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2000 NCATE Annual Report
(Part C of the AACTE Annual Report)
[Printable Version]


Section 1 - Institutional Information:


NCATE ID: 11472
AACTE SID: 1025
Institution: Eastern Michigan University
Unit: College of Education
Next Accreditation Visit: Fall 2003
Last Accreditation Visit Fall 1997
Deadline to Submit Final Version of Part C: 01/31/2001


Section 2 - Unit Head Information


Unit Head Name: Jerry H. Robbins
Unit Head Phone: (734) 487-1414
Unit Phone: (734) 487-1414
Unit Head Fax: (734) 487-6471
Unit Head EMail: jerry.robbins@emich.edu
NCATE Coordinator: Carolyn Finch
Coordinator Phone: (734) 487-1416
Coordinator Fax: (734) 484-6471
Coordinator Email: carolyn.finch@emich.edu
NCATE Coordinator2:
Coordinator2 Phone:
Coordinator2 Fax:
Coordinator2 Email:
CEO: Samuel A. Kirkpatrick
CEO Phone: (734) 487-2211
CEO Fax: (734) 487-9100
CEO Email: samuel.kirkpatrick@emich.edu

Is the information above accurate? No - Please enter corrections below

Corrected Unit Head:
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Corrected Unit Head Phone:
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Corrected Unit Head Fax: 734.484-6471
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Corrected NCATE Coordinator:
Title of NCATE Coordinator
Corrected Coordinator Phone:
Corrected Coordinator Fax:
Corrected Coordinator Email: carolyn.finch@emich.edu
Corrected NCATE Coordinator2:
Title of NCATE Coordinator2
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Corrected CEO Full Name:
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Section 3 - NCATE Standards Categories & Weaknesses Section



Section A. Conceptual Framework(s)

The conceptual framework(s) establishes the shared vision for a unit's efforts in preparing educators to work effectively in P-12 schools. It provides direction for programs, courses, teaching, candidate performance, scholarship, service, and unit accountability. The conceptual framework(s) is knowledge-based, articulated, shared, coherent, consistent with the unit and/or institutional mission, and continuously evaluated.

Please indicate evaluations of and changes made to the unit's conceptual framework (if any) during this year:
        Especially at the Initial level, incremental changes in the conceptual framework have been made during the year, generally on the same topics as mentioned in the previous year's report -exhibitions, structured field experiences, and assessment.


Conceptual framework weaknesses cited as a result of the last NCATE review:
There is a lack of articulation of the conceptual framework by some candidates
and faculty.


Please indicate how the unit has addressed these weaknesses.
        As has been the case for the past several years, the work of various faculty groups in dealing with a variety of program changes and the work of other faculty groups related to the exhibitions, structured field experiences, and assessment has continued a focus on the conceptual framework, especially at the Initial level. The conceptual framework material is on the College of Education web site and the dean's letter to students who have been admitted to the initial teacher preparation program encourages them to review this material. Program themes and other elements of the conceptual frameworks continue to be incorporated into newsletters, catalog materials, web site materials, promotional materials, syllabi, and the like. In the Fall of 2000, a reminder will be sent to program leaders throughout the campus reminding them of the importance of reflecting conceptual framework concepts in materials provided to a variety of constituencies.


Section B. Candidate Performance

Standard 1. Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions
Candidates Candidates include persons preparing to teach, teachers who are continuing their professional development, and persons preparing for other professional roles in schools such as principals, school psychologists, and school library media specialists. preparing to work in schools as teachers or other professional school personnel know and demonstrate the content, pedagogical, and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all students "All students" includes students with exceptionalities and of different ethnic, racial, gender, language, religious, socioeconomic, and regional/geographic origins. learn. Assessments indicate that candidates meet professional, state, and institutional Institutional standards are reflected in the unit's conceptual framework and include candidate proficiencies. standards.

Please describe the unit's plans for and progress in meeting this standard. (Refer to the NCATE 2000 Unit Transition Plan for information regarding the levels at which units should address Standards 1 and 2 during the first 4 years of NCATE 2000 implementation)
        The Department of Teacher Education has taken steps to revise the outcomes for the early childhood education, elementary education, and most of the secondary and K-12 programs. There has been a greater alignment with State standards on pedagogical components. Additional activity is under way to bring subject-area majors and minors into greater alignment with State objectives for the various teaching fields. EMU is part of a Renaissance Group consortium that holds federal funding to use "teacher work sampling" as a measure of learning outcomes. A faculty member holds a grant from The Renaissance Group to study the effects of preparation programs on K-12 learning outcomes. The nature of desired dispositions is under discussion, along with possible ways of assessing various dispositions.

