GRADUATE ELEMENTARY INITIAL LICENSURE PROGRAM Longwood University
Section I: Context
1.1
State and Institutional Policies -
The Graduate Elementary Initial Licensure (GEIL) program at Longwood
University is designed for individuals seeking comprehensive preparation for the
elementary classroom after the completion of a baccalaureate degree. Students
seeking admission into this program typically hold undergraduate degrees in areas
of the Arts & Sciences related to the elementary grades curriculum (e.g. English
or History) or in broadly applicable areas such as communication or psychology.
The program is built on the conceptual framework competencies developed by the
Teacher Preparation Unit of the University, meshed with the ACEI standards and
the Virginia Department of Education Standards. This provides students with a
rich foundation of knowledge in content areas specific to best practices pedagogy
in the elementary setting.
Applicable state polices (Virginia Department of Education, 2007) include:
 Education Programs in Virginia shall have national accreditation.
(NCATE employing ACEI is the accrediting SPA for this program.)
 Institutions of higher education seeking approval of an education
program shall be accredited by a regional accrediting agency. ( LU is
accredited by SACS)
 Candidates must hold degrees in arts and sciences; the degree may be in
interdisciplinary studies. (Candidates enter the program with this
requirement met).
 Candidates must demonstrate proficiency in use of educational
technology and complete study in child abuse recognition and
intervention.
 Candidates must pass an assessment of basic skills to be admitted to the
teacher preparation programs. (Longwood uses the Praxis I).
 Candidates must complete structured and integrated field experiences,
totaling at least 300 clock hours to include at least 150 clock hours of
student teaching.
 Candidates must have opportunities to experience diverse school settings,
with a variety of populations of students that include racial, ethnic,
economic, and linguistic diversity.
 Candidates must be able to develop and use effectively assessments to
measure learning in PreK – 12 Students. The program must have
developed and documented the effects candidates have on PreK-12
student learning.
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The program assesses mastery of exit criteria and performance
proficiencies. Virginia requires Praxis II, VCLA and VRA for all
Elementary licensure candidates. Candidates passing rates must not fall
below 70% biennially for candidates completing and exiting the program
2008 – June 30, 2010. After July 1, 2010 the biennial pass rate must be
80%.
Programs must show two years of employer job satisfaction with
candidates.
Institutional Guidelines and Program Requirements, Guidelines and Procedures:
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Candidates must have a passing score of 532 on Praxis I to be admitted to
the Graduate Elementary Initial Licensure Teacher at Longwood
University or they must have a SAT score of 1100 (at least 530 on Math
and Verbal scores) or an ACT score of 24.
To graduate with a Liberal Studies Degree and to have a Teacher
Licensure Recommendation forwarded to the Virginia Department of
Licensure, the candidate must have passed three assessments required by
the state of Virginia which are Praxis II, VCLA and the VRA.
The appropriate Praxis II passing scores are required prior to enrollment in
the Student Teaching semester.
Grades of at least “C” are required for all graduate work at Longwood
University. A minimum cumulative grade point average of at least 3.00 is
also required to remain in the Graduate program.
Coursework in the program can be considered as having three components;
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Additional coursework to augment baccalaureate degree in General
Studies areas required by the Virginia Department of Education. At least
fifty-seven (57) credits of general studies must be completed, taken either
at the undergraduate or graduate level (can include courses from
baccalaureate studies). These credits must include 12 credits of English;
12 credits of Mathematics; 12 credits in the Natural Sciences; 15 credits of
Social Sciences; and 6 credits in the Humanities. The number of credits
students take as part of their GEIL program will vary, depending upon the
breadth of undergraduate preparation.
Professional preparation coursework taken at the graduate level. These
courses consist of a combination of traditional graduate courses both on
and off campus, on-line offerings, hybrid courses (combination of on-line
and face-to-face), and cross-listed courses (undergraduate courses with
additional requirements for graduate credit). Courses meeting either on or
off campus are typically scheduled in the evening during the regular fall
and spring semesters, or during one of three summer sessions.
EDUC 506
EDUC 508
Contemporary Social Issues in American Education (3)
Introduction to Elementary Curriculum, Instruction and
EDUC 527
EDUC 529
EDUC 544
EDUC 547
MUSC 548
PHED 589
SCED 562
SPED 515
MAED 623
EDUC 573
Assessment (3)
Human Growth and Development (3)
Emergent and Early Language Acquisition and Literacy
Instruction (3)
Strategies for Students who Struggle with Literacy (3)
Teaching Comprehension Strategies (3)
Social Sciences in the Elementary School (3)
Instructional Media and Computer Technology (3)
Integrated Arts in the Elementary School (3)
Elementary School Health and Physical Education (3)
Teaching Science in the Elementary School (3)
Survey of Exceptional Students (3)
Teaching Mathematics in Grades K-8 (3)
Inquiry into School Communities (3)
EDUC 689
EDUC 699
Professional Semester in the Elementary School (6)
Comprehensive Examination (0)
EDUC 521
EDUC 524
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1.2
Fieldwork expectations. In addition to a 6 credit student teaching semester
taken at the culmination of the program, there are at least two other
courses in the program that require fieldwork; see section 1.2 below.
