Diversity Com 08/09 An Report
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Summary Report
Richard W. Riley Diversity Committee
2008-09 Academic Year
This report provides an overview of the 2008-09 progress of the Richard W. Riley
College of Education Diversity Committee in meeting NCATE Standard 4, Diversity. Some of
these actions were the direct result of committee work and others were reported to the committee
by members. Diversity initiatives will be addressed under each of 4 areas linked to NCATE
standards: I. Design and implementation of curriculum; II. Experiences working with diverse
faculty; III. Recruitment and retention of diverse students; and IV: Field Experience diversity.
Committee goals for each area follow a brief summary of ongoing or completed work. A list of
current committee members follows the summary of accomplishments and goals in Appendix 1.
Appendix 2 details the results of our diversity scan, showing areas the committee feels need
attention.
Preceding the reports of each subcommittee is a general overview of accomplishments of the
Diversity Committee for the 2008-09 academic year.
Overview of Diversity Committee work, 2008-09.
The following actions have been completed by the Diversity Committee during this year:
a) We developed a Livetext site where all minutes, diversity work, and related documents
are housed.
b) We designed and held a Diversity Conference in November, 2008. The flyer from this
conference is housed on Livetext. This conference included sessions on supporting
achievement of African American males, using the arts to support English Language
Learners, supporting GLBT adolescents, working with Latino parents, supporting
students with autism, supporting learners with special needs in regular classrooms,
bullying, and gender issues. Attendees included education interns, regional school
professionals, and university faculty. Keynote speakers included Dr. Gil Cuevas, noted
expert on math education for ELL students, and Dr. Jim Rex, SC Superintendant of
Education. Attendees clocked 5 hours of inservice credit by attending this event.
c) We completed an NCATE scan to identify areas of needed attention in the 4 NCATE
diversity initiatives (Appendix 2.)
d) We developed a Diversity Plan, approved by the COE Faculty Senate and sent to the
State Department of Education (Appendix 3). This plan will be submitted to the Teacher
Education Committee in the fall for their review and approval.
e) We added a student member to the committee.
f) We met five times as a large committee during the 2009-10 academic year. The February
meeting was held at Gold Hill Middle School, hosted by committee member Dr. james
White. The minutes of each of these meetings is on the Diversity Committee Livetext
site.
Pending actions for next year:
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09
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a) Update committee membership, given recent personnel changes in the college of
Education that may influence committee membership. Ensure that changes to the
committee will retain or enhance the diversity of the committee membership.
b) Use the recently completed NCATE scan to identify actions for the 2009/10 school year.
c) Submit the Diversity Plan to the Teacher Education Committee for review.
d) Continue to work with the Diversity Committees of regional schools to plan shared
professional development events.
1. Design and implementation of curriculum (NCATE directive 4a)
a) Broad Actions Accomplished: This subcommittee completed an NCATE “scan” of
diversity in the curriculum. The steps in part “C” reflect areas the committee has
identified as most important to focus on in the coming year.
b) Related Curricular Actions: several actions related to 4a have been accomplished this
year:
1. The EDUC 210 team developed and piloted an assessment on the stages of
English Language Acquisition.
2. EDUC 681 faculty revised the key assessment for that course to reflect graduate
candidate skills in creating strong learning environments for diverse students.
c) Next Steps: This subcommittee identified two primary areas that need to be addressed in
the coming academic year:
1. We need more fieldwork or at least one fieldwork assessment specifically involving
work with learners with special needs. We collect assessment evidence for planning,
but not for applied modifications with special learners.
2. We need to identify coursework and a related assessment that shows candidates know
the process of second language acquisition and can design strategies to support the
learning of students whose first language is not English. We think this can be done in
EDUC 210.
2. Experiences working with diverse faculty (4b)
a) Broad actions taken: The College of Education continued to advertise positions in
multiple venues likely to attract diverse faculty candidates. In addition, the committee
worked to develop a survey that will provide updated information on faculty diversity. To
this end, the 4b subcommittee finalized and is ready to pilot a survey that will gauge
faculty diversity. Only two searches were completed during the 2008-09 year and neither
involved the interviewing or hiring of diverse faculty candidates. Budget limitations
make significant searches unlikely during the upcoming year. At the same time, we have
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09
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lost 3 African American faculty through resignation, retirement, and budget mandated
cuts.
b) Next Steps: Below are the actions this subcommittee has identified as necessary next
actions.
