OATdb Archive

2008 - 2009

Language, Literacy And Special Populations, Department Of

Goal
Faculty Excellence

Objective
Faculty Expectations
Faculty will engage in scholarly activity and maintain a presence on the SHSU campus.

Indicator
Faculty Publications
Faculty will demonstrate scholarly activity by publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Criterion
Faculty Publication Rate
At least 75% of faculty will have at least one peer-reviewed publication.

Finding
Publication Rate
84% of the faculty in LLSP had at least one peer reviewed publication.

Indicator
Faculty Expectations
The faculty committee will prepare a report with their recommendations for faculty appproval concerning expectations for faculty office hours, presence on the SHSU campus, faculty committee responsibilities, etc.

Criterion
Faculty Expectations
Faculty approval of guidelines/expectations for faculty workplace responsibilities to be presented at faculty meeting and placed in the LLSP Faculty Handbook.

Finding
Faculty Expectations
Expectations for faculty presence and office hours were addressed by an ad hoc committee that presented recommendation which were approved by faculty and placed in the Faculty Handbook for the 2008-2009 academic year. Expectations for the 2008-2009 acacemic year were consistent with university expectations for office hours and faculty presence.

Action
Faculty Publication Needs
Of the 4 new faculty in LLSP, 0 had a publications in 2008. One non-tenured faculty member had 0 publications in 2008. For 2009-2010, we will institute a reseach collaborative and a writers' group, each meeting weekly, to promote research and writing.

Action
Faculty Expectations
At the faculty retreat in May 2009, faculty requested that Fridays be designated as Departmental Days, with the expectation that faculty be present on campus for collaboration, committee meetings, departmental business, and community building.Friday will be designated as Departmental Day for the 2009-2010 school year.

Goal
Quality And Effectiveness
Enhance the quality and effectiveness of the academic programs.

Objective
New EC-6 Certification Program
Implement the approved new EC-6 certification program.

Indicator
Collaborative Work
C & I and LLSP Faculty will meet regularly to collaborate on new course work in the new EC-6 Prgram.

Criterion
Co-teaching
Faculty from C&I and LLSP will meet on a biweekly basis to discuss issues and develop program goals with the EC-6 program.

Finding
Collaboration Between LLSP And CI
The Departments of Langauge, Literacy & Special Populations and Curriculum and Instruction met on a bi-weekly basis to collaborate on the development of the EC-6 Program.

Indicator
Advising Guidelines
LLSP and C&I faculty (Elementary Advisory Council)will work jointly to develop advising guidelines and procedures.

Criterion
Advising notebooks
Each faculty member teaching and advising students in the new elementary education program receives a notebook with uniform advising guidelines and procedures.

Finding
Advising Guidelines
An Advisement Notebook was developed by Dr. McGuire and disseminated to all faculty members in LLSP. Joint advisement training sessions with Curriculum and Instruction were conducted by Dr. Nabors, Dr. McGuire, and Dr. Edgington.

Action
Collaboration Between LLSP & CI
For the 2009-2010 year, continue to meet with Curriculum and Instruction via the Elementary Education Advisory Committee.

Action
Student Advisement
For advisement, the SAM Center will begin advisement for education candidates in the fall, 2009. The Elementary Education Advisory Committee will keep advisors at the SAM Center informed of program changes and issues.

Objective
Program Effectiveness
Monitor and maintain program effectiveness.

Indicator
Course Data
Faculty receive additional training sessions on using TK20 for course data management. Tk20 is the data management system that we use in the College of Education to track student learning.

Criterion
Course Data
100% of LLSP faculty attend TK20 training and 75% of the faculty incorporate TK20 assignments into coursework.

Finding
Tk-20 Training
18/23 faculty members attended Tk-20 training. All faculty with NCATE assessments use Tk-20 in their courses.

Indicator
Data Monitoring
The program coordinators monitor, collect, and distribute to program area faculty the data they need to make programmatic decisions. Data from the following assessments will be analyzed: Texas Examination of Educator Standards (standardized test developed by Educational Testing Service), Teacher Work Sample (national performance based assessment developed by the Renaissance Group), and Professional Development Appraisal Stystem (adaptation of the Texas appraisal instrument for teachers)

Criterion
Committee Report
A data report will be analyzed by each program area.

Finding
Data Days
Data on student success on the TExES, Teacher Work Sample, and Professional Development Asssessment System was disseminated in table and graphic form on Data Day in December, 2008, and May, 2009. Program areas subsequently used this data in planning courses and developing syllabi.

Indicator
Employer Satisfaction Survey
The survey of graduates and their employers will be analyzed fall 2008.

Criterion
Employer Satisfaction Survey
90% of graduates and employers returning surveys will indicate that our programs are effective and satisfactory.

Finding
Employer Satisfaction Survey
The results of the survey of graduates of the diagnostician program and their employers indicate satisfaction with the program and skills of our graduates by 100% of respondents. However, our return rate was low. We did not survey graduates and employers of the graduate programs in Reading or the Low Incidence Disabilities and Autism program.

