School of Education
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This annual report is organized around the three themes identified in the School of Education Strategic Plan: Excellence, Inclusivity/Diversity, and Collaboration. In addition to this report, a summary for public view is also being made available both online and in brochures.
The overall mission of the School of Education (SOE) remains to “prepare excellent teachers and educational leaders who engage in reflective practice and scholarly activity, and who are ethical decision makers and agents of social change.” We prepare teachers and educational leaders who will Teach the next generation of PreK-12 teachers who will take the Lead in schools, communities, and with children, so that they can Transform themselves into better people and their communities into better communities. Teach, Lead, Transform – it’s what we do in the School of Education.
In 2017-18, the SOE experienced transitions in two key leadership positions: the Associate Dean, Dr. Brian Sevier, accepted a position as dean of education at another university, and our Director of the Office of Clinical Experiences and Partnerships, Dr. Karen Lowenstein-Martinez, resigned citing personal reasons. Midway through the year we hired a new Associate Dean, Dr. Roberto Nava, and a new Director of Clinical Experiences and Partnerships, Dr. Megan Lawless. We also hired three new faculty members, fully transferred the Alternative Licensure Program (ALP) and Physical Education programs into the SOE and restructured some staff roles. Although it was a year of internal transitions, students were not affected, and we still advanced our mission and made progress in meeting the goals outlined in our Strategic Plan. We continued to streamline and digitize internal processes, faculty increased their writing of grants and publications, external funding to the SOE increased, and the first group of residents graduated. Overall, it was a very successful year.
Although it is difficult to determine if our efforts and new procedures (along with our faculty’s instruction and curriculum changes) affected enrollment and retention, it is clear that enrollment in early childhood education, some secondary areas, and elementary education increased. However, enrollment in special education continued to decline, mirroring national trends in special education. Retention in the SOE still remains the highest in the university at 74%, however the percentage decreased from 2016-17.
Faculty productivity also remained healthy in 2017-18 with a total of 31 publications (with others under review) and presentations at 91 conferences and seminars. Faculty presentations increased significantly in 2017-18, due to the culmination of various projects in which they have been working. In addition, 15 faculty members have been involved in grant writing, which resulted in 12 new grants, with two more under review or in process. The grants range from the internal grants of $2500 to the NSF 5-year grant of $1.5 million dollars.
Raising money for students and programs is a major goal of the School of Education. To that end, since 2014, when the School of Education was founded, donations and private funding to the SOE has increased 585%. Grants and funded projects expenditures totaled over $2 million, allowing for faculty and leadership to advance the SOE and University mission even further. The increase in private funding demonstrates the community’s desire to invest in the SOE, as well as having a unit devoted to education. In 2017-18, private giving for student scholarships and towards program enhancement totaled $312,000. Most notably, the first endowed fellowship was established in the SOE: the Cecelia A. Box Endowed Teaching Fellowship established by Ric Cooper. This Fellowship established a $50,000 Endowment and annual scholarship of $5,000 for two students ($10,000 total) who show remarkable potential in teaching as demonstrated through both their coursework and community engagement.
Collaboration across departments, the university, and the community is also major value in the School of Education. The Annual Summit helps advance our goals that fall under that value. The 2017 Summit brought together approximately 100 people from schools, non-profit organizations, state departments, and more to MSU Denver. Newly installed university president, Dr. Janine Davidson, spoke to the audience, and, in a new Summit format, attendees visited SOE classrooms and interacted with faculty and staff as they discussed major initiatives and activities in which they are engaged. For instance, Dr. Rosemarie Allen led a session on issues of equity, particularly implicit bias, involving children of color in preschools settings, and Dr. Janelle Johnson led a session concerning the challenges in STEM education and how we are addressing them. Responses from the community on our Summit evaluation were very positive. The Summit has become a major vehicle by which we “tell the SOE story,” while hearing from some of our partners and other community members.
Demonstrating our scale and commitment to providing students with real-life experiences in schools, students in their semester prior to student teaching were placed in over 1100 classrooms and other educational settings in approximately 20 school districts, mostly Denver Public Schools and Jefferson County Public Schools. In addition to the field placements, we had over 310 student teaching placements. In short, we are big and our students are in schools across the Front Range.
In addition to our collaboration with PreK-12 schools and other facilities, the SOE took leading stances on legislation concerning teacher education in the state. The dean testified a number of times in favor of bills that will allow for the study of residency models, and to establish a statewide, uniform system for students and teachers to have background checks conducted. The SOE continues to gain a national reputation and take leading roles, which is furthering our overall goal of being a model urban school of education.
The School of Education faculty, staff, and students are committed to excellence in teaching and educator preparation through data-driven decision making.
In 2017-18, the School of Education headcount remained constant in the number of enrolled Education program major/concentration/minor students as compared to the previous year.
Retention of education students is a high priority in the School of Education. Our faculty and academic advisors worked diligently in 2017-18 to help students navigate their education coursework and programs. As of September 6, 2018, ITS Data Warehouse retention reports show the School of Education leads the pack in Fall 2017-to-Fall 2018 retention rates of all colleges and schools at 74%.
Last year, the School of Education recommended over 260 students for their initial teacher education license. Of those reporting their new teaching jobs to us, the top three districts in which they were hired were Denver Public Schools, Jefferson County Schools, and Aurora Public Schools, followed closely by Douglas County School District and Cherry Creek Schools.
Understanding the need for more educators in targeted fields, particularly math and science, in 2017-18 faculty from the SOE and the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences (LAS) continued their collaboration in implementing a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of approximately $1.2 million that will increase the number of students from traditionally underrepresented groups who are preparing to teach in STEM fields. Faculty from both units also continued their collaboration in the creation of a new Culturally & Linguistically Diverse (CLD)/Bilingual endorsement, another very high need area. In addition, faculty from the SOE CLD program, Dr. Peter Vigil and Dr. Lorretta Chavez, were involved in statewide discussions in the development of a new state CLD requirement in teacher education.
