NCATE 2004
INSTITUTIONAL REPORT
Continuing Accreditation
Joint NCATE and State Visit
Spring, 2004
Education Department
Augsburg College
2211 Riverside Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55454
www.augsburg.edu
http://web.augsburg.edu/education/ncate/
On-site Review: April 3-7, 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About Augsburg College………………………………………………….. 1
Conceptual Framework…………………………………………………… 4
Standard 1………………………………………………………………… 19
Content Knowledge for Teacher Candidates……………………... 19
Pedagogical Knowledge for Teacher Candidates………………… 22
Professional and Pedagogical Knowledge and Skills
for Teacher Candidates…………………………………… 24
Dispositions for All Candidates………………………………….. 27
Student Learning for Teacher Candidates………………………... 29
Standard 2………………………………………………………………… 32
Assessment System………………………………………………. 32
Data Collection, Analysis, and Evaluation………………………. 35
Use of Data for Program Improvement………………………….. 38
Standard 3………………………………………………………………… 43
Collaboration Between Unit and School Partners………………… 43
Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Field
Experiences and Clinical Practice………………………… 45
Candidate’s Development and Demonstration of
Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions to
Help All Students Learn………………………………….. 49
Standard 4………………………………………………………………… 51
Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of
Curriculum and Experiences……………………………… 51
Experiences Working with Diverse Faculty……………………… 54
Experiences Working with Diverse Candidates………………….. 54
Experiences Working with Diverse Students in
P-12 Schools……………………………………………… 56
Standard 5………………………………………………………………… 59
Faculty Qualifications……………………………………………. 59
Modeling Best Professional Practices in Teaching………………. 63
Modeling Best Professional Practices in Scholarship……………. 65
Modeling Best Professional Practices in Service………………… 68
Collaboration……………………………………………………… 73
Unit Evaluation of Professional Education
Faculty Performance………………………………………. 74
Unit Facilitation of Professional Development…………………… 76
Standard 6…………………………………………………………………. 78
Unit Leadership and Authority……………………………………. 78
Unit Budget……………………………………………………….. 83
Personnel………………………………………………………….. 83
Unit Facilities……………………………………………………... 85
Unit Resources Including Technology……………………………. 85
Conclusions……………………………………………………………….. 90
ABOUT AUGSBURG COLLEGE
Campus Location
Augsburg’s campus is located in the heart of the Twin Cities, surrounding Murphy Square, the first of 170 parks in Minneapolis, the “City of Lakes.” The University of Minnesota West Bank campus and one of the city’s largest medical complexes—Fairview-University Medical Center—are adjacent to Augsburg, with the Mississippi River and the Seven Corners theatre district just a few blocks away. Downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, home to a myriad of arts, sports, entertainment, and recreation opportunities, are just minutes west and east via Interstate 94, which forms the southern border of the campus.
Background
Augsburg College, founded in 1869, is a private, coeducational, liberal arts college, located in the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It enrolls over 3,000 students in weekday and weekend bachelor's programs and in four master's programs. Augsburg has been fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools since 1954. In October 1996, Augsburg was re-accredited for another 10 years.
Augsburg College Mission Statement:
Students who graduate from Augsburg are well prepared to make a difference in the world. They stand as testaments to the College motto, “Education for Service,” and to the mission of the College which is:
“To nurture future leaders in service to the world by providing high quality educational opportunities, which are based in the liberal arts and shaped by the faith and values of the Christian Church, by the context of a vital metropolitan setting, and by an intentionally diverse campus community.”
Augsburg of 2004 is continuing to assert its identity as a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America whose academic mission is shaped by its religious heritage. This heritage has both religious and intellectual components.
As a college, Augsburg focuses on equipping students to realize and use all of their talents in service to and celebration of creation—that is, to discover and fulfill their vocations. Augsburg’s tradition also affirms that the excellence of each individual is a gift to be shared through leadership and service both in the College and in the larger community to which each person belongs.
As a college located in the heart of Minneapolis, Augsburg College is committed to providing high-quality liberal arts education for students with diverse backgrounds, experience, and preparation. The academic program at Augsburg College is based upon the premise that students are to be educated as full persons, intellectually, spiritually, and physically. On its urban campus, the college community includes just over 3,000 in day school, Weekend College, and graduate programs. Approximately 11% of our students are persons of color, as are10% of our faculty. Augsburg has a commitment to recruit, retain, and graduate individuals with physical disabilities and learning disabilities who demonstrate the willingness and ability to participate in college-level learning.
