Diversity Com 08/09 An Report 1 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 Diversity Com 08/09 An Report 2 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 Diversity Com 08/09 An Report 3 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 Diversity Com 08/09 An Report 4 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 Diversity Com 08/09 An Report 5 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 Diversity Com 08/09 An Report 6 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 Diversity Com 08/09 An Report 7 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 8 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 Diversity Com 08/09 An Report 9 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