Posted 5:47 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, 2013
[caption id="attachment_927" align="alignnone" width="770" caption="Kayla Tippery, right, helps a student during her field experience at Holmen's Viking Elementary School. The experience offers an in-depth immersion into an everyday classroom. "]
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Innovative changes make program unique
Family demographics. Technology. Dual language learners. These are just three reasons the university’s Early Childhood Middle Childhood major has been revised.
“We had a very strong program to begin with,” explains Barb Gander, senior lecturer in Educational Studies. “Our overall goal is to make the program even more efficient and current.”
That was accomplished with curricular changes in 2011. Among the seven components addressed:
• changing family demographics
• responsiveness to diversity of learners
• dual language learners
• inclusion practices
• response to intervention
• developmentally appropriate technology
• positive behavioral interventions and supports
“There are a variety of ways we’re making the program stronger and more streamlined,” explains Ann Epstein, assistant professor of Educational Studies who worked with Gander on the revisions. The seven components were integrated across the program’s curriculum. And program requirements were streamlined to allow students to complete degrees in as little as four years, compared with five years under prior requirements.
Revisions to the Initial Educator Standards from the National Association of the Education of Young Children provided impetus for the changes, along with a desire to keep curriculum cutting edge. Gander and Epstein also gathered feedback from teachers and recent graduates.
“The program has gone from earning a grade and completing courses to meeting certification standards through field experiences and preparing portfolios,” says Gander.
The innovative changes have made UW-L’s degree current and marketable. Students become certified for birth through 11-year-olds, allowing them to teach at a variety of settings, age and grade levels. Graduates are hired for teaching positions in elementary schools, as well as teaching and director positions in early childhood care centers and related agencies.
Additionally, the program that enrolls from 175-225 students a semester, now offers more field experience options. The options range from traditional classroom observation to a more structured immersion in a professional development school within a local elementary school. There, students form close relationships with professional teachers and students.
“For our majors to be prepared properly, they need to have a broad range of experiences,” explains Epstein. “We’re very deliberate about connecting with our students while they’re on campus. And that connection remains when they begin their careers.”
Gander says the changes are improving the university’s already reputable teacher education program. “Anecdotally, we hear from principals who seek out UW-L graduates,” she notes.
New field experience finding success
A new field experience for UW-L students in the Early Childhood to Middle Childhood program is giving the majors a unique opportunity to discover what it’s like in the classroom before they student teach.
The Professional Development School at Holmen’s Viking Elementary offers an in-depth immersion into an everyday classroom.
EC - MC students typically spend Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings in the classroom learning directly from teachers, while building relationships with the students. Throughout the semester, they also attend faculty meetings; assist with bus, cafeteria and hall duties; work with student groups; teach at least three lessons; and more.
Assistant Professor Ann Epstein, who coordinates the effort, says students benefit greatly from long-time relationships. “Good teaching is based so much on relationships with students,” notes Epstein. “We’re able to focus on them becoming great teachers.”
The Holmen PDS began in fall 2012 with 14 students taking part. The spring 2013 semester has 12 students in the program.
[/caption]
Innovative changes make program unique
Family demographics. Technology. Dual language learners. These are just three reasons the university’s Early Childhood Middle Childhood major has been revised.
“We had a very strong program to begin with,” explains Barb Gander, senior lecturer in Educational Studies. “Our overall goal is to make the program even more efficient and current.”
That was accomplished with curricular changes in 2011. Among the seven components addressed:
• changing family demographics
• responsiveness to diversity of learners
• dual language learners
• inclusion practices
• response to intervention
• developmentally appropriate technology
• positive behavioral interventions and supports
“There are a variety of ways we’re making the program stronger and more streamlined,” explains Ann Epstein, assistant professor of Educational Studies who worked with Gander on the revisions. The seven components were integrated across the program’s curriculum. And program requirements were streamlined to allow students to complete degrees in as little as four years, compared with five years under prior requirements.
Revisions to the Initial Educator Standards from the National Association of the Education of Young Children provided impetus for the changes, along with a desire to keep curriculum cutting edge. Gander and Epstein also gathered feedback from teachers and recent graduates.
“The program has gone from earning a grade and completing courses to meeting certification standards through field experiences and preparing portfolios,” says Gander.
The innovative changes have made UW-L’s degree current and marketable. Students become certified for birth through 11-year-olds, allowing them to teach at a variety of settings, age and grade levels. Graduates are hired for teaching positions in elementary schools, as well as teaching and director positions in early childhood care centers and related agencies.
Additionally, the program that enrolls from 175-225 students a semester, now offers more field experience options. The options range from traditional classroom observation to a more structured immersion in a professional development school within a local elementary school. There, students form close relationships with professional teachers and students.
“For our majors to be prepared properly, they need to have a broad range of experiences,” explains Epstein. “We’re very deliberate about connecting with our students while they’re on campus. And that connection remains when they begin their careers.”
Gander says the changes are improving the university’s already reputable teacher education program. “Anecdotally, we hear from principals who seek out UW-L graduates,” she notes.
New field experience finding success
A new field experience for UW-L students in the Early Childhood to Middle Childhood program is giving the majors a unique opportunity to discover what it’s like in the classroom before they student teach.
The Professional Development School at Holmen’s Viking Elementary offers an in-depth immersion into an everyday classroom.
EC - MC students typically spend Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings in the classroom learning directly from teachers, while building relationships with the students. Throughout the semester, they also attend faculty meetings; assist with bus, cafeteria and hall duties; work with student groups; teach at least three lessons; and more.
Assistant Professor Ann Epstein, who coordinates the effort, says students benefit greatly from long-time relationships. “Good teaching is based so much on relationships with students,” notes Epstein. “We’re able to focus on them becoming great teachers.”
The Holmen PDS began in fall 2012 with 14 students taking part. The spring 2013 semester has 12 students in the program.