Words of  Inspiration  Announcements Planning Opportunities Research and Creativity Activities

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT NEWS Volume XII, Summer 2002 First Week of Fall 2002 Edition -  August 26, 2002 best viewed at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/news/020826.html on the WWW; for past issues - Education Department News Index  http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/newsindex.html

Education Dept. Homepage Alumni News Departmental Documents Department Media Departmental Searches

Welcome to the Fall 2002 Semester.  Special welcome to new faculty members - Ingrid Enniss, who will strengthen our Reading/Language Arts programs, and Catherine Tannahill, who will strengthen our programs with educational technology and experiences as a school administrator. 

We look forward to welcoming our colleagues and finding out about summer events at the Education Department faculty meeting on Thursday, August 29, at 12:30 in Webb Hall 115.

Welcome all to an instructional and fulfilling Fall semester.

quoted by Associate Dean Carol Williams, School of Continuing Education, at President Carter's Creative Advance on Thursday, August 22 at ECSU

posted on August 23, 2002

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                                            Best Wishes for a Speedy and Full Recovery

to Virginia (Ginny) Hale, NCATE special project assistant.  Our successful state visit was built on your efforts last spring.  We look forward to seeing you in full strength again soon.

                                           Good News

Message from Laura Butler, recent graduate, to Education Club members and faculty members:

"Hi all!!  I just wanted to let you know that I found a job!!!  I'll be at VCMS (Vernon Center Middle School) teaching 8th grade english.  I am really excited and feel really hopeful for everyone who has not gotten a position yet.  If I can do it you can!  Karen will also be at VCMS doing 7th grade so I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun this year.  I think they are still looking to fill some other positions so call them if you want to interview there.   The staff is very nice, I worked as a long term sub that began in March of this year until the end of the year so I got to know everyone.  The administration is very supportive  and I think it'll be a great experience.  I made it to the real world!!!!!!!!!!!  Thanks you guys for all of your help throughout the time we had together.  When is our next get together???  laura b "
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Opening Events for the Education Department

Fall University Meeting - Thursday, August 29, 10 am in the Betty Tipton Room, Student Center highlights will include the introduction of Ingrid Enniss by Shirley Ernst, chair of the R/LA Search Committee, and Catherine Tannahill by Ken Dobush, chair of Ed Tech Search Committee.

First Education Department faculty meeting - Thursday, August 29, 12:30 - 1:45, WH 115 - please send agenda items to David.

1) Introduction - some ideas from President Carter's Creative Advance

2) Acceptance of the Minutes of May 9, 2002
3) 2001- 2002 Annual report review

4) Review of departmental goals for 2002-2003

5) Unit Reports

6) Committee appointments

    Committee on Admission and Retention in Education

    Graduate Studies Committee

    Budget Committee

    Committee on Excellence and Diversity in Education

    Assessment Committee

    Professional Development Committee/Educational Experience Committee

    Departmental Evaluation Committee

    Sunshine/Social Committee

    NCATE organizational committees

7) Campus Committees

    Curriculum Committee news

    University Senate

    Other committees -

8) State/national committees and organization

    Congratulations to Ann Gruenberg and others for the upcoming - Sept. 28 - CT Association for the Education of Young Children - Fall Conference 2002 - Many Ways - One World.  Please contact Terry Surprenant at (860) 779 - 6264 for more information.

    AACTE - American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

    AERA - American Educational Research Association

    CSSA - Connecticut Science Supervisors Association

    CAEYC/NAEYC - CT Association for the Education of Young Children/National Association for the Education of Young Children

    CECA - Connecticut Educators Computer Association

    others -

9) Project involvement

    Teacher Cadet Program

    Tech4PreK

    Summer Institute for Future Teachers/Institute for Future Teachers Using Technology (SIFT/IFTUT)

    PDS relationships

    ASEER/NASA/CNEC projects

10) Chair evaluation comment - open invitation for lunch with the chair

11) Time Certain - 1:30 pm - planning for the diversity seminar

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University Convocation - Friday, August 30, 4 pm in J. Eugene Smith Library Courtyard (rain site - Geissler Gymnasium)

President's Picnic - Webb Hall courtyard - 5 - 6:30 pm (rain site - Betty Tipton Room)

First day of classes - Tuesday, Sept. 3, 8 am

Second Education Department faculty meeting - Thursday, September 5, 12:30 - 1:45, WH 115 - please send agenda items to David.

Open add/drop period - Sept. 3-9, 2002

Add period - Instructor approval required - Sept. 10-16.

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                           Education Department Faculty Meetings
                     usually on Thursdays, 12:30 - 1:45 in Webb Hall 115.