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, home to a wide range of arts, sports, entertainment, and recreation opportunities are just minutes west and east of campus. The Cedar Riverside neighborhood is adjacent to the campus. This neighborhood has traditionally been a location where immigrants have settled and continues to serve that purpose, with a diverse population of immigrants from Somalia, Vietnam, Laos, Tibet, Ethiopia, and Korea. One of the largest urban American Indian populations is within one mile of the campus. Augsburg College serves the neighboring community through community service and service learning projects of students, faculty, and staff.
Augsburg's Education Department is one of the college's oldest programs. It provides teacher licensure in elementary (K-8), secondary education (5-12 and K-12) and special education/EBD. Approximately 500 students participate in either the traditional Day College (M-F) or our alternative weekend college program (F-Sun.). Approximately 100 teachers are licensed each year from Augsburg College. It also offers a Master's degree that incorporates elementary, secondary or special education licensure.
The teacher education program has been recognized by both state and national organizations for its innovative use of community service-learning. In 1997, the department was selected as one of only six North American colleges or universities to participate in the Service-Learning and Teacher Education (SLATE) project, funded by the federal Commission on National Service and sponsored by the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education. The Augsburg Teacher Education Department is preparing itself to be a national service and support center for the promotion of service-learning in teacher education and is now serving as a regional site.
Last year the department concluded a Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Augsburg College received a federal capacity-building grant in 1999-2000 that ended in the fall of 2000. Augsburg was chosen to be among only 122 institutions nationwide (and only one of two in Minnesota) to receive a three-year implementation award that commenced in June 2000. Augsburg College's project featured a unique collaboration of a small higher education institution, urban public and charter schools, and private technology businesses focused on developing a model for technology training for teachers who are working in the inner city with low income and minority learners.
The Augsburg College Education Department has been continuously NCATE-Approved for thirty-nine years (1964). The most significant change has been the restructuring of our programs to align with new teacher licensure rules in Minnesota. These new licensing requirements, based on INTASC standards, are the Minnesota Standards of Effective Practice (MSEP). The restructuring process was a collaborative effort between the professional community, liberal arts faculty members from other departments on campus, the Education Department Advisory Board, and teacher practitioners in local school districts. Education program approval for licensure from the Minnesota Board of Teaching occurred in Spring, 2001. The Education Department continues to evaluate and revise the licensure program to insure that candidates experience a quality licensure program.
Major program changes that have occurred since the previous NCATE visit in 1999 include:
· Scope and sequence of the elementary and secondary licensure program as aligned with Minnesota Standards of Effective Practice.
· Elementary licensure includes a middle school specialty content area.
· Special Education major with licensure in EBD-Weekend College only.
· Addition of a post baccalaureate Masters of Arts Degree in Education.
Future Additions will include:
· Special Education major with licensure in LD.
· Masters level reading endorsement.
· Education program coursework available through the Rochester program.
Licensure is available in the following areas:
· Elementary and Secondary (K-12)
o Physical Education
o Art Education
o Music Education
o Theatre/Dance Education
· Secondary (5-12) Secondary (9-12) Middle School (5-8)
Chemistry Chemistry General Science
Communication Arts/Literature Life Science
Health Physics
Life Science
Mathematics
Physics
Social Studies
o Elementary Education-Grades K-6 with a middle school specialty in math, science, social studies or communication arts/literature
o Special Education EBD
Links:
http://www.augsburg.edu
http://www.augsburg.edu/education
Augsburg 2004: Extending the Vision document
Conceptual Framework
Education Department Licensure Programs
Augsburg College Mission Statement: Augsburg College intends to develop future leaders of service to the world by providing high quality educational opportunities which are based in the liberal arts and shaped by the faith and values of the Christian Church, by the context of a vital metropolitan setting, and by an intentionally diverse campus community.
Augsburg Education Department Mission Statement: The Augsburg College Education Department commits itself to developing future educational leaders and professionals who foster student learning and well-being by being knowledgeable in content, being competent in pedagogy, being ethical in practice, building relationships, embracing diversity, reflecting critically, and collaborating effectively.
Program Theme: Teacher as developing professional, from competent classroom decision-maker to educational leader.
