College of Education P-12 Advisory Board September 6, 2016 COED 110 9:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m (note change in time) Agenda + Minutes

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1 College of Education P-12 Advisory Board September 6, 2016 COED 110 9:30 a.m. 11:00 a.m (note change in time) Agenda + Minutes Attendees (a list of membership + s appears at the end of this document): Dr. Lillian Rorie (Union), Dr. Kecia Cohn (Cabarrus), Todd Dellinger (Gaston), Sherrard Martin (Iredell-Statesville), Dr. Ann Stalnaker (Charlotte-Meck), Erin Fatzinger (Charlotte-Meck), Annie Parker (Kannapolis), Angelo Dellisanti (Rowan-Salisbury), Dr. Bill Anderson (COED), Brad Smith (COED), Dr. Teresa Petty (COED), Dr. Laura Hart (COED). Absent: Kathy Elling (CMS). 1. Welcome and Introductions Dean McIntyre welcomed the group and thanked everyone for their service. Everyone in the group was introduced. Laura shared a small gift (portable cell chargers with COED logo) as a thank you and distributed parking tokens. 2. Purpose Laura shared the purpose of the group: to focus on issues of P-12 and IHE collaboration to create on-going and regular conversations on how to best serve each other and work together to meet the needs of learners. This Board will help with gaining consistent and regular input and feedback regarding educator preparation programs in the College of Education in an authentic and meaningful way. 3. COED info snapshot of the college Laura shared a brief presentation on the College of Education: programs, enrollment, and initiatives. Enrollment in teacher preparation programs is down about 30% from overall. This only underscores the need for P12 and higher education to be working more closely than ever before. As part of this presentation, Bill Anderson shared about the summer reading camp/aldersgate initiative, and also commented on how recruitment has changed in the last few years. The College of Education is dedicated to new and different ways to recruit teachers. Bill volunteered to talk more with any districts who are interested after the meeting. Annie discussed the ongoing need for math and science teachers specifically, and the need to focus recruitment efforts in those areas. A possible idea: having high school students/math and science majors work at summer camps with elementary kids to pull them into teaching. 4. COED charrette a. On November 15, you are invited to participate in the COED Charrette: 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m., SACS Salons, 3 rd floor, Halton Arena. b. Morning: Candidates will showcase what they ve learned in clinical experiences and coursework i. Candidates in the pipeline, current student teachers, recent graduates c. After lunch: Discussion forum with P-12 partners i. What we ve learned, what you saw, panel with recent grads and faculty ii. Moving forward: next steps focus are we headed in the right direction? d. SAVE THE DATE will be going out by Monday September 12 mark your calendars. Laura shared information about the COED charrette. We are excited about this way to further showcase the good work of our programs, and also to further engage P12 partners. Please make every effort to be there at the 1 P a g e

2 charrette on November 15. All our Advisory Board will be invited. More to follow. Discussion items 5. Changing requirements for CTs: From SBE: Student Teaching Clinical Practice Requirements (based on Statutory References: 115C Clinical partnerships and practice in educator preparation programs; 115C-309. Student Teachers) 1. Work collaboratively with elementary and secondary schools and enter into a memorandum of understanding with local school administrative units where students are placed. In the memorandum, the educator preparation program and the local school administrative unit shall: a. Define the collaborative relationship between the educator preparation program and the local school administrative unit and how this partnership will be focused on continuous school improvement and student achievement. b. Adopt a plan for collaborative teacher selection, orientation, and student placement. c. Determine how information will be shared and verified between the educator preparation program and local school administrative unit. 2. Ensure clinical educators who supervise students in residencies or internships meet the following requirements: a. Be professionally licensed in the field of licensure sought by the student; b. Have a minimum of three years of experience in a teaching role; c. Have been rated, through formal evaluations, at least at the accomplished level as part of the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation System; and i. For the purposes of this policy, accomplished means a teacher has received ratings of accomplished or higher on three of the five standards to include Standard 4 on the most recent summative evaluation, or on Standard 4 for teachers on an Abbreviated Evaluation. d. Have met expectations as part of student growth in the field of licensure sought by the student. What can we do on our end to assist with this? (generally each district has specific policies) Seeking clarification on the growth part e.g., can it be a rolling average over time? Lillian pointed out that HR directors will have to work closely with principals and UNC Charlotte to identify these teachers. Laura expressed concerns that this is going to increase the layers of clearance for placements, possibly creating additional delays. In addition, the principal s recommendation is still very important; not every great teacher is a great mentor teacher. The COED is seeking clarification on how growth will be tabulated. Annie pointed out there are a lot of excellent teachers out there who do not make growth, because they are in a highpoverty school, for example. Laura will keep everyone posted on how this is progressing. This does not go into effect until July Require field experiences in every semester prior to the student s residency or internship (clinical student teaching) and include a full semester field experience in a low-performing school. Seeking clarification on intent; low-performing vs. high-need/poverty Suggestions on how to implement this? 2 P a g e