School of Education faculty were busy in 2017-18 with professional development, grants, and other scholarly activities.
Departmental Updates:
TED 1 – Elementary Education & Literacy
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TED 2 – Special Education, Early Childhood and Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education
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TED 3 – Secondary, K-12 & Educational Technology
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The School of Education is committed to being representative and reflective of the population that it serves.
The race/ethnicity breakdown for all teacher education students enrolled in 2017-18 showed 24% were of Hispanic origin, and all students of color accounted for 36% of the total.
In 2017-18, over 1480 placements were coordinated for education student field experiences (prior to student teaching) and student teaching activities. These placement experiences are intended to introduce students to classrooms and facilities in the Denver metropolitan area, and the populations they serve. Just over 380 of these placements (or 26%) were in schools where more than 60% of the Preschool through 12th grade students were eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch. For all placements, the average percentage of students eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch is 42.5% – adding very diverse perspectives and experiences to our students’ education careers.
In 2017-18, we hired three new faculty members, two faculty were promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure, and three were promoted to Full Professor. Two full time faculty members who served for many years also retired (Dr. Lupe Martinez and Dr. Mary Heuwinkel). Diversity of faculty members is a significant goal for us, so we hope to continue to hire faculty and staff who represent traditionally underrepresented groups in education.
Departmental Updates:
TED 1 – Elementary Education & Literacy
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TED 2 – Special Education, Early Childhood and Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education
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TED 3 – Secondary, K-12 & Educational Technology
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The School of Education is committed to fostering collaboration among internal and external stakeholders dedicated to excellence in teaching and educator preparation.
During the 2018 legislative session, the dean testified before three senate and house committees regarding two bills in teacher education and was asked to comment on many other legislative initiatives. Both bills passed into law. The dean continues to work with the external community at the state and national levels in advancing university-based teacher education for the overall improvement of PreK-12 schools. The dean also continued her participation in convenings of the Education Deans for Justice and Equity (EDJE), a national organization of deans of education from all types of IHEs focused on advancing policies and practices that ensure equity in schools and university teacher education programs. She also served as president and then past-president of the Teacher Education Council of State Colleges and Universities (TECSCU), another national level university teacher education organization.
In 2017-18, faculty worked with local school districts and facilities to provide the opportunity for education students to receive hands on experiences related to their programs prior to, and including, student teaching. Over 1100 placements for field experiences prior to student teaching were coordinated over the last year, with higher percentages of students going to Denver Public Schools and Jefferson County Schools.
In addition, over 310 student teaching placements were coordinated in surrounding districts, with higher percentages of students going to Denver Public Schools, Jefferson County Schools, Cherry Creek Schools, and Douglas County School District.
Each semester, School of Education affiliate and full-time faculty are spending as much as 450 hours in schools and other facilities that provide educational services to children throughout Colorado, particularly around metropolitan Denver. Faculty service activities, including and in addition to, their time in local schools and facilities during 2017-18 were extensive.
Students in education programs will have spent between 800 and 1260 hours in these same schools and facilities during their academic careers at MSU Denver. In 2017-18 the SOE continued collaborations with Denver Public Schools and Jefferson County Schools for a yearlong residency model for the 2017-18 school year. The new residency model was many years in the making and the first group of residents successfully completed the year with this new model. During the 2017-18 year, anticipating growth in the residency model, we also established partnerships with Aurora Public Schools and School District 27j in addition to DPS and Jeffco.
In 2017-18, School of Education faculty collaborated with peers in their fields to conduct presentations at national and international education venues (see Professional Development chart in Excellence section). In addition to collaborating with colleagues in schools and nationally, faculty from the School of Education frequently collaborated with colleagues across the university on publications, grants, and other initiatives, as previously mentioned in Departmental Updates.
Departmental Updates:
TED 1 – Elementary Education & Literacy
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TED2 – Special Education, Early Childhood and Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Education
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TED3 – Secondary, K-12 & Educational Technology
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The 2017-18 year brought increased funding to the School of Education. Grant and sponsored project expenditures totaled over $2 million. Private giving through the University Advancement office totaled over $312,000. Since 2014, dollar amount donations to the SOE have increased 585%. The number of unique donors (that is, donors who are new to donating to the SOE) have increased from 16 in 2014 to 164 in 2017. While most of the donations are for scholarships, some have funded the general SOE fund and specific programs. Here is a snapshot of how private giving to the SOE has increased over the past several years:
In addition, almost $186,000 was awarded this last year in scholarships to support 70 teacher education students. Some of these awards included early childhood Race to the Top funds granted by the Colorado Department of Education, with the remaining awards produced by scholarship and retention funds through previous gifts.
Recognizing that endowments are essential in the sustainability of scholarships, in addition to the scholarships and endowments awarded in previous years from which students continue to benefit, two School of Education donors, Cece Box and Ric Cooper, established the first School of Education Fellowship and Endowment: the Cecilia A. Box Endowed Teaching Fellowship. This fellowship is awarded to one student per semester who demonstrates outstanding academic ability as well as service to the community. The criteria are more rigorous than other scholarships and the awardee is considered a Box Fellow. One student was awarded the Box Fellowship last year, and two more will be awarded each year. Also, another School of Education donors, Peggy Moody, who had previously established the Michael A. Bentley Annual Scholarship in honor of her late husband, revamped her scholarship and added more funding, establishing it as an endowment. Now it is the Michael A. Bentley Memorial Endowed Scholarship. Students and the university will benefit from these new endowments for years to come.
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