Engaging the Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky

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Engaging the Arts and Sciences at the University
of Kentucky

• Working Together to Prepare Quality Educators

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Session Presenter

• James G. Cibulka, Ph.D.
• Dean and Professor
• College of Education
• University of Kentucky
• AACTE Annual Meeting
• New Orleans, LA
• February 2008

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Overview of Presentation

• Context of educator preparation at the University
  of Kentucky
• Unit governance structure that facilitates arts
  and sciences involvement in educator preparation
• Sample collaborative initiatives among education
  and arts and sciences faculty at the University
  of Kentucky
• Strategies to ensure arts and sciences
  involvement in NCATE accreditation process
• Challenges to effective collaboration

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Institutional ContextUniversity of Kentucky

• Public, land-grant, research university with very
  high research activity
• Enrollment of 27,209 students in fall 2006 with
  2,458 candidates enrolled in the unit
• Educator preparation programs located in seven
  different colleges on the Lexington campus
• Accredited by NCATE in 1954, the first year NCATE
  accredited institutions
• Located in an NCATE partnership state in which
  the state (Education Professional Standards
  Board) conducts program review and the NCATE and
  State Board of Examiners function as a joint team

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Arts and Sciences Involvement in Governance of
Educator Preparation

• Program Faculties Governance groups responsible
  for administration of individual preparation
  programs
• Membership Education faculty, arts and sciences
  and other content faculty, P-12 school
  practitioners, and candidates
• Duties Revise curriculum and field and clinical
  experiences conduct admissions process,
  including interviews and assess candidate
  performance throughout program

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Arts and Sciences Involvement in Governance of
Educator Preparation

• Program Faculty Chairs Group Facilitates
  collaboration and coordination across individual
  program faculties
• Membership Chairs of all program faculties,
  associate dean for academic and student services,
  associate dean for research and graduate studies,
  director of academic services and teacher
  certification, director of field experiences and
  school collaboration
• Duties Revises unit admission, retention, and
  exit policies administers the unit continuous
  assessment plan reviews candidate performance
  data

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Additional Structures that Facilitate Arts and
Sciences Involvement

• Outreach faculty appointments in the College of
  Arts and Sciences
• Joint faculty appointments
• Intercollegiate Council on Educator Preparation

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Benefits of Unit Governance Structure

• Encourages networking of education and content
  faculty to facilitate collaboration on grants,
  course and program revisions, and accreditation
  and program approval

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Examples of Collaborative Grants

• Appalachian Mathematics and Science Partnership
  (AMSP), grant funded by National Science
  Foundation
• American Legacies Revitalizing American History
  in Public Schools, grant funded by USDOE Teaching
  American History Program

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Examples of Collaborative Grants

• Curriculum Review and Alignment, three-year grant
  funded through Title II Teacher Quality
  Enhancement Grant, that resulted in major
  revisions to the elementary and middle school
  programs

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Examples of Collaborative Course and Program
Revisions

• Course development, e.g., Physics for Elementary
  Teachers, Geology for Elementary Teachers

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Elementary Education Program Revision Process

• Appointment of a 20-member Elementary Education
  Revision Committee with representation from
  education, arts and sciences, and fine arts
  faculty, P-12 practitioners, graduates, and
  candidates

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Elementary Education Program Revision Process

• Reviewed program data to determine areas of
  concern
• Held focus groups of student teachers and
  graduates
• Met twice monthly as a committee for over a year
  faculty work groups met weeks the full committee
  did not meet

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Elementary Education Program Revision Process

• Course content reviewed to determine alignment
  with Kentuckys Core Content for Assessment for
  Elementary Students, the Kentucky New Teacher
  Standards, NCATE Standards, and PRAXIS II
  examinations

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Elementary Education Revisions

• Identified key themes to be addressed throughout
  the program
• Working with students with special needs
• Assessment of student learning
• Diversity
• Technology
• Reflective decision making
• Inquiry-based practice
• Human development and learning theories

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Elementary Education Revisions

• Revised program elements include
• Requiring a new course in working with students
  with special needs
• Replacing calculus class with statistics and
  logic courses
• Streamlining art and music course requirements

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Elementary Education Revisions

• Revised program elements include
• Providing emphasis on health and fitness in the
  elementary classroom
• Redesigning area of specialization to focus on
  literacy and mathematics
• Requiring common syllabus across sections of
  Foundations course to emphasize diversity for all
  candidates

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Middle School Program Alignment

• Collaborative work groups comprised of arts and
  sciences and education faculty in disciplines of
  English, mathematics, science, and social studies

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Middle School Program Alignment

• Reviewed course syllabi across the four
  disciplines
• Aligned the course content with the Kentucky Core
  Content for Assessment in Grades 5-8
• Addressed gaps and duplication

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Strategies for Ensuring Arts and Sciences
Involvement in the NCATE Accreditation Process

• Included arts and sciences representatives on the
  units NCATE Accreditation Steering Committee
• Included arts and sciences representatives on the
  units NCATE Standards Work Groups, which were
  responsible for collecting evidence and writing
  the Institutional Report
• Involved arts and sciences faculty in numerous
  interviews during the site visit
• Invited arts and sciences faculty to post-site
  visit celebration

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Additional Strategies for Ensuring Arts and
Sciences Involvement in the NCATE Accreditation
Process

• Have regularly scheduled meetings
• Host retreats focused on specific topics
• Fund attendance at professional conferences and
  workshops
• Establish and communicate timelines well in
  advance
• Send gentle reminders
• Involve in preparations for site visit
• Document involvement all along the way
• And, finally, remember to celebrate and say thank
  you!

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Challenges to Effective Collaboration

• Higher education faculty, particularly in arts
  and sciences, often not rewarded for involvement
  in P-12 schools and educator preparation
  activities
• College-level and institutional-level
  administrators, especially in research
  universities, may not value collaboration
  perceive this work as peripheral to institutional
  mission
• Limited faculty resources hamper collaboration

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Effective Collaboration

• Collaboration among education, arts and
  sciences, and other institutional faculty
• Does not occur automatically but requires
  continued effort
• Occurs when genuine, ongoing partnerships are
  established most effective when each benefits
  from the involvement
• Works best when core of faculty are involved in
  areas of common interest
• Has support and active encouragement of college
  and university administration

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Comments and Questions?
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For more information

• James G. Cibulka, Dean
• College of Education
• University of Kentucky
• 103 Dickey Hall
• Lexington, KY 40506-0017
• cibulka_at_uky.edu
• 859-257-2813 phone