New York University
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development
Department of Teaching and Learning
Undergraduate Childhood/Childhood Special Education Program
Syllabus
Spring 2015
Integrating Seminar in Childhood and Special Education II:
Assessment to Guide Instruction
CHDED-UE 1006.001 and 002 – One Credit
194 Mercer
Room 206 and Room 205
Mondays
5:20 - 6:10 pm
Suzanne C. Carothers, Ph.D.
[email protected]
212-998-5717
239 Greene Street
East Building Room 616
Monday 1:00 – 3:30
By Appointment
Russ Schulman, Ph.D.
[email protected]
917-596-9023
Office Hours
By Appointment
“If you want to fly, you must leave the nest.
If you want to discover new oceans, you must be willing to lose sight of the shore.”
Description of the Course
This Seminar is a yearlong course designed to encourage the integration of theory and practice. During the spring
semester, it will be taken concurrently with your second semester placement as a student teacher. Unlike in your
first semester of student teaching, this semester you will not be partnered with another junior in our Program.
You will be working independently four half days in your placement with your cooperating teacher and students.
While you are also doing an On-site Seminar at the school where you are student teaching with other juniors,
seniors, or graduate students who are placed in the same school as you, this Seminar will build on and broaden
ideas germane to understanding the relationship between your coursework which is preparing you to become a
teacher and your classroom practice in your role as a student teacher.
As with the fall seminar, the spring Seminar involves conversations based on inquiry, readings, as well as the
deconstruction of opinions and ideas of all participants in the class. In keeping with an exploration of the role of
assessment in teaching and learning across your junior courses, this seminar will also address the role of
assessment in learning – the systematic gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well
student learning matches our outcomes and expectations. We also will explore how assessment can be used to
guide instruction. In addition, we will address the role of teachers in this process in ensuring that all students
have sufficient opportunities to achieve.
We will also continue to address the ongoing debates concerning the best way to prepare and assess teachers as
accountability in education remains a national discussion. As was the case during the fall semester, given this
climate, we are committed in part two of this year-long course to preparing you to not only meet State teacher
certification competencies whether measured by edTPA, (Education Teacher Performance Assessment) or
INTASC (Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium) but, to excel beyond them. Our goal is to
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prepare you to competently meet the challenges that you will face as a teacher thereby enabling you to surpass
the standards by which you will be measured through the new teacher certification requirements.
As we integrate theory and practice throughout the year, four components will be covered in this seminar.
Ongoing development of your teaching portfolio.
Understanding the make-up of the schooling context which include in school and after school
experiences for children.
Understanding diversity of learners and learning styles in the schooling context.
Planning for learning – understanding the curriculum and lesson planning.
The seminar is the place where students will continue the process of developing teaching portfolios. The seminar
also seeks to help students make meaning of the realities of teaching as it relates to the theoretical and
philosophical beliefs about teaching by addressing such questions as:
What are the important issues related to assessing who learners are and using that information to
guide their instruction in one’s field placement?
How do these issues relate to what you have learned and are learning at NYU about education and
schools?
How do these issues relate to what you believe about education and schools?
Goals
At the completion of this course, students will:
gain an understanding of standards for teaching and the teacher’s role in connecting standards to
teaching practice;
recognize and foster children’s natural inquisitiveness, learning and engagement in the curriculum planning
process;
uncover the tensions, dilemmas and contradictions that life in classrooms present while developing skills
to address them;
explore in-school and after- school opportunities for student learning; and,
understand how the role of assessment affects the teaching and learning process and guides instructional
opportunities.
Structure
Lively discussion, exchanging ideas and interacting with members of the group are encouraged during class
meetings of this seminar. To create this learning community, your participation in both small and large group
activities is expected. You will integrate readings and discussions with practical application by doing things such as
in-class writing, role-playing and reflections on readings. Your attendance and participation are critical to the
success of the weekly class meetings as well as to your successful completion of the course.
Course Requirements
The requirements for successful completion of this course are discussed below.
1.
