Meeting of the Board of Regents | April 2009

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:
FROM:	Johanna Duncan-Poitier
SUBJECT:	Continuation of Regents Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs at Daemen College
DATE:	April 7, 2009
STRATEGIC GOAL(S):	Goals 1, 2, and 3
AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Issue for Decision

 

              Should the Board of Regents continue the accreditation of teacher education programs at Daemen College?

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

              Required by State regulation.

 

Proposed Handling

 

              The question will come before the Higher Education Committee at its April 2009 meeting, where it will be voted on and action taken.  It will then come before the full Board at its April 2009 meeting for final action.

 

Procedural History

 

              In 1998, the Board of Regents adopted a new teaching policy, “Teaching to Higher Standards: New York’s Commitment.”  As a result of that policy, in 1999, the Board adopted Section 52.21(b)(2)(iv)(c) of the Commissioner’s Regulations, which requires New York State teacher education programs to become accredited by an acceptable accrediting organization.

 

 

 

 

 

Background Information

 

Daemen College is an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational, career-oriented liberal arts college in Amherst, New York. The College was established in Buffalo in 1947 as Rosary Hill College by the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity. Originally a liberal arts college for women, the College became coeducational in 1971.

 

The College’s mission is to prepare students for life and leadership in an increasingly complex world. At the heart of Daemen’s integrated learning experience is the relationship that can develop between the College’s faculty and its students. Daemen prides itself on maintaining a student-centered atmosphere and a close professional and collaborative association among all members of the College community. Assisted by a supportive faculty, Daemen students are encouraged to pursue goals beyond their initial expectations, to respond to academic challenges, and to develop habits of mind that enrich their lives and their community. In fall 2008, the College’s enrollment was 1,664 undergraduate students (1,414 full-time and 250 part-time) and 949 graduate students (630 full-time and 319 part-time). For the same semester, the College had 99 full-time faculty and 170 part-time faculty.  

 

The College offers teacher education programs leading to certification in the following areas: Adolescence Education, Early Childhood and Childhood Education (general education and special education), and Visual Arts. Refer to Attachment A for programs offered at the College that were included in the focused site visit. In fall 2008, the enrollment for undergraduate teacher education programs was 260 (254 full-time students and 6 part-time students) and the enrollment for graduate teacher education programs was 244 (136 full-time students and 108 part-time students). For the same semester, the Education Department had 15 full-time faculty and 21 part-time faculty.

 

The programs in Early Childhood Education and Childhood Education, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, and the M.S. program in Adolescence Education are offered by the Education Department, which is a department within the Division of Health and Human Services. The programs in undergraduate Adolescence Education and Visual Arts are housed in the Division of Arts and Sciences. There is a collaborative relationship between the Education Department and the corresponding departments in the Division of Arts and Sciences for these programs.

 

              Findings of the focused site visit team:     

 

              At its meeting in January 2006, the Board of Regents voted to accredit the teacher education programs offered by Daemen College with the condition that the College undergo a focused site visit before January 2009. The focused site visit took place on November 3-4, 2008. A peer review team conducted an on-site review of evidence, including documents in the exhibit room and interviews with College and school-based faculty and administrators, and candidates. The team found that the College has either satisfied or made progress in addressing 13 out of 14 areas for improvement identified by the initial accreditation visit team. The one area that was found to be not satisfied was related to the credentials of the literacy instructor and the quality of literacy instruction in the undergraduate adolescence education programs. In addition, the team noted two curricular areas that need further improvement: effective use of instructional technology and full integration of New York State learning standards in the undergraduate adolescence education programs. The focused site visit team also identified the need for ongoing assessment and use of data for program improvement. Refer to Attachment B for the areas for improvement and a summary of the team’s findings and the College’s response.       

