Secondary Education Certification Program Committee
Meeting
Kutztown University, April 17, 2012
The meeting of the Certification Program Committee was called to order by T. Stahler at 1:30 PM
on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, with the following members present: K. Dolgos, J. Elias, C. PokorneyGolden, R. Schaeffer, and N. Zimmerman. Absent: J. McAndrew, M. Sanelli, and A. Rodriguez
T. Stahler welcomed all to the meeting and introductions were made.
On a motion by R. Schaeffer seconded by K. Dolgos the February 21, 2012 minutes were
approved.
1.
Professional Semester Two-Week Field Experience
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2.
The final placements were given to each professor and sign-up sheets were passed
around so the professors could choose the student they wanted to supervise.
The professors were all asked to brainstorm for ideas on how to fulfill the 20hr
requirement as well as to compose a list to share, thus preserving the quality in
Methods.
There was a suggestion to use Man͂anas and the Boys and Girls Club at the Reading
SD as part of the 20 hours required.
It was decided that the students should submit their hours to their Methods professor
on paper instead of on Taskstream.
The professors were asked to brainstorm more ideas on how to do the 20 required
hours and compose a list, which would be discussed via email.
Methods
a) Competencies
 Most of the competencies have been met in the methods courses. The communication
competency still needs to be met, and the writing competency is still needed in some
areas.
 The methods of teaching course needs to be revised to meet the Communications
Competency requirements and to include a 20-hour service component.
 Communication Competency guidelines were distributed to the methods course
instructors.
 While the Math and Modern Language departments are doing alright with their
competencies, the Science department still needs to come up with a list of
competencies.
 T. Stahler brought up a discussion about making a foolproof grid for students, that way
their normal classes will cover all competencies and they can graduate on time.
 There were a few suggestions for the 20 hours of volunteer work, such as Man͂anas
and the Boys and Girls Club at the Reading SD. It was decided that the students
should record their hours on paper to be reviewed by their advisor before posting on
Taskstream.
b) Lesson Plan Template
 There was a discussion whether to use the Common Core area of the template, as it is
being slowly introduced to the mainstream schools.
 There will be a retreat focused on the common core on May 10, 2012. This retreat is
not through PDE, as they are understaffed.
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There was a discussion about which template should be used, as some instructors use
the SAS template while others use the template available on the KU website.
There was a discussion about when to introduce and teach the templates, and the
decision was to introduce the template during Principles of Teaching and go more in
depth in the Methods courses.
The instructors agreed that there should only be one lesson plan template on
Taskstream for the students to use to reduce confusion.
The Vocabulary section of the template was left out due to the tiered nature of it.
It was decided that students should save the completed templates as word documents
and put them in a drop box for their Methods professors.
Two more lesson plan sections were added to the template. The professors agreed
that self-reflection and assignments were important factors that should not be ignored.
The instructors modified the lesson plan template by picking which areas are the most
needed.
 Subject
 Title
 Alignments – Strategy
 Objectives
 Duration
 Materials
 Instructional Strategy and Procedures
 Assessment
 Assignments
 Self-Reflection
c) IDEA Objectives
 T. Stahler asked the Methods professors to choose which IDEA objectives they want
attached to their courses. They will decide which two or three objectives they want for
the student evaluations of the faculty members.
3.
SPA Update
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The due date for SPA’s is June 1, 2012.
T. Stahler recommended if the professors cannot feel that they can complete it on their
own, then they should ask for help.
PAPA Test
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Each of the professors was given a handout listing the website for information about
the PAPA tests, which are a product of Pearson.
It was explained that any student who is not already signed up for the Praxis I will now
be required to take the PAPA, which will still include reading, writing and math, only at
a 12th grade content level instead of an 8th grade content level.
The professors were advised that starting May 1, 2012, KU would become a testing
center for the PAPA test.
The site is still under construction; however, study guides should be available soon.
Although the Praxis I has been replaced by the PAPA’s, the Praxis II will not change.
On a motion by Prof. Zimmerman seconded by Prof. Schaeffer the meeting adjourned at 3:00 PM.
cc:
Dr. Garber
Dr. McCarthy