Reply to EPPC from Department of Mathematics

We cite the Math Department’s previous Response to the Proposal (references are cited with a Section number a point number and a page number) in the following response.

Questions involving NCATE Standards:

An important point in understanding the issues here at ECU is the use of the terms “teacher education” and “unit.” “The unit is defined as the institution, college, school, department, or other administrative body with the responsibility for managing or coordinating all programs offered for the initial and continuing preparation of teachers and other school personnel, regardless of where these programs are administratively housed. Also known as the “professional education unit.” The NCATE “unit” at ECU is “Teacher Education.” It includes 38 “teacher education programs” located in the School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Health and Human Performance, the School of Allied Health Sciences, the School of Music, the School of Art, the School of Social Work and Criminal Justice, and the School of Human Environmental Sciences. “The Dean of the School of Education has overall administrative responsibility for teacher education.” [Statements taken from Council of Teacher Education By-laws.] Each “teacher education” program is represented on the Council of Teacher Education, CTE. The functions of CTE include

1. Advise the Director of Teacher Education [the Dean's designee] on

a. policies for admission and retention of preservice teachers

b. policies and standards for teacher education programs

c. design, analysis, and dissemination of results for follow-up studies of teacher education graduates

d. interdepartmental, intercollegiate, and public school communications and cooperation on matters relevant to teacher education,

e. teacher education programs' compliance with the standards and guidelines set forth by the North Carolina Board of Education, the State Department of Public Instruction, NCATE, and SACS.

Review and recommend approval of teacher education curricula.

The Department of English, History, and Mathematics each have one representative on CTE.

Standard 2. Assessment System and Unit Evaluation.

What is the School of Education’s involvement in assessment of education programs? See the above introduction, along with the response from Dean of the School of Education.

What department’s involvement in assessment of education programs? The Mathematics Education faculty of the Mathematics Department are continually involved in assessment, evaluation, and improvement of its education programs. The Dept collects both qualitative and quantitative data used for evaluating its programs. This is coordinated through Teacher Education at ECU. The Dean of the School of Education was invited to attend and give input evaluating elementary, middle grades, secondary, and graduate programs involving mathematics education. She did attend discussions on the MAEd.

Does the School of Education oversee modifications made by College departments in response to assessment outcomes? The Dean of the School of Education has overall administrative responsibility for Teacher Education which oversees modifications by College departments in response to assessment outcomes.

Does the College department or School of Education keeps abreast of changes of assessment technology and in professional standards? The CTE, the Office of Teacher Education, and the department collect assessment data. The Mathematics Education Area uses the data to make decisions about program improvement. For those changes that require curriculum change, the university procedure is followed with the CTE also making recommendations on proposed changes. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction as well as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the American Mathematics Association, and the Mathematics Association of America provide professional standards for the preparation of teachers of mathematics. It is the Mathematics Department faculty who keep abreast of changes. In addition, the BS program was recently re-accredited, and a new MAEd program approved. These were both reviewed or developed to meet current professional standards.

II. Unit Capacity, Standard 3. Field Experiences and Clinical Practice.

Are both the department and school-based faculty involved in designing, implementing and evaluating the School of Education’s conceptual framework(s) and the school program? Through the Council of Teacher Education and under the direction of the Director of Teacher Education, conceptual frameworks and “teacher education” policies are debated and approved. We have addressed diversity in mathematics education, including diverse learning styles.

Do both the department and school-based faculty participate in the unit’s and the school partner’s professional development activities and instructional programs for candidates and for children? The Mathematics Department takes major responsibility for the professional development of teachers of mathematics at the high school level and shares the responsibility with other faculty in the School of Education for middle grades and elementary teachers. Please refer to a sample of professional activities and collaborations undertaken by Mathematics Education faculty at the end of this document for a sampling of such activities.

In field experience, do degree candidates collect data on student learning, analyze them, reflect on their work, and develop strategies for improving learning? There is a consistency across degree programs as recommended by the Council of Teacher Education and as managed by the Director of Teacher Education. For example, all programs with interns in K-12 schools are expected to direct candidates’ construction of a portfolio that includes student learning data, its analysis, and a reflection. Individual program faculty will be required to evaluate the candidates’ portfolios by a rubric developed by the CTE and for which the faculty will receive training in its use. The portfolios are completed in the second semester of the senior year. Portfolios are checked by a representative of the School of Education, and have never received a complaint.

Standard 6. Unit Governance and resources.

Does the School of Education provide leadership for effectively coordinating all programs at the institution designed to prepare education professionals to work in public schools? The Council of Teacher Education develops policies that are typically managed by the Director of Teacher Education. The Director of Teacher Education reports to the Dean of the School of Education. “Coordinating all programs” is an accurate charge of the CTE for initial teacher preparation programs.

Do education faculty collaborate with school practitioners in program design, delivery, and evaluation of the department and its program? The Mathematics Department faculty collaborates with classroom teachers and school administrators in the design, delivery, and evaluation of the B.S and M.A.Ed. in Mathematics programs. At times, the School of Education faculty and faculty have also assisted in the process. We have recently been reaccredited by NCATE and NCDPI; our collaboration meets their satisfaction. Concerns raised regarding consulting teachers are contradicted by the Dean of the School of Education’s acknowledgement of her sitting in on MAEd assessment meetings, where teachers were actively consulted. Also the Middle grades program award video documents teacher feedback. We consult consistently with our clinical teachers.

Is the School of Education recognized as a leader by educational faculty in College departments? We look to the School of Education staff to lead NCATE studies, to provide information about teacher education and licensure, and to schedule clinical experiences.