        Program changes during the year include clarification of requirements for pre-student teaching field experiences for all students, clarification of general education requirements for recommendation for certification for students who already hold a bachelor's degree, "reconfiguration" of the pedagogical sequence for the art education program, redefinition of the "structure of the disciplines" minor for prospective elementary teachers, receipt of approval from the Michigan Department of Education to offer a K-12 technology and design program and a K-12 industrial technology program, receipt of approval for amendments to the social studies major for prospective secondary teachers, and the signing of an agreement between EMU and Grand Valley State University such as to offer the EMU Ed.D. in educational leadership in cooperation with and with the assistance of GVSU in the Grand Valley area.



Weaknesses related to Standard 1 cited as a result of the last NCATE review:
Please indicate how the unit has addressed these weaknesses.
        Not applicable.



Standard 2. Assessment System and Unit Evaluation
The unit has an assessment system that collects and analyzes data on the applicant qualifications, the candidate and graduate performance, and unit operations to evaluate and improve the unit and its programs.

Please describe the unit's plans for and progress in meeting this standard. (Refer to the NCATE 2000 Unit Transition Plan for information regarding the levels at which units should address Standards 1 and 2 during the first 4 years of NCATE 2000 implementation)
        The Department of Teacher Education has devised course-by-course assessments, including appropriate scoring rubrics, as part of the pedagogical sequence that affects many students, especially at the Initial level. As mentioned above, we are substantially involved in The Renaissance Group "teacher work sampling" methodology project. Detailed analysis is under way with respect to the performance of Initial program candidates on the Michigan Tests of Teacher Certification and data from this analysis is being used to inform program revisions where needed. The institution continues to support a campus-wide assessment system (on a program-by-program basis), to which all these efforts are closely linked.


Weaknesses related to Standard 2 cited as a result of the last NCATE review:
Please indicate how the unit has addressed these weaknesses.
        Not applicable.


Section C. Unit capacity

Standard 3. Field Experiences and Clinical Practice.
The unit and its school partners design, implement, and evaluate field experiences and clinical practice so that teacher candidates and other school personnel develop and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all students learn.
Please indicate any significant evaluations, changes and/or improvements related to Standard 3 that occurred in your unit this year:
        The FETE (Field Experiences in Teacher Education) courses, scheduled to be implemented incrementally over a multi-year period, affected a substantial number of students during 1999-2000. As a result of the growth in number of students, number of placement sites needed, and the like, various adjustments were made. In addition to these structured field experiences for prospective initial teachers at the elementary and secondary levels, various courses continue to have field components, often involving placements at one or more of our "consociate" schools. There have been incremental increases in the use of electronic communications (email, web sites, chat rooms, etc.) involving student teachers, university supervisors, and cooperating teachers. The Clinical Suites of the Porter Building, serving programs in reading, counseling, and speech and hearing, have permitted high-quality experiences for students, under the supervision of the faculty and specialist support staff. As a result, many more clients than

        ever before, and many more students than ever before, have had a quality clinical experience.


Weaknesses related to Standard 3 cited as a result of the last NCATE review:


Please indicate how the unit has addressed these weaknesses.
        Not applicable.

Standard 4. Diversity
The unit designs, implements, and evaluates curriculum and experiences for candidates to acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all students learn. These experiences include working with diverse higher education and school faculty, diverse candidates, and diverse students in P-12 schools.

Please indicate any significant evaluations, changes and/or improvements related to Standard 4 that occurred in your unit this year:
        Of the 10 hires made in the College of Education for the Fall of 2000, two (20%) were minority persons - one Asian and one African-American. The 2000-2001 tenure track faculty consists of approximately 15% minority persons. Of the 10 hires, five (50%) were women, giving us a tenure track faculty for 2000-2001 of almost 60% women. The school faculty, including those involved with the FETE (Field Experiences in Teacher Education) courses, student teaching, and other field experiences, represent the rich cultural diversity of the southeast Michigan area, including the heavy concentration of African-Americans in Detroit. Minority enrollments in the Initial teacher preparation program have remained at about 10% of the total for several years, with a slightly higher percentage of minority persons in the programs at the Advanced level. However, because enrollments are increasing rapidly in most programs, this means that the absolute number of minority persons is increasing.

        The first FETE course in the sequence is focused on cultural diversity and takes place in Detroit schools. The Department of Leadership and Counseling has also expanded its programming in Detroit, such as to serve a larger number of minority students. At any given time, the College of Education has at least one special project under way to attract and retain minority students in professional education programs.

