The Integration of Teacher as Decision Maker in the Centre College Education Program Conceptual Framework

Centre's Conceptual Framework Summary

Education Program Framework Document

Centre’s Conceptual Framework integrates the vision of the program, the continuous assessment process, the education courses, the Kentucky Teacher Standards, and the field experiences.

All aspects of Centre’s Education Program are centered around its Conceptual Framework with the Teacher as Decision Maker at its heart. The Teacher as Decision Maker is the essence of the Conceptual Framework. It provides the theory and the vision for the Education Program. Three major types of decisions made by teachers constitute the three major elements of the framework:

1. Making planning and preparation decisions.

2. Making decisions in the classroom.

3. Making decisions as a professional.

As we have described this Conceptual Framework, the vision of the teacher that we are producing is evident. This is a teacher who has broad content and pedagogical knowledge, the appropriate interpersonal skills, effective teaching skills, and essential professional attitudes. This teacher will be able to:

· draw on a broad knowledge base to make wise planning decisions.

· make wise decisions about establishing a classroom environment conducive to learning.

· make wise decisions about students which includes respecting all students including diverse students.

· make wise decisions in teaching that bring about student learning.

· make wise professional decisions and be committed to education including personal education and improvement.

Closely related to the Conceptual Framework are two other entities -- the Framework for Teaching and the Continuous Assessment Process. The three are tightly integrated, but they need to be distinguished from one another.

1. The Conceptual Framework with the image of the Teacher as Decision Maker provides the underlying assumptions and the vision for the Education Program.

2. The Framework for Teaching elaborates on the qualities of an effective teacher and provides rubrics for judging whether a teacher is "unsatisfactory," "basic," "proficient," or "distinguished" in regard to each of the 22 components that have been identified as necessary for an effective teacher. The components are organized into four domains -- Planning and Preparation, Environment, Instruction, and Professionalism. Note that these four components are a slight expansion of the three types of decisions that teachers make in the Conceptual Framework. Centre's Framework for Teaching is based on Charlotte Danielson’s Enhancing ProfessionalPractice: A Framework for Teaching (1996), which is supported by research conducted by the Educational Testing Service.

3. The Continuous Assessment Process includes significant data on each individual student with the portfolio being the major means for collecting the data. The portfolio is where students can demonstrate what they have done to meet the 22 components of the Framework for Teaching. The continuous assessment process is a multi-phase system in which students submit portfolios at phases 2, 3, and 4. At least two faculty members evaluate each student’s progress relative to the criteria in the framework and inform the student of the results. Students must achieve proficiency on all the major criteria in order to be recommended for certification.

The assessment process is clearly focused on the Conceptual Framework and the different types of decisions a teacher makes as well as on the Framework for Teaching with its 22 components that constitute effective teaching. Not only is the Conceptual Framework aligned with the Framework for Teaching and with the assessment process, but it is also aligned with the education courses. Each education course relates to at least one aspect of the Conceptual Framework.

Framework for Teaching Domains Domain I Planning & Preparation Domains II & III Classroom Environment and Instruction Domain IV Professional Practices Domains I, II, III, IV	The Teacher as:	Course Integration	Documentation from the Continuous Assessment Process
	Decision-maker in Planning and Preparation
	· Knowledge of students	EDU 227, 228, 335 or 336, 330	Phases 1 & 2 written reflections
	· Knowledge of content	Content area methods courses and college content courses	Phases 2, 3, and 4 lesson plan preparation
	· Knowledge of planning	EDU 226, 335 or 336	Phases 2, 3, and 4 lesson plan preparation
	· Constructivist outlook	EDU 226, EDU 228, 335 or 336, 330, 551 or 553 or 555	Phases 2, 3 and 4 lesson reflections, lesson plans, videotaped lessons
	Decision-maker in the Classroom
	· Classroom environment	EDU 227, 228, 335 or 336	Phases 2, 3, and 4 videotaped and observed lessons
	· Relating to students and assisting students in learning	EDU 335 or 336; Content area methods; EDU 330, 551 or 553 or 555	Phases 2, 3, and 4 videotaped and observed lessons
	· Assessing learning	EDU 335 or 336; Content area methods; 551 or 553 or 555	Phases 2, 3, and 4 videotaped and observed lessons; Assessment section of portfolio; Teacher Work Sample Documents
	· Establishing rapport with students	EDU 227, 228, 335 or 336, 330, 551 or 553 or 555	Phases 2, 3, and 4 videotaped and observed lessons; Performance Practices section of portfolio
	A Professional Decision-maker
	· Reflective	EDU 227, 228, 335 or 336, Content Area Methods, 551 or 553 or 555	Phases 2, 3, and 4 lesson reflections; Framework self-assessment
	· Leadership skills	EDU 551 or 553 or 555; Extracurricular activities	Professional Practices section of portfolio
	· Lifelong learning	EDU 226, 227, 228, 335 or 336, Content Area Methods; 551 or 553 or 555	Portfolio components; Dispositions evaluation; Self-assessment
	Commitments to Diversity	EDU 227, 228, 330, Content Area Methods	Phases 1, 2, 3, and 4 Reflections, Teacher evaluations; Professional Practices
	Commitment to Technology	EDU 226, 335 or 336, Content Area Methods	Technology section of portfolio
	Dispositions	EDU 227 for initial dispositions; all other courses enhance the final dispositions	Teacher/Professor/Staff Evaluation; Interviews by Teacher Education Committee; Interviews for admission to student teaching

The three major elements of the Conceptual Framework also incorporate Kentucky's New Teacher Standards as well as field experiences.