Does the School of Education provide professional development on effective teaching for education faculty in the College departments? Mathematics Educators participate in a wide range of professional development, including some School of Education offerings. In fact, Sid Rachlin served on the committee to create the technology workshops that are currently being offered by the School of Education.

Do the department’s workload policies and practices permit and encourage faculty not only to be engaged in a wide range of professional activities, including teaching, scholarship, assessment, advisement, work in schools, and service, but also to professionally contribute on a community, state, regional or national basis? (The assumption is that since the School of Education is required ensure this for all education programs, education programs in College departments also are required to do this.)

The Mathematics Department has been very supportive. The Department has supported faculty through reassigned loads, travel, and support in grants. This includes release time to oversee student teaching. Math Education faculty in the Mathematics Department have been credited and rewarded for all their work and publications relating to Mathematics Education, at least through the Bernhardt tenure as Chair. The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences should be required to be supportive of fair rewards for all faculty members in the College of Arts in Science according to the standards of their subdiscipline. See 12 below.

Is the School of Education responsible for the quality of all school personnel prepared at the institution regardless of where the program is administratively located within the institution? See the introduction above: the NCATE “unit” at ECU is “Teacher Education.” It includes 38 “teacher education programs” located in the School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Health and Human Performance, the School of Allied Health Sciences, the School of Music, the School of Art, the School of Social Work and Criminal Justice, and the School of Human Environmental Sciences. “The Dean of the School of Education has overall administrative responsibility for teacher education.” [Statements taken from Council of Teacher Education By-laws.] Each “teacher education” program is represented on the Council of Teacher Education, CTE.

Since a large number of NCATE approved Schools of Education use programs housed outside Schools of Education, and since ECU is not proposing to move all education programs into its School of education, it is clear that ECU recognizes that none of the standards presented above require locating all of ECU’s education programs in the School of Education. This being the case, why does meeting these standards require ECU to move the programs in History, English Literature, and Mathematics? The EPPC has asked the Deans to provide a standard requiring movement of programs to the School of Education. The Deans have not clearly defined or cited any standard requiring ECU to place any of History, English Literature, and Mathematics Education in the School of Education. In fact, the Dean of the School of Education says there is no one prevalent model, and indicates that at a number of schools these programs are housed in the College of Arts and Sciences. Recruitment is raised as a goal but not as a standard. We speak to recruitment in further detail in (G) and (K) below. Presumably recruitment is important for all areas of education, including in those programs remaining in the College and other schools outside the School of Education. We are still awaiting the Deans’ answer to the question on standards. We call on the Deans to clarify the distinction between “standard” and “goal” and to provide precise information regarding their application to individual programs as opposed to the whole of Teacher Education.

As noted earlier, EPPC would appreciate having information that supports your answers to the questions raised here. In many cases in the materials already supplied to EPPC, the same general issue is raised is a number of different ways. These different ways of expressing a given concern are reflected in the following by locating each under its respective category. It is hoped that EPPC can get supporting material for answers to the general issues raised below category by category. It is not expected that anyone attempt to provide an answer to each question in each category or to provide support for each such answer.

Questions involving the current strength of and the strengthening of existing teacher education programs and the development of new programs.

1. Faculty knowledge of the actual demands on teachers in the public school classroom: What can be provided to support or to refute the view that faculty in the relevant secondary education programs in the college have no knowledge of public schools or of the actual classroom challenges facing new teachers?

(A) Our faculty members have a long and distinguished record of involvement in the public schools. All of the tenure and tenure-track faculty members in Mathematics Education have taught in the public schools. They have produced a wide range of research and publications from the most applied public school settings aimed at teachers to learned abstract research aimed at other university level mathematics educators. They have offered workshops, teacher-in-residence programs, and collaborated in numerous pragmatic undertakings. We have compiled a database of collaborators. This information contains examples of work in the public schools.

In addition, the Mathematics Education are heavily involved in NCCTM, the statewide professional organization for teachers of mathematics at K-12 levels. In fact, Drs. Katharine Hodgin (now deceased), Katye Sowell, and Robert Joyner have been past presidents of this organization, and Dr. Rose Sinicrope is now a current officer. For the years 1982-86 the official journal of the NCCTM, Centroid, was edited by this Mathematics Education faculty.

The Department has had 4 student winners of the Outstanding Mathematics Education Student from Eastern North Carolina.

Each year, the Mathematical Education faculty take all of the graduating seniors, and several juniors, to the annual NCCTM conference to initiate their involvement with their principal professional organization; this is always the largest student contingent from any university or college attending the conference. On many occasions, members of the Mathematics Education faculty have contributed their personal funds to assist these students with hotel accommodations at this conference. In addition, from 1983 until 2000 the Chair of the Mathematics Department also attended this conference – the only chair of a major mathematics department in North Carolina to do so. In addition, this former chair has presented talks on at least eight occasions.

We deny that the faculty does not engage in research that is designed to illuminate and improve the work of teachers in the schools and the schools themselves. The NSF Middle Schools grant for which Dean Sheerer and others recently accepted a national award, and which was primarily a Mathematics Education project, will have wide-ranging impact on improving the teaching of mathematics in the middle grades. Furthermore, the excellence of this work has caused it to being incorporated in many other efforts in middle grades mathematics, most recently by nationally known Math Educator Zalman Usiskin at the University of Chicago. We challenge Dean Sheerer to name any research from the faculty of the School of Education of equal scope or importance in illuminating or improving the work of teachers in schools.