        Dr. James Comer, prominent African-American child psychiatrist and founder of the Comer Schools and Families Initiative, served during 1999-2000 as the first holder of the John Porter Chair in Urban Education.

Weaknesses related to Standard 4 cited as a result of the last NCATE review:
Please indicate how the unit has addressed these weaknesses.
        Not applicable.


Standard 5. Faculty Qualifications, Performance, and Development.
Faculty are qualified and model best professional practices in scholarship, service, and teaching, including the assessment of their own effectiveness as related to candidate performance; they also collaborate with colleagues in the disciplines and schools. The unit systematically evaluates faculty performance and facilitates professional development.

Please indicate any significant evaluations, changes and/or improvements related to Standard 5 that occurred in your unit this year:
        During 1999-2000, the College of Education faculty members probably set all-time high records for the quantity of scholarly and service activities. In addition, the first full year of occupancy of the Porter Building, with its "high tech" environment, gave many faculty members the opportunity to incorporate media and technology into instruction in ways that had never been possible before. Faculty members received a number of recognitions, notable among which was the recognition of Olga Nelson as the 2000 National Academic Advising Association/ACT Outstanding Advisor. Collaborations with colleagues in the disciplines continued, especially through the Basic Programs Committee and the Advanced Programs Committee. Several COE faculty members held grants in collaboration with faculty members from other disciplines.

        There continued to be considerable collaboration with schools, especially through several sponsored projects, through the Comer Project with the Detroit schools, through our consociate school program, and through the Collaborative School Improvement Program and other activities coordinated through the COE Office of Collaborative Education. COE faculty members continue to be leaders in the state-wide COATT initiative for identifying teachers who are highly proficient in the use of technology. Other faculty members continue to be prominent in state, regional, and national professional organizations.

        In each College of Education Department, the Department Evaluation Document has been reviewed/modified, or is currently under such review. The College of Education continues to sponsor a mentor program for new faculty members. The Department of Teacher Education held a new faculty orientation session for its new members in addition. A number of technology-related training sessions for faculty and staff members have been held during the year, such as to insure a high use of the technology that is available in the Porter Building. A professional development theme for the year, "Looking Back, Moving Forward," was implemented through a number of events and learning experiences.


Weaknesses related to Standard 5 cited as a result of the last NCATE review:
Please indicate how the unit has addressed these weaknesses.
        Not applicable.


Standard 6. Unit Governance and Resources.
The unit has the leadership, authority, budget, personnel, facilities, and resources, including information technology resources, for the preparation of candidates to meet professional, state, and institutional standards.

Please indicate any significant evaluations, changes and/or improvements related to Standard 6 that occurred in your unit this year:
        For 1999-2000, the College of Education had income of $14.5 million from all sources, including app. $1 million in sponsored projects and app. $0.3 million in development funds. Sponsored project income is expected to exceed $2 million for FY01. There were 121 tenured/tenure track positions and a total faculty allocation of 164.9 FTEF. All these statistics represent increases over the previous year. The support staff included eight administrators, 10.67 professional technical persons, and 17.5 clericals, for a total of 38.17 including graduate assistants. Between the last two years, the percentage of credit hours taught by part-time faculty members decreased and the instructional productivity ratio has increased.

        This past year was the first full year of operations in the Porter Building. All COE offices, including all departmental and faculty offices, are housed in this "state of the art" facility. With the exception of specialized spaces for HPERD (gymnasia, dance studio, etc.) and classes taught in other communities, all COE classes are taught in this building. The building is designed to be "high tech" and includes many specialized spaces for the enhancement of instruction that are either vast improvements over what we had before or that we never had before.

        Each faculty member has an private office and an individual computer, hooked to the Internet. There are a variety of "high tech" spaces, including the Bonisteel Computer Lab, the Educational Resource Center, several "smart classrooms," several computer classrooms, the CATE (Center for Adaptive Technology in Education) lab, and many others. All classrooms have Internet connections and a wide variety of media and computer-based equipment has been acquired and installed.

        During 1999-00, 1,112 persons were admitted to the initial teacher preparation program, an 11% increase over the previous year. During the year 886 new teachers were prepared, along with 55 school administrators, 43 school counselors, and 1,005 persons for an advanced teaching credential --a total of 1,969 school-related professionals. This represents an increase of 7% over the previous year. In addition, the COE graduated 138 persons in professional fields not subject to NCATE review. In the Fall of 1999, the College of Education had 4,768 students enrolled, an increase of 4.5% over the previous Fall. During the year, the COE generated 80,255 semester credit hours, a 4.96% increase over the previous year.


