Announcements Important Dates Planning Opportunities Words of  Inspiration

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT NEWS Volume XI, Spring 2002 Last Week of Wintersession 2002 - 1/11/02 best viewed at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/news/020111.html on the WWW; for past issues - Education Department News Index

Education Homepage Alumni News Departmental Documents Department Media Departmental Searches

Thursday, January 17 - Spring 2002 University Meeting - BTipton Room, Student Center, 10 am - might we meet at 9:50 am in the Education Department and walk over together, as has been our tradition?

Thursday, January 24 - WH 159, 12:30 - 1:15 - departmental meeting to discuss mission, objectives, bylaws, unit motto;  1:15 - 1:45 - unit meeting - final reviews of SU 2002 and Fall 2002 schedules.

Thursday, January 31 - WH 159, 12:30 - 1:15 - departmental meeting to approve mission statement, objectives, bylaws, ...; 1:15 - 1:45 - committee meetings to organize Spring schedule and goals

Thursday, February 7 - WH 159, 12:30 - 1:15 - meeting to discuss assessment with Barbara Wright, assessment coordinator.

Dr. Ken Dobush has developed a curriculum resource - an index for the standards within the Connecticut Common Core of Teaching and the Curriculum Frameworks, which may be found at
http://www.easternct.edu/personal/faculty/dobushk/ctframework/ctframeworks.html .  Other resources are linked to the EDU 511 page at http://www.easternct.edu/personal/faculty/dobushk/.   Dr. Dobush has been praised by the CT State Department of Education for this curriculum resource which aids in making the standards accessible for teachers throughout the state.  Congratulations, Ken.

Faculty and staff members in the Education Department have coordinated several efforts to recruit diverse students into the teaching profession.   On campus, the department has a standing committee – the Committee for Diversity and Excellence in Education (CEDE), which organizes mandatory Race/Culture Seminars for students completing field experiences in regional schools during each of the first two semesters of their teacher education program.  CEDE members, the University Assistant for the Committee of Admission and Retention in Education (CARE), and other faculty members present on the admission process into our programs and professional opportunities for teachers during new student and transfer student orientations and during our pre-requisite Teacher Education courses.  Faculty members also facilitate a General Education Requirement course - EDU 110 – Introduction to Education – designed in part to introduce new students to professional education.   Other faculty members encouraged the creation of a Connecticut Educators Association Student Program Chapter at ECSU, which also introduce students in our program to the profession and to other future teachers throughout the state and the nation.

There have also been several recruitment efforts through a partnership with the Capitol Region Educational Council (CREC) in Hartford.  ECSU and CREC formed a partnership in 1997 to develop the Summer Institutes for Future Teachers (SIFT).  SIFT is a four-week residential program in July on the ECSU campus for rising junior and senior high school students from towns throughout Connecticut.  The Summer Institute for Future Teachers is designed for students who are considering education as a major and ultimately teaching as a profession. Students have an opportunity to experience early childhood, elementary, and middle level education through various field placements.  These experiences are intended to help students in selecting an appropriate education major and teaching grade level of preference.  Students obtain a systematic body of knowledge from which they can develop a repertoire of teaching practices to meet the learning needs of students with diverse learning styles, developmental needs, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Currently being planned for its sixth year, SIFT has had over 225 alumni during the five previous summers.   The results of Spring 2001 survey of these alumni provide evidence that 90% of alumni are still committed to becoming educators.   These respondents, from over 30 high schools in Connecticut, were studying predominantly in Connecticut’s universities and colleges, with the largest group at ECSU.   When asked to rate the SIFT program in its preparation for the skills, knowledge, and dispositions found on the Connecticut Common Core of Teacher, alumni responded that the program prepared to meet these standards.  A summary of this survey may be found at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/dept/siftalumnisurvey.htm .

Faculty members from ECSU continue to collaborate with the Minority Teacher Recruitment Office at CREC to recruit teachers for Connecticut’s schools throughout the year.  ECSU has hosted four Winter Institutes for Future Teachers, workshops on topics of professional interests for middle school and high school students, on a weekend in January for SIFT alumni and other Young Educators Society (YES) Clubs in past years.  ECSU and CREC have also collaborated on developing online modules for future teacher clubs on professional education issues.

Each spring, faculty members also participate through presentations and the dissemination of information about our teacher education programs at CREC’s Minority Teacher Recruitment Fairs.

Additionally, ECSU faculty members, the Dean of the School of Education and Professional Studies at ECSU, and high school teachers at Hartford Public High School have developed a Teacher Cadet program for high school senior students pursuing careers in Education.  Enrolled in an ECSU undergraduate course, EDU 101 – Teaching in the 21st Century – team taught by a high school faculty member and a faculty member from ECSU, these students combine field experiences in Hartford with a curriculum designed to present them with a firm foundation in teaching.