However, it must be stated that the research conducted by the Mathematics Education faculty is also representative of the areas now being developed by the major professional journals in the field. Since faculty members seek to publish in these major journals, it is natural that they would conduct research in the most currently important topics. To ignore these topics, as Dean Sheerer implies the Mathematics Education faculty should do, denies these faculty members the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of current research in the field, and relegates them to publishing in lower ranking journals. Dean Sheerer’s inability to recognize this basic fact is another fundamental reason that Mathematics Education faculty does not want to move to the School of Education. We feel this would compromise the quality of our program.

How well are College programs preparing students to teach in elementary schools in their graduate programs?

(B) This is a reference to MATH 6320, an elementary methods course that was developed in consultation with, and at the request of, Dr. Tom Buttery during his tenure as Chair of Elementary Education. Students are being placed in the course without the prerequisites and without appropriate background. Content background and prerequisites should not be overlooked.

How do College programs ensure that course content is connected with the challenges students face in the elementary classroom?

(C) The elementary program is already under the jurisdiction of the School of Education and is not under consideration under the current Proposal to move selected education programs. However, since the issue has been raised by the Dean of the School of Education, we address her concerns. First we note the MAA/AMS guidelines for mathematics content for prospective teachers:

“Recommendation 2. Although the quality of mathematical preparation is more important than the quantity, the following amount of mathematics coursework for prospective teachers is recommended.

i) Prospective elementary grade teachers should be required to take at least nine semester-hours on fundamental ideas of elementary school mathematics.

ii) Prospective middle grades teachers of mathematics should be required to take at least 21 semester-hours of mathematics, that includes at least 12 semester-hours on fundamental ideas of school mathematics appropriate for middle grades teachers.

iii) Prospective high school teachers of mathematics should be required to complete the equivalent of an undergraduate major in mathematics, that includes a 6-hour capstone course connecting their college mathematics courses with high school mathematics.”

-- The Mathematical Education of Teachers Part I

Mathematical Association of America, in cooperation with

American Mathematical Society

Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences, 2001.

Point 1: At ECU prospective elementary grade teachers are required to take only 5 semester hours of mathematics (Math 2127 and Math 2129, Basic Concepts of Mathematics courses). This falls considerably below the above MAA/AMS recommended nine hours of content math, a point that has been raised with the School of Education on a regular basis since 1983. Our elementary students also take the methods course Math 3223 (Teaching Mathematics in the Elementary Grades K-6). The mathematics department has long argued for another math content course to meet recommendation (i) above. The former Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs stated that he wanted the math department to produce a 4 semester hour course that would have a prerequisite of college algebra. The Mathematics Education Coordinator and Acting Chair of the Mathematics Department met with the Dean of the SOE and the Acting Chair of Elementary Education to begin that process. We were told that they would get back to us even though they had received the same memo from the VC of Academic Affairs. We are still waiting for a response.

Point 2: As a point of reference, at ECU our non-mathematics concentrators in middle grades are required to take only six hours of mathematics content:

Math 1067 Algebraic Concepts and Relations

and either Math 2282 Data Analysis

or Math 3166 Euclidean Geometry.

This also falls below the above MAA/AMS recommendations for minimal mathematics content hours, and is even below the amount recommended for elementary majors, again contrary to the long held advice of the Mathematics Department (since 1983).

Point 3: However, for programs and concentrations overseen by the Mathematics Department at ECU, our programs meet these standards. Our middle grades mathematics concentrators do take 24 semester hours of content mathematics under the D.O.E. award winning middle grades mathematics teacher preparation program. This does meet recommendation (ii) of the MAA/AMS. In addition, at ECU our B.S. secondary education mathematics majors do receive an undergraduate major in mathematics as recommended in (iii). They also receive the equivalent of the above recommended capstone course.

This raises an important issue. Education programs overseen by the Mathematics Department retain high standards and quality. Education programs overseen solely by the School of Education have not met the above minimum content guidelines. These points go straight to the heart of one of our key points. Making the decision to house Mathematics Education programs and faculty in the Mathematics Department serves the best overall interests of our students and maintains the highest quality. It ensures informed oversight of mathematics and mathematics education content, which will ensure meeting content recommendations. It also ensures the strongest collaborative efforts on behalf of our students and faculty.

From our perspective, it is ironic that Dean Sheerer raises the elementary students’ concern about teaching mathematics while at the same time failing to ensure minimum recommendations of the major mathematics professional societies. Our Math 2127 and 2129 instructors (Kathy Stanley and Debbie Stokes, who teach the large majority of sections of Math 2127 and 2129) have worked wonders in these courses while consistently producing some of the highest SOIS evaluation in the Mathematics Department and in the University, see attachment. They are respected by their students, and they report “overwhelming positive comments about the courses.” “Students are very appreciative” of how the two courses have prepared them for the Praxis I exam. First year teachers have reported that they were surprised about how much of the content that they teach is covered in the two courses.

The assertions about Math 2127 and 2129 have been rebutted in (C) above. The Dean of the School of Education should be more specific about complaint patterns: what pattern? which course? was it one instructor or all sections? Did these complaints come from students who registered for one of the sections designated for general education students or from students registered in one of the sections designated for elementary education students? Does this pattern continue to be a problem or was this problem resolved two years ago? We are more than willing to work with the School of Education to resolve problems. However, we will be vigilant on content issues.

2. Program Quality: What is the quality of the programs currently housed in the college?

Programs housed in Mathematics are of the highest quality: see Math Response to Proposal section I point (1) pages 5-9.

How does this compare with programs currently housed in the School of Education?