Weaknesses related to Standard 6 cited as a result of the last NCATE review:
(Initial teacher preparation) Because advising loads are not equally
distributed throughout the unit, some candidates are not well served.

(Initial teacher preparation) Heavy faculty advisement loads, especially in the
Teacher Education Department, do not permit adequate advisement.

Please indicate how the unit has addressed these weaknesses.
        The improvement of advising services for students, especially initial teacher preparation students, was a high priority during 1999-2000. Several major steps were accomplished toward this end.

        College of Education Advising Center

        Olga Nelson, who was selected as a 2000 National Academic Advising Association/ACT Outstanding Advisor, was named the College of Education Advising Coordinator. In this capacity, she reports to the College of Education Office of Academic Services, which is headed by Carolyn Finch, associate dean.

        Dr. Nelson and Dr. Finch moved forward with the following activities:

        1. Develop a comprehensive plan for the College of Education Advising Center, including mission statement, short- and long-term goals, description of barriers and obstacles to effective functioning of the center, development of advising flow charts for all COE programs, and compilation of advising statistics for the 1999-2000 academic year.

        2. Establish and orient the COE Advising Center team.

        3. Develop and distribute a Student Advising Handbook.

        4. Participate in the planning and preparation for the implementation of the campus' Degree Navigator on-line student advising system.

        5. Participate in community college transfer and Transfer Express meetings.

        6. Make presentations to community college counselors and to student groups.

        7. Develop guidelines for the establishment of a COE student advisory committee.

        8. Develop plans for an advising section on the COE web page.

        9. Prepare the office location for the COE Advising Center, which will open in Room 130 of the Porter Building for Fall 2000. Room 130 will also be used as a satellite office for Career Services, thus providing COE students with career planning and placement services within the building.

        10. Develop mechanisms (such as a newsletter) to keep the COE community informed about the advising center and its work.

        Dr. Nelson provided substantial direct advising services to students during the academic year. Barbara Diamond provided similar services, especially with respect to transfer students entering the College of Education, during the Spring term.


        Advising of Post-Baccalaureate Students

        The advising of post-baccalaureate teacher certification students, formerly done primarily in the Office of Academic Services, has been enhanced considerably during the year through the assistance of Jeanne Petig, Pat Pokay, and Georgea Langer, all of the Department of Teacher Education. Additional advising materials have been developed, including a flow chart and a sample program of study. COE web site information for this constituency has been enhanced as well.


        General Advising and Orientation

        Among the COE faculty members who led Freshmen Interest Groups (FIG's) were Karen Paciorek and Linda Lewis-White ("Exploring Elementary Education") and Liz Broughton ("Exploring Math/Science"). Sections of AADV 177, University Orientation, were taught by Liz Broughton, Yvonne Callaway, Geff Colón, Caroline Gould, Thomas Gwaltney, Beth Johnson, Linda Lewis-White, and Karen Paciorek.


        Advising Improvements in the Departments

        Special Education. Roberta Anderson continues as undergraduate advising coordinator. Students wishing to major in any of the seven areas of special education meet with Mrs. Anderson early in their EMU career to insure that they enroll in those general studies courses which are appropriate for special education majors. During the 1999-2000 year, all department faculty members obtained ISIS access through their desktop computer and had received training in accessing appropriate information such as to support and facilitate student advisement.

        An undergraduate advising handbook was completed and distributed to all faculty members in the department who advise undergraduate students. Program-by-program advising web sites have been completed or are in progress. The Mentally Impaired program area has prepared and has distributed during the year "advisement folders" for its majors. These folders contain general program information, course sequences, preclinical information, and program plan sheets. Gary Navarre became graduate coordinator in the department and he conducts initial advising with all graduate students. Dr. Navarre also handles all combined post-baccalaureate program initial student advising in the department. Joe Coyner serves as the on-site graduate advisor for all students enrolled in the master's program in Flint.

        The COE web site has continued to be developed as a major information source for students, to assist in self-advising matters.


Section D. Other weaknesses cited during the prior visit.

Other evaluations, changes and improvements during this year:

        Included in the materials above.


Other weaknesses cited as a result of the last NCATE review:
Please indicate how the unit has addressed these weaknesses.
        Not applicable.


Additional Changes in the Unit:
Included in materials above.


Enter the Name of the Person Filling Out the Report: Jerry Robbins