First Education Department faculty meeting - Thursday, August 29, 12:30 - 1:45, WH 115 - please send agenda items to David.

Greetings ECSU-AAUP Faculty,

I am pleased to announce that our on-line (html) version
of the 2002-2006 CSU AAUP-BOT Collective Bargaining
Agreement is on-line at the usual URL:

http://www.easternct.edu/aaup/cba.html

This version is, of course, unofficial...but we have worked
hard to make it identical with the printed version in content,
and have hopefully corrected most of the printed version's
flaws.

We encourage you to try it out.  All internal and some external
references are linked so navigation is better than in the print
version. You can also use the find and find-again feature of
your browser to search for words in the contract...so finding
items is perhaps easier.  On the down-side, the contract is now
in a single file that is sometimes slow to open if you are on a
modem connection...but we think your patience will be rewarded.

I also encourage you to right-click (PC USERS) or click-hold-drag
(Mac USERS) on the CBA link on the home page to DOWNLOAD
the contract to your hard-drive for improved loading times.  Our
home-page is:

http://www.easternct.edu/aaup

Best wishes for the fall semester.

ross

Professor Ross E. Koning, PhD
Chapter President ECSU-AAUP
Biology Department - Goddard Hall

I came across this website (http://www.nasbe.org/) and thought you might be interested in the Minority Teacher Recruitment Conference/Exhibition.

It would be a good opportunity to attract qualified minority individuals to our grad and certification programs.  Let me know what you think. Perhaps this is something you could coordinate in conjunction with the Admissions Office if you feel it is a worthwhile endeavor

I would suggest reading about the exhibitor info.

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                              Call for Graduating Senior Information

A request from Institutional Research -

Please share news about the plans of graduating seniors.

If they are going on to graduate school, please provide the graduate's name, undergraduate major,
graduate university, location (city, state), field of study and degree program sought, and any information
on scholarships and/or fellowships.

If they have been accepted for employment positions, please provide the graduate's name,
undergraduate major, company, location (city, state), position, salary.

Please email the information to David, who will compile it for the department.  Thanks.

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                   Take a look at the Education Department Photo Gallery at
                http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/news/photos2002.html

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                                         Other Events

    Congratulations to Ann Gruenberg and others for the upcoming - Sept. 28 - CT Association for the Education of Young Children - Fall Conference 2002 - Many Ways - One World.  Please contact Terry Surprenant at (860) 779 - 6264 for more information.

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                       ECSU - ThinkQuest for Tomorrow's Teachers Projects

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 .

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Long Term Announcements

Alumni news may be found at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/news/alumninews.html.

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                                            Planning
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Past surveys of our graduates are available on the WWW  -

an analysis of the survey of teacher education program graduates 1996-98
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/assessment/survey9698.htm

results of the survey of teacher education program graduates - 1996-1998 -
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/assessment/surveyresults9698.htm,  and

results of the survey of teacher education program graduates - 1998-2000 -
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/assessment/gradsurvey2001.htm

survey of interests in graduate programs -1999,
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/assessment/gradinterestsurvey1999.htm

survey of interests in graduate programs - 2001
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/assessment/gradinterestsurvey2001.htm

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                               Research and Creativity Activities -
 chronicling the ongoing progress of the Education Department at  Eastern Connecticut State University
                   also found at http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/news/rca.html

                                          Fifth Report
                                           July 11, 2002

                                      Our Graduates Speak

                  An analysis of survey data provided by ECSU program completers
                     concerning their professional preparation and Connecticut’s
                                    Common Core of Teaching

                                               An
                               Eastern Connecticut State University
                                         Research Brief

                                          Prepared by

                                         Mitchell Sakofs
                                Director of Educational Experience

                                          Spring 2002
 

Introduction

As part of an ongoing effort to improve program quality in the Eastern Connecticut State University
Education Unit, a survey was sent to ECSU graduates who were recommended for teaching certification
from 1999 through 2001.  This survey was designed to explore two main issues, i.e.,

· their assessment of the BEST program and
· their assessment of the professional preparation they received at Eastern in terms of Connecticut’s
Common Core of Teaching.

Questions concerning BEST were modeled after a state survey designed to probe how certified teachers
assess the professional preparation they received through institutions of higher learning; questions
concerning Connecticut’s Common Core of Teaching were taken from the Common Core documentation
found on the Connecticut State Education Department’s website.  Questions probing our graduates’
assessment of BEST as well as the professional preparation provided by the ECSU Education Unit were
structured to allow for responses on a 5-point Likert Scale with 5 = Strongly Agree, 4 = Agree, 3 =
Undecided, 2 = Disagree, and 1 = Strongly Disagree.  See Exhibit 1, page 4.