(D) Please see (C) above. Programs housed in Mathematics meet Mathematics professional society’s content recommendations for mathematics. The elementary program and middle grade program for non-specialists do not. The MAT has such minimal content requirements (at most 5 or 6 mathematics and mathematics education courses combined) that the Math Education group could not in good conscience participate in the program. Required content course exceptions in lateral entry programs are of concern. Furthermore there are issues to consider regarding grade inflation and required-course exceptions if the programs are to be housed in the School of Education. See:

http://www.ecu.edu/pir/AMIR

and click on grade distributions, then click on elementary education, middle grades education, and science education for example. It is important that oversight of content courses be retained in the hands of content experts.

3. Clinical Experience: Do College programs immerse students in the clinical setting in which they will eventually practice?

(D) Mathematics Education Secondary program students are indeed immersed in the clinical setting. The Mathematics Department has led all of ECU with the introduction of Math 2123 (Early Experiences for the Prospective Teacher), which is taken in the students’ sophomore year. We have also recently introduced the field experience courses Math 3004, 3005, and 3006. In the junior year Math Ed students take Math 3004 and 3005 field experience courses (which are Seminars in Secondary Mathematics Curriculum in Algebra and in Geometry respectively). Seniors also take Math 4323 (Teaching of Mathematics in High School, a methods course with field experience) and Math 4324 (Internship in Mathematics, or student teaching) in conjunction with Math 3006 (Seminar in Secondary Mathematics Curriculum: Advanced Mathematics). The above courses total 17 credit hours. Secondary students also have numerous embedded mathematics specific technology experiences throughout both their Math Education and Mathematics courses (in addition to the technology course EDTC 4001). Our students’ applied knowledge and range of teaching strategies often have them serving as consultant to their cooperating teacher during their internship. These strategies include: student projects, mathematical experimentation, use of calculators, estimation, verbalization, constructive learning activities, measurement, dialogue, cooperative learning groups, computer techniques, visualization, and even lectures.

How much clinical experience do College programs provide in the schools, and why is this enough?

(F) Currently B.S. Mathematics students complete three courses with required clinical school experiences prior to their year-long internships in high schools. The Math Department has led the university in their field experience innovations and course introductions.

See (E) above.

We have documented the extensive clinical and field experience embedded throughout our B.S. program (Math 2123, 3004, 3005, 3006, 4323, and 4324) in (E). Our students see alternative teaching strategies not only in their mathematics education courses but also in their mathematics courses (including Calculus, Linear Algebra, Discrete Mathematics, Data Analysis, Geometry, Foundations of Mathematics, Modern Algebra, Statistics, and Differential Equations).

Our program is filled with in-depth clinical experiences and field experiences with content pedagogy as the focus, as discussed in (E). Clearly there must be a balance between content and content pedagogy. We currently have such a healthy balance. Content should not be put at risk by moving these programs, as we discuss in (C) above.

What is the range of developmental clinical experiences College programs provide for thier students? Does your program provide in-depth field experiences?

See (E) above.

Are College programs involved in proactive ways in in-depth clinical experiences in which content pedagogy becomes the explicit focus of the pre-service teacher’s experience?

See (E) above.

How close is each College program’s content connected with student’s clinical experiences, and why is this enough?

See (E) above. These experiences (Math 2123 thru 4324) are woven through the entire BS program with 17 hours of clinical experience.

4. Recruitment, professional development, retention: How do College programs address the recruitment and retention of teachers (particularly, in our case, for rural schools in the region)?

(G)The Mathematics Department has been proactively involved in recruiting students to enroll in our teacher preparation programs. This includes one on one personal discussions with hundreds of students at ECU Open Houses, at Teaching Fellows recruitment visits, at visits to the Mathematics Department, at talks in the High Schools, and via involvement in Teacher Cadet programs in the High Schools. The Coordinator of Mathematics Education observes that in these discussions “the best recruiting tool is informing a prospective student and his or her parents that the student will earn a Mathematics degree.”

The Mathematics Department has also hosted the ECU Math Contest since 1977. A main purpose of the Math Contest is to bring high school students to the ECU campus and to recruit prospective students interested in mathematics, mathematics education, and related disciplines. The whole Math Department is involved in supporting the Math Contest, which brings in an estimated 600-700 high school students annually to visit the ECU campus.

Furthermore, a large number of ECU mathematics faculty members participate in MATH COUNTS, a mathematics competition for middle grades students, which also serves as a recruitment device.

In addition, the strong reputation of the Mathematics Education Area faculty at ECU has helped attract a number of well-qualified graduate students to our MAEd and MA programs.

Part of recruiting students into mathematics education is retaining in the program those students who express an intent to major in this field. The Department is active in this effort each year by sponsoring a strong student club, by hosting an annual student/faculty softball game and picnic, by hosting a dinner for student teachers and their supervising teachers (usually accompanied by a speech from Bill Scott from DPI), and by taking a large contingent of junior and senior mathematics education students to the annual NCCTM meeting. The morale among the mathematics education graduates each year has been very positive, and attests to the efforts of the faculty to recruit, advise, and retain these students.

The Professional Development School initiative at North Pitt High School has been cited as an example of Mathematics failing to express interest in recruiting. However on closer inspection, it turns out that John Pederson, who set up the program at North Pitt High School felt that the Math Department already had such a strong working relationship with the mathematics teachers at North Pitt H.S. that it would be redundant to sign on with the Professional Development School initiative at North Pitt and he recommended against it.

It has been implied that since the Mathematics Department declined to participate in a MAT program, that we have neglected recruitment. The School of Education indicated interest in recruiting via the MAT degree. This was presented to the Mathematics Department as a voluntary option for consideration, but the content requirements for the MAT were so weak (at most 5 or 6 content courses in math and math ed combined) that the Mathematics Education Area decided against this option based on quality of program design and on the lack of content required. Maintaining standards should not be interpreted as a lack of commitment to recruiting.

