The School of Education

Unit Goals

Goal One: To prepare reflective and responsive education professionals who demonstrate the ability to translate knowledge, skills, and dispositions into effective practice.

Objectives:

• Incorporate comprehensive portfolio assessment for initial and advanced (professional) licensure program candidates.
• Assess and strengthen candidates' preparation in the content areas appropriate to their licenses.
• Review and modify, as needed, the pedagogical content of licensure programs with respect to state and national standards.
• Refine means to assess dispositional characteristics of effective educators as defined in the conceptual framework.

Goal Two: To prepare educators who exhibit social responsibility, global awareness, ethical decision making and the ability to address the needs of all learners.

Objectives:

• Expand professional development for faculty in the areas of global and multicultural education and to meet the needs of English Language Learners.
• Expand professional development for faculty in the area of special education.
• Continue to place students in a variety of education settings that represent inclusion models.
• Incorporate and expand use of community, campus and departmental resources that promote a global perspective and a sensitivity to including all children in an effective learning situation.
• To increase the number of traditional under-represented student groups in professional education programs.
• To increase the number of minority faculty in the education unit.

Goal Three: To evaluate education unit programs according to professional, state and institutional standards utilizing assessment results for program improvement.

Objectives:

• Implement a refined comprehensive assessment system that will annually provide data for program review and program evaluation.
• Maintain a standing Strategic Planning to regularly review the results of the program evaluation, and to monitor the strategic planning process.
• Develop a program evaluation timeline to structure ongoing program review.

Goal Four: To expand and enhance professional preparation partnerships with area schools providing field experiences in varied models of effective educational practice.

Objectives:

• Expand the variety of exemplary field models including additional secondary field sites.
• Strengthen the collaboration between the Education Unit and its lab schools.
• Continue to provide service and support to the local educational community.
• Refining standards for selection of College Supervisors reflecting experience, training and licensure.

Goal Five: To provide life-long professional development opportunities for faculty, students and the community at large.

Objectives:

• Continue to support faculty development.
• Continue to support student development.
• Support recent program graduates in their initial years of teaching.
• Continue to provide professional development opportunities for the community.

Goal Six: To secure the resources and the technology that will enable the education unit to achieve its academic professional goals.

Objectives:

• Establish a central location for all Education Department offices and programs.
• Provide technology access with resources that reflect the "state of the art" for today's schools.
• Provide time and staffing support for teaching, research and program cohesion.
• Secure additional personnel resources for education unit.

Goal Seven: To continue to the scholarship and practice in the field of education.

Objectives:

• Provide additional course offerings for non-licensure education studies majors.
• Disseminate the scholarly and professional activities of Education Unit faculty.
• Establish an Education Unit publication.
• Secure financial support for the research and development centers and institutes within the Education Unit.
• Provide time and structures for scholarly exchanges among faculty.
• Enhance faculty engagement in distance education.