Readings. Read assigned texts before coming to class. All readings and/or URL to get readings will be
provided for you. The readings will be in a folder on NYU Classes which has replaced Blackboard. Many
opportunities will be available to respond to texts by using writing as a tool of thinking on paper about the
texts. In small groups, students will be responsible for leading and participating in seminar discussions.
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2.
Attendance. As stated above, your attendance is critical to the success of the weekly class meetings as
well as to your successful completion of the course. It is difficult to do well in this course when you miss
class. Please plan your activities so that you can come to class weekly and on time. If you are absent,
make arrangements with a class member to collect handouts and to share notes. Each assignment is due on
the designated due date. If you have an excused absence on the day an assignment is due, your
assignment will be due without penalty on the first day you return to class. You are responsible for inclass work and readings even when you are absent.
3.
Participation. The structure of this course requires that all students actively participate in class
discussions and activities. This includes both small group and whole class discussions and activities.
4.
Teaching Portfolio Development. Create the organizational framework for the portfolio and complete
two INTASC Standard entries. There will be two in-class Portfolio Check-ins.
5.
Sociogram. Conduct a study on children in your classroom of who interacts with whom.
6.
Group Project. The Collaborative Classroom Construction Project seeks to have students work together
to create a classroom learning environment that addresses the instructional, social and emotional needs of
learners at an agreed upon grade level. Together they will determine and agree upon what beliefs inform
their decisions and what resources are needed, as they create and layout an optimal learning environment
for elementary school children.
7.
Theory into Practice: My Yearlong Journey Reflection Paper. Exploring how you are making meaning
about the connections between what you are studying in your course work and what you are seeing and
doing in your placements through the fall and spring semesters.
8.
Work Submission. All assignments should be word processed unless otherwise stated in class. Each
assignment is due on the designated date. Late assignments will be penalized. No extra credit
assignments will be granted.
Grading Policy
This course offers you a wonderful opportunity to develop your academic and professional skills. It is designed to
encourage you to re-examine the ways in which you think about your assumptions concerning what children are
taught in schools and your role in their learning process. Use your time in the course to get better at something
you care about, something that matters to you. You are your major competitor. Take your work seriously and
work hard. Be willing to stretch yourself and learn things about yourself as a “learner.” Remember, “If you want
to grow, you must break out of your egg shell. If you want to fly, you must leave the nest. If you want to discover
new oceans, you must be willing to lose sight of the shore.”
Challenge yourself to do your very best work – in your written assignments, your oral contributions in class and in
reading carefully, assigned texts. The content and presentation of your work should represent that which you
have invested time and energy as well as given thoughtful and scholarly consideration. It should be work that you
are proud to submit – the kind of work on which you place your name with pride.
At the end of the semester, you will complete a Self-Evaluation of your performance in the course. You will have
an opportunity to grade yourself and reflect about what you have done in meeting your own standards in
completing the requirements for the course. Your evaluation will be taken into consideration in the final grade you
earn.
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Grading Rubric
Item
Professionalism: Attendance,
Participation and Readings
Due: On-going
Midterm Check-In
Due 3/9:
Sociogram
Expectation
Attend class; engage in the work; share
ideas with classmates; read all texts prior
to attending class; and, be prepared to
write about and discuss texts in class.
Participate both in small group and whole
class discussions and activities.
Update your progress thus far in the
course.
Build on your understanding of Sociograms
from the fall semester, conduct a study on
children of who interacts with whom;
create an initial probe; develop a listing of
who chose whom; do a tally sheet; diagram
the results; provide a description of
children. Develop detailed analysis of the
implications of your findings.
Grade Percentage
25%
20%
Due 3/23:
The Collaborative Classroom
Construction Group Project
Due 5/4 & 5/11:
Teaching Portfolio Development
Due: First Check-in 3/30
Second Check-in 5/11:
Final Reflection Paper
Due 5/11:
Create with group members, a classroom
learning environment that addresses the
instructional, social, and emotional needs of
learners at an agreed upon grade level.
Show evidence of materials collected for
the portfolio; create the organizational
framework for the portfolio; and, complete
two INTASC Standard entries.