Mathematics Educators also have sought to recruit by creating links to a number of schools through offering courses in New Bern, Wilson, Havelock, Elizabeth City, and Jacksonville.

How do College programs address the continuing professional development of in-service teachers?

(H) The Mathematics Department strongly supports the development of in-service teachers:

i) Nearly all of our graduate courses are scheduled to meet at night so that they may be accessible to in-service teachers. In addition graduate courses are scheduled for summer sessions, on Saturdays, off-campus, and via the video network system to make them accessible to teachers. Scheduling of courses and course meetings are negotiated with teachers to accommodate their course needs and time commitments.

ii) Members of the Department have held numerous workshops for in-service teachers, at both the state and national levels, including:

Graphing calculator workshops (Owens, Joyner)

Statistics: Teach Stat (Joyner)

Geometry workshops (Hilgoe, Sowell, Preston)

Rational number workshops (Sinicrope)

Assessment workshops (Thompson)

AP Calculus workshops (Hudson, in collaboration with Painter)

Problem Solving (Joyner)

Discrete mathematics workshops (DeBellis)

Discrete mathematics institutes (DeBellis, awarding 3 technology and

11.7 mathematics certificate renewal credits, out of the Office

of Teacher Education)

Presentations at regional NCCTM and state NCTM meetings (Ajose,

Bernhardt, DeBellis, Hunting, Joyner, Rachlin, Sinicrope)

iii) The Teacher-in-Residence program has annually brought in one outstanding in-service teacher each year since 1997 to collaborate with Mathematics Education faculty in the Mathematics Department at ECU for the term of one year. The Teacher-in-Residence participates in numerous professional development activities at ECU, including: attending math courses of their choice, assisting in course delivery, learning current mathematics education issues, and immersing themselves in the mathematics education activities of the Mathematics Department. They take their knowledge and experience gained back to their own schools and school systems where they serve as model teachers and as supervising teachers for pre-service students doing their student teaching. Furthermore, relationships that have been built between these in-service teachers and ECU faculty propel a continued dialogue which helps keep ECU mathematics faculty closely connected to local schools.

Teachers in residence have included Margaret Wirth (Rose High School), Ray Jernigan (Farmville Central High School), Maxine Ouillette (Bear Grass High School), Janice Simons (P. S. Jones Middle School) and Kalouia Newsome (North Edgecombe High School). Our current Teacher-in-Residence, Ms. Newsome, is from a school that serves as a magnet school in Math and Science for Edgecombe County. She is an expert in the use of technology for the teaching of high school mathematics. As a part of her activities here, she has attended grant-writing workshops. Through these activities and with the support of our faculty, she has been funded to return to her schools with financial support for a project involving calculator usage for young women in mathematics.

Unfortunately the Dean of Arts and Sciences and his Assistant Dean and Interim Chair of Mathematics have seen fit to end the Teacher-in-Residence program starting next year (over the department’s objections).

iv) John Parker (Superintendent, Roanoke Rapids City Schools) who was hired with outside grant funding from Sid Rachlin as a Teacher-in-Residence.

v) Mathematics Education faculty used to participate in additional summer courses and workshops for in-service teachers every year, through the Science and Mathematics Center. However, the Dean of the School of Education has allowed the Center to deteriorate to the point that it no longer obtains the grants needed to run these summer activities.

What do College programs do about recruitment and retention of administrators?

While administration is not our main focus, we provide administrative support, See 3(f) below.

Do College programs program support lateral entry processes?

(I) Lateral entry students must have a contract with the Local Education Unit (that is, a local school or school system) before coming to ECU. They are thus in a sense in-service teachers. The Math Department has a policy that students can give us a semester notice to have a course they need available at night or at a time compatible with their schedules and we make every effort to offer that course when staffing is possible. We offer many courses on Saturdays or at night or by satellite (currently both Saturday and satellite classes are being offered). Several faculty members have traveled off campus to deliver courses, including Sid Rachlin (in Wilson) and Sunday Ajose (in Elizabeth City). We have actively recruited students from all avenues of life to pursue a degree in mathematics education and in mathematics in general. The department operates a large free sequence of tutorial sessions available to mathematics students who need help in their introductory courses. Both the mathematics faculty and the mathematics education faculty devote great energies to all their mathematics students, their advanced students, and their advisees. The ECU chapter of the NCCTM (North Carolina Council for Teachers of Math) is an impressively organized and inclusive organization that embraces every mathematics education student at ECU and offers them a sense of community in an encouraging, accepting environment that promotes activities related to the teaching of mathematics. The NCCTM also provides a social and cultural environment for our mathematics education students fostering a strong sense of belonging and togetherness. Faculty members have gone out of their way to help non-traditional students. This includes offering readings, independent study, and summer courses (in addition to one’s teaching load, and without compensation) for students in need of help in meeting course requirements. Other faculty members have helped obtain funding for seed money for SAT preparation in mathematics for minority students as planned by one of our own minority mathematics education majors here at ECU (plans are still underway on this). The hope is that we can inspire local minority students to consider attending college and pursuing mathematics education, mathematics, and mathematics related fields.

Do College programs support the recruitment of minority teachers?

(J) We have recruited a number of minority students, see (I) above. In addition Sunday Ajose has served as long term Director of S.T.E.P. program, a summer math/science enrichment program for minority and female students who have finished ninth grade. He has a national and international presence in minority issues. For instance Dr. Ajose was invited to the Mathematical Sciences Education Board’s National Convocation, Making Math Work for Minorities, in Washington D.C.

How do College programs address the preparation and professional development of school administrators, counselors and other specialists?

