STANDARD 4: DIVERSITY
4.1
The vision, mission, purpose statement, and core values of LU all address diversity as a fundamental principle of the university. Similarly, the unit has a conceptual framework that includes diversity as a key component. Diversity proficiencies developed by the unit can be found in course and disposition assessment instruments in initial and advanced programs.
The proficiencies are based on NCATE’s definition of diversity and are underpinned by the unit’s knowledge-bases. Primarily, the seminal works of the following researchers informed the development and refinement of the conceptual framework and subsequent diversity proficiencies: Banks (2002), Counts (1932), Freire (1968), Gay (2000), Howard (2003), Ladson-Billings (1992), and Nieto (1992). With a focus on Teacher as Decision Maker, the TEU strives to produce candidates who create bridges between students’ home and school lives by utilizing the backgrounds, knowledge, and experiences of the students to inform lessons and pedagogy. Candidates are charged with providing students the tools to achieve academic proficiency by developing students’ skills in literacy and numeracy and expanding their technological and social reaches. Setting high expectations for all students drives teachers’ decision making to create opportunities for all students to experience and strive for academic success through the sharing of their backgrounds, knowledge, and experiences with others (Evidence: CF Knowledge Base).
Syllabi from initial and advanced programs outline the conceptual framework. The diversity proficiencies, approved fall 2014, were included as an addendum to all teacher education syllabi in fall 2015. The diversity proficiencies will be integrated in all teacher education syllabi beginning spring 2016. Diversity is included in teacher education coursework (Evidence: Diversity in Courses). The professional education courses are courses that are required across the unit (e.g., elementary education, early childhood, secondary programs).
There is one advanced level program, Masters of Education (M.Ed.), with five options. Only one option, Educational Leadership, leads to certification. Langston had a voluntary moratorium for this program option beginning in 2013. The other four options available through the M.Ed. are Bilingual/Multicultural, Elementary Education, Teaching English as a Second Language, and Urban Education (Evidence: University Catalog). These four options, available at the advanced level through the M.Ed. program, do NOT lead to teacher certification. The advanced program requires core courses across programs that allow for the inclusion of diversity proficiencies at the advanced level (Evidence: University Catalog).
All initial candidates are required to take a special education course that contains a 15-hour field experience requiring candidates to gain knowledge, skills, and positive dispositions for working with students with disabilities. The field experience was added to the course during the Plans of Study revision and implemented fall 2015. The unit collects and analyzes data from key assessments related to working with students with disabilities in SPED 3143 (Evidence: PASS-PORT Master List 2015-2016).
The unit has revised dispositions for initial programs and in the process of reviewing dispositions at the advanced level. Advanced candidate dispositions have been identified as a priority for the Assessment & Curriculum Committee. The committee will be looking at necessary updates and revisions to ensure alignment with the Conceptual Framework (2014). It is anticipated that the assessment and collection of advanced candidate dispositions will mirror the initial level process. The projected date of implementation for the updated advanced candidate disposition process is spring 2016.
With the adoption of the updated Conceptual Framework (spring 2014), the approval of the Disposition Evaluation (spring 2014), and the creation and adoption of diversity proficiencies (fall 2014), spring 2015 provided for the transition from the previous dispositions (Integrity/Character, Professionalism, Classroom Competence, and Dedication/Loyalty) to the updated dispositions. The updated dispositions are inclusive of the previous dispositions and are evaluated at the initial level using the Teacher Education Unit Disposition Evaluation. The dispositions embedded in the Conceptual Framework and outlined on the Disposition Evaluation broadly encompass the diversity proficiencies. Data for dispositions have been collected using Clinical Practice evaluations and Portfolio rubrics. The portfolio contains elements related to the dispositions (e.g., Community Service, Commitment to Diversity, All Children Can Learn) as reported in exhibit 1.4f Select Criteria Representing Professional Dispositions. Data were provided for 2013-14 graduates on the portfolio rubric. The tables display the number of candidates from whom data were available and are represented in the heading of each table as N. The columns under the headings display the average scores earned on the given criterion. Candidate data were collected from the Langston and Tulsa campuses. The limited information available through the field/clinical experience evaluations and portfolio rubric led to the creation of the Disposition Evaluation (spring 2014), the inclusion of the Disposition Evaluation in field experiences (Evidence: Master List 2015-2016), the required submission of completed Disposition Evaluations to PASS-PORT, and the revision of signature artifacts (available on site via the PASS-PORT Handbook). As of fall 2015, candidates earning a rating of “unacceptable” on an item related to dispositions (i.e. respect for diversity), are monitored by the Director of Teacher Education, Certification, and Field Experiences and may be placed on probation until the issue is resolved (Evidence: Navigating Teacher Education pages 18-19).
