Meeting Minutes
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD (PEAB)
The Evergreen State College, Teacher Education
Thursday, March 2, 2006
Library Building 3112 (Board Room)
Voting Members Present: Scott Coleman (TESC), Kelly Foster (WEA), Fletcher Mann (WEA), Greg
Pier (WEA), Linda O'Shaughnessy (AWSP), Michi Thacker (WEA), Marci Waugh (WEA)
Others Present: Maggie Foran, Pat Lisoskie
Voting Members Unable to Attend: Lisa Iverson (WFIS), Laura Lynn (WASA), Deborah
MacKinnon (WEA)
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 9:30 by Greg Pier.
Business
The January 17 minutes were approved with some additional discussion that verified continuing
interest in having the program consider the place of National Board Certification preparation support in
relation to Evergreen's Professional Certification efforts.
Two members of the PEAB arrived early for the MIT Conference, being held in conjunction with our
meeting, to attend the first conference session. After these members shared their positive experiences
watching students present their conference papers we did an overview of the conference events to be
held in preparation for our participation in them.
Conference Participation
From 10:00-2:00 the PEAB members attended the key note address and conference presentations.
Closing
From 2:00 until 2:30 Scott and Maggie debriefed with the PEAB members about their experiences at
the conference and received suggestions for future discussions on a variety of topics. The PEAB
members noted that the Master's conference was a valuable experience for the students on several
levels: allowing students to do in depth research on a topic of special interest, developing a written
synthesis of their topic, and orally presenting a summary of their findings to a professional audience.
Topics proposed for discussion in future meetings were the coverage of arts in teacher education and
making the MIT candidates and faculty aware of the increasing impact of testing on instructional time.
Next Meeting
Our final meeting of this academic year will be held on Thursday May 18 from 9:30 to 2:30 in LIB
3112.
PEAB Recommendations and Program Responses During the 2005-2006 Academic Year
At our October meeting the PEAB members recommended that at a future meeting we discuss the
student teaching experience, including exploring in some depth what it is that student teachers are
asked to do by the faculty during student teaching. In response, a major topic at the May PEAB
meeting was a discussion with faculty about the student teaching experience, in which faculty from
different cohorts explained what they did and why, and PEAB members, especially those with recent
experience as cooperating teacher of our MIT student teachers, provided feedback. This is a topic we
expect to continue to discuss next year.
At our January meeting and again at the March meeting, the PEAB members recommended that
Evergreen and the MIT administrative unit consider supporting National Board Certification for
teacher in lieu of or in addition to running a Professional Certificate Program. This recommendation
stemmed from a discussion in which the time, cost and effort involved in earning the Professional
Certificate through the regular program was considered and thought to possibly be excessive in relation
to what could be gained through going through the National Board process. The program response
was to do some exploration about National Boards and its feasibility at Evergreen. At a Professional
Certificate Administrators meeting in June, the MIT director talked about National Board and its
relation to Pro Cert with Mary Jo. At our June 28 MIT retreat, this will also be a topic of discussion.
At our March PEAB meeting the PEAB members requested that we discuss the place of arts education
in the MIT program at a future meeting. In response, this was an item of discussion during the May
PEAB meeting.
At our March PEAB meeting, the PEAB members requested that the MIT faculty be aware of the
increasing impact of testing on instructional time. In response, this topic was briefly discussed at our
May meeting and is a topic we expect to address again next year. Recommended in March, discussed
in May.
Be aware of the increasing impact of testing on instructional time.
Recommended in March, initial discussion in May?