(K) While administration is not our main focus, we provide administrative support

We have provided support for administrators such as John Parker (Superintendent, Roanoke Rapids City Schools). Our Teacher-in-residence program has strong support from other administrators who encourage their faculty to participate in the program. We also have strong ties with administrators and school systems throughout eastern North Carolina, through the NC Early Mathematics Placement Testing Program which was begun in 1997, which is run out of the Mathematics Department, and which tested nearly 40,000 students in 288 public and private high schools throughout the state. The newly revised MAEd in Mathematics supports teachers as instructional leaders. The Mathematics Department hopes to offer a doctoral degree to meet the critical need of mathematics educators in K-12 and university settings. We have provided support to our graduates, including Donna Taylor, Math 4-6 Consultant, North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction; Rita Hodges, Lenoir County Secondary Education Director; Ellen Hilgoe, North Carolina Early Mathematics Placement Testing Manager, as well as numerous High School Mathematics Department Chairs.

How did College programs score on the Higher Education Performance Report in the above areas?

We believe that individual college programs are not scored on the Higher Education Performance Report, but rather the overall Teacher Education program at the institution.

5. Research: How do College programs address applied research on best practices for implementation in schools?

(L) Members of the Mathematics Education faculty have published numerous articles on issues of practice in the classroom. The Department of Mathematics faculty, John Daniels, Katherine Hodgin, Robert Joyner, Katye Sowell, and Bill Spickerman were editors of, The Centroid, the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics professional journal for teachers, from 1982 until 1986. Mathematics Department faculty, Katharine Hodgin, Katye Sowell, John Daniels, Rose Sinicrope, Dr. Sid Rachlin, and Dr. Tony Thompson, have published articles in the Arithmetic Teacher, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, and the Mathematics Teacher. These national journals are directed towards teachers of mathematics at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. Sid Rachlin was the major developer of an algebra one curriculum and author of the text, Algebra 1, A Process Approach,that has been used across the country. Discrete mathematics classroom materials are under development by Val DeBellis for use in the classroom.

Are College programs involved in proactive ways in applied research relative to school practices?

Yes, see (H), (G), (L), (K) above, and

(M) Mathematics Education faculty support teachers informally by being resources for teachers at all grade levels. This means that we are frequently called for advice on instructional problems. We have also assisted teachers with award applications and proposals for grants. The Mathematics Department has supported teachers of mathematics at all grade levels across the state in their support of the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Dr. Katye Sowell, Dr. Katharine Hodgin, and Dr. Robert N. Joyner served as president of the organization as well as other offices. Dr. John Daniels and Dr. Rose Sinicrope have also served the organization as officers. Dr. Sowell, Dr. Hodgin, Dr. Joyner, and Dr. Sid Rachlin, Mathematics Department faculty, have served as program chairs for conference meetings ranging from approximately 500 teachers to 3000 teachers.

In addition, the Mathematics Department has also supported teachers through large professional development programs that support North Carolina instructional goals—Dr. Ann Joyner, First Project for elementary teachers, Dr. Robert Joyner, Teach Stat for elementary teachers, Dr. Rose Sinicrope, Algebra One Project for middle grades and high school teachers, and Dr. Rose Sinicrope, Three Year Math/Art Project for K-12 teachers.

How involved are the faculty in College programs in public school issues or in research that is designed to illuminate and improve the work of teachers in schools and schools themselves, and why is this enough?

See (H), (G), (L), (K), (M) above.

Is the research conducted in College programs primarily on the teaching and learning of the content area in higher education, rather than the content area that will be taught in the public schools?

On one side we study the learning of teachers, and on the other side we study learning in the schools and guide teachers on their practice. We do a representative balance of both. See See (H), (G), (L), (K), (M)

6. Curriculum: Do classes in College programs focus on the application of knowledge in the school setting with the appropriate (of K-12) students?

Math 2123, 3004, 3005, 3006, 4323, 4324 in the BS.

Do College programs address such issues as the minority achievement gap, English as a second language, the creation of alternative licensure programs,and on-line delivery for easy access?

(N) See (I) above.

The mathematics faculty have been actively involved in concerns with the minority achievement gap. Professors Ajose, Eudey, Pravica, Robinson, and Spurr have been involved in the mathematics department’s long-term tutorial program at Ledonia Wright (in which mathematics department professors tutor students at the Cultural Center). Professor Robert Hunting has done tutorial work in the public school system in west Greenville. We have worked with the above mentioned minority student who is in the planning stages of developing and running an SAT preparation course in the summer for area minority students. However, we have not offered mathematics courses in a language different from English, nor have we been asked to do so (although we could indeed offer mathematics in a wide variety of languages). We offer satellite and Saturday courses for availability to non-traditional students and in-service teachers, and are currently offering such courses. We have taken to into account student input and requests from in-service teachers in the offering of our graduate and undergraduate course offerings. We have assisted in offering mathematics courses in every way feasible for program and licensure options. Numerous mathematics and mathematics education faculty members have participated in the program to improve Praxis scores to ensure the successful performance of our students in their licensure tests. This resulted in ECU’s secondary mathematics education students having had a 100% pass rate on the Praxis in each of the last 3 years.

Do College secondary education programs provide students with a wide array of teaching strategies (in addition to a lecture format)?

Yes, see (E) above, and also

See (F) above.

How and to what degree do College programs support alternative licensure programs in their secondary education programs?

See (I) above. However we have not offered an MAT due to low content requirements of the program, where the understanding that our offering a MAT was voluntary.

How is the use of technology involved in College programs?