Comprehensive Examinations. Taken during the last semester of the
program
Field and Clinical Experiences –
The Office of Professional Services (OPS) within the College of Education and
Human Services schedules all placements for the GEIL candidates using the
guideline of diversity being at the core of this process. The diversity of ethnicity,
race, economic levels, demographics, languages and appropriate grade levels are
addressed in the requests for each student in the placement for each field
experience.
 To develop pedagogical skills in the application of curriculum and
language arts instruction the candidates complete two courses in their
program that encompass fieldwork. 30 hours of fieldwork are required for
EDUC 508: Introduction to Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment and
75 hours of fieldwork are required to EDUC 573: Inquiry into School
Communities. The expectations of EDUC 508 and EDUC 573 combine for
over 100 hours of supervised field placement under the supervision of a
licensed elementary school teacher. The 573 course also requires that
students complete a Teacher Work Sample, a comprehensive product/
performance assessment encompassing numerous aspects of pedagogical
design widely supported in the research literature.
 The final field experience for students is the student teaching semester.
Student Teaching in the GEIL program is typically done in two grade
levels, one lower elementary (PreK-2) and one in the upper elementary
grades (3-6th Grades); seven weeks is completed in each setting. An
exception to this is when students are completing their student teaching
semester as a contracted teacher in a school system. In these cases, student
teaching is conducted as part of this paid position. Candidate must submit
an application to the Office of Professional Services a year in advance of
the semester they plan to student teach.
1.3 Requirements for Admission, Retention and Existing the Program
Requirements for admission and completion of the program are included in
section 1.1. Table 1 below show the number of students admitted to the GEIL
program over each of the last four years.
Table 1: Students enrolled in Graduate Elementary Initial Licensure (GEIL)
Year of
# of students admitted
Number completing program
admission
as of 5/2008
2005
2
1
2006
7
4
2007
3
0
2008
8
0
Additional information on these students can be found on the attached Excel file
summarizing the program assessments.
1.4 Relationship of the Program to the Unit’s Conceptual Framework
The Conceptual Framework (CF) of the Teacher Education Unit at Longwood
University is the base that guides the development of all
Elementary Education
Programs at the University, including the Graduate Elementary Initial Licensure
program. Syllabi for each of the courses in the program are designed to have
knowledge, skills, and dispositional objectives that are directed toward the nine
professional teacher outcomes framed in the Conceptual Framework. The
Conceptual Framework was designed in 1999 and has continued to be revised
since then. Currently, the Conceptual Framework is undergoing further revision to
the nine specific areas that guide the unit and program. While these revisions may
change the framework somewhat, the essential elements will remain as follows;
The nine professional teacher outcomes of the Conceptual Framework
consist of the following:
 Planning for Instruction involves development of individual and group
objectives and selection of appropriate pedagogy that fosters the
implementation of the Virginia Standard of Learning (SOLs ) and other
curricular goals;
 Implementation and Management of Instruction deals with planning
lessons and critically reflecting and adjusting teaching to fit the learning
needs of the students;
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1.5
Evaluation and Assessment involves assessing lessons through
collecting, analyzing, assessing data and evaluating quality of teaching
accordingly;
Knowledge of Subject includes a solid foundation in general education
along with theoretical and practical knowledge of what and how to teach;
Classroom Behavior Management involves using positive, fair and
respectful management techniques with all constituencies;
Communication Skills deal with the ability to communicate in an
educated manner with a variety of audiences, through diverse means;
Professional Responsibilities includes continuing to grow as educators
and to develop respectful citizen leader attitudes in each new school
community served;
Technology involves continued learning and integration of this
educational means when effective in communicating and teaching;
Diversity involves developing sensitivity to and planning for the diverse
classrooms faced by the educational community.
Unit and Program Assessment Comparison
Table 2: Assessment plans for program & unit
Assessments
Program
Assessment I – Praxis II
X
Assessment II – Comprehensive Exam
X
Assessment III – Course Grades
X
Assessment IV – Clinical Experience
X
Evaluation
Assessment V – Teacher Work Sample
X
Assessment VI – Dispositions
Assessment
Assessment VII – Teacher Survey
Unit
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
As indicated on Table 2, there are two more assessments required by the GEIL
Program than by the unit - Assessment II (Comprehensive Examination scores)
and Assessment III (Course grades).
1.6
Program of Study
See 1.1 for a description of the program of study.
1.7
Candidate Information – See Attachment A.
See “D See attached Excel file, refer to the worksheet entitled “Demographics”
1.8
Faculty Information-
Note: An Excel file (entitled Master Initial Licensure) is attached to the
electronic submission of this report. This file contains the template for data
gathering for this program. While some data for this program is complete
for program completers (e.g. assessments II and V), other components of the
data set are still in the process of being gathered for analysis.