ECSU faculty members also provide the leadership for the Tech4PreK project.  The purpose of the Technology for Preschools Project (Tech4PreK) is to support preschool professionals in using technology within their classrooms. Initiated and funded by United Technologies Corporation in July 2000, the project provides training for preschool staff, as well as direct guidance to preschool children, in using technology within the Hartford, Connecticut Public Schools. Developmentally appropriate software and hardware are introduced within participating classrooms. Project staff also guide professionals in using a variety of communications and multimedia software to enhance communications with families.   The project represents a unique collaboration between a corporation, United Technologies, a public school district, Hartford Public Schools, and a university, Eastern Connecticut State University. In concert, these three organizations have created a model preschool technology program, which will enhance the learning and development of children in Hartford and which will be shared nationally and internationally.

 In the near future, Education Department faculty members plan to continue to collaborate with other faculty on campus to build a Spanish certification program and to encourage more Spanish language speakers to enroll in our certification program.  We also seek to expand the number of successful applicants for Connecticut State Department of Higher Education’s Minority Teacher Recruitment grants.

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   Faculty members and students from Eastern Connecticut State University are participating in a US Department of Education grant to Prepare Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology with ThinkQuest     [ http://www.thinkquest.org] and 13 other universities throughout the US.  This project's homepage may be at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/dept/pt3.html .
    During the Fall 2001 semester, Dr. Shirley Ernst and Dr. Ken Dobush coordinated in their courses the development of websites to be used as either K-12 curriculum resources or as resources for professional develoment for teachers and teacher education students.  The following is a listing of these exemplary projects -

Children and the Environment - http://library.thinkquest.org/T0210540/

Family Issues - http://library.thinkquest.org/T0210541/

The Circle of Life:  Helping Children Move Through the Emotions with Literature - http://library.thinkquest.org/T0210542/circlelife/

Kids and Culture - http://library.thinkquest.org/T0210543/

Raising Self Esteem - http://library.thinkquest.org/T0210544/

The Rainforest Adventure - http://library.thinkquest.org/T0210742/

Transportation - http://library.thinkquest.org/T0210800/

The Digestive System - http://library.thinkquest.org/T0210841/

Please feel free to click on these links for the Fall 2001 projects and links for last year's projects found at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/dept/pt3.html#project .   These projects may represent some first steps towards electronic portfolio assessment for our students and our teacher education programs.

If you have any questions on ECSU's project with ThinkQuest, please contact David Stoloff or other members of the project team - Hannah Sellers, Jeanelle Bland, Branko Cavarkapa, Jaime Gomez, Edmond Chibeau, Shirley Ernst, Ken Dobush, Leslie Ricklin, and Dan Rothermel.

Long Term Announcements

Offer of developing a resource list of Curriculum Library materials on a particular topic
Leanna Loomer in the Curriculum Library writes "if anyone in the Education Department would like a listing compiled on an area of particular interest or concern to them, please let me know and we will be happy to compile them.  This is the third year I have put together a list on disabilities for Ann."  Please contact Leanna Loomer at 54458, email: loomer@easternct.edu.

Online Educational Department meeting minutes and Departmental Goals for 2000-2001 are available at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/dept/deptminutes0001.html

The notes from the NCATE Writers' meetings have been posted at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/ncate/ncatenotes.html.
The Teacher Education Organizational Chart is available as a WORD document in the NCATE folder in the faculty COMMON folder on the Z: drive. Includes notes developed by Ken Dobush on the Ed. Dept. meeting on the Mission Statement on May 16, 2001.

Please visit http://www.blackboard.com/courses/EDU580/ to see the potential of threaded discussions and online courses. To sign on to BlackBoard, go to http://coursesites.blackboard.com/?bbatt=Y

Alumni news may be found at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/news/alumninews.html.
A goal of the Alumni News section of our Education Department website is to encourage our alumni to share their successes with our growing community.  We are striving to develop an alumni association for Education which would serve as a support group for our alumni as they continue their successful professional careers.  Please join us in this endeavor by responding to the Education Department newsletters and encouraging others to participate in the development of a community of educators who share a love of learning, teaching, and our evolving campus in Willimantic, CT - Eastern Connecticut State University.

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Work is in progress on the updates for the ECSU Course Catalog. With all the changes in our courses of study, this has been a particular challenge that will be met in a timely fashion.

Summer schedules are now in to Continuing Education.  Please formalize this schedule by providing David with your preference times and dates for offering your courses.

In order to facilitate the writing of the state review, faculty members will be working during intercession. They are:

Dan Rothermel Education Handbook for students,
make sure secondary program meets 2003 regs

1st Thursday of the month - whole faculty meeting (required meeting for all, other committee membership are voluntary and selected by the committee of the whole)

2nd Thursday of the month - CARE Committee meetings

3rd Thursday of the month - unit meetings - 1) ECE and 2) the other programs

4th Thursday of the month - Graduate Studies Committee meeting.

Educational Department Searches for Tenure Track Faculty to Start in August 2002

The searches notices are also posted at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/search02.html, and available from The Chronicle.