(O) Our students have a rich background in mathematics specific and general technology usage. These include the use of calculators in the teaching of mathematics, computer software Derive, MathCad, Geometer’s Sketchpad, Excel, in addition to the use of the internet, word-processing software and others. While our graduates do take EDTC 4001 as a technology course, their background in technology is so rich that in our last survey of seniors/graduates 50% requested that EDTC 4001 (a technology course taught by the School of Education) be removed as a requirement.

Do College programs work for the improvement of the public school work environment?

See (H), (G), (L), (K), above.

What courses in College programs are available at night?

All undergraduate courses are available at night if a 1 semester advanced notice is given, where staffing permits; nearly all graduate courses are taught at night. Saturday course delivery is an option as well. Students and in-service teachers are consulted for preferred courses and times.

See (I) above, and

(N) above.

What courses in College programs are available online?

Our DE option has been either via satellite or via direct travel of faculty to the site.

How do College programs score on the Higher Education Performance Report in the above areas, in comparison with programs in the School of Education?

We believe that individual college programs are not scored on the Higher Education Performance Report, but rather the overall Teacher education program at the institution.

Will curriculum development be optimized if programs are moved to the School of Education?

No, not at the collegiate level. The current collaboration between mathematicians and mathematics educators has been a key factor in curriculum development. We do not want to place this at risk by removing Mathematics Educators from the Math Department. See Math Response to the Proposal Section I point (2) pages 9—12.

How would the move impact on the diversity and quality of courses that are offered in the College departments that currently house the programs?

The Mathematics Department’s entire graduate program will be placed in grave danger. See Math Response to the Proposal Section II point (8) pages 16—19.

Questions involving faculty roles, evaluation, rewards, and such.

7. Personnel Matters: Are procedures in place that give the dean of the School of Education input in hiring, reappointment, tenure and promotion of faculty in College programs? To what extent is the Dean of the School of Education involved in tenure decisions for all teacher education faculty in College programs?

(P) Every job candidate in Mathematics Education is interviewed by the Dean of the School of Education before hiring. We further cite the memorandum from Dean Sparrow to A&S chairs on Reappointment for Tenure Track Faculty dated Feb 13, 2002:

“As you know, the dean of the School of Education will be involved in recommendations for reappointment of teacher education faculty after the recommendations are received in Academic Affairs. If any questions arise regarding specific recommendations, the dean of the School of Education will confer with you.”

--Keats Sparrow

And Dean Sheerer expressed the following concern in her memo to the EPPC:

“When NCATE last visited the campus, for example, I was very concerned … that I had no direct input into the hiring and retention of faculty. The question addressed to me was, ‘Are you involved in tenure decisions for all teacher education faculty on this campus?’ Of course, my answer was ‘no.’ The only informal avenue open to the Dean of Education is a chance to talk to faculty when they are brought to campus for a job interview.”

--Marilyn Sheerer

We leave it for the Deans to reconcile these two statements.

The Deans can certainly work out such an input issue without moving entire programs, for otherwise the input issue would remain unresolved for the faculty of the programs in departments still remaining outside the school of education. We also remark that, both at the interview stage before hiring and at the reappointment stage, the Dean of the School of Education would have the opportunity to rectify any situation where a faculty member had no knowledge of the public schools.

Are education faculty in College programs evaluated in terms of what they were hired to do, not relative to what non-education faculty in the same department are required to do, when these differ?

(Q) Math Education faculty members in the Mathematics Department have been credited and rewarded for all their work and publications relating to Mathematics Education, at least through the Bernhardt tenure as Chair and before the Interim from the office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences was installed. The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences should be required to be supportive of fair rewards for all faculty in the College of Arts in Science according to the standards of their subdiscipline. The Dean of Arts and Sciences bears the responsibility to support the programs and faculty in his College. Independent of their terminal degree, all tenured Mathematics Education faculty proposed for removal from the College have met the tenure/promotion criteria of the College of Arts and Sciences (untenured faculty have met both Deans’ hiring criteria). The Math Ed faculty voted unanimously to remain in the Mathematics Department and they remain confident of continuing to meet all Arts and Sciences standards.

Do evaluations of education faculty in College programs take into account work in public schools and applied research done in those settings?

See (Q) above.

Has improvement been realized in education programs previously moved to the School of Education from the College?

(R) See the Math Response Section II point (11) page 20.

We have documented the risks to the Mathematics Department, the loss of Math Education faculty, the impact on program quality, the lowered value of the resulting degrees, the lost opportunity for a strong math based or interdisciplinary PhD program, and the harm to program quality. All faculty involved in the proposed merger now have the opportunity to work together under the current arrangement with Mathematics Education housed in Mathematics. If programs such as Science Education and the Science Math Technology Education Network were strong and vibrant they would not need to be revitalized by the proposed merger with Mathematics Education. Indeed the risk is that their fate awaits Mathematics Education, especially when those faculty opposed to moving are lost and filling their positions with equivalent talent in the tight math education job market becomes untenable. Will Math Ed faculty lines be permanently lost in an effort to hire faculty/staff in the other components (Science Ed, Science Math Technology Education Network, and Summer Ventures). Granting opportunities that exist under the current arrangement would be lost if Math Education was housed in the school of education, as documented in our response to the Proposal. On the other hand the type of granting opportunities implied in a merger do remain an option if Math Education remains housed in Mathematics (as attested to by the recent $119,000 grant obtained by Ron Preston, Math Educator, and Jason Painter, Science Math Technology Education Center).

