ELEMENTARY EDUCATION COORDINATING COMMITTEE
September 15, 2011
8:00 a.m.
Dr. Becky Brannock, Steve Brown, Patty Clay, Dr. Jean Dockers, Dr. Gloria Flynn, Dr.
Susan Knell, Dr. Pam Sells, Dr. Kathy Spillman, Amber Tankersley, Dr. Ray Willard and
Dr. Marti York attended the meeting. Ex-officio member in attendance was Dr. Alice
Sagehorn.
Dr. Dockers welcomed the committee to its first meeting. She shared that the committee
was a result of the fall 2010 NCATE visit. It became clear that there was only an
oversight committee for secondary/PK-12 programs. As a result, the Elementary
Education Coordinating Committee was formed as well as the Advanced Programs
Coordinating Committee. The purpose of this committee is to provide oversight to the
Early/Late Childhood K-6 and Early Childhood Unified programs.
Dr. Dockers asked committee members to join interviews for Explorations in Education
and Transitions elementary education candidates. The purpose of these interviews is to
provide interview practice, discover the motivation behind their decision to be a teacher,
potentially identify red flags, etc. The interview will closely follow the protocol for the
entry interview for Master of Arts in Teaching candidates.
A brief discussion was held on background checks for education candidates. Currently,
candidates are only required to complete a disclosure statement which makes the College
dependent upon their honesty. Background checks as a requirement for all candidates
will be explored further at the next meeting.
A discussion was held on Submission 2 of the e-portfolio. A deadline of November 1st
was proposed for those candidates that will student in spring 2012. There were no
objections. Reviews of the submissions will be completed by Thanksgiving break and
any resubmissions will be required prior to close of the fall semester. It was shared that
Dr. Julie Samuels and Dr. Dockers will review Submission 1 for all candidates. Dr.
Samuels will remain an evaluator for all elementary candidates for Submissions 2 and 3.
For Submission 2, there will need to be a second reader representing elementary faculty.
For spring 2012 student teaching candidates, Dr. Susan Knell, program coordinator, will
serve as the second reader. A process will need to be developed for future semesters. Dr.
Knell will discuss the assessment of Submission 2 with K-6 faculty and provide a report
at the next meeting.
Steve Brown briefly discussed program summaries. Dr. Alice Sagehorn will work with
Dr. Knell (K-6) and Amber Tankersley (ECU) to complete the program summaries.
Dr. Dockers distributed a graphic from Ball State University illustrating their assessment
system. NCATE found that the PSU Assessment System is not clear. Dr. Dockers
shared that a similar graphic will be created to provide an easy view of the Assessment
System. It will identify sources of data, assessments, where decision are made, etc. The
goal is to create a better understanding of the overall process.
The committee was asked to nominate student representatives to serve on the committee.
If possible, there should be a student representative from each of the elementary
programs. Committee members were asked to email names of nominees to Amanda.
Dr. Sagehorn noted that all recent changes in requirements for the Early/Late Childhood
K-6 program take effect in spring 2012. These changes do not affect Early Childhood
Unified majors.
 Candidates must meet the Basic Skills requirement to enroll in any
CURIN courses other than CURIN 261 Explorations in Education.
 Candidates must successfully complete the Principles of Learning and
Teaching: K-6 and Elementary Education: Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessment (content) exams prior to full admission to the Professional
Semester.
o For spring 2012 Professional Semester candidates only, students
will be allowed to petition to CARTE to be exempt from this
requirement if they are unable to meet it. This is due to the short
time frame provided to students to meet the requirement.
It was noted that the K-6 program is currently evaluating course alignment using follow
up survey data.
The following announcements were made:
 Praxis II Changes for 2011 – 2012
o Principles of Learning and Teaching
 Changed format from 12 constructed response to 70 multiple
choice and 4 constructed response
 New test codes: 0622 (K-6); 0621 (Early Childhood)
 New cut score: 160
 The Tutoring lab in B23 Hughes Hall is available to students to prepare for the
PPST as well as some content exams.
 Study material is also available through an app for the PLT: K-6. The link will be
provided.
 PSU now has a Future Educators Association chapter. It is open to all BSE/BME
candidates as well as faculty. Please contact Dr. Julie Samuels for more
information.
The next meeting will be Thursday, October 13th at 8:00 a.m. It will be held in 126
Hughes Hall.