Student Teaching

What is the program’s mission statement or statement of purpose? Why does the program exist?

The mission of the Department of Student Teaching and Clinical Experiences is to provide superior capstone experiences for teacher education candidates from all four academic colleges at EIU. The department works closely with professional colleagues in public schools to create superior student teaching experiences for all EIU teacher candidates. Student teaching placements are made in Illinois public schools that promote high levels of learning for all students along with continued learning and professional development for teachers. EIU student teaching coordinators are former teachers/administrators with expertise in working successfully with new and novice teachers.

How does the program mission align with the university mission?

The student teaching experience is the capstone experience for all teacher candidates at EIU. This experience allows teacher candidates to integrate everything learned about students, subjects, strategies, and societies during their time at EIU and apply it in a real life situation under the guidance of their cooperating teacher and university supervisor. EIU’s overarching goal is to create “Educators as Creators of Effective Educational Environments: Integrating Students, Subjects, Strategies, and Societies.”

Whom does the program serve?

The Department of Student Teaching and Clinical Experiences follows guidelines from ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) and NCATE (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education) regarding high quality supervised clinical experiences and student teaching experiences. The department serves teacher candidates from all four academic colleges at EIU. Teacher candidates identify the area within the state where they would like to student teach and then are interviewed by student teaching coordinators to gain information to enable good placements. The student teaching coordinators are located across the state to enable more thorough and timely supervision. The state of Illinois and Illinois school districts are served because EIU continues to prepare high quality future teachers for future generations of students in Illinois schools.

Throughout the student teaching experience teacher candidates demonstrate their ability to research topics for lesson plans that promote growth and student learning, implement those lesson plans, and assess student learning and growth.

What are the services provided? How do these services align with the university mission and program mission?

EIU’s mission is to offer superior, accessible undergraduate programs and to offer applied learning experiences. This department offers the capstone experience for all teacher education programs at EIU to enable all teacher candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their skill and expertise as a future teacher – the ultimate in an applied learning experience.

The department serves as the home for COST (Consortium for Overseas Student Teaching) at EIU. Each year, up to 10 EIU students can complete the student teaching experience in another country if selected to participate.

This department processes all reimbursements for ELE, SPE, SED, and CSD clinical experiences supervision by faculty and processes the paperwork for the cooperating teacher stipend paid to K-12 teachers. All supervision expenses of the student teaching coordinators are processed by this department.

The department hosts two different companies who provide fingerprinting and background checking services for our teacher candidates.

Describe the program’s origins (e.g. year established, purpose, expectations).

Prior to 1977, the Department of Student Teaching and Clinical Experiences was a unit that was operated out of the Dean’s Office. In 1977, the department was established by the vice president and the first faculty members were assigned to the unit. The faculty members came from other departments across campus and were already supervising student teachers as well as teaching classes.

How has the unit changed or adapted over time?

There have been several changes since this department was established. Accreditation and state standards have increased the rigor of the student teaching experience and expectations for the faculty. The region that is used to place student teachers now encompasses the entire state and faculty members are located throughout Illinois in order to provide enhanced and timely assistance to student teachers and their schools. With the growth in the numbers of student teachers in the 2000’s, faculty were added to maintain our high quality supervision reputation. As enrollment is declining, the number of faculty is declining proportionally. However, it needs to be noted that the decline in faculty has not and will not affect the high quality supervision EIU is known for providing.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program’s history and relevance to university mission.

Provide data showing the four-year trend in the number of majors, minors, options, and concentrations.

Provide data showing the four-year trend in student credit hour (SCH) production, percent of SCHs that are general education, and percent of SCHs that are taught to non-majors.

What elements of the program’s curriculum are offered specifically to support other academic majors, minors, options, and concentrations?

This department is a service department for teacher education programs located in all four academic colleges at EIU and supports teacher candidates across campus. In looking at the SCH numbers, it is evident that the number of teacher candidates has declined in the past few years. The main reason for this decline was ISBE’s decision to raise the cut score on the testing requirement for entrance into teacher education programs (a state law and not something that EIU has control over). Additional reasons for this teacher candidate decline include limited recruitment of students with ACT scores between 22 – 26 (our prime target areas), negative media coverage of teachers and districts, and a lack of encouragement to pursue teaching as a major by individuals outside of teacher education.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the internal demand for the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., curriculum changes made by another program) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

List relevant data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) New Graduate Salary Survey, and the EIU Career Services Annual Report.

