Mid Term Week, Spring 2002 Edition, Education Department Newsletter, Eastern Connecticut State University

"A plague has been sweeping through American schools, wiping out the most innovative instruction
   and beating down some of the best teachers and administrators. Ironically, that plague has been
   unleashed in the name of improving schools. Invoking such terms as "tougher standards,"
   "accountability," and "raising the bar," people with little understanding of how children learn have
   imposed a heavy-handed, top-down, test-driven version of school reform that is lowering the
   quality of education in this country.

   It has taken some educators and parents a while to realize that the rhetoric of "standards" is turning
   schools into giant test-prep centers, effectively closing off intellectual inquiry and undermining
   enthusiasm for learning (and teaching). It has taken even longer to realize that this is not a fact of
   life, like the weather -- that is, a reality to be coped with -- but rather a political movement that
   must be opposed. "

Alfie Cohen delivered the Kappa Delta Pi Lecture at the 2002 AACTE meeting, February 25, 2002.

Career Services will be having an Education Career Fair on March 19, 2002 from 4-6 pm in the Student Center BTR. Please share this information with students. Students can monitor the employers attending by checking out our web page at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/career/. Employers participating will be posted in about two weeks and will change weekly.

The following students created the display for the Curriculum Center. Brandon Bilodeau, Nancy Lombardo, Berry Mandell, & Amy Shevchuk.

The library is thankful to the students and their instructor for this wonderful bright display."

Hope Marie Cook, Curriculum Librarian
J. Eugene Smith Library
Curriculum Center, Room 133

Thursday, March 7 - Full Faculty Meeting - WH 115 - 12:30 - 1:45 - announcements,
nominations for awards -

Honorary Degree - to honor an individual of distinguished merit for outstanding achievements or community service (March 1, 2002 nomination deadline)

Distinguished Faculty Member Award - to recognize an outstanding faculty member for excellent classroom teaching and devotion to scholarship (March 8, 2002 nomination deadline)

Excellence Awards - to honor faculty and staff for teaching excellence, creative activity, and service to the University (March 15, 2002 nomination deadline),

Academic Excellence Awards - to recognize outstanding junior and senior undergraduate students for overall record of outstanding academic achievement, intellectual promise, character, and achievement outside of the classroom (March 15, 2002 nomination deadline)

committee reports, unit report - World Language Certification program, graduate studies committee - revisions of MS in Elem. Ed. and MS in Ed Tech, CARE - revised waiver policy, election of chair 2002-2003, ... please send agenda item to David

No registration fee required. To register, please E-MAIL Marilyn Duran at marilyn.duran@po.state.ct.us, by February 22, 2002, with your name, phone number, institution. To contact Marilyn by phone, call 860-713-6717.

Jeanelle Bland and David Stoloff are planning to participate. Please consider joining us.

Please plan to participate in the March 16 Career Fair for Minority Teacher and Administrative Candidates, Learning Corridor, Hartford, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm. Please see David for details.

5th Annual Future Educators of Connecticut Convention
March 23, 8:30-4:30, University of Hartford
Middle and high school students, their teachers, and their parents are
invited to a day of entertaining and interesting workshops. Participants
will meet teachers, learn about college and career opportunities, and sample
effective teaching strategies. Register free before March 13. The full
program and registration form can be downloaded at http://www.crec.org/yes/.

Material pick-up, coffee, book sales and autographing will also takeplace in Webb Hall. Pre-registration is required with registration forms and checks due by March 29, 2002. (There is limited seating at this location, so please register early).

The festival will feature presentation by Dominic Barth, Catherine Stock, James Cross Giblin, and Elizabeth Winthrop. Lunch, autographing, and book sales have been scheduled.

"Each year, we ask the Honor Societies at ECSU to supply the name of an outstanding graduate to represent their respective society as a Student Marshal at Commencement. Please forward to me the name and contact information (phone, email, parole officer) of the person you are nominating from your department's honor society for this year's commencement. The person you will nominate should be someone graduating at this year's commencement who is willing to represent your society."

Do you dream about becoming a teacher? Teacher shortages in mathematics, science, world languages, and special education and incentive programs to attract new teachers and to increase diversity among school personnel makes this a great time to fulfill your dream.

The Education Department offers programs which lead towards certification in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, and Secondary certification in Mathematics, Sciences, History/Social Studies, and English. Teacher candidates complete majors in an academic subject other than Education, have above average grades, and have extensive experience teaching children.

For already certified teachers, we also have Master of Science degree programs in Reading/Language Arts (and RLA specialist certification), Science Education, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, and the new MS in Educational Technology. This program is offered online through OnlineCSU – http://www.onlinecsu.ctstateu.edu; other graduate courses may be taken online.

Come join us in community-dedicated projects - a summer reading clinic, a UTC-sponsored technology in preschool classrooms project in Hartford, a national consortium to enhance learning using the world wide web, and summer and year-round workshops for high school students considering becoming teachers.

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 .

Based on this scale, KEY: Not prepared = 1, Somewhat prepared = 2, Prepared = 3, Well prepared = 4, the average ratings were all in the "somewhat prepared" range for all of these items, except an average rating lower than to 2 (1.8) for "Model and teach legal and ethical principles related to technology use" for the Fall 2001 student teachers.

The next edition's research report will feature whether any of these self-assessments on the ISTE standards were statistically different.

Average Assessment for the Technology Standards and Performance Indicators on the
Exiting Preservice Teacher Questionnaire
for the Seminars Using the T3P Model at Eastern Connecticut State University, Spring 2001
and for Student Teaching Completers during AY 2000-2001
[questions on this table, please contact David Stoloff, stoloffd@easternct.edu

KEY: Not prepared = 1,Somewhat prepared = 2, Prepared = 3, Well prepared = 4

	Program	Program	Student	Total
	Completers	Completers	Teachers	Averages
	2000-2001	Fall 2001	Spring 2002

# of respondents	24	20	60	104

I.TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS/CONCEPTS
A. Apply introductory knowledge, skills and	2.8	2.9	2.8	2.8
understanding of concepts related to technology

II. PLANNING AND DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
A. Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities	2.7	2.7	2.6	2.7
that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to
support the diverse needs of learners

B.Apply current research on teaching and learning with	2.8	2.7	2.7	2.7
technology when planning learning environments and experiences

C.Identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them	2.9	2.8	2.6	2.7
for accuracy and suitability

D.Plan for the management of technology resources within	2.6	2.5	2.5	2.5
the context of a learning activity

E. Plan strategies to manage student learning in	2.5	2.4	2.5