STANDARD 4 - DIVERSITY
Standard 4. The unit designs, implements, and evaluates curriculum and provides experiences for candidates to acquire and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions necessary to help all students learn. Assessments indicate that candidates can demonstrate and apply proficiencies related to diversity. Experiences provided for candidates include working with diverse populations, including higher education and P-12 school faculty, candidates, and students in P-12 schools.
4.1 How does the unit prepare candidates to work effectively with all students, including individuals of different ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, gender exceptionalities, language, religion, sexual orientation, and/or geographical area?
The School of Education is committed to providing candidates with knowledge and experiences that support a sensitive understanding of diversity and the skill to help diverse children learn. SUNY-Geneseo interprets diversity as differences in individuals that are manifested in their race, ethnicity, national origin, language heritage, world-view, religion, gender, sexual orientation, class, physical ability, learning style, geographic background, mental health, age, and relationship status. Diversity is a central theme of our conceptual framework and is threaded through coursework and field experiences.
In the School of Education, all course syllabi within each program (Initial and Advanced) are required to address issues related to diversity as an integral part of our conceptual framework. Diversity proficiencies related to the Conceptual Framework include: 1. Candidates have the knowledge and skills related to technology in order to engage diverse students; 2. Candidates are aware of using multiple perspectives in planning instruction for diverse learners; 3. Candidates adjust and revise instruction based on students’ needs and changing circumstances; and 4. Candidates treat all people with respect and create culturally-responsive curriculum. In addition to the proficiencies listed above, candidates in advanced programs are expected to apply research and further develop leadership skills. Starting with the very first course in every undergraduate program, INTD 203, Social Foundations of Education, issues related to diversity are introduced to teacher candidates. Issues related to diversity also are identified in the course outcomes throughout all programs. (4.3.) Finally, the course outcomes for student teaching in all programs require candidates to demonstrate respectful and high quality interactions with all children, including culturally and linguistically diverse students. (4.3.d, 4.3.f)
SUNY Geneseo’s core curriculum requires all students to complete a 3-credit hour course that addresses diversity through the study of non-Western Traditions. Candidates can satisfy that requirement by taking a wide range of courses from the departments of Anthropology, English, Foreign Languages, Geography, History, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology, as well as Music, Dance and Theatre.
Candidate’s knowledge of the importance of diversity, their ability to adapt instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners, and their commitment to using that knowledge to help all children learn is assessed through a range of program and course assessments. Common key assessments start with our candidate’s Statement of Philosophy and Beliefs and include lesson plans and unit plans, as well as evaluations of field experiences and student teaching. Data from our alumni and employer survey on preparation to work with diverse populations are very positive. (4.3.c)
Candidates have multiple opportunities to build experience working with diverse students through their field experiences and student teaching placements. Field experience takes place in urban, rural, and suburban settings offering candidates contact with a wide variety of students. Our commitment to offering candidates diverse experiences is reflected in the fact that half of these field hours are in urban and high needs schools. A focus of our field experience/student teaching program is to continually seek placements within the Rochester City School District. In addition to our more traditional placements, SUNY Geneseo teacher candidates can student teach in the Buffalo area, Syracuse, and Long Island. Those seeking a more specialized special education placement can opt to student teach at Pathfinder Village, a residential facility for children and adults with down syndrome. (4.3.b) In addition, several international options exist as well – a field experience opportunity in the UK in partnership with The University of Exeter, and a student teaching placement in Ghana, West Africa, through Kumasi University. (4.3.b)
In 2008 the SOE initiated a new graduate program in Multicultural Education which provides candidates with a Master’s degree in Multicultural Education, Grades 1-6. The coursework, focusing on the skills of advanced teaching geared toward diverse populations, includes a core of classes such as EDUC 479: Creating a Multicultural Classroom, two theory classes, four courses connecting content and pedagogy, and two specially designed electives focusing on Multicultural Education. Candidates in the program complete a master’s thesis or project in Multicultural Childhood Education. (4.3.a)
New courses focused on issues of diversity within the School of Education include EDUC 480: Multicultural Perspectives in Childhood and Youth; EDUC 488: Transformational Pedagogies: Critical, Constructivist, Multicultural, and Feminist; EDUC 479 Creating a Multicultural Classroom; and EDUC 488/560: Literacy and Language Development in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Recently approved by the Teacher Education Advisory Committee (TEAC) and under review by Faculty Senate is a proposal for an Advanced Program in Adolescence Mathematics and Special Education.
