teaching is grounded in ethical and aesthetic values, the Unit sets forth derivatives that articulate the many dimensions of framing its commitment and approach to diversity. In effect, diversity is an ethical imperative for the Unit faculty’s practice as teacher educators and for the candidate’s practice, namely, the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to help all students learn as stated in Standard One.

The conceptual framework’s commitment to diversity extends into the rubrics for the Michigan Entry-Level Standards for Teachers as illustrated in:

• 1.0 Knowing the economic, social, political, legal, and organizational foundations and functions of schools.
  
  Candidates understand the NMU School of Education’s conceptual framework and derivatives for teacher education, particularly as these statements embody the ethical and aesthetic values, as well as the social and political dynamics, of the profession. Moreover, the candidates understand and respect individual differences, including those of culture, race, gender, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, as well as individual commonalities, including those of heritage and environment. The candidates understand the role the teacher plays in the promotion and achievement of social justice.

• 3.0 Committing to student learning and achievement.
  
  Candidates apply knowledge of human growth, development, and learning theory to the teaching process. They develop the whole student, including an emphasis on the development of character and sound habits of judgment, and understand the extent to which their personal values may affect the instructional process. They create safe and orderly learning environments and accommodate diverse student backgrounds. They use multiple approaches to assess student abilities and needs in order to plan instruction and promote access to knowledge.

• 6.0 Knowing how to manage and monitor student learning
  
  Candidates understand and use different cognitive, affective, and psychomotor strategies to maximize learning and to accommodate differences in the backgrounds, learning styles, aptitudes, interests, levels of maturity and achievement of students. They use a variety of teaching methodologies and techniques, (e.g., lectures, demonstrations, group discussions, cooperative learning, small-group activities) and can assess their effectiveness. They involve and work effectively with all support personnel, parents and/or guardians to create opportunities for student achievement and success. They differentiate between assessment and evaluation procedures and use appropriate procedures. They define and accept the legal and ethical responsibilities of teaching.

• 7.0 Using technology to enhance learning as well as personal and professional productivity.
  
  Candidates understand, design, develop and implement student learning activities that integrate information technology for a variety of student grouping strategies and diverse student populations.. They demonstrate appreciation of equitable, ethical, legal, social, physical, and psychological issues concerning use of information technology. They use information technology to enhance continuing professional development as an educator.

The other Michigan Entry-Level Categories and supporting rubrics have language which, for the Unit, implies the commitment to assure candidates have the requisite knowledge, skills, and dispositions to successfully engage the diversity of students and the larger society as resource and opportunity to successfully teach all students and promote equity in the classroom and school.

2.0 DIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES: BASIC AND ADVANCED

The systemic nature of diversity in the conceptual framework and the Michigan Entry-Level Standards and rubrics finds explicitness in the University’s Liberal Studies requirement and in the Professional Studies Program. The University requires all candidates completing a bachelor’s degree to complete a world cultures course. The world cultures requirement thereby embraces the differences among the cultures of people in the world. See Exhibit # 4.1. In various teacher education curricula programs, a specific world cultures course will be required depending upon the level of the teaching certificate (elementary or secondary), and the teachable major/minors. For example, in the elementary teacher education curricula with social studies major or minors, GC 164: Cultural Geography is the specified course. See Exhibit # 4.2 for the course description and outline. Other liberal studies courses to be completed by the candidates will have foundational content about diversity which are completed by the teacher education candidates, e.g., history and literature courses.

Diversity, per the Conceptual Framework, is central to the Professional Studies curriculum’s Phases I through III as reflected in one or more of the following for each course: 1) the statement of course objectives: 2) the inclusion as a specific topic(s) on the course outline; 3) course assignments such as readings, projects, etc. for assessing a candidate’s course performance; and 4) specific items for field experience evaluation by classroom teachers.

Regarding diversity and subject to continuing refinement and development, Exhibit # 4.3 is a programmatic overview at this point in the Unit’s development relative to the courses in Phases I through III, including ED 450: Practice Teaching Seminar during the final semester.

Phase I engages the candidates in discourse about how dimensions of schooling as social policy relative to gender, class, race, disabilities, and ethnicity, serve to differentiate students for success and marginalize others and, equally important, how their values and dispositions relative to diversity will shape their practice in the classroom. Phase II engages the candidates in examining their pedagogical practices as they demonstrate lessons in the classroom, e.g., how their classroom discourse and use of content as medium differentiate and/or marginalize students by what is done and/or by what opportunities are missed. In Phase III, Practice Teaching, the final report requires each classroom supervising teacher to evaluate the candidate’s human relations skills which are defined in the Guide to Student Teaching Supervision (November, 1999 Revision):

“Establishes positive and effective relationships with students, parents, colleagues, administrators, and community members. Demonstrates appreciation of cultural diversity, individual differences and exceptionalities of students. Discourages prejudice and unfair discrimination in their classrooms. Understands and respects varying points of view and the influence of one’s own on others.”

