College of Education, Humanities, and Behavioral Sciences Fosters Improvement in Teacher Education

The Educator Preparation Program (EPP) in the College of Education, Humanities, and Behavioral Sciences (CEHBS) recently held its Annual School Partnership Day. The School Partnership Day event included nine public school districts, two private schools, one University, and one community college. Advisory Council members also serve on subcommittees for one of the 45 education programs in the College as Advisory Committee members. 

Members of the Council serve for two years, and assist, support, make recommendations, and participate in the decision-making process for continuous improvement of the teacher education programs. 

Activities included presentations from Dr. Peter Eley, Interim Dean; Dr. Johanna Massey; Mr. Dwayne Green, director of Undergraduate Admissions; and Dr. Tau Kadhi, Ph.D., Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs/ Dean of Graduate Studies.

Dr. Eley presented completion data from the key assessments, acknowledged school partners in the room who had won an award in their school district, addressed teacher shortages and other personnel shortages from the stakeholders, and provided opportunities for open discussions to seek input for support with the Praxis Content Knowledge exam and the Foundations of Reading 190 test. 

The event was highlighted by meetings between education program coordinators and experts in the field to collaborate on creating, revising, and editing assessments that align with State and National standards. Several programs completed validity and reliability studies of their assessment instruments reviewed syllabi, and redesigned field experiences for the preservice teachers and the graduate programs.

Partnership Day ended with action plans to move forward for the Educator Preparation Programs in the spirit of continuous improvement.