 

              In its January 2009 response to the draft focused site visit report, the College indicated that a qualified literacy instructor has been hired and the syllabi for the literacy courses have been revised. Staff reviewed the curricular vitae of the newly-hired literacy instructor and concluded that she has appropriate credentials to teach the literacy courses. In its response, the College also outlined the actions and plans to address the remaining curricular issues and continuous assessment for program improvement.         

 

              Professional Standards and Practices Board Recommendation:

 

              Following a review and discussion of the focused site visit review report on the teacher education programs offered by Daemen College and additional materials submitted by the College, at its meetings on March 5, 2009, the Higher Education Subcommittee of the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching met to consider the continuation of Daemen College’s RATE accreditation.  Representatives of the College attended the meeting to make a presentation and respond to the Subcommittee’s questions regarding their teacher education programs. The Subcommittee recommended continuation of accreditation of the College’s teacher education programs listed on the enclosure until January 9, 2013, with conditions.  

 

Recommendation

 

              The College has made great progress in addressing the areas for improvement identified in the initial comprehensive compliance review report. The Subcommittee’s recommendation supports sustainability of the efforts made. Therefore, I advise that the Board of Regents adopt the Subcommittee’s recommendation to continue accreditation of the College’s teacher education programs listed on the enclosure until January 9, 2013, with the following conditions:

 

• Each semester, starting from spring 2009, the College shall verify that all teacher education programs are in compliance with Sections 52.2(b)(1), 52.2(b)(4), 52.2(b)(5), and 52.21(b)(2)(h) of the Commissioner’s Regulations regarding faculty credentials, teaching assignment, teaching load, and sufficiency of full-time faculty. 

 

• Annual reports shall provide evidence of 1) full integration of New York State Learning Standards into the curriculum of the undergraduate Adolescence Education programs; 2) candidates’ exposure to, and application of, effective use of technology into instruction; and 3) ongoing assessment of candidate achievement and graduate effectiveness and collection and analysis of data for program improvement for all programs, including effectiveness of teaching literacy for candidates and graduates in the Visual Arts Education program. 

Attachment A:

Daemen College’s Teacher Education Programs under the RATE Review

 

Program Title		Degree Award	Certificate Title*
	Education Department
Childhood Ed/Spe Ed: Inclusive Childhood Ed		B.S.	Childhood 1-6 Sp Ed 1-6
Childhood Education		B.S.	Childhood 1-6
Early Child Ed/SPEC Ed: Early Child Ed		B.S.	E Childhood Birth-2 Sp Ed Birth-2
Special Ed: Childhood Ed		M.S.	Sp Ed 1-6
Childhood Education		M.S.	Childhood 1-6
Special Education: Childhood Education		M.S.	SP Ed 1-6 (Professional)
Adolescence Education		M.S.	English 7-12 French 7-12 Spanish 7-12 Biology 7-12 Mathematics 7-12 Social Studies 7-12
	Division of Arts and Sciences
Adolescence Education: English		B.A.	English 7-12
Adolescence Education: French		B.A.	French 7-12
Adolescence Education: Mathematics		B.A.	Mathematics 7-12
Adolescence Education: Social Studies		B.A.	Social Studies 7-12
Adolescence Education: Spanish		B.A.	Spanish 7-12
Adolescence Education: Biology		B.S.	Biology 7-12
Visual Arts Education		B.S.	Visual Arts

Note*: Unless specified, B.A./B.S. leads to initial certification and M.S. leads to initial/professional certification.

 

 

Attachment B:

Summary of Team’s findings and the College’s Response

 

