Iowa Board of Regents Efficiency and Transformation Study
Departmental Information Regarding Academic Programs
College of Education
2013-14
Trend Analyses
39. Student success enhancements.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY & FOUNDATIONS
MAE-PDT (online version): So far, students have been very successful in this
program.
Professional Development for Teachers (Cohort-based & Face-to-Face): Some
students maintain contact after graduation. Some build on their academic
achievement and pursue their terminal degrees. The faculty members
communicate their willingness to meet with students face-to-face or virtually to
discuss any academic issues, difficulties, and concerns. High expectations are
communicated to all.
Ed. S. in School Psychology (and MAE in Educational Psychology with Context
and Techniques of Assessment Emphasis. The School Psychology program is a
two-degree program): A. The school psychology program is typically able to
offer most students a 10-hour a week graduate assistantship. These
assistantships alleviate some of the financial burden associated with graduate
education and provide students with valuable experience working with
department faculty; B. Every cohort has a representative to the UNI School
Psychology Committee and the Iowa School Psychologists Association; C. NASP
requires a low student to faculty ratio to ensure students receive individualized
mentoring and support from school psychology faculty; D. The students who
recently presented at the national convention received some financial support
from the university, college, and department; E. Area Education Agencies
actively recruit school psychology students through on–campus visits and AEA
open houses. During the Spring 2014 semester representatives of Mississippi
Bend AEA came to campus to meet with Ed.S. students and AEA 267 hosted an
open house for them; F. Students are paid as first year school psychologists
during their internship year if they intern in Iowa.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP & POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
Postsecondary Education: The appointment of a 2 year term faculty member to
the PSE program helps with advising the increased number of students thereby
contributing to their success.
Superintendent Preparation Program: We have explored a number of ways to
enhance student success, such as:
Utilizing more current school administrators as in-class guests to share expertise
on particular topics, such as school construction, nutrition, transportation,
insurances, professional learning communities, diversity and outreach,
recruitment, hiring, retention and termination, curriculum development, finance,
etc. In fact, over twenty specialists are involved in the course of our student’s
programming.
We have sought student feedback on courses and curricula and have acted upon
those suggestions by revising content of courses to maintain currency and
relevance.
The program is currently pursuing membership in the University Council of
Educational Administration (UCEA). Membership in this national organization will
increase the program’s exposure to other rigorous and innovative programs and
be a valuable way of driving improvement.
For example, one of the components of the membership application asks
programs to specify the ways in which students are engaged in the design,
content selection and delivery of courses.
In addition, as funding has stabilized, faculty have increased attendance at
professional conferences, which are an important source of information for
program improvements that benefit students.
The program has long used the informal motto that says students do not
graduate from our program. Rather, they graduate into our family of educational
leaders. These efforts have recently taken the form of an active UNI Educational
leadership Facebook page and presence on Twitter. These efforts serve to
connect students to the program and faculty, even after graduation. The
program is also exploring the use of LinkedIn as a way of maintaining
relationships over the long term.
We continually work with students helping them apply for positions well after
they graduate from our program. In the 2013-14 year we have coached 17 of our
superintendent program students as they applied for positions and 14 were
successful. Some of these students had graduated seven years ago.
DEPARTMENT OF CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION
Early Childhood: Professional Development School model in Lincoln Elementary
School, Cedar Falls; Field experience in rural school settings through Teacher
Quality Partnership grant
Elementary Education: Professional Development School model in Lincoln
Elementary School, Cedar Falls; Field experience in rural school settings through
Teacher Quality Partnership grant
SCHOOL OF HEALTH, PHYSICAL EDUCATION & LEISURE SERVICES
Health Performance and Education: The HPE Division uses the Student
Outcomes Assessment process to evaluate curricular offerings and search for
ways to enhance student successes. Student outcomes assessment (SOA) in HPE
is based on competencies developed by a number of collaborating associations
for public health and health education. The Society for Public Health Education,
SOPHE and the American Association for Health Education, AAHE, the National
Commission for Health Education Credentialing, NCHEC, all worked together to
develop a national competency based examination for health educators-- the
Certified Health Educator Specialist, (C.H.E.S.). This tool became available to the
profession in the late 1980s. SOPHE and AAHE, through national collaborative
strategic planning, delineated seven major areas of responsibilities common to
all health educators in the United States. Each of these major responsibility areas
were further delineated into competencies and sub-competencies, and since the
early 2000s, these categories have been extended to include graduate level
competencies. As a part of that process, a Masters Certified Health Educator
Specialist, (M.C.H.E.S.) examination has been available at a level 1 (Masters) and
level 2 (Doctoral) of competency. The Faculty in the Division of Health
Promotion and Education at the University of Northern Iowa has consistently
used these major responsibility areas, competencies, and sub-competencies to
define and develop their curriculum. Undergraduate student outcomes
assessment is based on early program self-evaluation of these competencies and
sub-competencies, followed by a post internship self- evaluation and an
evaluation by the internship supervisor at the site of placement (see Appendix
3). The graduate student outcomes assessment (guided by the same criteria, but
based on the level 1 and 2 competencies and all of the lower competencies) has
been evaluated by graduation rates and grade distributions in graduate courses
in the past, but we have recently revised that process and this year are
implementing a similar pre-/post survey approach to enhance the traditional
measures previously used. Use of graduation rates and grade distributions raised
questions for the faculty concerning the accuracy and value of graduate student
outcomes assessment as currently embodied and a new method of assessment,
based on skills self-evaluation, was developed in spring 2013 and implemented
fall 2013.
