PROJECT RAISE-UPRAISING THE BAR THROUGH CURRICULUM

ENHANCEMENTS

Dr. Kathleen MagieraDr. Rhea Simmons

The State University of New York at Fredonia

325T Program Improvement Grant

January 28, 2015

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• GOAL: To redesign and improve Fredonia’s undergraduate teacher preparation program graduating highly qualified special education teachers Special education teacher preparation program approved by the

New York State Education Department in 2007 Merged program of general education and special education Grant funded July, 2009 (Cohort 3) Dr. Christine Givner, College of Education Founding Dean,

also Co-PI

A 325T GRANTPROJECT RAISE-UP

REDESIGNING AND IMPROVING SPECIAL EDUCATION – UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

• Western most comprehensive college in New York State university system located in most agricultural county in the state

• Approximately 5,000 students

• 20% of student body majors in Education

• 24 Faculty members in College of Education

• Two departments in College of Education Curriculum & Instruction Language, Learning, & Leadership

THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT FREDONIA

• To enhance general education teacher preparation curriculum by strategically embedding special education content and knowledge supported by evidence-based practices into course syllabi throughout the curriculum

• To enhance the collaboration skills of our program graduates to work with families of students with disabilities, educational professionals, and community services

PURPOSE OF GRANT

WHAT WERE SOME OF THE TOOLS ?

• Used for more than 30 years in development and implementation of educational innovations and methodologies to: – Evaluate programs

– Evaluate fidelity of implementation of educational interventions

– Facilitate the change process

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WHAT IS AN INNOVATION CONFIGURATION?

Innovation Configurations…

Identify strengths and gaps within preparation programs and address:

–What types of instruction and experiences do teacher candidates receive throughout their preparation that promote the use of evidenced-based practices?

– To what extent are teacher candidates provided an opportunity to apply these evidenced-based practices with explicit feedback and sustained implementation and support to ensure fidelity?

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HOW ARE WE DOING??

LOOKING AT PROGRAM

IMPROVEMENT

ALWAYS START OUT POSITIVELY!

• Celebrate what university faculty are doing well!

• Solicit an outside evaluator to assist with reflection

• Invite faculty to be part of the discussion

• Build systems that will carry on the work after the grant is over

• Provide incentives

• Fall 2009 - Adapt Holdheide and Reschly (2008) Innovation Configuration Tools (ICs)

• Spring 2010 - Pilot of ICs with 10 College of Education syllabi

• Fall 2010 - Analyze all College of Education syllabi

• Spring 2011 - Embed IRIS Center materials and evidence-based practices within courses

• May 2011 - Resubmit syllabi to OSEP for analysis

TIMELINE FOR MAJOR PROJECT ACTIVITIES

• Fall 2009 – Utilized OSEP’s 5 domains to develop overall program improvement roadmap Certification Organizational Structure & Instructional Delivery Curriculum & Course Content Student Support Program Evaluation

• Fall 2010 - Adapted Innovation Configurations (ICs) by Grant Planning Group (include faculty from both departments)

YEAR ONE PROJECT: FACULTY BUY IN

YEAR ONE PROJECT: FACULTY BUY IN

• January 2010 – Professional development for special and general education faculty via Winter Institute (offered honorariums for participation) – before the semester starts

• Follow-up office visits to invite faculty and see how it went

• Spring 2010 - Pilot of adapted ICs with 10 course syllabi – who would be willing to try it out??

• Spring 2010 - Initial pilot of IC for field experiences

• IEP (Inclusion, Evidence-Based Practices, & Partnerships) for the Least Restrictive EnvironmentDefine inclusive practices using a common vocabulary

throughout the teacher preparation curriculumEmbed evidence-based practices throughout the curriculumPartner with rural school districts to locate more quality

inclusive field placements

IEP FOR THE LRE

• Piloted the process with a representative sample of 10 education courses from three categories: Field-Based Psychological FoundationsMethods

• Conducted document review of student teaching handbook and evaluation forms

SELECTED COURSES FOR PILOT

HOW DO WE MAKE A GOOD PROGRAM BETTER?

• Two data sources :

Surveyed 10 faculty members (2 faculty members have terminal degrees in special education) about knowledge of inclusion, how to incorporate inclusion in coursework, and how to improve our teacher preparation program

Utilized adapted Inclusive Services IC for 9 courses and adapted Classroom Management IC for 1 course (relevant content) to review syllabi

SPRING 2010 PILOT DATA

INCLUSIVE SERVICES ADAPTED IC MODEL

Essential Components

for Syllabi

• Inclusion Foundations

• Inclusive Service Models

• Collaboration

• Access to General Education Curriculum

• Learning Strategies

• Family Involvement

• Self-Determination for Students

Degree of Implementation

in Syllabi

• No evidence in Syllabi• Mentioned in Syllabi• Required Readings on

Topic in Syllabi• Required Readings and

Project or Assignment or Test on Topic

• Required Readings and Project or Assignment or Test on Topic and Supervised Practice

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• Invited faculty to participate in institutes Provided small honorarium for participation (no homework)

• Invited rural school partners to join us

• Exemplary pairs of special and general ed teachers did posters to present to faculty

• Highlighted exemplary pairs of special and general education teachers via posters sessions Faculty and school partners Shared with schools and placed on College of Education website

• Invited outside experts to stimulate discussion

WINTER & SUMMER INSTITUTES(2011 – 2013)

• Always started out positively with faculty about syllabi

• Met one-on-one with faculty to discuss syllabi

• Invited faculty to embed evidenced-based practices in syllabi

• Faculty-to-Faculty mentoring on selecting EBPs

• Resubmitted syllabi to OSEP

• Worked on field-based courses the following yearFaculty used adapted ICsAnalyzed student teaching syllabi

FACULTY SABBATICALS

• College of Education Retreats

• Faculty Meetings

• College-As-A-Whole Meetings

• Round table meetings with faculty and local teachers

• Paid the teachers with “smart pens”

• Outside evaluator met with faculty in small groups

• Student teaching seminarsAnnual Professional Performance Review (APPR)Common Core Learning Standards

ONGOING DISCUSSIONS

ONGOING DISSEMINATION OF 325T GRANT WORK

• Joint publication with SUNY New Paltz

• Co-Editors for special topic edition of Rural Special Education Quarterly Journal

• College of Education Website

http://www.fredonia.edu/coe/raiseup.asp

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NEED MORE INFORMATION?

Contact Dr. Kathleen Magiera

Kathleen.Magiera@Fredonia.edu

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The contents of this presentation were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, Cooperative Agreement #H325T090014.  However, the content does not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Dr. Sarah Allen.