news_11_07_teacher

November 14, 2007

New Teacher-Education Degrees Approved by the Regents; Quick-Admit Process to Debut Later in November

ATLANTA - (Nov. 14) – Today, the Board of Regents approved the first degrees to be added to the new Georgia ONmyLINE website specifically designed to target areas of high interest and/or critical need in Georgia. Accompanying these new programs is a quick-admit process that will allow eligible prospective students to be admitted and begin their program of study within a few weeks.

In addition to hundreds of other online USG courses and degree programs already available via the new website, five institutions have committed resources and expertise to offer a number of fully online graduate teacher-education programs designed to for the working adult. Recognizing that practicing teachers and other employed professionals will be a large target audience for these new degree programs, the courses are designed to be flexible and to grow in response to demand.

"Our new model for the delivery of online programs is designed to focus first and foremost on the customer," Dr. Kris Biesinger, associate vice chancellor for Information and Instructional Technology Services said. "Students will not have to wait for course openings because these programs will grow in step with the demand for them. The programs are responsive to a student's schedule and, at the same time, they are set up to ensure degree completion in a reasonable amount of time."

By Nov. 20, a brand new quick admissions process will be added to the Georgia ONmyLINE website for these education degrees. The process does not delay students from starting coursework until transcripts and other necessary admissions documentation can be gathered. Once this new process has been tested on these programs, it will become available for implementation by additional institutions. Currently, admission to all other programs listed in the GeorgiaONmyLINE site is through the existing institution process. Details can be found by program on the site.

"The teacher-education programs are just the first set of collaborative, fully online programs designed to meet critical state needs that we've added to the website with these new convenient features for students," said Biesinger. "Over the next year, we will be adding new programs in other disciplines where demand is high for our graduates."

The five campuses approved by the Board of Regents today as participants in the teacher-education programs are Columbus State University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University, North Georgia College and State University and Valdosta State University.

Admission opens Nov. 20 for the online graduate teacher-education programs, with registration to begin Dec. 1 for admitted students who wish to take courses that start in January 2008. The programs consist of a new master of education (M.Ed.) with a major in accomplished teaching that is appropriate for all teaching levels, two master-of-arts-in-teaching (MAT) programs designed for individuals who wish to change careers and become teachers and some other M.Ed. programs Details are as follows:

* Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a major in Accomplished Teaching
Lead institution: Valdosta State University; Collaborating institutions: Columbus State University and Georgia Southern University
* Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with a major in Special Education
Lead institution: Valdosta State University; Collaborating institution: North Georgia College and State University
* Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a major in Instructional Technology
Lead institution: Georgia Southern University; Collaborating institution: Valdosta State University
* Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a major in Middle Grades Education
Lead institution: North Georgia College and State University; Collaborating institution: Valdosta State University
* Master of Education (M.Ed.) with a major in Reading, Language and Literacy Education (Teaching English as a Second Language)
Lead institution: Georgia State University; Collaborating institutions: North Georgia College and State University and Valdosta State University
* Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with a major in Reading, Language and Literacy Alternative Preparation (Teaching English as a Second Language)
Lead institution: Georgia State University; Collaborating institutions: North Georgia College and State University and Valdosta State University.

Report: Strong Progress in Number, Diversity of New Teachers Prepared by USG

ATLANTA - (Nov. 14) – A progress report on the University System of Georgia's (USG) production of new teachers released during today's meeting of the Board of Regents demonstrates the University System's strong commitment to meeting the state's critical need for additional and more diverse educators. The System's production of new teachers has increased 44 percent over the past five years. The report also shows that USG-prepared teachers are retained by Georgia's public school systems longer than those not prepared by the University System.

"Since the first group of teachers prepared under the 'Regents' Principles for the Preparation of Educators for the Schools' graduated in 2002, the University System has prepared more than 20,000 new teachers, most of whom were hired by Georgia's public school systems," said Dr. Jan Kettlewell, associate vice chancellor for P-16 Initiatives, who presented the report to the regents. "Our annual production rate has increased 44 percent in the last five years, and the number of minority teachers we produce is up 17 percent compared to three years ago."

The report issued today is the first in a series of annual reports on the status of teacher preparation by the USG institutions. Prepared by Dr. Mark Pevey, director of P-16 data management, the report tracks progress in teacher production made under the "Regents Principles" – which offered school systems a guarantee of the quality of USG-prepared teachers – and the "Double the Numbers/Double the Diversity of Teachers Prepared by the University System Initiative," launched in 2005.

In 2002, when the USG's teacher-quality guarantee went into effect, the University System prepared 2,600 new teachers. The Double/Double Initiative used as its baseline data from 2004, by which time the USG was producing 3,157 new teachers. In launching Double/Double in 2005, Kettlewell and her staff asked the USG's colleges of education to set specific goals for improving the number and diversity of their teacher-education graduates, and in 2007, the System prepared 3,822 new teachers, an increase of 44 percent over 2002 and 21 percent over 2004.

"By stepping up their recruiting efforts and providing increased support to teacher candidates throughout their preparation, our institutions have made great strides in improving both the number and the diversity of the teachers they prepare," Kettlewell concluded. "Despite our progress, a lot of challenges still remain. We will continue to stretch to increase our efforts to meet more of the state's needs for qualified teachers

The USG colleges of education that achieved the largest increases in the number of initial-certification graduates between 2004 and 2007 were as follows:

* Armstrong Atlantic State University went from 181 new teachers prepared in 2004 to 318 in 2007, an increase of 76 percent;
* The University of West Georgia went from 306 new teachers prepared in 2004 to 416 in 2007, an increase of 36 percent;
* Kennesaw State University went from 358 new teachers prepared in 2004 to 473 in 2007, an increase of 32 percent; and
* Georgia State University went from 363 new teachers prepared in 2004 to 462 in 2007, an increase of 27 percent.

Overall, the University System has improved the diversity of the new teachers it prepares by 17 percent since 2004, producing 702 new minority teachers in 2007, compared to 600 in 2004). Among the frontrunners in this regard:

* Armstrong State increased the number of its minority initial-certification graduates by 193 percent, from 27 in 2004 to 79 in 2007;
* The University of Georgia has seen a 144 percent increase, from 25 in 2004 to 61 in 2007;
* Augusta State University has experienced a 136 percent increase in new minority teachers prepared, from 14 in 2004 to 33 in 2007; and
* Kennesaw State increased its minority numbers by 88 percent, from 25 in 2004 to 47 in 2007.

Kettlewell noted that UGA consistently prepares the largest number of new teachers in the University System (572 in 2007) and Georgia State consistently prepares the largest number of new minority teachers (180 in 2007).

The report also shows that USG-prepared teachers are hired by almost every public school system in the state and that they tend to stay in Georgia classrooms longer than those not prepared by the University System.

New teachers in 2005 prepared by the USG were hired in 170 (94 percent) of Georgia's 180 public school systems in 2006, and more than 95 percent of them were still teaching in Georgia one year later, compared to only 86 percent of non-USG-prepared teachers.

"How long teachers stay in the classroom, once hired, is a measure of the effectiveness of their preparation," Pevey said. "Right now, we only have the data to track the retention rate for one year, but in time, we'll have more long-term results to show what a good investment University System of Georgia teacher preparation is for both students and local school systems."

Pevey pointed out that the progress report released today focuses only on initial teacher certification. A report forthcoming in the next few months will track the progress of programs designed for those entering teaching in mid-career as well as those seeking advanced teaching degrees and certification as school counselors or principals.

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