Our Special Education program provides many opportunities for teacher candidates to gain experience working with diverse student populations. For example, candidates gain experience through their work with Geneseo’s L.I.V.E.S. Program which provides students with intellectual and/or other developmental disabilities opportunities to learn independence, vocational, and educational skills. (4.3.b) Our Council on Exceptional Children (CEC) offers many opportunities for candidates to work with children, families, and adults within the community. In addition, Geneseo’s wide variety of multicultural student organizations provides students active connections to and experiences with diversity. Their membership numbers and activities point to an energetic student body that is given resources and support by SUNY-Geneseo in a shared commitment to diversity. (4.3.a)
The School of Education provides a host of extra-curricular activities that focus on diversity through our Xerox Center for Multicultural Teacher Education which offers a year-long calendar of seminars and events that includes guest speakers, exhibits, and discussions on topics ranging from schooling in conditions of poverty, sexual orientation in the school curriculum, and combating institutional racism in public schools. The Xerox Center’s events offer candidates the opportunity to engage complex issues of diversity in a supportive environment, and to interact with diverse populations of students through volunteering in Rochester City Schools. During the 2010-11 school year the Xerox Center was involved in an array of activities in support of its mission, including: tutoring, mentoring, and teaching urban students at the Rochester Young Scholars Academy at Geneseo [RYSAG] Saturday School ; recruiting and supporting under-represented pre-service teachers at Geneseo through scholarships and mentoring programs within the Xerox Center; engaging urban middle school students in a two-week on-campus camp to teach critical thinking, encourage college education, and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; partnering with Rochester City School specialists to provide seminars for Geneseo pre-service teachers, faculty, and community members; conducting an annual conference on multi-cultural teacher education; and working collaboratively with minority students to encourage them to consider teaching as a career in an urban teacher’s overnight program. (see 4.3.b)
In an effort to affect the impact of the educational and social value of having diverse candidates in teacher education, SUNY Geneseo actively seeks to increase a diverse student body through its Access Opportunity Program. This program recruits students from historically under-represented populations and provides educational access opportunities and academic support. The School of Education works actively to recruit AOP students to enter teacher education programs and provides intensive advising and support. Our Xerox Center offers scholarships each year to students from under-represented groups and students with a commitment to urban or multi-cultural education. (4.3.h) In addition, we have worked very closely with Monroe Community College’s Education Program to provide for a smooth transition, as many of their students complete their certification program here at Geneseo. The focus of this year’s advising has been placed on the recruitment of diverse students.
In conjunction with the Xerox Center’s summer camp, Rochester Young Scholars Academy at Geneseo and the Saturday School, an eight-year longitudinal research project sponsored by Drs. Morse and Morgan, Keeping Kids in School (KKIS), is now in its fourth year. This project offers undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to engage in qualitative research with a cohort of urban students in the Rochester City School District. This study will assess the impact of RYSAG and the Saturday School on participants, but also aims to discover factors or strategies that successful urban students employ to graduate in a city where the graduation rate is routinely below 50%. The research team, which consists of 10 to 12 candidates at any given time, has presented at GREAT Day each year of the study, and has been included in the Best of GREAT Day all three years of participation. (1.3.h) The team also has presented to the Xerox Center Seminars in 2009 and at the New York State Foundations of Education Association (‘08, ‘10, & ‘11). The Saturday School has been cited as having a significant role in the naming of SUNY Geneseo to the President’s 2009 Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll – the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement.
4.2.b Continuous Improvement
Summarize activities and changes based on data that have led to continuous improvement of candidate performance and program quality.