The Unit has field trips to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and to Nan Tah Wahsh (University’s Native American Public School Academy) at Hannahville, Michigan, to supplement the candidates’ opportunities to come to know diverse students and faculty. Also, the school-based courses present candidates with differences in religious and socio-economic backgrounds of students, e.g., the field sites at the Marquette Area Parochial Schools, the Marquette Area Public Schools (schools with students from quite different family/professional/income levels), and the NICE Aspen Ridge Middle School or Negaunee High School representing students in rural communities.

Exhibit # 4.4 summarizes the field experience items to be rated by the classroom teacher, including the final report from the classroom supervisor for practice teaching. The caring for and honoring of differences among students is common to all forms, from the first field experiences in Professional Studies, Phase I, through to Phase III, practice teaching.

To assure that diversity is more centrally and richly embraced by the secondary teacher preparation program, the Unit is changing the course in Phase II, ED 349: General Secondary Methods to integrate praxis, equity and diversity in the secondary school. This course and ED 319: Teaching of Reading for the Secondary Teacher will be completed concurrently in the schools. Both the new ED 349 and ED 319 will be instructed by the same instructor to assure integration of the two courses, greater depth, and more time for the instructor to enhance the candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions as reflected in performance in the schools relative to diversity. The candidate will be expected to demonstrate practice in recognizing differences among students and engaging those differences as a medium for maximizing learning. The new course will be required of all candidates in the secondary teacher education program who have not completed the two courses beginning with the Fall, 2001 semester, see Exhibit # 4.7 for revising the course.

More specifically, the required course, ED 361: Special Education and the General Classroom Teacher, embraces the many kinds of differences among students with disabilities and the kinds of accommodations a general educator makes in order to maximize opportunities for all students within the general classroom. The course, ED 223: Multicultural Education, though not required, is offered each semester concurrently with practice teaching with an enrollment each semester of around 25 candidates. A total of 23.3 percent of the practice teachers in the Fall, 2000 semester and 21.3 per cent in the Winter, 2001 semester enrolled in this course. Developed by Dr. Clarken and first offered in 1993, the ED 223 course is frequently instructed by the director of the Office of Diversity Student Services, e.g., William Hill (Black American), Interim Director. Dr. Pam Motoike (Japanese American), the Office’s former director, instructed the course over the last three years and instructed several sections of ED 450, the practice teaching seminars, with particular attention to the experiential aspects of diversity. The collaboration between the Professional Education Unit’s faculty and the Office of Diversity Student Services is expressive of the faculty’s intent to extend their experiences, to enrich the curriculum, and to enrich opportunities for the teacher education candidates relative to knowledge, skills, and dispositions about diversity.

The commitment to address diversity extends into the advanced levels: the Phase IV (teacher induction/ mentoring, professional development courses for the renewal of certificates), MAE programs in Elementary Education and Secondary Education, the School Guidance Counseling Endorsement Program, and the MAE in Educational Administration. For the professional development of teachers and/or advanced degrees, the University offers such courses as:

• ED 596:Creating Just and Caring Classrooms
  Summer, 2000 - 27 candidates
• ED 989:Caring Aspects of Teaching
  Summer, 2000 - 29 candidates
• ED 560:Special Education and the General Classroom Teacher
  Summer, 2000 – 48 candidates (two sections)
• ED 506:Cultural Foundations I
  Summer, 2000 – 26 candidates
• ED 507:Cultural Foundations II
  Summer, 2000 – 13 candidates

The above courses and others renew and extend the discourse about teaching, schooling, diversity, and the ethics of practice. Courses such as ED 560: Special Education in the Schools, ED 506: Cultural Foundations of Education I, and 507: Cultural Foundations of Education II, are among the courses required for classroom teachers in Phase IV who are renewing their teaching certificates and/or pursuing advanced degrees. Other courses continue the discourse into much more specific contexts, e.g., ED 517: Children’s Literature, ED 462: Literature for Young Adults, ED 511: Language Arts, ED 575: Improving Reading Comprehension, and ED 541: Improvement of Instruction, to cite some examples.

The study of a K-12 school’s actions relative to student diversity is an essential element in the nature of school guidance counseling under the Michigan Comprehensive School Guidance Counseling Model. See Exhibit # 4.5 (specifically the following sections: Forward, Program Defined, and Philosophy and Assumptions). Also, fundamental to the MAE in Educational Administration is the commitment to prepare administrators to be instructional leaders who have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to create and commit to just, equitable, and caring learning communities. See the Educational Administration Program matrix. The emphasis is upon learning communities that support diversities among students and classroom faculties as resources and opportunities for the successful learning of all students. Of course, the just and caring learning communities includes the issues of gender in administering schools.