As you can see from the table below, the numbers of teachers employed is expected to grow from 2010 to 2020. However, the growth may not be consistent across regions. It is clear that there continues to be a need for teachers.

                                                                     # of Jobs                   Outlook                 Change

Teacher Type                                                     2010                      2010-20                2010-20

Kindergarten and Elementary School                  1,655,800                 17%                        281,500

Middle School                                                     641,700                  17%                       108,300

High School                                                     1,037,600                   7%                         71,900

Special Education                                                459,600                 17%                         77,400

The State of Illinois Occupational Projections for 2010-2020 indicates the need for teachers.

                                                                                       # of Jobs              # of Jobs          2010-20

Teacher Type                                                                     2010                       2020             Change

Primary/Second/Special Ed. Teachers                                 207,230                   246,459           39,229                  

Special Education Teachers, Secondary                                  8,619                       9,681             1,062  

Is the program accredited or approved by a recognized external agency or otherwise certified to meet established professional standards? Provide an executive summary of and link to the program’s most recent accreditation or certification report, if available.

All teacher education programs underwent an NCATE review in 2010 and were reaccredited in April of 2011.   http://castle.eiu.edu~ncate2010/

Is the program required to meet any regulatory or legal requirements? Is the program subject to any special auditing requirements?

All EIU teacher education programs submit yearly program reviews to ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) to ensure that all legal requirements of the State of Illinois and the regulatory requirements of ISBE are met.

What are the most important outreach or public service activities supported by the program?

Many teacher candidates participate in service activities while student teaching. This involvement varies by teacher candidate.

How do the local community and the region benefit from the program?

The communities hosting student teachers benefit in many ways. Teacher candidates share the latest in content and pedagogical knowledge with their cooperating teachers thus enriching the K-12 education of Illinois children. Classrooms have an extra set of eyes/ears/hands to help students learn. Administrators have the opportunity to interact with prospective teachers and observe their growth throughout the semester.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the external demand for the program.

If needed, provide supplemental comments or data sources to help the reader understand the quality of program outcomes.

The Illinois Association of Deans of Public Colleges of Education (IADPCE) annually surveys first year teachers and their supervisors using the Teacher Graduate Assessment Survey. In 2012, 68% of EIU’s first year teacher’s supervisors rated them as extremely prepared to be a successful new teacher with another 29% rated as mostly prepared to be a successful new teacher.

Cooperating teachers consistently comment on the academic content and pedagogical content/skill that EIU student teachers bring with them to the student teaching experience. Many indicate that they wish they could host only EIU student teachers because they are well prepared to function in a school setting.

Note any special benefits (e.g., personnel support, equipment, permanent improvements) that the program has received in the past three years from its grants and other sponsored programs.

Last year a Redden Grant was received to purchase video cameras for all student teaching coordinators. This will enable the coordinators and student teachers access to critical technology equipment needed to complete the edTPA assessment.

How does the program benefit from donor gifts (e.g., scholarships, endowed chairs)? Does donor support provide a significant percentage of the program’s overall funding?

One endowed scholarship has been established in the Department of Student Teaching and Clinical Experiences, the L. Joyce Taylor Student Teaching Scholarship. The scholarship was established to overcome financial barriers associated with student teaching. It is a recent scholarship and has only been awarded once. This year’s applications for the scholarship are currently under review.

Another endowment was set up in 2012 through the CEPS Dean’s Office to offset some of the financial burdens associated with student teaching. When this endowment matures, ten students will be able to receive awards between $1200 and $1400 (depending upon earnings).

Departments across campus have received endowed scholarships/awards to support teacher candidates during the student teaching semester.

List two or three key relationships that the program maintains with external constituencies (e.g., community colleges, other universities, government bodies). How do these relationships advance the university mission or otherwise benefit the university?