Write a reflection on your yearlong
learnings in the Seminar. Theory into
20%
20%
15%
Practice: My Yearlong Journey Reflection
Statement for Student with Special Needs
Any student attending NYU who needs an accommodation due to a chronic, psychological, visual, mobility and/or
learning disability, or is Deaf or Hard of Hearing should register with the Moses Center for Students with
Disabilities at 212 998-4980, 240 Greene Street, www.nyu.edu/csd.
Academic Integrity
The following is adapted from the NYU Steinhardt Student’s Guide (p. 24) and from the Policies and Procedures
of the NYU Expository Writing Program (available from
http://www.nyu.edu/cas/ewp/html/policies___procedures.html):
The relationship between students and faculty is the keystone of the educational experience in the Steinhardt
School at New York University. This relationship takes an honor code for granted. Mutual trust, respect, and
responsibility are foundational requirements. Thus, how you learn is as important as what you learn. A University
education aims not only to produce high quality scholars but also to cultivate honorable citizens.
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Academic integrity is the guiding principle for all that you do; from taking exams, making oral presentations, to
writing term papers. It requires that you recognize and acknowledge information derived from others, and take
credit only for ideas and work that are yours. You violate the principle of academic integrity when you
• cheat on an exam;
• submit the same work for two or more different courses without the knowledge and the permission
of all professors involved;
• receive help on a take-home examination that calls for independent work;
• “collaborate" with other students who then submit the same paper under their individual names.
• give permission to another student to use your work for a class.
• plagiarize.
Plagiarism, one of the gravest forms of academic dishonesty in university life, whether intended or not, is
academic fraud. In a community of scholars, whose members are teaching, learning, and discovering knowledge,
plagiarism cannot be tolerated. Plagiarism is failure to properly assign authorship to a paper, a document, an oral
presentation, a musical score, and/or other materials, which are not your original work. You plagiarize when,
without proper attribution, you do any of the following:
• Copy verbatim from a book, an article, or other media;
• Download documents from the Internet;
• Purchase documents;
• Report from others’ oral work;
• Paraphrase or restate someone else’s facts, analysis, and/or conclusions;
• Copy directly from a classmate or allow a classmate to copy from you.
For a very helpful self-test on what constitutes plagiarism, please visit
http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/practice.html.
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Weekly
Session
Date
Session 1
1/26
Session 2
2/2
Session 3
2/9
Topic
Sessions
Expectation
Due
Introduction
Reaffirming the
Learning Community
Setting Course
Expectations
Inside My New
Placement Refining
the Sociogram Study
as an inquiry tool
Continuing to Collect
and Develop Evidence
for Your Portfolio
2/16-20
Session 4
2/23
Systems that
Support the
Childhood Learner –
in school, after
school and the
community
Session 5
3/2
Teacher
Certification:
Options and
Possibilities
Reading/Assignment
Assignment for Session 2
Bring an artifact from your new placement.
Bring Sociogram from Fall Semester
Discuss: Artifact from
New Placement
Assignment for Session 3
Read Creating an Environment for Learning,
William, Ayers & Aryan Alexander-Tanner
Introduce & Distribute
Educational Standards – Caveat Emptor
Sociogram Assignment
Donald C. Orlich
for spring semester
Discuss: Ayers and
Assignment for Session 4
Alexander-Tanner &
Read Human Development, Bioecological Theory
Orlich
of, Urie Bronfenbrenner
Introduce: Collaborative
Classroom Construction
Group Project
N o
N Y U
C l a s s e s
Department of Education Midwinter Recess
Discuss:
Assignment for Session 5
Bronfenbrenner
Go on-line to the NY State Ed Department and
your own home state Ed Department to learn
Sections Meet Together
about teacher certification requirements for
Room TBA
initial certification as an elementary/childhood
and special education teacher. Come with
questions you have about obtaining State
Teacher Certification.
Guest Presenters:
Assignment for Session 6
Mark Perez, Manager,
Certification Services
Read: Afterschool: A High School Dropout
Student Services & Public
Prevention Tool (2009).
Affairs in Steinhardt
Read: After-School Opportunities.