3.0 FACULTY AND STAFF COLLABORATION

The Unit has faculty with special backgrounds and experiences to support the Unit’s commitment to diversity. The instructors of the redesigned ED 349 referred to earlier, Dr. Kathleen Hanlon and Dr. Jon Davies, have extensive experiences related to diversity in the secondary school and are active members of the University’s committees and forums for promoting diversity in the University community. Dr. Rodney Clarken, Director of Field Experiences, and also instructor of ED 450 the practice teaching seminar which addresses diversity, is also a member of the University committees (serving many years as either a member or chair) and forums for addressing diversity issues on the campus. Dr. Clarken instructs as needed ED 223: Multicultural Education inasmuch as he has extensive experience related to multicultural and international education. Dr. Lois Hirst brings to the Unit experience as: 1) a former principal and superintendent of a Native American reservation school; and 2) a monitor of the University’s two Native American Charter Schools since 1996 when the University granted the charters.

Enriching the collaboration of the Unit’s faculty around diversity are the Michigan State Department of Education projects in which the faculty are participants, cooperating with diverse teacher education faculty and/or classroom teachers from across the State: curriculum framework projects, MTTC test item review meetings, the standards committees for content endorsement, etc. These kinds of collaborations are invaluable in assisting the faculty in developing their understanding of issues about diversity throughout the State of Michigan for the basic and advanced preparation of all school personnel. An important example is the participation of Dr. Hrecz on the State teacher education site visitation teams for program approvals and of Dr. Lois Hirst on the State teacher induction and mentoring committee, to cite two examples.

As previously noted, members of the University staff, such as the Director, Office of Diversity Student Services, and its programs supplement the Unit’s faculty and courses. For example, candidates as part of their courses in Phase I: Discoursing and Preparing for Interning participate in programs sponsored by the Office of Student Diversity Services. The Unit has a comparable relation to the University’s Center for Native American Studies. The Center’s former director, Dr. Dennis Tibbetts (Native American), was a member of the Unit until June, 2000, holding a tenure-earning position (associate professor) in the School of Education with a part-time teaching assignment in the Unit’s School Guidance Counseling Program.

During the 1999 to 2000 academic year, Patricia Adams (African American) was a member of the faculty, in a tenure-earning position. Her primary assignment was in the elementary education program Block I courses in the school, ED 311: Language Arts and ED 316: Elementary Reading Instruction I. The Unit is now recruiting a replacement. The Unit is implementing the University’s Office of Human Resources’ affirmative action plan. See Exhibit # 4.6 (Exhibit 4.6 will be linked electronically to the  Affirmative Action Plan as soon as the University's website  is updated).

The gender representation of the Unit is: 16 women and 17 men. A significant dimension of the gender representation is reflected in the fields and roles assigned to women:

1. Dr. Lois Hirst, Coordinator and Professor, Educational Administration;
2. Dr. Carolyn Dawson, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Rita Hrecz, Associate Professor, are science educators – Dr. Hrecz in the elementary science education program and Dr. Dawson in the secondary science education program;
3. Jane Jamsen, Associate Professor, mathematics educator, Department of Mathematics;
4. Dr. Peggy House, Professor and Director, Glenn T. Seaborg Center for Teaching and Learning Science and Mathematics;
5. Lynne Gerhardt, Director, Teacher Education Student Services;
6. Nancy Carter, Certification Counselor.

Other leadership roles in the Unit are presently: 1) the Interim Unit Head, Dr. M. Cameron Howes; 2) Dr. Rodney Clarken, Director of Field Experiences; 3) Dr. Kirk Nigro, Director, Upper Peninsula Center for Educational Development.

Since the appointment of a Native American recruiter in the Admission Office in 1998, the number of minority students in the Professional Education Unit continues to increase, particularly from Native American communities. The table below summarizes the increases in Teacher Education minority enrollments (of the candidates that have reported their race/ethnicity) since the 1994-95 NCATE Review.

The faculty understands the number of diverse candidates must increase to benefit the Unit’s program, the candidates, and the profession of teaching. Just as significant is that in these last three years the University has directed its recruitment of candidates to schools in the central Midwest with more diverse candidates, particularly the states of Wisconsin and Illinois. Still to be noted, relative to socio-economic backgrounds, is that most of the teacher education candidates are first generation to attend college with significant financial aid loans to pay back as well as many hours engaged in part-time work and/or commuting time.