School Districts/Teachers/Administrators across Illinois

Regional Offices of Education

Without the support of Illinois school districts, their teachers and administrators, the Department of Student Teaching would be unable to find high quality student teaching experiences for EIU teacher candidates.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the resources generated by the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., revenue pass-throughs) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the productivity of the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., accreditation requirements, curricular changes, program restructuring) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

The final set of data provided above on the program is incorrect and incomplete. The formula used by the Office of Institutional Research was one that did not take into account the formula that is used to calculate the full-time supervision load of the student teaching coordinators. The formula used to calculate load for student teaching coordinators will not work with the given data table. Each year, student teaching coordinators supervised an appropriate number of student teachers for a full load.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the costs associated with the program. Note any clarifications or special circumstances (e.g., expenditures made centrally or externally, expenditures made on behalf of other units) that should be considered when reviewing the above data.

The major costs associated with this program are personnel and travel. Travel is essential for EIU to maintain our reputation of providing high quality supervision for EIU teacher candidates. As school districts are held under more public scrutiny regarding the performance of their students on standardized tests, some districts are choosing not to collaborate in the preparation of the next generation of teachers by hosting a student teacher. This means the student teaching coordinators are expanding the areas where they place student teachers resulting in more miles traveled for supervision. The state of Illinois periodically increases (decreases) the mileage reimbursement amount which directly impacts the departmental budget. The department has been frugal in their commodity expenditures and have put as much information online as possible to decrease expenditures for printing and mailing.

How does the program seek to distinguish itself from similar programs at other institutions?

EIU is known for the following:

• All student teachers, regardless of major, are held to the same sets of standards and requirements.
• Student teaching coordinators who are highly skilled generalists with excellent connections to EIU content faculty and long standing relationships with K-12 schools.
• Student teaching coordinators who share relevant information with departments and have developed excellent feedback loops.
• Routinely place student teachers across the state in quality schools.
• Quick response to cooperating teacher or administrator concerns.
• Established remediation process that is known to teachers and administrators.
• Personalized process – each student teacher is interviewed prior to placement.
• Assisting student teachers as they begin their job search.
• Integrating the subject content knowledge with the pedagogical knowledge and skills throughout the student teaching experience.
• EIU is known for being a participant in the COST program which allows up to 10 teacher candidates to complete their student teaching experience abroad.

Note any unique and/or essential contributions that the program makes to the university.

• Personal approach to placement of student teachers and the supervision that follows.
• Department that is solely committed to preparing the highest quality future teachers using an integrative and reflective supervisory model.
• Student teaching coordinators who are the positive face of EIU in school districts across the state.
• Participation in a program (COST) where EIU students can student teach abroad and participate in a more culturally diverse experience.
• Piloting the edTPA, a new state performance assessment requirement for all teacher candidates and collaborating with EIU departments in preparing our student teachers to successfully complete this assessment.
• Provide teacher candidates with two different opportunities for fingerprinting and/or background checks.

Provide any program-specific metrics that help to document program contributions or program quality. Examples of some commonly used program-specific metrics may be found here.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand the program impact on the university mission.

Provide a link to or listing of the program’s goals and/or strategic plan.

None Available

What role will the program have in the implementation of the university’s strategic plan (provide link to strategic plan)?

Planning

• Take the lead in successfully integrating the edTPA into the student teaching semester in collaboration with departments across campus. (Required of 2015 graduates)
• Examine the current student teaching service areas and redesign to fit today’s circumstances.
• Maintain the academic rigor of the student teaching experience.
• Continue to prepare student teachers who can positively impact the learning of all students.
• Model professional attributes for future teachers.
• Continue to monitor enrollments to maximize the use of faculty resources.
• Update and regularly maintain the student teaching website.

What are the program’s two or three most promising opportunities that could help advance the university’s academic mission? Provide an estimate of additional investments or other costs required and additional student credit hours, revenue, or other resources generated.

Opportunities

• Take the lead in successfully integrating the edTPA into the student teaching semester in collaboration with departments across campus prior. (Required of 2015 graduates)
• Revise and redesign the current service areas to better meet today’s circumstances.

If needed, provide supplemental comments to help the reader understand future opportunities for the program.

EIU’s ‘Core Values’ are to uphold excellence; value personal relationships; be accessible, and serve the community, region, state, nation, and world. This department exemplifies those core values to our teacher candidates on a daily basis.