Millikin University School of Education Decatur, Illinois
Institution Comment Comments submitted by: Barry Pearson, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Millikin University’s School of Education provides developmental and integrated opportunities in each year of study for teacher candidates to practice and perform their content knowledge, skills, and professional attributes in field placements. This approach is foundational to our mission as we build the confidence to succeed by moving students from theory to practice, in classroom and clinical environments. Our recent 5-year NCATE accreditation process involved comprehensive examination of our programs, each achieving national recognition from their specialized professional associations. On-site visits involved extensive triangulation of data that included interviews, documentation of student work, and measurement of our programs against a credible set of standards. In response, then, to your less extensive evaluation than NCATE’s, the following errors were identified: 1. Standard 3: All of our programs rely on a comprehensive assessment system completed within four years. Our Unit’s assessment system includes but is not limited to a final State content examination. Our students demonstrate competence in bridging theory to practice through numerous practical and authentic assessment events. 2. Standard 17: Our faculty does not teach in multiple disparate disciplines. Professors teaching within the Elementary and Early Childhood programs have real and extensive teaching experience in P-12 school settings and have terminal degrees in the areas in which they teach. In response to your evaluation on standards 13, 24, and 25A: 1. Standard 13 and 25A: We believe a second degree option for elementary and early childhood majors during student teaching would not promote academic excellence or professional success. We believe that our unit assessment system with its yearly benchmarks assists students in making sound decisions regarding progress in their major. 2. Standard 24: Our students receive a broad liberal arts education that offers them opportunities to choose studies in multicultural, global perspectives. We believe that a life of meaning and value is an outcome of choosing one’s own journey. Standard 14/15: When the State of Illinois is able to provide us with viable data necessary to track our graduates in their teaching positions and measure their affect on P-12 student learning, we will utilize that data as an additional evaluation tool in our overall assessment system. Standard 29: The State of Illinois currently requires Secondary Science and Social Science be broad-field areas of certification. We comply with the State of Illinois for our accreditation.
www.nctq.org/edschoolreports
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