1. Collect data on diversity of school-based faculty—beyond the data we have on race
and gender.
2. Examine diversity of faculty teaching in off-campus sites.
3. Pilot the faculty diversity survey.
4. Collect information on recruitment and retention of diverse faculty at the university
level for comparison. (HR has agreed to start this for us.)
5. Consider working with the university to develop a minority faculty support group.
6. Develop and begin using an interview format to collect information from diverse
faculty when they end employment at Winthrop.
3. Attracting, supporting, and retaining diverse students (4c)
a) Actions Accomplished. The committee continued to review data on the retention of
candidates from underrepresented groups, and found that as in the past, the college
retains fewer diverse candidates than candidates from mainstream groups. This pattern
does not hold for graduate programs in the College of Education where there is both a
larger percentage of diverse candidates, and a higher retention rate to completion of
degree for those candidates than in undergraduate programs. A member of the 4c
subcommittee is employed by the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and
Advancement (CERRA), which continues to provide leadership in attracting diverse
candidates to education. Through CERRA’s cooperation, Winthrop partners with 19
regional Teacher Cadet classes, hosts 2 college days for teacher candidates, and continues
to provide a speaker’s bureau for education faculty outreach to potential education
students.
4c subcommittee members continued to work with the National Association for Black
Student Educators (NASBSE) student group and its field-based complement of
teachers—South Carolina Association of Black Educators (SCABSE) to provide support
and mentoring of African American education students.
b) Next Steps.
1. Increased efforts to recruit diverse candidates, including collaboration with a variety
of groups and efforts across campus. Specific ideas include having NABSE members
attend Preview Days and getting EDUC 110 students to get involved in campus
activities to increase their level of college engagement.
2. Modifications to early advising of at-risk candidates, including early advising of atrisk freshmen.
3. Work with CERRA, York Tech, and Clinton Jr College to attract diverse candidates.
4. Get recruitment and retention information from the university in general to compare
to that of the COE, especially for education minors.
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09
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5. Get updated information from retention rates for undergraduate students--#’s of
Freshmen vs COE acceptance vs COE graduation.
6. Collaborate with campus-wide efforts at supporting at-risk students, including any
opportunities for tutoring and mentoring that might exist elsewhere.
7. Work with the College ad hoc Advising Committee to consider ways to provide extra
attention to freshman-at-risk, including early advising each semester of freshman
year.
4. Candidate field experiences working with diversity (4d)
a) Actions Accomplished. The committee reviewed field placement data to see candidate
field experiences related to diversity. All candidates have field experiences in a low SES
school for either their field placement or internship, but may not have actual classroom
experiences with diverse students within those placements. This happens if, for example,
the school in which they are placed is a high needs school, but the classroom is identified
as an accelerated classroom.
The EDUC 210 team began incorporating school-based service-learning linked to a key
assessment for all candidates. This early field experience requires all candidates to
identify strengths and challenges of a learner from an underrepresented group and begin
to identify best practice interventions to support that student’s learning.
b) Next steps.
1. Collect and review more data to show whether candidates have actual experiences
working with diverse students, even though we know they are at a low SES school
for at least one of their placements. (Dr. Evers, Vare, & Johnson are using IWS data
to collect more information on specific experiences.)
2. Pull out and examine data from IWS documents to demonstrate actual candidate
practices with diverse students in internships.
3. Disaggregate data on candidate field experiences by program areas to see if diverse
field experiences and skills vary by program area.
4. We need to collect data on MAT students who are not currently included in the
survey we give interns.
5. An important goal for this aspect of the charge is to provide a field-based activity
with students with special needs so we can support and assess candidate skills
working with this aspect of diversity.
