California State University Conference
Strengthening Teacher Education in the Undergraduate Years
San Diego October 29, 30 1997
CAMPUS ACTION PLAN

Campus Name: San Diego State University

Team Leader: Dean Popp

Recorder's Name: Phoebe Roeder

The Stengthening Teacher Education in the Undergraduate Years conference provided an opportunity to reflect upon what has already been accomplished at San Diego State University and to identify and clarify goals for the next year. In August 1996, the College of Education with collaboration from the Liberal Studies program and single subject advisers held a summer institute to discuss and start working on a variety of issues designed to strengthen teacher education in the undergraduate years. Focus groups discussed issues concerning field experiences, Liberal Studies, assessment, RTP and rewards systems, integrated programs for single subject programs, other aspects of single subject programs, and technology. Faculty from many of the subject matter disciplines met and/or renewed contacts with colleagues in the College of Education and a number of K-12 teachers.

Most of these subgroups have continued to meet as task forces reporting to the UTEAC committee. The field experience task force has been especially active, revising the guidelines and planning a pilot program for Liberal Studies majors during spring 1998. These groups will continue to be the primary mechanism for collaboration and curriculum development.

Early in spring 1998, a team representing Liberal Studies, the College of Education, and conference participants plans to meet with President Weber. We hope to elicit his goals and perspective based upon his work with the CSU Presidents Group, share our plans, and discuss resource issues.

At the October conference, we identified three major initiatives: 1) to plan and implement a curriculum that integrates some of the traditional fifth year credential program courses into the junior and senior year and moves some of the Liberal Studies major courses into the fifth year, 2) continue improving the existing junior-level field experience and add additional experiences, and 3) to develop a more integrated freshmen and sophomore level curriculum which would include guided field experiences. These proposals will be presented to Liberal Studies Committee in December and to a joint meeting of the Liberal Studies Committee, UTEAC, and key subject area faculty from the School of Teacher Education.

One of our first goals is to locate consultants who have experience with integrated five year plans in order to educate ourselves. We intend to contact or visit Bill Martin from Chico and Jack Bristol from El Paso to obtain more information about these programs. Participants also suggested seeking information on the New Jersey model, from the Association of Future Educators, and from other disciplines that have five year programs. In addition, the team will seek input and assistance from faculty involved in the California Subject Matter Projects that at San Diego State University include literature, mathematics, arts, and physical education. A working group of faculty from the College of Education and Liberal Studies will study the available information and develop plans for implementation of some type of integrated program as one option for students at San Diego State University.

Our second goal is to continue our work on developing more frequent and more effective field experiences. These experiences will be designed so that they will be appropriate both for students in the proposed five-year integrated program and for students who need the current four year degree plus fifth year credential program. As mentioned above, we are actively working to improve the quality of the junior-level field experience, a part of the Liberal Studies 300 class. As part of a pilot program, some students in spring 1998 will do their field experience at sites connected to our credential program blocks. We are also considering a field experience coupled to the specialization so that students develop pedagogical content knowledge in their area of special expertise. Ultimately, we are working toward a group or closely guided field experience for freshmen. In developing site-based field experiences, we will be working closely with the teachers who serve as supervisors and master teachers in the various site-based credential level blocks offered by SDSU. We will also benefit from collaboration with K-12 teachers and administrators who are members of the Comprehensive Teacher Education Institute (CTEI) grant and Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) projects.

Our third initiative will focus on the freshmen and sophomore years. SDSU currently offers several possible integrated curriculum programs for first semester freshmen. These curriculum packages include a content course paired with either freshman composition or a developmental writing course plus a one unit university seminar course. The latter course is designed to help freshmen succeed at the university. A small group of students work closely with a faculty mentor to learn about various campus support services and develop strategies for success. Our goal is to develop one or more curriculum packages targeted toward Liberal Studies majors. The university seminar sections would be taught by faculty members from the School of Teacher Education and would include guided observations in the elementary schools.

In addition to the integrated curriculum program, we will be looking at the possibility of an integrated lower division general education program. Two faculty committees sponsored by the deans of arts and letters, professional studies and fine arts, and sciences have been developing a series of curriculum packages. The Liberal Studies coordinator has already attended a meeting of the General Education Committee at which these proposals are presented. She has also met with a faculty committee to consider the next steps. The idea of an integrated general education program will be presented to the Liberal Studies Committee. We will need to identify faculty who would be willing to develop and teach a program for Liberal Studies majors. This program might be an expanded version of our current integrated curriculum program. It would include some form of supervised, possibly group, field experience.

We are currently speaking with our largest local community college vice president about recruitment issues. As we discuss and develop changes in the lower division curriculum and field experiences, we will collaborate with the appropriate departments and divisions. In terms of advising and articulation, the Liberal Studies and single subject advisers meet each fall with community college advisers through the Counselors' Conference. Currently advisers from the University Advising Center at SDSU spend one day per week (during the middle of the semester) advising students and meeting with advisers at each of the local community colleges. As a result, articulation is excellent.

We are eager to move forward on the initiatives identified at the Strengthening Conference. Since the current Liberal Studies program was adopted in 1991, we have made progressive improvements. We are especially pleased that the faculty who teach the four semester math sequence, our special exploratory upper division science inquiry course, and our children's literature and writing courses model exemplary pedagogy and that the faculty who teach the upper division music, drama, and arts courses and the special physical education courses combine content and pedagogy. These courses plus our linguistics and child development courses and the new courses we are currently developing in history are the core of our upper division program. We are excited as we move now to further develop the lower division program and work toward an integrated five year option. Collaboration and sharing of ideas and expertise between content faculty, credential-level faculty, and colleagues in the K-8 schools have been increasing steadily. This collaboration is essential as we develop teacher preparation programs for the twenty-first century.