Dispositions are listed for advanced programs in the document titled, Graduate Program Assessment of Candidate Dispositions, and the document titled, Candidate Disposition Evaluation. Advanced disposition data are available via Advanced Level NCATE Data (Evidence).
Data on diversity were included in Table 4.4a for 2013-2014. The data were collected from all available completed instruments for 2013-2014 completers. The scores represent mean scores for faculty who scored the portfolios and mean scores for cooperating teachers and university supervisors who scored the clinical evaluations, represented as one holistic score instead of scores by cooperating teachers and scores by university supervisors due to the low return rate of the completed assessment instruments. The programs represented in the table include those programs from which the completers graduated (Elementary Education, Health and Physical Education, Special Education, and Biology Education). Many of the assessment instruments included in the exhibits provide evidence that the unit has addressed diversity in its assessments at both the initial and advanced levels. The Unit Assessment System (Evidence) outlines how assessments are organized, collected, maintained, and disseminated to provide faculty with the opportunity to examine candidates developing knowledge, skills, and dispositions toward diversity throughout the program.
The unit provides opportunity for candidates to work with diverse faculty. At the initial level, candidates are served by the LU faculty for general education courses. Sixty percent of the LU faculty is African-American, 27 percent are Caucasian, 9 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1 percent are Latino or Native American. The Langston School Profile provides evidence that while there are slightly more male faculty than female faculty (80 males and 68 females), candidates have ample opportunity to learn from both male and female faculty members. Faculty in the professional education unit also represent diverse groups. Seventy-four percent of unit faculty is African-American, 22 percent are Caucasian, and 4 percent are Asian or Pacific-Islanders.
At the advanced level, the unit faculty is more diverse than at the initial level. Sixty-six percent of the faculty is African-American, 16.6 percent of the faculty members are White or Asian/Pacific Islander. Data are also presented for school-based faculty, who are also diverse.
In September 2015, the LU President signed a reaffirmation of the institution’s policy of equal employment opportunity to all recruitment sources and related entities (Evidence: Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity statement). The protocol of the university requires the TEU to recruit, hire, and retain faculty reflective of society. In doing so, positions are announced and advertised on the LU website and in easily accessible media forms such as HigherEdJobs.com. Position announcements are sent to university programs throughout the country that prepare doctoral students in the area in which the position is open. In instances when an outside resource such as a search firm is used, a criterion for consideration is the firm’s stated commitment to presenting diverse applicant pools. As possible, new faculty are assigned lighter teaching and service loads during the first year. In the current fiscal climate, limited money for travel and professional development is available to establish the faculty and promote their research agendas and continuous learning. To assist in overcoming this barrier, the university solicits university faculty to share their expertise with other faculty through Professional Development forums provided throughout the academic year.
The IR and the exhibits provide the most recent statistics to document the degree to which the unit serves diverse candidates. At both the initial and the advanced levels, the unit’s candidates are less diverse than the LU student population as a whole. Ninety-three percent of initial candidates are African-American. Three percent of the initial candidates are Latino or Caucasian, and one percent is Asian/Pacific Islander. The unit arranges courses and experiences in a manner that ensures candidates are able to work with diverse peers through the four professional education courses being required of all candidates in programs leading to teacher certification. This provides an opportunity for candidates to interact with candidates from other disciplines. Candidates from all campuses participate in unit sponsored events like 5th and 6th Grade Day and the Alumni Teach Back. Candidates are informed of seminars (sponsored by LU and other universities) and other activities via email blasts, social media, and promotion by faculty.
The TEU is committed to supporting active student organizations in education and in content areas. The Student Oklahoma Educators Association (SOEA) has advisors on both LU-Langston and LU-Tulsa campuses. Beginning fall 2015, all candidates were required to join and provide proof of membership in the Student Oklahoma Education Association or the Professional Oklahoma Educators group. Additionally, faculty are active in professional organizations and work to promote engagement of candidates in their disciplines. For example, in October 2015 candidates participated with faculty at the Oklahoma Council of Exceptional Children conference and at the Oklahoma Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance convention. Faculty also seek opportunities to engage candidates with activities targeted for specific populations. Each year, faculty nominate candidates for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s TMCF's Teacher Quality and Retention Program Summer Institute. Two early childhood education candidates participated in the summer institute in 2015.