Teachers as Well-Prepared professionals: The Augsburg Education Department believes that teachers are professionals who possess specialized knowledge, skills, and patterns of belief that allow them to function competently within their realm. Furthermore, the Augsburg Education Department believes that the education in which we engage pre-service teachers has a positive impact on the professionals they become. Specialized knowledge, skills, and patterns of belief can be grouped into the four dimensions of our initial licensure program as follows:
What we do – Concepts and Strategies of Teaching (Being Competent in Pedagogy; Building Relationships)
· How to assess and evaluate student ability and performance (MSEP 8: Assessment).
· How to plan instruction to meet student needs (MSEP 7: Planning Instruction)
· How to implement instruction to promote student learning (MSEP 4: Instructional Strategies)
· How to manage children and classroom life effectively (MSEP 5: Learning Environment)
· How to help students develop emotionally and socially (MSEP 2: Student Learning; MSEP Standard 5: Learning Environment)
· How to integrate technology and service learning into educational practice
Who we teach – Knowledge of Children and Youth (Embracing Diversity)
· How students develop and learn (MSEP 2: Student Learning)
· Similarities/differences across communities, cultures, learning styles, abilities, special needs, and lifestyles (MSEP 3: Diverse Learners)
· Current issues affecting children and youth (MSEP 9: Reflection and Professional Development; MSEP 10 Collaboration, Ethics, and Relationships)
Where we work – Contexts of Schools (Collaborating effectively; Being Knowledgeable in Content)
· Foundational knowledge of schools and education in the US (MSEP 9: Reflection and Professional Development)
· Collaboration and teaming skills (MSEP 10: Collaboration, Ethics, and Relationships)
Who we are as individuals and teachers – Personal Stance and Knowledge base (Reflecting Critically; Being Knowledgeable in Content; Being Ethical in Practice; Developing Future Educational Leaders)
· What I know and how I learn (MSEP 1: Subject Matter)
· How I think: Critically, Creatively, Ethically, Reflectively (MSEP Subject Matter; MSEP 9: Reflection and Professional Development)
· Who I am as a person and how that impacts my teaching (MSEP 9: Reflection and Professional Development)
· What my role can be as a teacher within and beyond school (MSEP 9: Reflection and Professional Development; MSEP 10 Collaboration, Ethics, and Relationships)
· What I believe to be true about education and people; personal philosophy of education (MSEP 9: Reflection and Professional Development)
· What I can do to develop as a professional (MSEP 9: Reflection and Professional Development)
· How I communicate and understand the communication of others (MSEP 6: Communication: MS 10: Collaboration, Ethics, and Relationships)
Augsburg pre-service teachers learn to examine their practice critically, reflecting on both what works and what doesn’t to motivate student learning. They learn to understand that gaining and applying knowledge in the service of student learning is a fluid, intellectual task – one that leads to professional growth only when there is constant appraisal and interpretation of actions taken along the way. They begin to recognize that acquired knowledge and practice are not static, but rather that true learning requires them to engage in an ongoing intellectually driven process of testing out, stepping back and reflecting on practices. As part of that process, our pre-service teachers learn to recognize what works with a group of students and what doesn’t, retaining those strategies and practices that promote learning and rethinking those that don’t. Schon (1983) describes this as reflection-in-action. Reflection-in-action allows teachers to adjust and adapt to differences in students by combining knowledge of content, knowledge of students, and knowledge of strategies in such a way as to maximize student learning. The Augsburg Education Department structures experience with “reflection-in-action” as part of coursework requirements and the student teaching supervision we provide.
Teachers, as well-prepared professionals, gain their specialized skills and knowledge about teaching and learning through high-quality, standards-based teacher preparation programs that integrate practical experience with teaching and learning theory, that provide ample opportunity to work with children and youth in numerous teaching situations, and that emphasize the accountability for student achievement that people in our profession accept as part of their role (Darling-Hammond and Sykes, 2003). The Augsburg Education Department believes that teaching, as a profession, plays too large and too important a role in society to be thought of as simply a job that requires high verbal skills, minimal training, and a good attitude. As professionals, teachers surround solid content knowledge with knowledge of children and youth, knowledge of context, knowledge of self, pedagogical resources and abilities, and a strong belief in the power and necessity of education in order to best serve their students.
Teachers as Inclusive Practitioners:
The Augsburg Education Department believes that teachers are moral stewards in the classroom, acting both as educators and community builders amongst all students. Furthermore, the Augsburg College Education Department believes that teachers have an ethical and moral responsibility to promote learning amongst all students. This implies several things.