 Aram Ayalon Department of Teacher Restructuring Plan – A response

Department Strengths  Good reputation in the State of Connecticut  Extensive field experience in diverse settings  Interdisciplinary focus supporting social justice, Eco- justice, and compassionate communities  Highly productive scholarship  NCATE accredited  Graduates are highly sought of by the CT schools

Department Strengths (cont.)  One of the longest existing Professional Development Schools (1996) – Naylor-CCSU Leadership Academy  Largest and most active Education Club among CSU campuses  Extensive partnerships with K-12 schools  Strong sense of faculty shared governance  Leader and activist regarding current education issues and reform

Concerns Over Restructuring Plan Process 1. Left out of developing the plan 2. Little interdepartmental discussion 3. Suggestions not included in plan 4. Questions not answered in writing 5. Rationale and plan only unveiled last week

Concerns (cont.) Substance  Understaffing elementary education  Creating a non-viable Secondary Education department  Reducing undergraduate graduate programs coherency and integrity  Plan is still vague

New Elementary/Early Childhood & Reading - analysis  Interdepartmental discussions are yet to take place regarding the Dean’s restructuring plan.  Elementary program already works with reading (SAP)  Number of Elementary Ed faculty is reduced by half while enrollment is increasing

New Department of Secondary Education - analysis  Proposed department will have no majors and no programs  Majority of faculty load will be outside of the department  Master’s program is embedded within a master’s in Foundations  Masters in (secondary) Teaching (MAT) will not be part of the department

Moving Foundations to Education Leadership - analysis  Integral part of undergraduate preparation  Shares a graduate program with the secondary division  Foundation courses are an integral part of all graduate teacher education programs

Moving Masters of Teaching to Special Education - analysis  MAT is a secondary/K-12 program  MAT is not a special education program  Deprives secondary education faculty from utilizing their expertise  Two faculty members to be moved belong to the elementary division

Conclusions In line with the Senate’s tradition we ask for: (1) a dialog among all stakeholders in the spirit of shared governance (2) A joint plan all departments involved would agree and sign on to