Summary of Goals for 2009-10 Academic Year:
The Diversity Plan (appendix 3) outlines the goals for the 2009-10 year. Several themes stand
out as imperative goals for the college: a field-based assessment of candidate ability to work
with students with special needs, and a continued effort to prepare candidates to work with
English Language Learners. Because of economic conditions, it will likely be difficult to
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09
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enhance faculty diversity through new hires, but concern for this goal remains central to the
committee. Finally, continued efforts at retaining students from underrepresented groups are
highly recommended.
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09
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Appendix 1: Diversity Committee Membership
Name
Carol Marchel
Jonatha Vare, CFP
Contact information
Chair
2115
Responsibilities
Jennie Rakestraw, Dean
2154
Supervisory
Stephen Gundersheim,
Fine & Applied Arts
4852
Faculty Development
Tri Grant, CERRA
6407
Susan Green, CFP
2476
Attracting and supporting diverse candidates,
working with diverse field experiences
Attracting and supporting diverse candidates
Elke Schneider, C & I
4003
Faculty development
Becky Evers, CFP
2589
Diverse field placements
Caroline Everington,
Assoc Dean
2436
Attracting and supporting diverse faculty
NCATE initiatives
Shelley Hamill, Health &
PE
4697
Faculty Development
James White, Gold Hill
Middle School
548-8300 white@fortmill.k12.sc.us
Attracting and supporting diverse candidates
SCABSE
Kelly Costner, Dir,
Student Academic
Services
4751
Diverse Field Experiences
Faculty Development
Seymour Simmons, Fine
& Applied Arts
2670
Curriculum
Anita Sanders, CFP
4745
Cindy Hunt, Rock Hill
Schools
981-1917; cell: 704-668-7197;
CHunt@rock-hill.k12.sc.us
Attracting and supporting diverse faculty
Attracting and supporting diverse students
Faculty development
Wendy Campbell, Arts
& Sciences
3382
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09
Curriculum Subcommittee
Faculty Development
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Appendix 2: Summary of NCATE Review by Committees, 2008-9
Subcommittee 4a: Diversity in the curriculum
We have 2 significant “holes” in this area:
3. We need more fieldwork or at least one fieldwork assessment specifically involving work
with learners with special needs. We collect assessment evidence for planning, but not
for applied modifications with special learners.
4. We need to identify coursework and a related assessment that shows candidates know the
process of second language acquisition and can design strategies to support the learning
of students whose first language is not English. We think this can be done in EDUC 210.
Subcommittee 4b: Experiences working with diverse faculty
Holes or things we need to do in this area:
1. Collect data on diversity of school-based faculty—beyond the data we have on race and
gender.
2. Examine diversity of faculty teaching in off-campus sites.
3. Pilot the faculty diversity survey.
4. Collect information on recruitment and retention of diverse faculty at the university level
for comparison. (HR has agreed to start this for us.)
5. Consider working with the university to develop a minority faculty support group.
Subcommittee 4c: Recruitment and retention of diverse students
Holes or things needed in this area:
1. Increased efforts to recruit diverse candidates, including collaboration with a variety of
groups and efforts across campus.
2. Modifications to early advising of at-risk candidates, including early advising of at-risk
freshmen.
3. Work with CERRA, York Tech, and Clinton Jr College to attract diverse candidates.
4. Get recruitment and retention information from the university in general to compare to
that of the COE, especially for education minors.
5. Get updated information from retention rates for undergraduate students--#’s of
Freshmen vs COE acceptance vs COE graduation.
6. Get information on retention of minors—those secondary education students whose
major is in a content area and whose minor is in education.
Subcommittee 4d: Field experience diversity
Holes or things needed in this area.
1. We need more data to show whether candidates have actual experiences working with
diverse students, even though we know they are at a low SES school for at least one of
their placements. (Dr. Evers, Vare, & Johnson are using IWS data to collect more
information on specific experiences.)
2. We need to pull out data from IWS documents to demonstrate actual candidate practices
with diverse students in internships.