4a. Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Curriculum and Experiences: Candidates in initial and advanced programs are expected to demonstrate proficiencies related to diversity as identified in the unit’s conceptual framework and in national, state, and institutional standards Our unit’s conceptual framework asks candidates to welcome diversity by “treating all people with respect; by seeking out curriculum materials that respect and support diversity; and by demonstrating a genuine interest in working with diverse students”. In addition to focusing on issues related to diversity during coursework, candidates are required to demonstrate proficiencies in planning, implementing, and assessing learning that is differentiated for students with exceptionalities, those whose first language is not English, and those who are from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Clinical experiences are designed to provide candidates with opportunities to work with diverse student populations in a variety of settings.
At the initial level, candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to diversity are assessed through a range of program and course assessments at each transition point. (4.3.c) Candidates in advanced programs build upon previous knowledge and experience. Diversity issues are addressed informally and in the context of individual courses. (4.3.c) The Multi-Cultural Education Master’s Degree Program prepares certified teachers for the challenges of working in the multi-cultural classroom. In 2009, our unit worked collaboratively with 22 local school districts in the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership to provide inservice opportunities for classroom teachers to gain knowledge and experience with differentiated instruction. This project also provided training in DI for our teacher candidates (See: 4.3.a) Our Reading and Literacy Advanced Program services many inner city students in Rochester with their community-based Reading Clinic at Community Place.
Starting with the Admissions Essay, proficiencies related to diversity are measured and analyzed. The Statement of Philosophy and Beliefs, which is completed by all teacher candidates during INTD 203, provides the benchmark data for our unit. As the data indicates, from 2008-’09 through 2010-’11, diversity as measured in unit assessments show consistently increasing numbers of teacher candidates moving from acceptable to target so that by 2011 there is a clear growth in the number of students reaching the targeted indicators for diversity across five different classes each year in each of four categories. Upon reflecting on the growth of targeted diversity indicators in EDUC 326, in particular, it is felt that the improvement demonstrated is a direct result of faculty focusing attention on teaching special education/differentiation strategies. The data from student teaching shows that well over 90% of candidates rate in the proficient/superior categories with more growth shown with our Adolescence candidates over the past three years.
4b. Experiences Working with Diverse Faculty: Teacher candidates at SUNY-Geneseo take courses not only from professional education faculty, but also from faculty across the campus in the process of fulfilling their graduation requirements. Candidates are also placed in schools with diverse faculty including special needs schools, several international settings, as well as a variety of rural, suburban, and urban settings. SUNY-Geneseo and the SOE continue to be committed to increasing the number of faculty from historically under-represented groups. With the support of the Provost, the unit makes every effort to recruit a diverse pool of applicants for open faculty and staff positions. (4.3.g) Among the criteria considered for any position is knowledge and experience that will support the preparation of candidates to work with diverse students. Once hired, all faculty are supported through mentoring and other professional development opportunities that address issues of diversity. (4.3.d) The SUNY Geneseo Affirmative Action Plan outlines initiatives to promote workforce diversity. The college uses PeopleAdmin, an online hiring system that helps maximize diversity. Geneseo is one of the founding members of the Upstate New York Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC). This consortium has created a common web page for posting employment announcements. A major goal of this effort is to increase the number of minority applicants by linking with and advertising in publications aimed at minority audiences. All search committees review procedures and any affirmative action hiring goals for their department with the associate provost and the affirmative action officer. The unit’s efforts to recruit and retain a diverse faculty, staff, and administration are consistent with Geneseo’s Diversity Plan. (4.3.a)
4c. Experiences Working with Diverse Candidates: The SOE takes seriously the educational and social value of having diverse candidates in teacher education. Geneseo’s Access Opportunity Programs serves as a vehicle to increase the ethnic and racial diversity of the student body, by recruiting students from historically under-represented populations and providing educational access opportunities and academic support services. The unit works actively to recruit AOP students to enter teacher education programs and provides intensive advising and support. An annual event organized by the Xerox Center involves recruiting potential teacher candidates from the East High School Teaching and Learning Institute by hosting a visit to our campus. (4.3.h) Many of our diverse candidates are recruited from Monroe Community College where we have an articulated 2+2 program. In addition, the Xerox Center offers a series of scholarships each year to encourage the enrollment of minority candidates. (4.3.h)