Frank Pignatosi, Director
Office of Clinical Studies
Read: In Addition Afterschool Mathematics
Program: Principles, Practice and Pitfalls,
Judith McVarish and Patricia Birkmeier.
Sections Meet Together
Room TBA
Session 6
3/9
Public Schooling in
New York City: Equal
Opportunity for All?
Discuss:
a. Afterschool: A High
School Dropout Prevention
Tool
b. Afterschool Opportunities
c. McVarish and Birkmeier
Sections Meet Together
Room TBA
Mid Term Check-In Due
3/16-22
N Y U
S p r i n g
Assignment for Session 7:
Read: The Kind of Schools We Need, Elliot
Eisner.
Read: Schools Face ‘Crisis in Caring, Nel
Noddings.
Read: An Ethic of Caring and Its Implications
for Instructional Arrangements, Nel Noddings.
Bring draft of evolving philosophy of Education
B r e a k
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Session
Date
Session 7
3/23
Topic
Revisiting Your
Beliefs about
Schooling
Session 8
3/30
Portfolio Check-In:
Session 9
4/6
Session 10
4/13
Teaching and
Learning through the
Lens of Science: The
Role of Experience in
Learning
Continued Reflection
On Emerging Beliefs
Session 11
4/20
Group Projects Inclass Work Time
Session 12
4/27
Teacher:
the Professional
Person
Group Project
Presentations
Group Project
Presentations
Session 13
5/4
Session 14
5/11
Individual Portfolio
Presentations
Final Reflection
Celebration
Due
Discuss: Eisner and
Noddings
Assignment
Assignment for Session 8
Bring in Portfolio
Writers Workshop I on
your emerging
philosophy of education
Sociogram Due
Portfolio Check-in One
Guest Presenter:
Dr. Hubert Dyasi
Discuss: Benjamin
Writers Workshop II
Planning for Group
Presentations
Sections Meet
Together
Room TBA
Discuss:
Bowman
Group Presentations
Portfolio Check-in Two
Final Reflection Due
Assignment for Session 9
In reflecting about your journey as a learner in
and beyond school, in what ways did science live
in your life? Come prepared to talk about your
reflections.
Assignment for Session 9
Read: The Saber Tooth Curriculum,
Harold Benjamin
Bring draft of evolving philosophy of Education
Assignment for Session 11
Bring Collaborative Classroom Construction Group
Project ideas, materials to class
Assignment for Session 10
Read: Relationship Educates: An Interactive
Instructional Strategy, Richard Bowman
Group Project Presentations Begin
Assignment for Session 13
Group Presentations
Assignment for Session 14
Bring in Portfolio
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Teacher Certification Exam Course Referral Guide:
CHDED-UE 1006.001 and 002
Integrating Seminar in Childhood and Special Education I and II:
Contexts and Learning Environments of Diverse Learners
In this course, you can expect to gain knowledge and experience that will assist you in taking your
certification exams in the following ways:
Certification Exam
Academic Literacy Skills
Test (ALST)
Relevant content in this course
Ongoing development of a teaching
portfolio.
Content derived from course readings
and class discussions
Relevant assignments in this course
The Collaborative Classroom Construction Group
Project
Developing a Philosophy of Education
My Yearlong Journey Reflection
Educating All Students
Test (EAS)
Content derived from course readings
and class discussions
Content Specialty Test
(CST)-Multi Subject*
Content derived from course readings
and class discussions
Content Specialty Test
(CST)-Students with
Disabilities**
Content derived from course readings
and class discussions
Sociogram
Ongoing development of a teaching
portfolio.
Content derived from course readings
and class discussions
Guest Speakers:
Frank Pignatosi and Mark Perez
ed TPA Talk
The Collaborative Classroom Construction Group
Project
edTPA***
Sociogram
The Collaborative Classroom Construction Group
Project
* Taken by students seeking ECE certification and by those seeking ECE/SPCED certification
**Taken only by students seeking dual ECE/SPCED certification
***(Early Childhood for ECE only certification; Special Education for SPCED certification)
For additional information regarding the requirements for and pathways to teacher certification in New York State,
please visit http://eservices.nysed.gov/teach/certhelp/CertRequirementHelp.do