The Division of HPE also has an active Health Science Club, HSC for
undergraduate and graduate majors which has been involved in environmental
health and other health related charity endeavors such as Earth Day events on
UNI Campus, Red Cross, “Gallon Club” blood drives, and the UNI Dance
Marathon activities. The HSC has an active meeting and volunteer schedule.
The UNI Global Health Corps student organization provides opportunities for
students in a variety of majors from universities throughout Iowa to participate
in health education missions and community health service projects around the
world. Students within all HPELS majors, as well as in others across the
university and Iowa, are encouraged to participate in this hands-on, experiential
learning service organization that enhances their professional development;
prepares them to work within rapidly growing multicultural settings; and serve
those in need. Academic credit is available for students, as well as scholarships
for travel from UNI Study Abroad.
Dr. Tom Davis is also active in encouraging students to attend the SOPHE annual
conference and in assisting students in preparing for a competing in the annual
National Health Education Case Study Competition. And in April, 2013, four
students (Jennifer Hackman, Laysa Shreve, Ryan Radloff, Corrine Russell-Hill)
qualified to participate in the National Health Education Case Study Competition
in Charlotte, NC. The UNI team won this national competition, which was the
fourth time UNI has won this competition since 2006. Again, in March, 2014,
three students (Ann Marie Horrigan, Kayleen Mahlstede, Carly Wolf) qualified to
participate in the National Health Education Case Study Competition in
Baltimore, MD. The UNI team placed 2nd this national competition.
The HPE Division requires a placement of 12 hours internship experience and has
recently implemented a pre-internship seminar prior to internship placement
that focuses on developing a resume, interview skills, and provide for networking
opportunities with past graduates. Internship placements are extensive
throughout the State of Iowa, including such placements as Unity Point Health
Systems, PCDM Insurance, University of Iowa, Wheaton-Franciscan Health
Systems, a wide variety of county health departments throughout Iowa, Iowa
Department of Public Health, etc.
The HPE Division has just completed the installation of an electronic display
board for advertisement of Center (Project Export and RRTTC) associated
internship opportunities, internship final project poster summaries, display of
recruitment and program activity information, Health Sciences Club meeting
dates and other items of interest to students.
Leisure, Youth and Human Services: 1. Two Therapeutic recreation students
are on the Iowa Therapeutic recreation board of directors. 2. Therapeutic
recreation students were invited to present at the Midwest Symposium on
Therapeutic recreation. 3. Therapeutic recreation students presented at the
Iowa Therapeutic recreation conference. 4. Research experiences offered by
Community Planning Workshop. 5. Great student “Write-in” Sessions 6.
Undergraduate market research on Division name change. 7. Students in the
Nonprofit Leadership Alliance Student Association have started research teams.
DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
Special Education—undergraduate: The Department of Special Education
utilizes several strategies to support or enhance the success of our
undergraduate students. Each endorsement program has multiple field
experiences that are linked with coursework and structured around specific
performance criteria. Individual students are closely monitored by department
faculty, field supervisors, and cooperating teachers throughout the duration of
their field experiences. This system of ongoing monitoring and feedback enables
us to identify students who are in need of individual supports. The range of
typical enhancements that are provided include additional observations and
feedback, modification of practica requirements, extension of the field
experience from several weeks into the next semester. While the department
prides itself on having a rigorous and intensive undergraduate program, we
make every effort to provide supports and enhancements that promote
students’ success.
Special Education—graduate: The Department of Special Education uses several
strategies to support or enhance the success of MAE and doctoral level students.
First, faculty utilize a variety of criteria in admitting students into the program,
such as grade point average, samples of scholarly work or writing (doctoral
applicants), and letters of recommendation. In addition to full admittance,
students may be accepted on a conditional basis if faculty have questions or
concerns about their ability and need for supports. Second, students are
assigned a faculty adviser who meets with them on a regular basis to assists with
the selection of courses and monitor and support their completion of program
requirements. Finally, the department has standard outcomes that are collected
to monitor students’ progress in the special education graduate program. These
include grade point average, performance on select course assignments, and
completion of comprehensive exams and MAE research requirements.
Department faculty meet as a group on a regular basis to examine students’
performance on these measures and make decisions about the need for
supplemental supports.
DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING


The supervision model of the Department using full time faculty
Emphasis on the Co-Teaching model for Student Teaching