Professional Education Advisory Council (PEAC)
for Eastern Michigan University’s Educator Preparation Programs
October 29, 2009 Minutes
EMU Student Center Room 330
Oakwood Drive between Huron River Drive and Washtenaw
Attendance: C. Day (World Languages), R. Schaffner (Lincoln Consolidated Schools), J. Tracy
(Leadership & Counseling), H . Hyde (alumna, English Education and Counseling), S. Jusick (Napoleon
Community Schools), J. LaRose (Teacher Education – Reading), B. Gorenflo (Academic Services Student Teaching), S. Quilter (Academic Services), J. Cowdery (Health), R. Fulkert (Technology
Studies), D. Fries (Special Education), R. Sambrook (Geography & Geology), D. Bennion (Teacher
Education), K. Paciorek (Teacher Education – Early Childhood), M. Kinney-Sedgwick (Teacher
Education – Reading), C. Kwierant (student, English Education), B. Wylo (Physics & Astronomy), A.
Adleman (student, Special Education), L. Williams (Teacher Education – Reading), D. Winder (Arts &
Sciences), L. Treppa (alumna and student, Special Education)
Call to Order and Welcome to the Council at 5:50 PM
Meeting called to order by Shawn Quilter (Associate Dean for Academic
Accountability, College of Education). The Council was charge was presented its charges: 1) provide
input to the educator preparation programs at EMU, and 2) recommend changes to policies, procedures,
and practices of the unit (the unit is the entirety of all educator preparation programs at EMU). Dean
Vernon C. Polite welcomed the Council and thanked faculty for their efforts to complete program reports
for NCATE this year.
Selection of Co-Chairs for 2009-2010
Shawn Quilter serves as co-chair (administration) for the Council. Dr. Derrick Fries was nominated and
elected to be the co-chair (faculty) for the current academic year. (Vote 19 for, 0 against, 0 abstentions)
Approval of Minutes from March 5, 2009 Meeting
The minutes were approved by a voted of 19 for, 0 against, and 1 abstention
Accreditation and Report Card Update
Shawn Quilter reported that EMU submitted 26 program reports to the National Council for the
Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) this fall as part of the re-accreditation process. The
following disciplines will earn (or continue) national recognition: mathematics, science, early childhood,
special education, reading, English, world languages, social studies, health, physical education,
technology education, computer science, educational leadership, middle level, ESL, and educational
technology . There are nine other NCATE institutions in Michigan. Three are currently under
consideration for re-accreditation. Most have only a few national recognitions, except for WMU, which
currently has 18. Speech Language Pathology accreditation continues with ASHA. Counseling
accreditation continues with CACREP
The dates of NCATE site visit were shared with the Council (October 24-27, 2010). Council members
will be asked to meet with the team in the afternoon of October 24 or 25.
Results from the Michigan Title II Report Card for EMU (2008-2009) for the 2007-2008 academic year
were shared with the Council. EMU is working on improving the response rate of student teaching
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supervisors to the Exit Survey so that we can get another point on the report card. Council members
pointed out that this report card done entirely by self-report methods and that there has been no auditing
of any of the self-report data by the Michigan Department of Education. The other area where EMU does
not get full points is in program completion rates. Most other schools are reporting in the 80s and 90s
while EMU is in the 70s.
Discussion Item: Survey Feedback from the Unit Assessment System
1. Advanced Program Completer Survey (2008)
Leadership and Counseling has added a course in school improvement, which requires students to do
research within an applied school context. All teachers benefit from exposure to educational technologies
that fit within their instructional purposes, which includes whiteboards, clickers, etc. It is important that
educational leaders know how to use various data systems and software to be able to plan school
improvement and other activities. It was recommended that each advanced program be provided their
disaggregated results, which will be done shortly after this meeting. It is okay to send e-mail requests to
principals and other professionals in lieu official letterhead through US mail. Make sure surveys and short
and to the point.
2. Initial Program Completer Survey (2008)
Major revisions are underway for the regular education field experiences. The FETE courses will have
more credit hours and faculty will teach them. They will have specific, supervised field placements in
local schools (PRTC courses). In the elementary field experience for RDNG 310, students will be able to
see faculty teach reading lessons in the same building there are doing their student teaching in. These
changes will have an impact on the quality of the teacher preparation program and address concerns about
classroom management skills. It was suggested that new teachers need help with the following: talking to
parents (in non-confrontational ways), working/talking with colleagues, etc. Some districts have student
teachers sit in on parent-teacher conferences, which is an invaluable experience.
3. Student Teaching Exit Survey (2008-2009)
Classroom management is a recurring theme. Hopefully, the new curriculum for regular education
students will address most/all of the issues. Currently, pre-service teachers learn about classroom in
several different courses, but there is no opportunity to practice it. The most popular student teaching
workshop topic is classroom management.
Discussion Item: Continuing Certification of Teachers
1. Adding endorsements after initial licensure
Questions were raised about how many credit hours need to be done at EMU in order for EMU to be the
recommending institution for an endorsement. Basic guidelines for majors and minors are in the early part
of the catalog. Each department takes its own approach. It was suggested that there be a institutional
policy for this in light of the fact that we should be including students in these programs in our
NCATE/SPA data. This matter will be referred to appropriate committees for consideration and action.
Adjournment at 6:52 PM
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