Position: Educational Technology
Qualifications: Ph.D. or Ed.D. in educational technology or related field required. ABD near completion considered.
Position Description: The successful candidate will have at least three years of experience in teaching or coordinating educational technology instruction in PK-12 schools an/or in teacher education programs. Responsibilities include teaching preservice and inservice courses in computer applications in the classroom, curriculum development of online and on campus courses in educational technology, and leadership of outreach programs to regional schools. Duties will also include teaching other education courses, grant writing, and administration of leading edge project to prepare tomorrow’s teachers to use technology. Faculty members are expected to advise students and to engage in scholarly work and university service.
Respond to: Ken Dobush, Ph.D., Search Chair

Position: Reading/Literacy
Qualifications: Ph.D. or Ed.D. in reading/language arts or related field required. Emphasis on bilingual or ESL teaching preferred. ABD near completion considered.
Position Description: The successful candidate will be expected to teach graduate and undergraduate courses in reading/language arts; teach graduate coursed in the reading certification program; advise students at the graduate and undergraduate levels as well as supervise student teachers; develop professional relationships with area schools; and organize the summer reading clinic for reading certification students. Other qualifications include experience with miscue analysis and retrospective miscue analysis as evaluation and intervention tools; school teaching at the PK-12 and college levels; experience with diverse students populations; demonstrated interest in research, curriculum development, and school/university partnerships; and a commitment to a constructivist, meaning-based philosophical orientation and field-based collaborative approaches to teaching.
Respond to: Shirley Ernst, Ph.D., Search Chair

Please announce to potentially interested students and cooperating teachers in regional schools.

Faculty members in the Education Department at Eastern Connecticut State University are seeking certification candidates and middle school and high school teachers who would appreciate support for the development of Future Teachers Clubs or Young Educators Society (YES) Clubs in Eastern Connecticut and Hartford area schools.

We envision that certification candidates would visit schools about 10 hours a week during the Spring 2002 semester and collaborate with middle school or high school teachers and their students in the development or enhancement of these clubs.  Part of this involvement might be virtually, through a discussion board on a readily accessible website.  Participants will be selected for an early June weekend workshop on developing websites for curriculum support in the schools and for a late June weeklong residential Institute for Future Teachers using Technology at ECSU.

Certification candidates will earn a stipend for up to $1,500 for their efforts and their cooperating teachers will receive a stipend of $500 for their support of these projects.  Additional stipends will be available for participation in the summer workshop and institute.

If you might be interested in participating in this project, please contact Ms. Hannah Sellers (email: sellersh@easternct.edu) or Dr. David Stoloff (stoloffd@easternct.edu ).  Thank you for your consideration of this project.

Faculty Handbook.

Our Reading/Language Arts, Webb Hall 113, has been enriched with past issues of Phi Delta Kappan, Academe, Syllabus, Converge, Journal of Teacher Education, and other resources.  Please feel free to use and encourage your students to use these materials.

The Condition of Education 2001 in Brief.  National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education.

Thank you to Delar Singh, new faculty member in Special Education, for presenting the Chair's Office with Rocky the Singing Lobster. [Dan says that it is a Maine lobster.] Please come by to visit when you need a change of pace.

A lovely book of photos and text on Walden Pond - Walden Pond (New England Landmarks) by Bonnie McGrath (Photographer), reflections by Henry David Thoreau - a gift to the Chair's library by the Education Department. [Thank you, Ann Gruenberg and Leslie Ricklin - our Sunshine Committee members - and the entire department for your thoughtfulness.] Available for lending.

Final Report of the NEASC Evaluation Team.

Milken, L. (2000) Teaching as the Opportunity: The Teacher Advancement Program. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Family Foundation.

Print-out of Connecticut Minority Teacher Recruitment and Retention Program website at
http://www.state.ct.us/sde/der/info/minorityteacher/index.htm

Braus, N. and Geidel, M. (2000) Everyone's kids' books: A guide to multicultural socially conscious books for children. Brattleboro, VT: Everyone's Books. [A gift from the Education Department Sunshine Fund to the Chair's Library - THANK YOU!!]

Student Teachers' Poetry - ECE 465: The Role of the Teacher.

CT's Blueprint for Reading Achievement, CSDE, 2000.

CT Mastery Test Forum, Connecticut Public Television video.

Milne, A.A. (1926) Winnie-the-Pooh. New York: Puffin Books. (used to illustrate models of learning and teaching - particularly the Guiding Partner Approach)

Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.
 

from Dr. Martin L. King Jr on THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION [http://www.toptags.com/aama/voices/speeches/pofed.htm]
1948, Morehouse College
 

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Please contact David Stoloff at (860) 465-5501, email: stoloffd@easternct.edu if you have any questions or comments on this newsletter.   Please invite others to receive this newsletter and be added to the Education Department e-mailing list by contacting David Stoloff.