Tracking and Addressing Diversity: The View from CGSE

1
Tracking and Addressing Diversity The View from
CGSE

• College and Graduate School of Education
• Kent State University
• Presentation to UDAC
• November 10, 2004

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Our Programs

• Professional school
• Undergraduate programs
• School Health Education Promotion
• Vocational Education
• Intervention Specialist
• Early Childhood Education
• Middle Childhood Education
• Secondary Education (language arts, mathematics,
  science, social studies)

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Our Programs

• Graduate
• Counseling and Human Development
• Health Education and Promotion
• Cultural Foundations
• Educational Psychology
• Instructional Technology
• Evaluation and Measurement
• School Psychology
• Rehabilitation Counseling
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Early Childhood Education
• Educational Administration
• Secondary Education
• Special Education

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History of Diversity Efforts in CGSE

• 1987 Diversity initiative begun in University
  and global initiative in CGSE
• 1989 CGSE faculty discussions about our
  students preparation for dealing with diversity
• 1991 First diversity course in the required
  curriculum
• 1998 New teacher education program begins
  education for diversity is mainstreamed into
  the curriculum

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History of Diversity Efforts in CGSE

• 2003 College adopts the CGSE Institutional
  Diversity Plan
• 2004 Dean England establishes a 12-member
  permanent College Diversity Committee

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Participation Rates

• Who enrolls in CGSE?
• Who are our faculty and staff?
• (see handouts)

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Persistence Rates

• Who stays enrolled in CGSE?
• Are we retaining faculty and staff?
• (see handouts)

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Personal Well-Being

• The CGSE Diversity Committee felt that the
  Personal Well-Being indicator could measure the
  success of the institutional culture in
  supporting, respecting, and fostering diversity.
  
• Whereas Persistence Rates measure who stays and
  who leaves CGSE in real numbers, the Personal
  Well-Being Indicator should be designed to
  illuminate which factors actually explain those
  Persistence Rates. Thus, this Indicator is a
  measure of the perceptions of students, staff,
  and faculty of CGSE relative to some of the
  issues mentioned under Persistence Rates
• Do students, faculty, and staff feel supported in
  their daily work? Do they feel safe? Do they
  feel that they have the tools available to them
  to be successful?

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Leadership Commitment

• Funded diversity-related initiatives in CGSE
  total nearly 3,100,000.
• International education partnerships and
  faculty-reported interests indicate a strong
  commitment to diversity issues exists among a
  core group of faculty.
• In Spring 2004, some sections of the UG Inquiry
  courses focused on the impact of the Brown v.
  Board decision in honor of the 50th anniversary
  of that event. Also, the CGSE sponsored a
  one-day seminar on the legacy of Brown v. Board.
• Our new teacher education foundations block of
  courses (replacing the Inquiry seminars) will
  allow several teacher education programs to
  increase their emphasis on serving students with
  special needs.

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Leadership Commitment

• Last year, the Read Center sponsored a
  Distinguished Speaker Series focused on
  Culturally Relevant Practices and regularly
  sponsors informational Brownbags presented by
  students and faculty working in international
  contexts.
• In February 2004, the College received the Best
  Practices Award for Global and International
  Education from the American Association of
  Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE).
• Dean England has established a 12-member
  permanent College Diversity Committee,
  representing all program areas on the main campus
  and on seven regional campuses, and pledged
  10,000 annual funding for discretionary use by
  the Committee.

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Progressive Index

• Who graduates from CGSE?
• Who gets promoted, tenured, and advanced?
• (see handout)

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Diversity Competency Level

• The CGSE Diversity Committee felt that, in the
  context of the College of education, Diversity
  Competency Level would refer to educators and
  teachers understanding of and ability to respond
  to diversity. As noted in the CGSE Institutional
  Plan,
• educators must consider diversity in its broadest
  context of opinions, experiences and values as
  well as individual differences and ways of
  thinking. In CGSE programs, candidates are to
  learn the valuable role diversity plays in a
  democratic society. CGSE candidates are to
  develop learning environments that promote
  respect for cultural knowledge, equity, and
  democratic principles. (p. 5)

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Diversity Competency Level

• These competencies are variously measured for
  students by instructors in individual courses in
  our College, and in some cases, by assessments
  taken after graduation (e.g., Praxis III).
  Faculty competency in diversity is can be
  assessed by taking the aggregate measure of
  student understanding of diversity issues.

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Summary

• Findings
• Participation rates among minority UG students in
  the CSGE are lower than the University averages.
  
• Persistence rates among African American UG
  students are lower than for Caucasian students in
  CGSE.

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Summary

• Despite lapses in retention of minority freshmen
  (compared to Caucasian students), the percentage
  of freshman minority students declaring majors in
  education and the percentage of bachelors
  degrees awarded to minority students in the CGSE
  are roughly equivalent, indicating that minority
  students are transferring into our programs and
  finishing them.
• Faculty in CGSE show evidence of a strong
  leadership commitment to issues of diversity,
  based on an analysis of funded research projects,
  self-identified research interests, and anecdotal
  evidence of faculty publications, presentations,
  educational outreach, and curricular initiatives.

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Five Objectives of the CGSE Plan

• Initiating transformation that reflects a global
  and inclusive curriculum through new and existing
  programs and courses
• Increasing recruitment efforts to bring more
  diverse faculty to our ranks, while developing
  conditions here that support their retention and
  success
• Increasing recruitment and retention of
  underrepresented students into teaching and
  related education professions, including school
  and college administrators
• Encouraging each facultys diversity inclusion
  into their scholarship of teaching, research, and
  services building and implementing appropriate
  incentives into the tenure and promotion process
• Implementing professional development programs
  for faculty and staff that focus on the full
  scope of diversity issues.