Action
Tk-20 Training
For 2009-2010 Tk-20 training sessions will be developed for adjunct faculty members. Continue to offer training during the weeks prior to the end of each semester.

Action
Data Monitoring
Continue joint Data Days in December and May with Curriculum and Instruction for the 2009-2010 school year.

Action
Employer Satisfaction Survey
For 2009-2010, survey employers and graduates from Reading and Special Education Programs. Use databases from TEA to gain better access to employers and graduates, thereby increasing the return rate.

Objective
Program Development
Develop a doctoral proposal for SPD.

Indicator
SPD Doctoral Proposal
The Special Education Doctoral Proposal will approved by the Sam Houston State University Curriculum Committee, the Board of Regents, and is submitted to THECB.

Criterion
Program Development
SPD proposal approvals by the Sam Houston State University Curriculum Committee, the Board of Regents, and the Texas State University Ststem, and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Finding
SPD Doctoral Program
The Doctoral Proposal for Special Education has been approved by the Sam Houston State University Curriculum Committee and Board of Regents.

Indicator
New SPD EDD Faculty
The Department of Language, Literacy & Special Populations will seek doctoral level faculty members.

Criterion
New SPD EDD Faculty
2 doctoral faculty members will be are hired by September 1, 2009.

Finding
New SPD EED Faculty
Candidates (3) have been interviewed for this position. At this point one doctoral level faculty member has been obtained; the contract is being processed.

Action
SPD Doctoral Program Approval
Prepare for approval process by the Texas HIgher Education Coordinating Board.

Action
New SPD EDD Faculty
Publicize positions in the Chronicles of Higher Education, Higher Ed Online, and at the Council for Exceptional Children's Teacher Education Division Conference. Continue to seek quality associate-level faculty for doctoral program.

Goal
Institutional Effectiveness
Promote institutional effectiveness and operational excellence.

Objective
NCATE
LLSP faculty will assist in the preparation of the National Coucil for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) institutional report.

Indicator
Faculty Participation
Faculty will participate and assume leadership roles on committees for writing sections of the institutional report.

Criterion
Faculty Participation
Faculty will attend committee meetings, gather and analyze necessary data, and assist in writing necessary reports.

Finding
NCATE Standards Report
For the Institutional Report, the following faculty members chaired Standards Reports: Dr. Diana Nabors, Standard 1 Content Knowledge and Skills; Dr. Melinda Miller Standard 2 Assessment; Dr. Debra Price Standard 6 Governance. All faculty in LLSP participated in the work of at least one Statndard Committee.

Action
NCATE Standards Reports
Faculty standards chairs and committee members will need to continue to address standards and issues during the NCATE site visit in October, 2009. Additionally, they will need to address any issues and programmatic changes that result from the NCATE review.


Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

Plan for continuous improvement Although we met our departmental goal for 75% of faulty to publish at least 1 peer-reviewed article, there were 4 faculty members with no peer reviewed publications. For the 2009-2010 academic year, the Department of Language, Literacy & Special Populations will support faculty in their research and writing, specifically through a departmental reseach collaborative group and a writers' group. In order to effectively address the need to engage in this group collaboration, faculty will need to maintain a presence on campus, i.e., regular office hours as well as on Fridays for Departmental Days. Additional collaboration with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction was a priority for 2008-2009 for the continuing development of the new EC-6 Program. The Departments of Langauge, Literacy & Special Populations and Curriculum and Instruction met on a bi-weekly basis to collaborate on the development of the EC-6 Program during 2008-2009. We will support this continued effort through the regular meeting of the Elementary Education Advisory Committee, as well as joint meetings for analysis of data from the EC-6 assessment results. Additionally, LLSP faculty will continue to work jointly with the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling on the institutional report and the NCATE site visit. LLSP faculty assumed a leadership role in the preparation of the National Coucil for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) institutional report. We have maintained our database for program accountability on the Tk-20 system, and will conduct additional training sessions for faculty in 2009-2010. For 2009-2010 we will prepare for the on-site visit and make program revisions based on the recommendations of NCATE reviewers. Advisement, which has constituted a major burden for faculty members, will be transferred to the SAM Center, although members of the Elementary Education Advisory Committee must keep the SAM Center abrest of program changes and issues for EC-6 candidates. We will work to improve our undergraduate programs through continued assessments and progress monitoring of candidates. We have submitted the proposal for the Doctoral Program in Special Education to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for approval. We will need to recruit candidates and prepare for the onsite visit by the Coordinating Board. Additionally, the Department of Language, Literacy & Special Populations will need to support the Doctoral Program in Special Education through the approval process, and subsequently publicizing the program, recruiting qualified candidates, hiring doctoral-level faculty, and developing the curricula. Since we need one additional doctoral-level faculty member in the Special Education Program we will publicize positions in the Chronicles of Higher Education, Higher Ed Online, and at the Council for Exceptional Children's Teacher Education Division Conference. Continue to seek quality associate-level faculty for doctoral program. For all graduate programs, we will expand online and hybrid programs.