1. In order to make planning and preparation decisions, a teacher must have acquired knowledge about students, about subject matter or content, about state and national standards, and about teaching methods. Education students are also required to reflect on and analyze what they have seen. Field experiences are important in order for education students to see how teachers have planned their lessons and made planning decisions. EDU 227 and 228 require extensive field experiences where students are introduced to the public school classroom and are required to reflect on what they have seen. Assessment of a student’s performance is incorporated into EDU 335 and EDU 336 by evaluating lesson plans and units, but it is also stressed in the phase 2 portfolio, which deals largely, but not exclusively with Domain 1. Students will be able to utilize technology in their lesson planning, students must take or be taking EDU 226, our technology course, before they can be admitted to the Education Program. Thus New Teacher Standards I, IV, VIII, and IX are dealt with and assessed at this stage.

2. To make decisions in the classroom requires knowledge and skills from the previous phase, but here the main aim is to add additional pedagogical skills in order to function effectively in the classroom setting. Decisions in the classroom include being able to produce a suitable learning environment, to relate to students, to assess learning, to instruct/teach students, to be flexible, and to adjust instruction for all students. Field experiences in which education students teach students in actual classrooms are vital. This is undertaken in all the methods classes, and videotaped lessons from schools are required in each methods class. In EDU 330 students work with inclusive classrooms and plan IEPs. Again there is in-class assessment but the major assessment is the phase 3 portfolio which focuses on Domains 1, 2, and 3. Learning to make classroom teaching decisions requires education students to demonstrate New Teacher Standards I, II, III, IV, V, VIII, and IX.

3. Student teaching is the culmination of the Education Program. Not only is the student teacher expected to make planning and preparation decisions as well as classroom decisions, but by the end of student teaching, the decisions should be approaching those of a true professional. By this point, the education student should have achieved the dispositions of a professional -- being adept at reflecting, becoming a leader, being ethical, being just, fair, and multicultural and being a life-long learner. Full-time student teaching gives the education student the opportunity to demonstrate professionalism and the professional code of ethics. In this setting there are more opportunities for the student teacher to collaborate and engage in professional development. Student teachers assess themselves on the phase 4 portfolio requirements and based on the results, devise a professional development plan. Assessment is completed by the supervising teacher as well as by the college supervisor, and the phase 4 portfolio deals with all four of the domains in Centre's framework. At the conclusion of student teaching, the KTIP evaluation instrument, which is based on the New Teacher Standards, is used to evaluate all student teachers. They also receive a copy of the completed form. All of the New Teacher Standards, I – IX, are relevant in this phase of the continuous assessment process.

Commitments to diversity and technology are integral parts of the Conceptual Framework as well. One cannot make wise planning decisions unless one is aware of the diverse nature of students today. Records are now being kept on students’ field experiences to ensure that they have had extensive contact with diverse students. Many of the students’ written reflections about their field experiences deal with the diversity they have seen in the classroom. Recently a new Director of Diversity Education was hired; he is a member of the Education Program and teaches several education courses. This has helped strengthen both Centre’s commitment to diversity and the Education Program’s. Knowledge of different learning styles and multiple intelligences are conveyed in a variety of courses from EDU 228 to EDU 330 to the content methods courses. EDU 330, Special Education and Student Diversity, is a course that has been revised to give more attention to diversity. Finally, the Performance Practices section of the portfolios has been revised to include more emphasis on multicultural education and diversity.

After New Teacher Standard IX was adopted, Centre decided that technology must receive more attention. While not mentioned specifically in the Conceptual Framework, it was felt that knowledge of technology was a vital part of the content and pedagogical knowledge that a teacher needs to make wise decisions. EDU 226 was increased from one to three credits, and the list of competencies from NTS IX was made part of the course as well as part of the continuous assessment process at stages 2, 3, and 4.

Recently Centre has begun to assess the dispositions of students applying for admission to the Education Program. In a sense these are initial dispositions – dispositions that we feel are necessary for students who will achieve the final dispositions that we expect of our graduates. These dispositions were stated at the beginning of this section: A “Centre teacher” will be able to:

· draw on a broad knowledge base to make wise planning decisions.

· make wise decisions about establishing a classroom environment conducive to learning.

· make wise decisions about students which includes respecting all students including diverse students.

· make wise decisions in teaching that bring about student learning.

· make wise professional decisions and be committed to education including personal education and improvement.

A great deal of planned integration exists in Centre’s Education Program. The courses, the vision, the field experiences, the New Teacher Standards, the commitments, Centre’s framework, and the continuous assessment process are integrated around the Conceptual Framework. The Teacher as Decision Maker permeates and organizes the entire program.