Course Information

Course Description:

Teachers as Agents of Change is designed for those students working in a public school environment on the Professional Occupational or Alternative C License.  The course is designed to provide an overview of current issues, trends, and problems that are commonplace to teaching in public school settings.   Students will engage in analytic learning experiences which focus on: a) teaching in urban, suburban, and rural settings, b) meeting the needs of diverse student populations, c) historical, sociological, and philosophical aspects of education in a diverse society, d) legal, financial, equality/inequality of access and resources, e) governance issues related to public schooling in the U.S., f) developing knowledge and skills regarding professionalism, national and state initiatives, effective teaching, and licensure, and g) action research to improve current practice.

Course Objectives:

·         To provide an overview of current issues, trends, and problems commonplace to teaching in public school settings

·         To engage students in learning experiences focusing on teaching in a variety of settings--urban, rural, and suburban, in order to develop a broad perspective of classroom situations

·          To explore multiple factors that contribute to the state of public school education including national and state reform initiatives, rapidly changing populations, diversity within the classroom setting,

·         To develop an understanding of historical, sociological, and philosophical aspects of education in a diverse society in order to better meet the needs of learners,

·         To build background knowledge regarding the legal, financial, equality and inequality of access and resources that relate to public school classrooms across the state and nation,

·         To develop an awareness of social justice within the education arena by examining the history of the struggle for equal education opportunities,

·         To assist students in developing professionalism, becoming familiar with the certification process and in developing an awareness of effective teaching.

Course Topics:

Unit 1 - The Profession of Teaching - Teacher Education and the Global Society.  Status of Teachers, Education Reforms, Shortage Areas, Profile of Today's Teachers, Licensure Requirements and Board Certification, Effective Teaching Research, Control Through Testing, National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and Professional Organizations (TEA, NEA, AFT)

Unit 2 - Historical Perspectives of Education - Early American Education, Massachusetts Acts and Impact on Education, Deculturalization and the Claim of Racial and Cultural Superiority, Inequality, Equality, Social Class, Segregation, From Plessey to Brown to Today, The Great Civil Rights Movement,  and No Child Left Behind.

Unit 3 - Today's Perspectives of Education - The Changing Face of Students, Diversity and Student Populations, Meeting Student Needs, Success for All Students, Accountability and High Stakes Testing, School and Society, Urban, Suburban, and Rural Populations, Inclusion, Illusion, and Exclusion of African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and the "Model Minority," American Schools and Education After Brown v. Board, Connection Between Poverty and Failure

Unit 4 - The School as a Mirror of Society - Societal Demands, Societal Problems, Control at the State Level, Parental Choice, Charter Schools, The Flight to the "Private Haven," Purpose of School as Define by Different Populations, Violence, The High School Experience, The Need for Literacy, Parental Involvement, Home Schooling, Success of Magnet Programs, Privatization of Public Schools

Unit 5 - The Courts and Schools - Student Rights, Teacher's Rights, Parents' Rights, Public Access to Schools: Where does it leave the P.S.?, The Language of Schools, Schooling as a Property Right, Secular Humanism and the Religion of Public Schools, An Examination and Analysis of School Law--From Search and Seizure to Immigrant's Rights

Unit 6 - Cultural Issues in Education - Dominated Cultures--Then and Now, Empowerment Through Education, through the reflection and a first year teacher.

Specific Course Requirements:

Course content is divided into seen units of study.  Related reading assignments as well as related slide shows for each unit will assist in understanding the material. 

Units consist of:

·         Reading assignments (textbook, electronic journal articles, handouts, and related professional material)

·         Online web-based mini-research assignments

·         Asynchronous Discussion Forums via Discussion Board

·         Supplemental reading and related meta-commentary to apply information in the classroom setting (Educating Esme)

Assignments are designed to provide relevant information and application of professional material to the classroom setting.   In order to successfully complete the course, students should: a) become familiar with specific software application and b) be comfortable working with the online learning environment.

All assignments must be saved in MS Word.  The online environment offered via the WebCt / RODP course site requires that all completed assignments be uploaded through the site.  Successful completion of the course depends on the timely completion of assignments, adhering to deadlines, and actively participating in Discussion Forums.

Items that are to be placed on the student’s personal web page must be saved as a web document to constructed in a web based software such as Microsoft Front Page.

Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbooks:

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course:
http://rodp.bkstr.com

Hardware Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://mtsu20.mtsu.edu:880/redirect?http://www.tn.regentsdegrees.org/students/hardware_software.htm.

Software Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://mtsu20.mtsu.edu:880/redirect?http://www.tn.regentsdegrees.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and Acrobat Reader.

