English Section 4    
Candidate Preparation (printable version)

a. Student perceptions of preparation

Students are encouraged to provide feedback on preparation while in the Secondary Education methods courses and after they have exited the program.  While in the methods setting, students are provided opportunities during the semester to provide anecdotal information regarding course content, materials, assignments, and extended learning opportunities.  Though information collected by professors varies somewhat, each asks students to provide detailed comments which are analyzed at the end of the semester to both shape subsequent offerings and to inform colleagues regarding the usefulness of particular materials and field experiences.

Once students have graduated from the program, perceptions are collected in a variety of ways:  through interactions with the Eastern Michigan Writing Project workshop offerings; through the EMU student affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English; through surveys of students within the department’s graduate programs; and, finally, through interviews with students in their field settings.  Each semester, graduates are invited back to speak with current methods students to share information related their teaching lives and the relationships between training and practice.  From these sessions, professors as well as pre-service students gather data to help re-shape future instructional experiences.

b. Content assessment

Content assessment is an integral part of the English Education Program with both internal and external measures used.  Internally, all Secondary Certification students enroll in a capstone methods course the semester before they student teach.  In this class, content preparation in literature, language, and writing are synthesized within the context of the Michigan State Standards as students create extended units of study that integrate the language processes, draw upon a rich literature base, use process-based approaches to reading and writing, and  engage the students in authentic learning situations.  In addition, students create reflective documents which “make visible” their beliefs about teaching and learning and look forward to the types of instructional environments, strategies, and attitudes they will bring to their own classrooms.  All of these products become part of the student’s portfolio which is evaluated by the various instructors.  Beyond this demonstration of content knowledge, the College of Education provides addition assessment through portfolio development that emerges from the student teaching experience and is evaluated by both College of Education faculty and other faculty at the university and local teachers.

External content assessment is focused on analysis of student success on the MTTC.  We are pleased with the consistent 95% pass rate of our students on this assessment.

State Subject-Area Certification Test Scores, 16 Administrations

c.  Pedagogy

Again, on-going review of student teaching evaluations, standards-based portfolios, student projects, student MTTC scores, and success rates of first year teachers inform program planning and design.  Because of the high level of success our students demonstrate, we take substantial pride in the quality of our program. 

All professors in the program maintain active involvement with public schools, work constantly to improve their own pedagogy, and recognize that modeling is a major influence on a future teacher’s methodology.  To that end, not only do professors in the English Education Program work to maintain currency, they also work with members of the literature and writing faculty as well as with lecturers within the department who may teach entry level writing and literature courses to engage critical discourse about pedagogy.  Recent activities include cross-departmental meetings convened by the Program Coordinator to involve representatives from the linguistics, writing, and literature faculty in review of English Education student competencies and associated program planning; release-time for a member of the English Education faculty to conduct coaching and professional development meetings with department lecturers; and inclusion in pre-service students in professional development, professional conference, and Undergraduate Symposium presentations  where they are able to demonstrate their skills and competencies to real audiences.

d.  Cooperating teacher/mentor perceptions

Professors within the English Education Program make strong efforts to work closely with both student teaching supervisors in the College of Education and host teachers in the field.  By participating as evaluators of student teaching portfolios, engaging in conversations with student teaching supervisors, participating as coaches and mentors of students who are engaged in the College of Educations Renaissance Grant, and visiting with host and student teachers in the field, professors are able to remain highly informed about the appropriateness of our students’ content and pedagogical preparation.  Further, because many of the host teachers who work with our students have themselves been candidates in institutes and workshops designed and offered by the Eastern Michigan Writing Project, students are offered positive and progressive models to follow as a part of their student teaching experience.  Eastern Michigan University is a very large teacher preparation institution.  In light of the sheer numbers of students with whom we interact, we are particularly proud of the fact that our students are often sought after by host teachers, that our students generally experience high levels of success in their student teaching situations, and that our students tend to be hired for teaching positions within the first year after completion of the program

e.  Content-area faculty perceptions

Again, as noted 4.c above cross-disciplinary meetings that draw together literature, writing, and linguistics faculty to meet routinely with the English Education faculty provides a high level of quality information sharing.  Recent discussions resulted in program changes which offer students quality experiences with culture, genre, and period classes in literature.  Current discussions are focused on strengthening our literature methods component of the program and, potentially adding an additional linguistics course that specifically addresses needs of secondary teachers.  Because of the on-going and student-centered nature of these professional, cross-disciplinary conversations, a high level of trust and respect exists among faculty making it possible to share honest assessments of student preparation and work collaboratively to continue strengthening that preparation.

f.  Evidence of impact of program graduates on K-12 learning

Through the Renaissance Grant Partnership and on-going discussions with host teachers, we are able to gather some evidence of our students’ effectiveness.  At this point we have not engaged in follow-up analysis of state test scores emerging from our students' classrooms.  However, we are often invited in to participate in celebrations of student writing and other activities that demonstrate and celebrate student learning in our former students’ classrooms.  Many of our former students return to take part in institutes sponsored by the Eastern Michigan Writing Project (EMWP), bringing with them demonstrations and artifacts that attest to their own teaching proficiency and their students’ success.  Finally, we frequently engage our pre-service students in observation tasks in classrooms of former students, develop writing and/or literature log exchanges between methods students and students in classrooms taught by former students, and ask former students to be models and mentors (including email mentors) for our methods students.  In all of these situations, we are able to maintain a window into the classrooms of these students and to witness the many, many successes they demonstrate as new teachers. 

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