Furthermore, the Dean of the School of Education undermines her own argument for greater collaboration with the College of Arts and Sciences by arguing for the movement of Mathematics Education into the School of Education. Some history is necessary to clarify this point. As outside reviewers of the current Mathematics Education program in the Department of Mathematics have indicated (see the letter from Professor James Wilson from the University of Georgia), the Mathematics Education program is poised to move into the elite programs in the nation with the addition of a doctoral degree. Around 1999-2000, a stand-alone mathematics education doctoral degree at ECU was determined to be not feasible. Instead the Chair of the Mathematics Department was advised to consider a joint inter-disciplinary doctoral degree with Science Education in the School of Education, or else was advised to consider an inter-institutional doctoral degree. After researching these options, the Mathematics Education faculty determined that that Science Education was not sufficiently developed to support doctoral level work at that point, and attempts were explored to create an inter-institutional doctoral degree. These efforts received strong expressions of support from Vice President Charles Coble of the Office of the President of the UNC General Administration, who felt certain that President Molly Broad would also be strongly supportive. However, they have currently become sidetracked due to a lack of support and enthusiasm from the Dean of the College of Arts and Science, who refuses to acknowledge the excellence of the Mathematics Education area because he has been trying to remove it from the College since 1997.

Questions involving missions:

Mission: Is each College program’s primary mission to prepare professional educators who can meet the needs of students in public schools?

Our mission is in complete alignment with this goal. See (S) below and Math Response Rebuttal page 26

Are College programs more involved with the mission of the department in which they are housed than with the above?

(S) See the Math Response Rebuttal page 26. Also

We dispute any claim that preparation of professional educators is not a central and key component of our mission. The preparation of teachers is a central element of the Mathematics Departments mission statement:

“The principal objectives of the (Mathematics) Department are:

To provide and support broad liberal and professional education in the disciplines of computer science, mathematics, mathematics education, and statistics that prepare students for life-long learning and that nurture greater comprehension of the truths, precision, and deductive reasoning that characterize these disciplines.

To prepare students for meaningful careers in teaching, research, and other professions.

To promote programs of excellence in the aforementioned disciplines and to encourage participationof its students and faculty in the professional and cultural activities of those disciplines. …”

-- Code of Operations of the Department of Mathematics

(Underline emphasis added here)

Thus we are in complete alignment with, and support of, the mission adopted by the School of Education.

To what extent does each College programs mission align with the School of Education’s mission?

We are in complete alignment with, and support of, the mission adopted by the School of Education. See Math Response Rebuttal page 26, and

(S) above.

How well are education faculty and education programs integrated into each of the College department’s that currently house these programs.

Completely. See (S) above and Math Response Rebuttal page 26

How well would these programs be integrated with School of Education departments if moved?

Unclear.

Questions involving School of Education Administrative Oversight of Education Programs:

General Administrative Oversight by the Dean of the School of Education: What role does the Dean of Education play in monitoring education programs in the College?

She oversees Teacher Education and all education programs. See our first introductory response above.

Are procedures in place that allow the Dean of the School of Education to raise and resolve concerns with the faculty in education programs, such as the concern expressed in the Dean Sheerer’s memo about MATH 2127 and 2129?

The Dean has complete ability to raise and resolve issues relating to education programs. The issues raised regarding 2127 and 2129 are complex and not fully explained in the Dean’s memo. Please see (C) above.

Do existing policies and procedures enhance communication and the resolution of perceived issues?

The Mathematics Education Area has endeavored to maintain excellent communications with the School of Education.

What location best serves the overall administrative needs of each program?

Program quality is primary. Dean Sheerer has stated that there is no one prevalent model regarding location of teacher preparation programs. Since many are in Colleges of Arts and Sciences, they can be overseen efficiently in that arrangement.

Questions involving Growth, Program Development and Grants:

1. Program Growth and Development: Why will existing programs improve most if moved (or if not moved)? Why will moving existing programs enhance (or detract from) developing new programs? What is best for developing new doctorial programs? How will the move impact on the number of majors at the undergraduate and graduate levels?

To all these questions see Math Response to Basis Section I point (2) pages 9-11.

2. Grants: Where are these programs most likely to generate the most grant dollars?

In Mathematics. Having Mathematics Education programs and faculty housed in Mathematics leaves open both the opportunity for funding by agencies such as the NSF (as in Sid Rachlin’s and Val DeBellis’ grants) that would not be available for programs housed in the School of Education. On the other hand, the full range of other education granting opportunities are still available in the current arrangement. All collaborative efforts described by Dean Sheerer can be implemented as interdisciplinary projects under the current arrangement.

3. How will the move impact on the ability to maintain the needed number of highly qualified education faculty?

The ability to retain and attract highly qualified Mathematics Educators having a high level of content background will be greatly reduced if the programs are removed from the Mathematics Department. See Math Response to Basis Section II point (6) p. 15-16, Appendices 5,6, and 7, and Math Response to Basis Section I point (3i) p. 12, as well as bottom of page 8.

Questions about Collaboration:

What collaboration currently occurs between the education and the non-education faculty in each of the three College departments, and between both groups in a given department and the faculty and administration in the School of Education?

The claim is made in the Basis for the Proposal that faculty collaboration between mathematicians and mathematics educators would be improved. We dispute this claim and document our outstanding collaboration. Having Mathematics Educators housed within the Mathematics Department leaves us with ideal collaborative opportunities, and helps encourage mutual collaboration with faculty in the School of Education. See Math Response to Basis Section I point (2) p. 9-12, See Attachment providing a sampling of collaboration and highlighting Math Educator Ron Preston’s exemplary collaboration in every category and also his articles focusing on applications to the classroom setting.

How would the move change this? (The issue of collaboration with public schools is addressed in an earlier section, above.)

The collaboration we have documented would be put at risk.