Instructor Information

Dr. Chip Harris, Director

Center for Career and Technical Education

Tennessee State University,  Box 9522

3500 John A. Merritt Blvd.

Nashville, TN 37209

615-963-7600

charris@tnstate.edu

Assessment and Grading

Grading Procedure:

Assessment and student evaluation consists of individual and collaborative assignments which are related to unit content material.  These assignments include: a) web-based teleresearch, b) participation in Discussion Forums, and c) reflection paper based on Educating Esme.  All Discussion Forums will be evaluated based on the Online Discussion Forum Rubric. 

Directions for completing all assignments (including Discussion Forums) are all available on the WebCT / RODP site.  Completed assignments must be uploaded via the course site. Students are encouraged to routinely check grades throughout the course to keep up with progress.

Grading Scale:

A specific number of points may be earned for each assignment.  Points are indicated on assignment guidelines.  A total of 760 points may be earned for the course.  The total number of points are converted to a 10-point scale as follows.

Assignments and Participation

Assignments and Projects:

Students are expected to complete required assignments, take part in Discussion Forums, and engage in Action Research.  Specific Course Requirements include:

Reflection Paper based on Educating Esme (150 points) - After reading the text, each student will choose a specific school-related problem described in the book.  Based on the problem, each student will conduct research in order to build a better understanding of the problems facing today's public school teachers.  An analysis of articles and web site materials will be analyzed and synthesized into a short paper exploring the selected issue.  Guidelines will be posted in the Special Assignments section.

Classroom Analysis (135 points) Each student will utilize their own classroom in order to engage in a collaborative analysis of classmate's classrooms.  Students will write a descriptive report of the classroom situation and take pictures--digital or film--of the room.  The diagram or picture will be posted to the Student Home Page.  Each student will conduct an analysis of the other group members' rooms and evaluate the rooms based on effectiveness criteria, available resources, and other factors.  Suggestions for improvement will be posted to the Discussion Board Forum.

Readings, Related Web-Assignments, Teleresearch Mini-Papers/Projects, and Discussion Forum Postings (Varying Number of Points)   Each student is to keep up with assigned readings, complete related assignments and/or post to the Discussion Forum.  Assignments must be uploaded via the Student Drop Box.

Class Participation:

Discussion Board Forums - In addition to "text-based" assignments, teleresearch, and action research, each student must actively participate in Discussion Forums.  Due to the nature of the online learning environment, the Discussion Forums act as an avenue for dialog, sharing, exploration, and reflection.  The Forums will be utilized to develop a better understanding of the multifaceted arena of public school education.  Forums will be evaluated by utilizing the Online Discussion Forum Rubric.  In addition to the Discussion Forums that are associated with the Units, there is a discussion for student initiated issues and the Home Discussion for non-Unit issued raised by the professor.

Punctuality:

Students are required to adhere to assignment due dates, which are provided when each assignment is released.  Although assignments will be accepted late (within one week of due date only), penalty points will be deducted for each day the assignment is late.

Course Ground Rules

Students are expected to:

·         Actively engage and participate in Discussion Forums

·         Adhere to due dates and assignment deadlines

·         Work collaboratively (as assigned) and individually (as assigned)

·         Become familiar with the WebCT format, navigation, and the teleresearch process

·         Utilize the WebCT site to communicate with each other as well as with the instructor

·         Use campus email accounts and addresses as the primary source of communication

·         Report any technical problems immediately to Tennessee State University

·         Observe course netiquette at all times.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:

• Remember to include a subject line
• Keep in mind that comments may be taken by some to be inappropriate.  Remember to be cordial      and collegial at all times
• Use standard fonts
• If sending large files, please do so through the WebCT site and not via email attachments
• Avoid special formatting
• Respect the privacy of others
• Be clear and concise with questions and feel free to discuss assignments and course requirements with others

Discussion Groups:

• Be sure to read the directions carefully before posting
• If your response requires a good amount of text, save your response in MS Word, then paste to the Discussion Forum response
• Always maintain a professional manner with regard to responding
• Remember:  If you would not respond in person in a certain manner, then it is inappropriate to do so online
• Read other postings and respond accordingly
• Work collaboratively as directed and be courteous to your discussion leader
• Please adhere to posting deadlines

Web Resources:

Helpful web sites will be posted with each unit.  Remember that these are there to assist you in completing assignments.  You do not have to read through each article, resource, site in order to successfully complete assignments, but rather refer to the materials as needed.

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses.

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

If you have a disability that may require assistance or accommodation, or if you have any questions related to accommodations testing, note takers, etc., please speak with me as soon as possible.  Students may also contact the Office of Disabled Students Services (898-2783) with questions about such services.  If MTSU is not your home institution, please contact that university for additional assistance.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

Telephone Support:

If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the RODP Technical Support Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to their website at:

http://help.rodp.org