Areas For Improvement	Team’s Conclusion	College’s January 2009 Response
Standard 3: Standards for program registration
Coordination and cooperation need to be improved between the Education Department and the departments in the Arts and Sciences Division which offer the programs in Adolescence Education and Visual Arts Education.	Progress being made.	In-service training has been tentatively scheduled for early spring 2009 to improve and enhance the integration of the New York State Learning standards.
The team notes the desire of the Education Department Chair to expand collaborations and partnerships with high-need schools and districts for the purpose of fieldwork and student teaching placements and agrees that such an expansion would strengthen the programs.	Satisfied.	N/A
The College is encouraged to intensify its efforts to recruit representatives of underrepresented groups as faculty for its teacher education programs.	Satisfied.	N/A
The College needs to ensure that, in all teacher education programs, at least one faculty member holds an appropriate doctorate and full-time faculty participate in supervising candidates during their student-teaching experiences.	Satisfied.	N/A
The Education Department needs to ensure the continuity and stability of all of its teacher education programs by having full-time faculty teach a majority of courses in all programs.	Progress being made for the M.S. programs in Childhood Education and Adolescence Education. Satisfied for the remainder of the programs.	The College’s senior administration provided official letters to the Department, demonstrating their commitment to maintaining the full-time faculty to ensure compliance with the regulation on sufficiency of full-time faculty.
The College needs to ensure that curricula in Adolescence English, Adolescence Biology, and Visual Arts Education include instruction in language acquisition and literacy development by students at the appropriate levels, as required by the Regulations.	Not satisfied for the Adolescence Education: English and Adolescence Education: Biology programs. Satisfied for the Visual Arts program.	A new qualified instructor of literacy has been hired to teach the literacy courses in the undergraduate adolescence education programs and the syllabi have been revised.

 

Areas For Improvement	Team’s Conclusion	College’s January 2009 Response
Standard 4: Teaching effectiveness of graduates
The College needs to devise and implement a systematic plan to assess the teaching effectiveness of each program’s graduates, with more than one source of data including a systematic method for collecting data from employers on their graduates’ effectiveness.	Progress being made.	Candidates will be provided with experiences of effective integration of instructional technology through the yet-to-be-open Center for Excellence in Learning and Technology and collaboration with P-12 schools.
To increase the teaching effectiveness of program graduates, the College could consider the following: Examining whether the current programs provide sufficient exposure and practical use of technology as a teaching aid in a classroom;  Including in the programs more exposure and practice with a teacher’s ancillary duties, e.g., setting up a grading system, conducting parent-teacher conferences, working on a team, etc.	Progress being made.	The Department’s Candidate and Graduate Outcome committee (CGOC) has been formed to ensure the on-going assessment of candidate achievement and graduate effectiveness. Data and evidence of using data for program improvement will be provided in the 2009 RATE Annual report.
Standard 5: Assessment of candidate achievement
The College needs to develop and implement a plan for increasing enrollment of candidates from underrepresented groups in teacher preparation programs.	Satisfied.	N/A
Standard 6: Resources
The College needs to consider providing some funding for professional development in the Education Department budget, other than travel. It is necessary for faculty to attend State, regional, and national conferences. This is particular important for the non-tenured faculty, who must develop professionally and engage in scholarly activity. Tenured faculty must also maintain their professional expertise.	Satisfied.	N/A
The team commends the priority given in the College’s Facilities Master Plan to the new library and concomitant plans to make more space available for academic purposes in Duns Scotus Hall. As these plans are fulfilled, the crowding of faculty offices for departments remaining in Duns Scotus Hall ought to be remedied.	Satisfied.	N/A

 

Areas For Improvement	Team’s Conclusion	College’s January 2009 Response
The Teaching Resource Center, despite the fact that it will eventually be housed in the new library as a Curriculum Library, needs a budget line in the Education Department to keep materials up to date independent of the good will of schools and/or book companies.	Satisfied.	N/A
The methods course in Math, Science and Technology needs to be taught in a classroom that is electronically fully equipped. In addition, tables and a locked cabinet for materials are essential for this course. The faculty member cannot continue to bring all the equipment necessary for all lessons and demonstrations, and without built-in equipment, the class is missing experiences important to candidates’ future teaching.	Satisfied.	N/A
All education courses, particularly the methods courses, need to be taught in classrooms that are electronically fully equipped so that the faculty may model the latest technology for the teacher candidates.	Satisfied.	N/A