This report presents student assessment data of the professional preparation provided by ECSU’s
Education Unit.  An analysis of BEST data will be reported in another document.
 

Procedure

 Three hundred and forty surveys were mailed to students who were recommended for teaching
certification from 1999 through 2001.

  Data were analyzed using SPSS. Data transformations from interval to categorical data were
performed so percentages in the following categories for each question could be calculated: Negative,
Undecided and Positive.    The procedure to create these categories was as follows: if a respondent
indicated a negative response to a question, e.g., in response to a question they scored a 1 or 2, the
variable was recoded into a Negative category.  Likewise if they scored a question 4 or 5, the variable
was recoded into a Positive category.  A response of 3 was recoded as Undecided.

 Results

· 340 surveys mailed, 20 were returned as undeliverable and 95 were returned with completed surveys.
This is a 30% response rate.
· Percent of respondents within each program were as follows: 45% Early Childhood, 17% Elementary,
8% Middle, 12% Secondary and 18% HPE.
· Percent of respondents within each degree category offered were as follows: 76% Undergraduate, 10%
Post-baccalaureate and 14% Graduate.
· Mean scores on the 18 aspects of Connecticut’s Common Core of Teaching ranged from a low of 3.5 to a
high of 4.2.  See Exhibit 2, page 10.
· Percentages for the recoded data concerning Connecticut’s Common Core of Teaching in the POSITIVE
category ranged from a high of 91.5% to a low of 59%.  See Exhibit 3, page 17.
o The areas scoring 90% or above positive were:
§ Q21B, how students learn and develop
§ Q34B, share responsibility for student achievement
§ Q38B, demonstrate a commitment to students
o The areas scoring 80% to 89% positive were:
§ Q22B, Understand how students differ
§ Q26B, Recognize need to vary instructional methods
§ Q27B, Select learning tasks to make subject meaningful
§ Q29B, Instructional opportunities support academic, social and personal development
§ Q30B, Use of verbal and non verbal media/foster individual and collaborative inquiry
§ Q33B, Conduct as a professional
§ Q35B, Continually engaged in self-evaluation

o The areas scoring 70% to 79% positive were:
§ Q24B, Understand the central concepts of the discipline I teach
§ Q25B, Know how to design and deliver instruction
§ Q28B, Establish and maintain appropriate standards of behavior
§ Q31B, Employ a variety of instructional strategies
§ Q32B, Use of various assessment techniques
§ Q36B, Seek out opportunities to grow professionally
§ Q37B, Serve as a leader in the school

o The areas scoring below 70% positive were:
§ Q23B, Proficient in reading, writing and mathematics

Conclusions and Recommendations

 This research reveals how graduates of the ECSU teacher certification programs view the efficacy of
their professional preparation within the context of Connecticut’s Common Core of Teaching.

 For these findings to meaningfully guide programmatic changes, it is recommended that:

1. faculty review their course syllabi to better understand how the dimensions of the Common Core are
expressed in course content, and
2. review the data provided here to determine which elements of the Common Core need to be more
substantively addressed in courses.  While it may seem reasonable to look to strengthen aspects of the
program that students found wanting, it may be that faculty chose to strengthen areas of strength, as
they are deemed central and appropriate for pre-service teacher preparation.

This document may also be downloaded from
http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/news/graduatesspeak02.doc
as a WORD document.

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                                            Searches
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searches pending approval - we  had request an additional faculty member in Elementary Education.

                                         Opportunities
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Jamie Hendricks shared this link to the Mansfield Schools employment website -
http://www.mansfieldct.org/MBOE/Employ/docs/Web%20Posting%206.02B.doc

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                   Recently acquired media - in the Chair's Office or on the Web
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Notes from the 2002 Creative Advance - "Creativity Through Diversity" - Thursday, August 22, 2002, Eastern Connecticut State University.

Evaluator's Report on the May State On-Site Review of ECSU's Teacher Education Programs.  Received May 31, 2002.

Institutional Overview and Response to Standards, Self-examination report on Teacher Preparation
Programs at ECSU, March 2002.

Portfolio Responses for BEST program, 2001-2002.

Precondition Report for the Education Unit - April 2002, NCATE document

Handbooks for the Development of Teaching Portfolios 2001-2002 - Connecticut State Department of
Education - most subjects

General Education Committee's General Education Program Proposal

Wednesdays - A Compilation of Short Stories written by Eastern Connecticut State University
Graduate Students

Educational Technology Resource Documents from the Connecticut State Department of Education.

American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Public Policy Agenda - 2002.

The BEST Program Portfolio Resources 2001-2002: School Year

BEST 2001-2002 Rubrics.

NCATE State training information from January 29-30, 2002 meeting.

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.

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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.