3. We need to disaggregate data on candidate field experiences by program areas.
4. We need to collect data on MAT students who are not currently included in the survey.
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09
Diversity Com 08/09 An Report
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Appendix 3: Diversity Plan
Richard W. Riley College of Education
Diversity Plan—Rough Draft
April 2009
I.
Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Curriculum that Supports Candidate
Ability to Teach Learners from Underrepresented Groups
a. Goal Ia: To provide curriculum and assess teacher candidates ability to work with
learners with special needs
i. Action 1: Continue to design and implement curriculum in which teacher
candidates learn how to modify instruction for learners with special needs
ii. Action 2: Identify a field experience in which all candidates will apply
modifications for learners with special needs and collect assessment
evidence of the planning, application, and assessment of the application
iii. Action 3: Provide each candidate with at least one field experience in
which the candidate works with learners with special needs
b. Goal Ib: To provide curriculum and assess teacher candidates ability to work
with limited English proficient students
i. Action 1: Identify coursework and a related assessment that shows
teacher candidates knowledge of the process of 2nd language acquisition
ii. Action 2: Identify coursework and a related assessment that shows
teacher candidates’ ability to to design strategies to support the learning of
students whose 1st language is not English
iii. Action 3: Provide each candidate with at least one field experience in
which the candidate works with learners of limited English proficiency
II.
Candidate Experiences Working with Faculty from Underrepresented Groups
a. Goal IIa: The Richard W. Riley College of Education will actively recruit faculty
from underrepresented groups, being mindful of SC population demographics
i. Action 1: Collect and review data on faculty diversity annually, including
data on mentor teachers and internship supervisors
ii. Action 2: Engage in proactive recruitment of faculty from
underrepresented groups, using multiple recruitment approaches
iii. Action 3: Use a university minority faculty support group during the
hiring process for faculty candidates from underrepresented groups
iv. Action 4: Recruit members from underrepresented groups as mentor
teachers and internship supervisors
b. Goal IIb: The Richard W. Riley will collaborate with Winthrop University to
retain faculty from underrepresented groups
i. Action 1: Collaborate across university colleges to form support groups
for faculty from underrepresented groups
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09
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ii. Action 2: Survey faculty from underrepresented groups to determine
ongoing needs and provide necessary mentoring and support
iii. Action 3: Provide mentoring for first year faculty from underrepresented
groups by other faculty from the underrepresented group
iv. Action 4: Conduct an exit interview when faculty from underrepresented
groups end employment with the College of Education to gather
information about ways to support future faculty from underrepresented
groups
III.
Attracting, Supporting, and Retaining Candidates from Underrepresented Groups
a. Goal IIIa: Attracting candidates from underrepresented groups
i. Action 1: Collaborate with a variety of university and student groups to
increase the number of education candidates from underrepresented
groups
ii. Action 2: Work with outside groups such as CERRA, York Technical
College, local high schools, and others to attract candidates from
underrepresented groups.
iii. Action 3: Annually evaluate candidate diversity to determine success of
recruitment efforts and to determine further recruitment efforts
b. Goal IIIb: Supporting and retaining candidates from underrepresented groups
i. Action 1: Actively promote programs to increase university advising
efforts for at-risk students upon enrollment
ii. Action 2: Continually evaluate retention of students from
underrepresented groups to determine further support and retention efforts.
IV.
Candidate Experiences working with Learners from Underrepresented Groups
a. Goal IVa: Provide candidates with opportunities to observe and teach diverse
students
i. Action 1: Provide candidates with the opportunity to observe and teach
students who are linguistically and culturally diverse
ii. Action 2: Provide candidates with the opportunity to observe and teach
students with special needs
b. Goal IVb: Require that candidates demonstrate requisite skills and dispositions
necessary for working with diverse learners:
i. Action 1: Require candidates to plan and deliver effective instruction for
diverse learners
ii. Action 2: Require candidates to demonstrate classroom behaviors
consistent with fairness and the belief that all students can learn
iii. Action 3: Require candidates to demonstrate sensitivity to diversity
issues, including gender and cultural perspectives, when communicating
with students and their families.
Submitted by Dr. Carol Marchel
Diversity Committee Chair
5/7/09