The unit’s effort to recruit diverse candidates is evident through the unit’s improved communications regarding loan forgiveness programs and scholarship availability. Faculty are sharing information about the Teacher Shortage Employment Incentive Program (TSEIP) for mathematics and science education majors, Federal (Stafford) Loan Forgiveness for Teachers, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program, the state’s Future Teachers Scholarship, and the LU Foundation scholarship specific for Teacher Education Majors, the Lillian Johnson Hemmitt Endowed Scholarship.
Additionally, in 2014, LU was awarded a $1.4 million dollar grant through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. In collaboration with the STEM departments, the TEU is working toward the goal of institutionalizing a process to increase the number of STEM teachers that it produces utilizing the funds from the grant to provide substantial scholarships to teacher education majors in STEM areas. The objective is to graduate 24 discipline-based (e.g., Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics) educators over the next five years.
At the advanced level, candidate data indicate more racial and ethnic diversity. Eighty-four percent of advanced candidates are African-American, 10 percent are Caucasian, and two percent are Asian/Pacific Islander. Women (66%) outnumber men (33%). The demographic profile of the desired advanced level candidate is that of an educator who is located regionally and represents populations outside that of the general candidate demographic for LU as a Historically Black University to ensure the inclusion of diverse advanced candidates. Various sections of the Graduate Recruitment Plan have been implemented with the majority of candidates coming from Oklahoma.
Candidates in both initial and advanced programs have field components throughout their program. The data indicate that both initial and advanced candidates are placed in settings with the potential to gain experience with racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse students in P-12 schools. These experiences are documented by the Director of Teacher Education, Certification, and Field Experiences at the initial level and by the Director of Graduate Programs at the advanced level. A table was added to the D2L TEU site (available on site) in fall 2015 to allow for transparency in placement and for the documentation of all experiences in P-12 settings (i.e. service projects), including and beyond placements coordinated by the Director of Teacher Education, Certification, and Field Experiences at the initial level and by the Director of Graduate Programs. Two schools on the exhibit list of placement sites have over 100 percent of the students receiving free or reduced-cost lunch. Oklahoma schools that participate in the Community Eligibility Program (CEP), part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, have a high concentration of students in poverty and are allowed to offer meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs to all students at no charge. Meal reimbursements are based on the percentage of students who are directly certified for free meals multiplied by 1.6 to determine the percentage of meals reimbursed at the free rate. Multiplying the identified student percentage by 1.6 can yield free claiming percentages above 100 percent.
Initial candidates are exposed to content related to diversity, including working with English language learners, in ED 2213 Introduction to Education and SPED 3143 Survey of Exceptional Children. Introduction to Education has a 15-hour field experience and in 2015, with the implementation of the revised Plans of Study, a 15-hour field experience was added to SPED 3143. These field experiences provide candidates the opportunity to observe and participate in settings that include diverse student populations related to socioeconomic status, ethnicity, ability, and language diversity.
As part of the Core Courses, required of all options in the M.Ed. program, advanced candidates complete at least one of the following courses: EDU 5033 Foundations of Educational Psychology, EDU 5043 Educational Sociology, or EDU 5053 Philosophy of Teaching. These courses address diversity in teaching and learning contexts including working with children are learning English as a second language.
4.2 Moving Toward Target or Continuous Improvement
The unit has a defined set of diversity proficiencies. These complement university and unit mission and vision statements that contain clear references to diversity. The relationship between dispositions, diversity proficiencies, and the conceptual framework is outlined. Many unit assessments have recently been or are currently in the revision process (PASS-PORT Handbook available on site). The unit has clearly made progress in articulating expectations for candidates related to diversity and the belief that all children can learn.
All initial candidates take SPED 3143, providing assurance that every initial candidate has experience with students who have special needs. Clinical placement sites utilized by the unit appear to be racially and ethnically diverse. A range of schools with students from varied socioeconomic backgrounds is used.
4.4 Areas of concern related to continuing to meet the standard
It is unclear how the unit systematically collects, analyzes, and uses data on diversity proficiencies for candidate, program, and unit improvement.
Rationale: The unit presented one year of data on diversity for initial programs that was collected via myriad assessment instruments, all at the advanced level. The unit recently revised diversity proficiencies and clarified dispositions. It is unclear how old data was used and how new data is being analyzed to inform program faculty and the unit at the initial and advanced. No data on diversity proficiencies could be located for advanced programs for teachers (i.e., Urban Education, Bilingual/Multicultural Education, ESL).
NOTE: At this time, advanced program options do NOT lead to teacher certification or the certification of other school professionals.
Evidence: Unit Assessment System