3 Discussion circled back to this language near the end of the meeting. COED is seeking clarification on the language of low-performing several members of the Advisory Board voiced their thought that the intention was probably related to high-needs or high-poverty schools (versus the limiting language of lowperforming ). Collectively, the Advisory Board unanimously agreed to support an interpretation that reads as high-need and approves allowing COED to share this interpretation with superintendents / policy makers, as we try to amend this language. Laura and Bill will follow up on this. 4. Licensure tests: NC SBE recently changed the policies on passing licensure tests; candidates may now have up to two (2) years after program completion to pass the tests. Universities may still require a passing score as part of program completion. At UNC Charlotte, a passing licensure test score is part of our approved program, therefore, we have not been able to drop this requirement at this time. DPI is talking about changing how programs are approved; if they do so, we may have more flexibility with this. o Superintendents: we want fully licensed teachers (RESA meeting, ) o HR directors: we want applicants we can hire now ( exchanges) Thoughts from advisory board? This item generated much discussion. Sherrard pointed out there is a gap in her district with elementary teachers conceptual math knowledge. Teachers have articulated that they don t know how to teach math. Annie agreed that a lot of reteaching of math is happening in middle/high school. She suggested making math instruction a further focus of this committee (Laura and Teresa will check on possibly structuring a conversation on this with Luke Reinke and Michelle Stephan (?) in the future). That said, do elementary teachers need knowledge of math through high school (as is measured on the NC Foundations licensure test for elementary education and special education teachers)? Sherrard suggested possibly advocating to policy makers about requiring the literacy/reading piece but not the math. Ann mentioned that IF candidates are allowing to progress without passing the test, districts could explore the possibility of requiring those candidates to continue their affiliation with UNC Charlotte until they do pass. Todd advocated for keeping the licensure test a requirement of program completion at UNC Charlotte. He noted that it gives us credibility and keeps the standards for our completers higher than other institutions. Also, it makes it clear that our programs prepare our students well for the work they do. Others on the committee concurred. Lillian did point out that other institutions do require the licensure test but work with districts on exceptions as need (for example, filling a last minute vacancy). Angelo shared that the approach might depend on the content area: at the high school level, being a content math expert is a requirement for the position, whereas that might not be the case for elementary. In either event, if we can somehow focus on finding ways to make it work for individuals should be the focus, versus a one size fits all policy. Overall, the group agreed that keeping the requirement of passing a licensure test is best but we should strive to find some flexibility if we can to work with candidates/districts who may need it. Laura noted that, at the moment, UNC Charlotte currently still requires the exams as a condition of licensure; however, more information is expected to come from DPI on this issue this fall. We will share the Advisory Board feedback with the greater UNC Charlotte leadership group, and will keep the Advisory Board posted on the status of this initiative. 3 P a g e

4 5. How can we help you??? While we didn t have a lot of time to discuss options, Laura did reiterate that the College of Education is ready to assist our P12 partners as needed please let us know how we can help you (PD, etc.) Meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m. Next meeting: COED Charette, November 15 (see item # 4 above). 4 P a g e

5 College of Education P-12 Advisory Board membership Prefix First Name Last Name District Position Dr. Kecia Coln Cabarrus Director of Human Resources Todd Dellinger Gaston Principal - Tryon Elementary School rtdellinger@gaston.k12.nc.us Angelo Dellisanti Rowan Principal - Jesse C. Carson High School Angelo.Dellisanti@rss.k12.nc.us Kathy Elling CMS Community Superintendent - South Learning Community kathleen.elling@cms.k12.nc.us Sherrard Martin Iredell Director of Curriculum Support (6-12) sherrard_martin@iss.k12.nc.us Annie Parker Kannapolis Director of Elementary Education and Title I annie.parker@kcs.k12.nc.us Dr. Lillian Rorie Union Director of Human Resources Services lillian.rorie@ucps.k12.nc.us Dr. Ann Stalnaker CMS Executive Director - North Learning Community annw.stalnaker@cms.k12.nc.us Erin Fatzinger CMS Teacher - University Meadows Elementary erinm.fatzinger@cms.k12.nc.us Dr. Teresa Petty COED Interim Associate Dean tmpetty@uncc.edu Dr. Bill Anderson COED Special Assistant to the Dean wander28@uncc.edu Brad Smith COED Director Teacher Advising and Licensure bsmit191@uncc.edu Dr. Laura Hart COED Director of Assessment and Accreditation lchart1@uncc.edu 5 P a g e